“My brother likes you. That counts a lot with me. And Amanda trusts you. I see it on her face. That’s a feat. Based on what my wife has told me, the last couple of years Amanda cut nearly everyone out of her life—not just friends, but most of her family, too. She just doesn’t let anyone close. Stephen has had to fight just to get her to take his calls.”
“Granted, I don’t know him, but the phone conversation we had? He behaved like an asswipe.”
Noah laughs. “Do you have any siblings?”
“No,” I admit.
“When you’re the oldest, you feel as if it’s your role to protect the younger ones, especially your sister. My sister Samaria had a couple of bullies back in grade school, who I realize now probably had crushes on her. But boy was I pissed that anyone was messing with my sister, and I would have totally punched their lights out if anyone had let me.”
Protecting a kid, sure, but… “Stephen should be more mature than a grade-schooler.”
“He is. Reserve judgment until you actually meet him. He’s been concerned about Amanda. I think he was totally blindsided to find out that her boss, who was old enough to be her dad, had taken advantage of his position of power, coaxed her into bed, and gotten her pregnant.”
I’m not telling Noah that wasn’t the case since it’s Mandy’s secret. But if that’s what Stephen believes, I can see how he might be worried I’ll use our isolation and my close proximity to seduce her into another mistake. “Thanks for the info.”
Noah smiles. “You still think he’s an ass.”
“He was that day. But I’ll take a wait-and-see approach.”
“Thanks. Since Amanda trusts you after everything she’s been through, I’m guessing I can, too.” He cocks his head. “If she’s going to stay on the island, has she said anything about work? What kind is she looking for?”
That’s a more difficult question. “I know she tried to find a job in LA, but after Barclay’s arrest…”
Noah grimaces. “Listing her position as a felonious thief’s executive assistant probably didn’t look good on her resumé.”
“Nope. And will it be any better on Maui?” I’m guessing not.
“Do you know if she’s looking for another assistant job?”
I shake my head. “We haven’t talked about it. Everything has happened so fast. We spent a lot of yesterday moving her to Masey’s vacation rental. Then she and Oliver tried to recover from being awake half the night.”
“I’m sure. The thing is, Harlow has been running our non-profit, the Weston Foundation, dedicated to helping athletes of all ages, from all over the country, who have suffered long-term injury as a result of concussions and other head trauma to get the resources they need. She’s worked relentlessly to help everyone from children to pros get the right doctors, therapists, and facilities—not to mention the money—to rehabilitate.”
“That sounds like a great cause.”
“It is. We got to know each other because I suffered speech deficits after multiple concussions on the field, and she’s a trained speech therapist. She helped me tremendously, but I know too many people don’t know where to find the necessary resources and can’t afford them if they do. Harlow has been the heart and soul of this organization from day one. Her last secretary got married and moved to Florida two weeks ago. My wife has been tearing her hair out since. Think Amanda might be interested?”
Would Harlow really want to hire the childhood friend who had an affair with her father? “I can’t speak for Mandy, but I don’t know of a reason she’d say no…except child care. Oliver—”
“Would be welcome to come with her every day. We’ve hired a nanny for Nolan, who starts next week. If Amanda would be willing to pay her some, too, I don’t see why it wouldn’t work.”
It sounds pretty perfect. “Run it by your wife. If she’s amenable, have her call Mandy and ask. Honestly, I think she’d be thrilled.”
And in the space of ten minutes, a guy I just met but always admired on the field helped us both find income streams to get on our feet financially. And once my Colorado house sells, if Mandy will move in with me…we can start our future together.
If she’s willing to spend the rest of her life with me. Right now, that’s the big if.
A minute later, the women come down the stairs. After a little conversation, Mandy thanks Harlow and Noah profusely for agreeing to keep Oliver.
Once she gives Harlow the diaper bag and kisses the boy’s head, I take her hand and lead her to the door. “Thanks. We’ll be back once we’ve managed more target practice. A couple of hours at most.”
“Don’t hurry,” Noah assures. “Why don’t you come back around six? We can all have dinner then.”
I turn to Mandy, but she’s already smiling. “That would be great. Thank you both.”
Then we’re gone, heading back to the indoor range we visited yesterday.
“That went well,” I say.
A happy smile flits across her face. “Yeah. Harlow has always been the sister I didn’t have, and it hurt me so much to think she might never speak to me again because of my stupid choices.”
“According to Noah, she’s missed you, too.”
“She told me.” Mandy’s smile widens. “It was great to see her again. It felt like we had never been apart.”
I don’t mention the jobs Noah and I discussed. If Harlow is willing to hire Mandy, that should come from her.
At the range, I rent Mandy two different guns and let her fire mine. She’s much less hesitant and a lot more confident than yesterday. I don’t even have to instruct her; she simply loads both the new revolver and the semiautomatic’s magazine. With ammo in place on each, she fires away at the targets, hitting her paper intruder a lot more, some shots even dead center.
“You did great,” I say as we head back to the Mustang.
“It feels
