I shook my head firmly, not liking the direction his thoughts were going. “Kade has to be in LA for his show. He wouldn’t give that up, and I’d never ask him to.”
“Why not?”
Frowning at him, I could hardly believe he’d ask that question. I’d never confronted Dad about Mom’s dislike of working in the café, but after the shock of her sudden death, I’d wanted to. She’d made no secret of how she felt and I’d always felt a little resentful toward Dad on her behalf.
“You remember how much Mom wanted to be a professional artist?” I tried to keep my tone gentle instead of accusing. “She gave up painting to work in the café. How could I ask a similar thing of Kade?”
He shook his head. “That’s not why she gave up painting. As much as your mother complained about the café, she decided to work there because it was easier.”
“Easier?”
He hesitated, then his mouth pulled down, his eyes creasing. “I loved your mother, and I don’t want to say anything critical now she’s gone. But when it came to her art, your mother wasn’t brave. She was afraid of what people thought. She didn’t want to be a failure so it was easier for her not to try.”
As certain as Dad sounded, he couldn’t possibly be right. That wasn’t at all the way I remembered it.
“That’s not true. Mom was proud of her paintings. She hung them up, and everyone who came to the house would say how good they were.”
“I asked her to hang them in the café, but she wanted to keep them in the house so only friends and family ever saw them.”
I was shaking my head, certain he had to be mistaken. “But Mom made sets for the theater. Lots of strangers saw those.”
“She was comfortable making sets because they told her what to paint. They needed a castle, she’d paint a castle. A farm scene, she could do that.” He shrugged. “When it came to original works, she didn’t think she was good enough.”
“No, Dad, that can’t be why…” I made the mistake of glancing back to the table where we’d left the card players. Reg was on his feet, looking precarious as he clutched the arms of his chair to help him stand.
Then Reg’s boxers dropped.
I may have shrieked at the sight of his bare ass, but if I did, the sound was lost in the whoops of laughter from the women he was playing cards with.
“Hey, Reg!” bellowed Dad. “I said to wait for me!”
An orderly bustled into the room. Catching sight of Reg, he dropped the tray he was holding. “What the—?” He raced toward the naked man.
“No need to rush,” Reg shouted to him. “I’m sure you can get a fine view from where you are.”
The women laughed louder. “His eyesight must be better than mine,” Beatrice spluttered. “I can’t find my reading glasses, and I need them to see anything small.”
The orderly reached Reg and bent to tug up his boxers. “For the last time, you can’t play strip poker here! Only in the privacy of your own room.” He pointed to a sign on the wall that said Strictly No Nudity!!! Its three exclamation points, scribbled letters, and crooked hanging suggested the sign might have been hung up in a hurry.
“Relax, Tony.” Martha waved her hand at the orderly. “Sit down and we’ll deal you in.”
My phone went off, and Kade’s name flashed on the screen. I stared at it for a moment, my throat suddenly tight. It took several rings before I could answer it.
“Hello?”
“Hi, Nat. Mason’s here at Asher’s, and he says he might be able to help track down the vandal who flooded your café.”
“Really? So justice might be done?”
“Let’s hope. Are you busy? He has a few questions.”
Dad was already wheeling himself back to the card table, calling for his friends to play the last hand again.
“I’m leaving Dad’s place now,” I said. “I could stop over?”
“Great. See you soon.”
I wasn’t sure if my heart could stand seeing Kade again so soon after being so decisively locked back in the friend zone. But I couldn’t help wondering if there could still be a glimmer of hope for Kade and me. I couldn’t imagine how we’d get past all the obstacles between us, but I had to try.
When I got to Asher’s place, Kade fixed me a glass of iced tea, and the three of us sat at the table on the back deck looking out at the excavations going on next door.
“The way I understand it, this all started with a lot of fake one-star reviews,” said Mason, flipping open a notepad.
I blinked at him. “After everything else, I’d almost forgotten about those. Could they be related to the vandalism? I thought they were posted by my ex-chef as revenge because I fired him.”
Mason scribbled some notes. “I’ve asked a contact who does online forensics to look at the reviews and the nasty comments you’ve been getting online. He may be able to track down where they came from.”
“Really? Thank you.”
“Is there anyone else who might have a grudge against you?”
“We thought one of Kade’s fans might be upset about our fake engagement.”
Mason made more notes, and asked more questions about finding the hose in the café, going over everything in detail.
Finally he stood up, closing his notebook. “I’ve got enough to go on. I’ll see what I can find out.”
I thanked him again before he left.
Then Kade and I were alone, sitting together in silence that immediately seemed awkward. I stared out to the construction site next door, wanting to tell him what Dad had said about Mom being afraid to show
