“Kaden?” Abby asked. “Have you had dinner?”
He didn’t remember having lunch. “No.”
“Then join us,” Abby said.
“I...” Kaden couldn’t think of the last time he’d sat down to a meal that hadn’t been with his granddad or other agents. Usually he ate takeout or a nuked dinner alone. “That would be nice.”
“I’ll hold dinner for you then.” Abby pointed at a door. “Come into the kitchen when you’re ready.”
Once Abby left, Kaden touched Nathan’s arm. “I need to keep the fact that I’m with the FBI between us. I’m only in Savannah because of my grandfather.”
Nathan raised his eyebrows. “Are you undercover?”
“My...cover is on a need-to-know basis.” Like all task force members.
“Sure.” Nathan nodded.
“Thanks,” Kaden said.
It wasn’t only the task force policy of secrecy. His job was on the line. Roger had fired a loose-lipped co-worker two months ago.
And if Roger’s ex-wife got wind he was talking to people in her jurisdiction, it would add fuel to their personal war. He’d hate to be caught in their crossfire. Secrecy was the best policy.
* * *
COURTNEY KICKED A suitcase out of the way. She missed having maids to clean and iron her clothes. Sure, she packed and unpacked her own bag when traveling, but for this trip, she’d taken more clothes than normal. Help would be nice.
If she complained, Gray would roll his eyes. Why had she painted herself in this corner? She needed her brother’s help, but Gray was suspicious of everything she did.
If she could hide for a week or two, Father would calm down. Mother promised. But waiting meant getting through tonight’s dinner and being around Gray and the love of his life. Gag much?
Her brother tapped on the door. “You ready to walk over for dinner?”
She pushed off the bed. “I guess.”
He peered at her luggage spread through the room. “You didn’t unpack.”
“I...freshened up after the drive.” She brushed a curl off her cheek. She’d been reading and lost track of time. “I’ll work on it tonight.”
“How long are you staying?” he asked as they headed into the courtyard.
She clenched her hands into fists so she didn’t gnaw on her thumbnail. “A couple of weeks?”
“Weeks? Did your clique dethrone you as queen?” He slapped a hand on his chest. “How will they know who to snub and what club is hot? How will they decide what party to attend without your...wisdom?”
She shivered. Gwen would take over. Her friend would love that. “You don’t have a high opinion of my life.”
“Nope.” He was so...blunt.
They passed a stone sculpture of the three Fitzgerald sisters set into a crumbling wall surrounded by flowers. “I suppose you think I should be more like the Fitzgeralds. Setting my hooks into men who can finance their B and B.”
Gray grabbed her arm and spun her to face him. “What?”
“Ouch.” She tugged and he released her. “Abby set her hooks in you and you bought her a mansion. Bess just married a contractor. You don’t think she has to pay full cost for the work they do at the B and B, do you? And what about Dolley? She made a play for that photographer. Now her photos are published.”
“How can you think that? The Fitzgeralds are the hardest-working family I know,” Gray spat out. “I admire what they’ve done. You should emulate, not scorn, them. None of the trust-fund babies you run with could survive what they’ve survived.”
“But—but Abby married you and you bought her all this.” She waved her arms around the B and B.
“Because I love her.” Gray raised his hands. “I want to help her make her dreams come true. But she’s the one with the ideas and work ethic.”
“But...” The Fitzgeralds couldn’t be so...so virtuous.
“I’ll warn you once.” Gray’s blue gaze froze her in place. “If you’re nasty or mean to Abby, or her sisters, or their husbands or fiancés, hell, to any B and B staff, you’re gone.”
Her stomach flopped. Gone? Where could she go? She couldn’t afford anything. “You’d choose them over me? Your own sister?”
“Absolutely.” He crossed his arms, his face as hard as the driveway pillars at home. “Are we clear?”
“Yes.” Her voice shook. Why was this happening? Why couldn’t her life go back to normal? “But...”
“No. No buts.” He exhaled. “Sometimes I wish we’d grown up poor. Then maybe you would have used the brain I know you have.”
He was as relentless as a boxer in the ring, but she wouldn’t let him see how much he’d hurt her. She’d had plenty of practice with their father. “I’m glad we aren’t poor.”
He set his hand on her back and directed her toward Fitzgerald House. “I want you to do something with your life.”
“That’s easy for you to say, you went to Yale.” Bitterness bled through her words.
“Your education was good.” He squeezed her shoulders. “There had to be a reason you chose literature as your major.”
“I love literature.” In addition, she could run her sorority without worrying she would fail a course. Would sorority president look good on a résumé?
“I endured English classes,” he said. “Too much reading.”
“That was the best part of my degree program.” She loved escaping into someone else’s life. It was more fun than her own. Changing the subject, she asked, “Do you always eat at the B and B?”
Gray shrugged. “On the nights Abby runs the wine tastings.”
“But there are all those...strangers at the B and B.”
“You mean like when you eat in a restaurant?”
“Oh.”
Courtney followed him through the garden’s winding paths. Lush green plants cascaded over rocks. Palm trees of all sizes shadowed beds filled with red, yellow and pink flowers. She barely recognized any of the plants. She was as out of place here as a palm tree would be on the banks of the Charles.
She wanted to go home. Wanted to have someone else deal with money and cars and let her deal with managing her friends.
Gray
