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I didn’t want to be rude to my boss, but why would she ask where I was? “Did something happen at Stave?” If it had, why hadn’t I gotten an alert on my phone? As manager, I was listed as the first point of contact.
“Stave is fine. Mrs. Jenkins, however, believes you’ve been abducted by a very rich alien. I added the alien part, by the way. I’m surprised she hasn’t posted missing-neighbor signs around town.”
“Mrs. Jenkins?”
Alex chuckled. “She playsBridgewith my mom and mentioned you’d gone missing along with a handsome and seemingly wealthy man who loaded you and Wanda into, I’ll quote now, ‘the biggest truck she’d ever seen.’ She added that you’d been gone since New Year’s Eve and she’s worried you’ve been kidnapped.”
Where should I start? “First of all, she saw me four days after that when she asked me to wait to do my laundry so she could finish hers before herBridgegame.”
“I’ll be honest with you, Sam. I’m far more interested in knowing who this rich truck driver is.” Alex laughed a second time. “I’m envisioning a semi parked on the street fronting your building and the driver hopping out with massive gold chains around his neck, maybe attired in Gucci. Of course, the longer I went without contacting you, the more elaborate my visions of this guy became.”
I looked over at Beau, who nodded.
“It was an SUV, and while this should not be public knowledge, meaning do not repeat this to anyone…”
“I won’t. Cross my heart.”
Even with that, I wasn’t sure I could trust Alex.
Beau motioned for me to go ahead and mouthed, “It’s okay.”
“I’m with Beau.”
“I had a feeling.” Alex went from sounding amused to concerned. “Is he okay?”
“He’s fine. He just needed some time away.”
“I completely get it. After my dad died, I would’ve crawled into a cave for weeks if Maddox would’ve let me. And given our relationship was a secret back then, he went to great lengths to look out for me without divulging something I didn’t want anyone to know. God, I love that man.” Alex sighed, and I could picture the look on her face. She had the same smile whenever she talked about her husband.
“Anyway, what wild adventure are you two off on?”
“I’m not sure you’d believe it if I told you.”
“Oh, I’m liking this even more.”
“Actually, Alex, I was going to call you tonight anyway. I’m, um…I need to take more time off. I know this really puts you in a bind, but—”
“Stop right there. You do whatever it is you need to do. Stave will be fine. Peyton and I can jump in, and so can our husbands.” Peyton was Alex’s partner in the wine bar and tasting room and was married to Alex’s husband’s brother. “Take all the time you need,” she added.
“I…uh…”
“Go ahead and tell her,” Beau urged quietly, but not enough that she didn’t hear him.
“Oh my God! Are you and Beau married?”
I gasped. “Married?Where did you come up with that?”
“Look, everyone knows the man worships the ground you walk on, and you light up every time he comes into Stave.”
I felt a flush travel from my neck up to my cheeks, and when I looked at Beau, he was smiling like the cat that ate the canary, as they say.
“Beau and I are not married. I received some unexpected news the day Mrs. Jenkins last saw me. I inherited property from a distant family member, and Beau brought me here to meet with the attorney handling the estate. We’re in New York, by the way.”
“New York?”she gasped the same way I had when she asked if Beau and I were married. “I can’t believe he talked you into getting on a plane. Bravo, Beauregard.”
“He didn’t. We drove.” Just the idea of willingly boarding something that weighs two hundred thousand pounds that then climbs to forty thousand feet in the air was enough to make my blood curdle more than any horror movie I’d ever seen.
“I see. So, this inheritance, what does it entail?”
