She suspected Ben had gotten the bacon from his kitchen. She was pretty sure her supply was nonexistent, as she hadn’t had a chance to go to the store since her return from LA. Mallory poured the orange juice while Ben made fresh coffee. Brenda felt relaxed for the first time since before she went to Los Angeles. It wouldn’t last, she suspected. But she intended to enjoy it as long as possible.
When Ben stepped out onto the back patio to take a call, Mallory leaned across the island. “Is this guy for real?” Her green eyes twinkled with laughter.
Brenda shrugged. “He’s really nice.”
Mallory devoured a slice of bacon. “Makes you wonder if cooking is the only thing he’s so good at?”
Brenda shot her a look as the back door opened and the man in question walked in once more.
“This breakfast is really good,” Brenda said, hoping to cover anything he might have heard. “Thank you so much, Ben.”
“See,” Janey piped up, “I told you he wasn’t strange. Ben is nice.” She beamed a smile at him as he resumed his seat next to Brenda.
Brenda bit her lips together and hoped he wouldn’t catch on.
Mallory coughed as if a piece of bacon had gone down the wrong way.
Ben laughed and fluttered his hands on either side of his head as he leaned closer to Janey. “I can be very strange, little girl. Want to see?”
“No,” Janey squealed, then melted into giggles.
“I was only saying,” Mallory stammered, “that it’s better to be careful of strangers.”
“Very good advice,” Ben said to Janey. “You should listen to Mallory. She’s smart.” He shot the nanny a wink.
Mallory blushed.
Brenda scooted off her stool. “Since Ben cooked,” she announced, “Mallory and I will clean up.” She grabbed her plate and glass and headed to the sink. As she passed Ben, she teased, “Ben has Barbie duty.”
“Yay,” Janey cheered.
Mallory joined Brenda at the sink, and they struggled not to burst into giggles. The moment of relief was one Brenda was enormously grateful for.
After working in silence for a few minutes, Brenda loaded the last of the silverware into the dishwasher and closed the door. “I wanted to talk to you privately for a few minutes.”
Mallory leaned against the counter and dried her hands. “Sure.” She gave a humorless laugh. “I won’t even ask what you want to talk about.”
Brenda rolled her eyes. “No kidding.”
Then she took a moment to steel herself. This was more than a little difficult for her, but it was the right thing to do. As soon as she’d recovered from waking to that intruder, she had known what she had to do.
“I’m worried that it isn’t safe for Janey to be here until we figure this out.” There, she’d said it.
Surprise flashed across Mallory’s face, but it passed quickly. “You’re right. As difficult as it is to view the situation that way, I don’t believe either of you are safe.”
Brenda shrugged. “Probably not, but I’m the adult. I need to try and make it safe again. And the only way to do that is for me to figure out what it is that Scott has gotten us into and try to straighten it out.”
Mallory tossed the hand towel aside. “Can’t the police do that?”
“I’m sure they can,” Brenda admitted, “in time. But I can’t risk waiting. I need to find answers. The police are overworked, and they don’t know Scott the way I do.” She laughed. “Well, given everything I’ve learned in the last twenty-four hours or so, maybe I don’t really know him either. But the things I do know could make a difference. Bottom line, I can’t just sit around and wait. I need to find answers. Fast. Lena Jenner has already retained an attorney. Someone has searched my home. This is going to crash and burn around us—sooner rather than later, I fear. I don’t want to be the person sitting around waiting for someone else to do what needs to be done.”
“But you can’t do this alone,” Mallory urged. “It’s not safe.”
“Ben wants to help me.”
Mallory’s expression turned apprehensive. “But you don’t really know this man. He’s nice and all…but he is a stranger.”
“Don’t worry,” she assured the other woman. “I will find out what I need to know first. But I have to do this.”
