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“I know. I’m only teasing you, Maxi.”
Did he just call her Maxi? Only her dear and close friends called her that. The few she had, anyway. The way he said it seem to resonate well with her. It felt so right. So natural. It was as if he was warming to her.
“Anyway, enough about that. I trust everything’s been okay with that situation,” he said in almost a tone of finality. As if he knew everything was okay.
“Yes. In fact, I haven’t heard or seen any more of those dreadful emails,” Maxine said with relief.
“Good. You shouldn’t.”
“Okay, everyone,” Shelly announced over a microphone from where Lucy was sitting. “Ladies…and gents. If you would like to make your way over to this area. We’re going to begin the games and opening gifts soon.”
Murmurs rang from the crowd as everyone headed in the general direction of Shelly's voice.
“You go on,” Lucas said to Maxine. Zack had walked over to where they were standing with a glass in his hand. He had on a dark suit, opened-up jacket. He looked as if he wanted to speak to Lucas eagerly. Brothers. Maxine guessed they had something important to exchange.
“Okay, I’ll see you later then,” she said.
Lucas’s focus shifted to Zack. “What is it, Zack?”
“Well, brother dear, your suspicions were right about everything.”
“Okay, let’s talk over here.” The two brothers moved over to the hedge and a corner of the garden where no one else was within earshot. “Okay, spill it out.”
“Our men found out that it wasn’t the couple who was trying to sue Dream Weddings back when Lucy was CEO.”
“You sure about that now? They seemed a little off, didn’t they?”
“Yeah. They were all right. But as it turns out, they were running some sort of scam from the get-go. They travelled from down south and apparently they would plan these crazy weddings and try to get injured so they could blame the wedding planning agency.”
Lucas grimaced. What sort of crazy people were these? “Very well. So what happened to them?”
“They got caught. They’ve been detained for some other insurance fraud business. Anyway, our men have confirmed that they have indeed dropped the case against Dream Weddings. So Maxine is definitely in the clear about that. And no, they did not have anything to do with the notes or trashing Maxine’s apartment.”
“Good.”
“Bad.”
“I don’t follow.”
“It probably would have been a lot easier if they were the ones behind it.”
“Oh, great. So you’re telling me you know who’s behind it and it’s someone close to Maxine?”
Zack nodded bringing his glass to his lips. The two men were more focused on their conversation than on the laughing and clapping going on behind them at the other side of the garden where the baby shower festivities were going on.
Lucas glanced over briefly and saw Maxine sitting on a chair in the circle enjoying herself. She looked so happy. He liked that. It killed him inside that any creepy person close to Maxine would want to hurt her. If he ever got his hands on the guy…
“Was it her ex?” he said bitterly.
“No.”
“Then who?”
“Betty.”
“Betty? Who’s Betty?” Lucas sighed heavily. He wished Zack would just get on with it and not hold back.
“Her receptionist.”
Lucas froze.
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
“Okay, let's play the next game,” Shelly announced to the men and women gathered around Lucy as she sat with her swelled belly on the "queen's" chair. “What words of wisdom do you have for the baby or for the new parents-to-be?”
The crowd murmured.
“Now, now. We’re going to record this so the baby will know when he or she is older what messages you want to give to him or her or to the parents.”
“Sounds cool,” Maxine chimed in. “I’ve heard of this game.” She directed a wink to Lucy who smiled back appreciatively. Antonio was sitting beside Lucy looking like the doting father-to-be. A longing seeped into Maxine’s heart wishing one day that could be her and Lucas. For a fleeting moment she had a fantasy play in her mind of being pregnant with Lucas’s love child. Yeah. If only.
