Page 58 of Finding Love

“Sure.” Brook moved to get up, but Edith stopped her.

“No, don’t get up. I know the way.” She grabbed her purse and stumbled inside.

Less than a minute after Edith disappeared into the house, Brook followed her inside. There was no way, after the other night, that she was going to trust anyone in the house alone.

Even though Ryder had his laptop with him, there were other things in the house worth protecting.

Nick had hinted that one of the employees might be behind the break-in, but Brook just didn’t trust Edith. With her eyes on the closed bathroom door, she poured herself a glass of juice and gave Willy one of his treats, trying to look as if she had a reason to be inside instead of waiting outside for Edith.

Brook was shocked when she heard the upstairs bathroom toilet flush. Eyeing the closed door of the powder bathroom, she realized instantly her mistake. She’d assumed Edith would use the downstairs guest bathroom. She hadn’t.

Quickly moving to the base of the stairs, Brook wondered if she should go up and escort Edith out of the house.

Then Edith appeared at the top of the stairs, looking totally sober and pleased with herself. However, when she spotted Brook, her smile slipped, and she carefully put back on her drunk act.

“Oh, I’m sorry. I’m used to using the main bathroom upstairs. You know, when James and I…” Edith dropped off, waving her hand, and almost falling down the last stair.

Brook leaned on the railing, blocking her exit.

“You can drop the act,” Brook said firmly.

Edith frowned slightly, then she giggled. “I know what this looks like.” She tried once more to move past Brook, who held firm.

“What this looks like is that, two days after someone broke in and stole from us, you take it upon yourself to snoop around the house. It makes me wonder why, and now I wonder if you had anything to do with the break-in,” Brook said smoothly.

“Someone broke in?” Edith gasped slightly as she gripped her purse a little tighter.

Brook sighed and held in her temper. Then, she snatched Edith’s purse out of her hands and dumped the entire contents on the floor.

“Oops,” Brook said as Edith screamed in anger.

Instantly, Brook saw the black jewelry box among all of Edith’s frivolous possessions.

Brook grabbed for the box while Edith reached for it at the same time.

“What’s this?” Brook asked, opening the jewelry box.

Inside was a vintage floral-style wedding ring. The delicate feminine design had ten small diamonds nestled around a very large one in the center. The style was so anti-Edith that Brook understood instantly what it was. More importantly, that it didn’t belong to Edith. “This isn’t yours.”

“Yes, it is.” Edith moved to grab it from Brook’s hands.

Since Brook was a few inches taller than the other woman, she easily moved it out of her reach.

“The question is, how did you get into the safe?” she asked.

Ryder had mentioned giving her his grandmother’s wedding ring when he’d proposed. She’d seen him get a few things out of the hidden safe that sat behind a panel in their closet and knew for a fact that she’d seen this jewelry box in there.

She hadn’t seen the ring itself, but Ryder had described it to her perfectly.

“It’s mine.” Edith reached for it again.

“No, it may have been given to you when Ryder proposed to you, but since it was locked up in the safe upstairs, I’d wager it no longer belongs to you.” She shut the lid to the box and tucked it in her pocket. “What else did you grab from the safe?” She turned back to the items on the floor.

There, among her many tubes of lipstick, makeup, and perfume, was a bundle of papers.

This time, however, Edith snagged them first.

“Okay, you want to play? How about I call the police?” She watched Edith’s eyes narrow as her chin rose in challenge. “Or better yet, Ryder?”