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He thought about whether to give Ravinia the information on the phone, meet her in person, or make a trip on Monday to the insurance agency by himself before actually contacting her. He commuted from Costa Mesa to his office in Los Angeles three times a week on an average, depending upon where a case led him. Of course, he could live closer to his business but had found it didn’t really matter where he called home; he was contacted by people from all over the southern half of the state. Sometimes northern, too, and that covered a lot of territory.
The question was, did he really want to report to Ravinia yet? They had paperwork to complete, and he knew better than to start working on a case before he had a contract in hand. A couple deadbeats had taught him that lesson long ago. Still, he felt like going against his instincts and calling her, which made him shake his head at himself. That damn girl made him feel like he’d fallen down the rabbit hole.
And she also got your juices flowing, didn’t she? About the case? As bizarre as it sounds, it’s more interesting than following Kim Cochran around.
His cell phone rang and he eagerly snatched it up until he saw Pamela’s number. For half a second he considered not answering it. Chickenshit, he told himself and made a point of saying with false cheer, “Good morning.”
“Hey, there, handsome,” she greeted him. “What do you want to do first? Breakfast? Or, I could come over to your place and we could start in bed?”
The day with Pamela. He’d promised it and promised it and here it was. Inwardly he groaned, then realized spending time with her shouldn’t feel like such an obligation.
There’s nothing wrong with her. She’s fun, energetic, fairly optimistic, attractive, and smart. There’s absolutely nothing wrong with her. What do you want? The earth to move every time you’re together?
He caved. “How about I pick you up and we do breakfast? I want to drive by a business off Seventeenth, then we can go to that place you like.”
“The Breakfast Plate.”
“That’s it,” he said, making note of her cool tone.
“Well, okay as long as it’s the only work-related thing of the day.”
The steel behind the words gave him pause. “There could be one more thing,” he tried, thinking of Ravinia. He knew he should leave well enough alone but couldn’t help himself.
“No more things, Joel,” she insisted. “No more things. Today’s just for us.”
He felt himself grimace. Yes, Joel was his name, but he never used it. He didn’t think of himself as a Joel, but Pamela had glommed onto it as if it made some kind of difference. “You know my job’s not a nine-to-fiver.”
“All I want is today. One Sunday. Can’t you give me that?”
Why did it feel like a noose was tightening around his neck? From the corner of his eye, he caught movement out the window, a flutter of feathers as the robin pounced, snapping up the worm and flying into the low-hanging branches of a tree. “I’ll try,” he said into the phone, already knowing that it was a lie.
Looking like she just rolled out of bed, Misty came over to the house about eleven o’clock. Slipping her cell p
hone into the front pocket of her jeans, she eyed Chloe warily as if she knew just how much the little girl had complained about her babysitting skills.
Elizabeth half-expected Chloe to reprimand Misty, but her daughter had seemingly forgotten, or at least chosen to ignore her own pique at the teenager. In fact, Chloe ran to Misty as soon as she entered and dragged the reluctant teenager to the kitchen table where diamonds, stars, and circles cut from colored paper were in abundance. Chloe had been working to make some kind of collage.
“Hi,” Elizabeth said, already scooping up her purse and a jacket.
Misty nodded to her as she tried to feign interest in Chloe’s art.
With a glance at the clock, Elizabeth said, “Lunch stuff is in the fridge. Fruit, cheese and there’s always peanut butter sandwiches. I’ve got to get a move on.” She hugged Chloe who barely noticed. “Be good. Love you.” To Misty, she said, “I’ll be back by around four thirty.”
Scrounging in her purse for her keys, Elizabeth was walking to the back door when Misty called after her, “Can you make it back on time today?”
Elizabeth paused, keys dangling from her fingers. First on her agenda was a quick meeting with Marg and Buddy. Marg wanted to see one more house and that was about all Elizabeth could manage before she was scheduled for an open house from one to four.
Misty said, “I’ve got semester finals coming up.”
“Sure. Of course,” Elizabeth said positively. “Yes. The open house ends at four and I’ll come straight back.”
“Good.” Misty turned her attention back to Chloe and the art project.
On her way out, Elizabeth checked her cell phone and saw a text from Barbara who was just letting her know she’d made it home. Elizabeth felt a moment’s relief as she walked into the garage. See? Being angry at Barbara didn’t bring her any harm.
For a moment Elizabeth felt a little foolish. You didn’t really think you brought about Court’s death, did you? Seriously?
“And Mazie’s . . . and Officer Unfriendly’s . . .” she muttered as she climbed into her car and switched on the ignition, then pulled out.
