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I had to let Gwen in on all my surprises and secrets to assist in policing my mother while she visited, which explained the booking name change to Tempest Brooks.
I introduced myself as Hans Worthy, who is behind the payment of all the tiny house bookings and the guest list now filling them. She got quite the kick out of that piece of juicy news, promising my secrets were safe.
I may have been showing off a little because I am trying hard to woo my woman.
Gwen understands how serious I am about keeping my mother from revealing her identity, and once Alice and Teagan discover the parental surprise, they too will be sworn to secrecy.
Shamus assures me he has everything covered, making sure my family and friends will solemnly swear an oath that none of them will let on to Ophelia, who Tempest and Brooks are related to. Alice will only have to keep her secret in front of Ophelia for three days. I have faith in her.
It’s not the end of the world if she lets it slip. I just don’t want Ophelia to think I set it up—even though I didn’t stop it.
I shut the faucet off, step out of the shower, and without any further delay, I grab a large towel and secure it around my hips, my body still dripping water.
I use another towel to scrub my wet head before running my hands through my clean hair, combing it out of my face.
That will do.
Clothes can wait.
Next, I head for the burner phone I left charging on the bedside table.
There are a bunch of messages from Angus, and Alice now has my number.
I open the messages in order of time received, starting with my sister’s.
My eyes speed read as my heart gallops, and then I am watching the video, getting a nasty visual of what went down. I wanted to make Birgitta’s life hell, but then Angus’s shouty capitals on each of his messages told me to read his first, overriding me reading any more of Alice’s.
My initial reaction was to call Angus and demand to know more, but he made it very clear that Ophelia was running this ship, and she would organize an email later. She had not wanted me to know about the video and what had gone down until she could tell me first.
Moot point now.
Angus states he is standing next to Ophelia, and they are about to walk over to my surprise lunch and that my sister jumped the gun sending the footage.
He sent a couple of images of Ophelia as proof Gwen hadn’t filtered the hell out of the one she sent me. I would not have suspected my fierce woman had brawled with Birgitta.
I remind myself: Ophelia was a bounty hunter in the past for many years. She knows how to handle herself.
I took five minutes to mull over Angus’s messages and reply to them.
I badly wanted to call Ophelia, but I promised I would not directly talk to her, giving her the one thing she asked of me: space.
I also promised not to break my promise.
I want Ophelia to trust me, and my word is solid.
It feels like the universe is testing me. I can’t fail.
It doesn’t stop me freefalling headfirst into a well of jealousy and FOMO. I want to be there right now, but I can’t. I have a job to complete.
I will wait on the letter from Ophelia.
Now I open more of Alice’s messages.
What I read next, I do not know what to do with.
What the hell?
Alice has a boyfriend.
