AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“You have a wonderful future ahead of you. There will be a few missteps, but nothing lasting.” She let go of my hand. “That was one of the best readings I’ve had in a while. You are an amazing young woman, Laura.” Picking up a napkin, Hocus wiped the corners of her eyes.
“Hocus, no way,” Pam said. “Hard-ass old Hocus, crying?”
“Don’t insult me, woman,” she said to Pam. “I’ll put starch in your underpants.”
“Don’t listen to her. She doesn’t do my laundry,” Pam said. “You can finish eating, dear.”
“I’m suddenly starving,” I said. “I feel cleansed. I no longer want to slap Ryan in the back of his head, which is a relief.”
“He’s hardly worth it,” Hocus said.
“Why the sudden animosity?” Pam asked.
“I’m tired of him sneaking around people I love. Daniela said he’s constantly after Lisa again.”
“Hocus, they love each other. We might have to just let it run its course. We have no control over what Lisa and Ryan do.”
“I can cast a spell that will put his ass out to sea.”
“Please don’t do that,” Pam begged. “Remember, he’s my stepson.”
“And you’re my stepmother,” I said. “I’m kind of related to Ryan, too. He mentioned it, and I almost slugged him.”
“What an awful thought,” Hocus said, snickering, pushing away from the table. “I’m going up to my room. I’ll see you two in the morning.”
Once she was out of sight, Pam stretched her hand across the table. “Do you want to go out? We can bundle up and go for a hike down to Lisa’s. It’s late, but occasionally she’s up, wrapped in blankets, sitting by the firepit. I’d like to see if I can find out any more about her and Ryan.”
“Will she tell you?” I had a sick feeling.
“She’s pretty good about sharing that kind of thing with me. There aren’t a lot of secrets on Sea View.”
I thought about the impact that would have on me if I bought the cottage. Did I want Pam and her entourage in my business?
When I finished eating, we did as Pam had planned, layering up for the Arctic blast we were sure to get from the wind on the beach. We held on to each other, hiking down the beach with the wind ready to carry us away. As she’d predicted, Lisa was sitting on the terrace, bundled in a blanket in front of the firepit with a glass of wine in her hand.
“Can we join you?” Pam called.
“Come on up.”
“Aren’t you freezing?” I asked.
“I’m too drunk to feel the cold,” she said. “Just teasing. I’m obviously not drunk enough, yet.”
We reached the terrace and pulled chairs closer to her. The wind whipping up the surf up and the waves crashing on the beach made hearing difficult.
“So, let me guess. You want dirt on Ryan,” Lisa said, looking at me.
“Not me,” I said. “He let me know he was no longer interested before he got on the plane.”
“He’s full of shit,” she said with a sneer. “He’s very interested in you, Laura. He’s been interested since day one.”
I squirmed. This wasn’t what I wanted to hear. “He’s in love with you,” I said. “Even a stranger who doesn’t know you or Ryan told me Tom Adams said Ryan is in love with Lisa.”
“Ah, yeah, Sandra’s former boyfriend. He was jealous, obviously. Sandra and Ryan used to be a thing.”
I thought, more than a thing, but she wasn’t going to hear it from me. I wondered how much she knew about the autoerotic asphyxiation. I had to put my hand over my mouth to keep from laughing out loud, remembering that Jennifer had said Sandra had almost shit on Ryan. It couldn’t happen to a nicer guy.
“I personally don’t see the attraction,” I said. “I worked with them, and there was never anything but overt animosity in the office. Loathing is more accurate.”
