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“The problem is, how do we get proof of any of this?” Kate said. “We can’t just come out and accuse him without some evidence. The police were supposed to look into video of the parking lot where my car was keyed, but they haven’t called.” She put a note on the whiteboard to follow up with the PD.
“Maybe some of the homes where the signs were vandalized have security footage,” Molly said. “I’ll reach out to those folks and ask. He’d be an idiot to do it himself, but then again, having someone else do it adds witnesses.”
“Great idea, Molly,” Kate said. “What about the florist? You think they’d tell us who ordered the flowers? I’m still not sure of the purpose for those, but it might be a clue. We’re the only ones who saw them, and obviously, we’d talk to each other and figure out no one’s pregnant. Seems like he wasted fifty bucks on a gorgeous bouquet for nothing. Plus, even if we prove they’re from him, he could just say he’d heard a rumor I was expecting and wanted to congratulate me. That might be a dead end.”
“I’ll go to the flower shop,” Adam said. “Can’t hurt.” Kate nodded and noted it on the board. If the flower shop turned out to be a waste of time, at least it wouldn’t behertime wasted.
“The rumor that I’m retiring will be just about impossible to pin on someone specific, but if we can confront him with one or two of these other things, maybe he’ll back off,” Kate said.
“Once we have any proof, we should contact the Realtor Association and see what they can do. If it is him, he’s definitely violating some ethics rules,” Brooke said.
“Good idea. Let’s reach out to everyone we’re working with right now and let them know we’re committed one hundred percent to them and the job. Maybe feel them out to see if they’ve heard anything, and then assuage any doubts they might have,” Kate suggested.
“I’ll make a list of the open transactions we have going, divide it into buyers and sellers, and the three of us will take care of the phone calls,” Brooke offered.
Kate looked at the whiteboard. This felt futile, but she couldn’t just let it go. Getting Adam’s deal had been a huge boost to her new brokerage, but she had to think long-term. If they let all this go unchecked, the deals might dry up, and she couldn’t let that happen.
“I’ll hit the florist and see what I can find out,” Adam said. “Then I’ll follow up with the police about whether they got any video from the parking lot of the Marriott.”
“That would be helpful. Thank you,” Kate said. “Can whatever you wanted to discuss wait a bit? Maybe until tomorrow? We should do what we can to nip this in the bud as soon as possible.”
“I agree. We can talk later tonight or tomorrow.”
“All right, then,” Kate said. “Assignments made. Let’s reassess in a few hours.”
They all nodded. To avoid a private goodbye with Adam, Kate stayed huddled with her girls until he left.
When she finally sat down at her desk, she realized she hadn’t assigned herself anything. Just as well. As important as all this was, she could only focus on the “friend” offering to help. Seeing Adam had thrown all her plans of postponing their conversation out the door. She was going to have to deal with him sooner rather than later.
A tear slipped down her cheek at the thought of breaking it off with him. Her plan to “have a little fun,” as Lizzie put it, had spun out of control much quicker than she thought possible. Adam’s cocky, impulsive attitude had been eclipsed by his sweet, funny, and sexy side. He’d not only won her over, but wormed his way into her heart. Now she had to face the consequences.
She took a deep breath, rolled her shoulders a few times, and returned to help her coworkers with the calls that needed to be made. Her personal disaster would have to wait until quitting time.
CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX
It had been a day and a half, and Adam hadn’t made any progress with his assignments. The receptionist at the floral shop was a man, which put a kink in his plan to wear a tight shirt and flirt a little to get the information.
He’d stopped by the police department after leaving Kate’s office yesterday, but they hadn’t called back until this afternoon, and that was just with bad news. They’d found some footage of the vandalism, but it was too grainy to make out any details of who the perpetrator might be.
When he called Kate to let her know, she told him thanks for trying and then brushed him off, saying she’d take it from here. Yeah, she was about to bail. He’d known it was coming, but wasn’t ready for things to end yet. He felt a connection to her—something he’d never felt with anyone else. He thought she’d felt it too, but if she was ready to move on, maybe not.
Usually, he’d be the one looking for a way out right about now and found it disconcerting to be on the other end of a breakup. He’d been thinking more and more about his brief conversation with Kate and the longer one with Spencer. What if they were right, and his attitude was holding him back from real happiness? What if a long, happy relationship was possible, and this was his shot?
Most of his assumptions about love came from what he’d seen his mother go through, and that was admittedly a skimpy sample size. His personal experience was tainted because he’d never eventrieda relationship. Always having his eye on the exit sign was a tried-and-true recipe for “short term.”
There was a mayoral debate tonight and, assuming Kate would be there, he’d shown up uninvited. He sat next to the Parker women in the front row of the auditorium. Kate was polite but distant, and if he were to read the writing on the wall, he’d say she was about to give him the ol’ heave-ho. Perhaps tonight.
He wondered if it was solely because of his commitment issues, or if her deepening feelings had anything to do with it. Maybe she wanted out as a way to protect herself from getting hurt. He could understand that, and should respect it, but he wasn’t ready to stop seeing her yet. That might be selfish, and while he didn’t want to mess with her feelings, he really did want to see where things could end up. This was uncharted territory though, so he’d have to move cautiously.
After the debate, he’d see if she wanted to get a drink or dessert, and they could work something out. Maybe he’d even ask her to be his girlfriend. Now that their business was done, she shouldn’t have a problem with that, and it would give them an opportunity to see if there was a future for their relationship.My girlfriend, Kate. A smile pulled at his lips. Yeah, he kinda liked the sound of that.
On stage, Chuck and Edward each stood at separate podiums, and a moderator sat at a small table center stage with his back to the audience. So far, everything had been civilized and predictable. As the incumbent, Edward had the advantage because he knew all the issues like the back of his hand.
Chuck had been studying for weeks to get current on all the New Bern issues, but still stuttered and stammered over most of his answers. He continued to get progressively more flustered after every question he couldn’t answer perfectly.
“Dad’s kicking ass,” Kate leaned over to whisper in Lizzie’s ear.
“Per yooj,” Lizzie responded.
