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“It was serious enough to have your car moved,” I said, moving past her easily in the direction of the bungalows. The only place Robert and Elyna would stay. “Come on.”
When she didn’t budge, I hooked an arm around her shoulders impatiently and moved her along with me. Just as she always had, she fit neatly against me. In the past, she would have looped her arm around my waist and leaned her head on my shoulder. Her left hand would have come up to tangle with mine. Now she stiffened and took jerky, reluctant steps. From the outside, we might have looked like a couple or like a kidnapping in progress. I didn’t have time to worry about it.
Elyna’s face suffused with displeasure when I walked in with Cami. It was subtle, but I knew the signs. Her lips thinned, her nostrils flared, her brows dipped. She wasn’t happy that I was there. Her dark eyes went to the little girl who was curled up on the couch with a Leapfrog tablet.
“Mama!” Emma put the tablet aside and scrambled over to her mother like it had been days instead of hours since she last saw her.
“Emma!” Cami dropped down and held out her arms. “I missed you.”
The little girl bear hugged her and then dragged her over to the couch to show her whatever game she was playing. Cami cast me an apologetic glance, but Elyna looked satisfied. To Emma, I was no more familiar than the security officer who had answered the door.
“Hello, Elyna. It’s been a while.”
“Yes, it has.” Somehow, her voice managed to convey disapproval, like it was my fault it had been so long.
My eyes narrowed instinctively. So, if push came to shove, Elyna would try to play the deadbeat card. That was good to know. “Cami said you have a situation here. Mind if I ask if that affects my daughter?”
“I do.” Elyna’s smile was diamond sharp. “It’s personal, I’m afraid. Family business.”
From the looks of the man on the door, she was afraid of something. She and Robert exchanged unreadable looks. Those two always could communicate in pauses and glances. I guessed twenty years together did that to a couple. Her look must have saidget rid of himbecause suddenly, Robert cleared his throat. “Thanks for bringing Cami to the hotel,” he said in what was clearly a dismissal.
I looked over at Cami, then back at the united front that was Robert and Elyna. I wasn’t going to gain anything by trying to force their hand. If anything, I’d lose ground in front of Emma who was peeking at us around her mother’s bent head, her pale green eyes curious.
I walked over to them and squatted down. “Hey, aren’t you the girl with the fancy light up shoes?” I asked.
Emma flashed me a grin but didn’t say anything. Her eyes flicked to her grandmother and then back to mine. She’d picked up on the tension between us; sensed that her beloved grandparents weren’t happy I was there.
“I have to go, but I was hoping I could go with you and your mommy to another playground tomorrow.”
Emma looked at Cami, who nodded.
“Okay,” Emma said generously. “Maybe we can get ice cream after.”
“We can definitely get ice cream after.” I wanted to hug her, but she was drawing back against her mother, still unsure of me. I settled for holding up my hand, palm out, for a high five.
Emma smacked it gleefully with her smaller palm, then curled her fingers in. Just in time, I curled mine in too, and she crashed her small fist into mine.
“She always fist bumps after a high five,” Cami explained.
“Sure, who doesn’t?” I straightened up, holding Cami’s gaze. “I’ll see you tomorrow.”
And when I did, I expected to be filled in on every detail.
Despite what Elyna clearly thought, their family business now involved me.
10
CAMI
My mother’s face relaxed when the burly man on the door shut it behind Landon and then positioned himself in front of it, legs spread, arms crossed.
“Why did you bringhim?” she asked, tugging the edge of the curtain over the window like Landon might double back and peek through.
“He wanted to know what was going on.Iwant to know what’s going on.” I took a few steps away from Emma, who was engrossed in her game again, and lowered my voice. “Why did you have my car moved, and why do you have security on the door?”
“Just a precaution,” Robert murmured, always one to downplay anything he thought might upset me or my mother.
My stomach twisted. “Why are we taking so many precautions all of a sudden?” It had been a long time since we had a credible threat come in, and my years in Hawaii had been blissfully free of stalkers. I had a feeling that was all about to come to an end.
