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“You’ll be in before that,” Richard said.
“I’ve got space now until the end of the year,” Zander said. “So no rush if you need to finish other projects.”
“That helps,” Royce said. “As you can tell, it’s just open space so you can let us know what you’re looking for and Chloe can get that down when she has time and get approval for it from you. When we are getting close you can talk with Elise about finishings for the floors and walls. You said you wanted a small kitchen.”
“That is a must over the private bathroom,” Zander said. “Just something to warm up food more than anything. Betsy will be fussier than me and I’ll let her deal with that stuff.”
“Betsy?” Richard asked.
“My assistant,” Zander said. “I’m doing this for her. She can’t stand the office we are in and has threatened to leave a few times if I don’t fix it. I think coming into a new space should make up for her suffering for years with cracked walls and drafty windows.”
“At the very least,” Grant said. “You won’t have that problem here.”
“I’ll know who to call if I do,” Zander said, looking at Royce.
They all took their leave after. It was close to four and no reason for him to go to work at this point even though he had a shit ton to do. Chloe was leaving for the day too. “Is it too early to meet now?” he asked. “After my father and Chloe’s bosses put it out there for us.”
“Seems like it worked out well,” Zander said. “There's a pub around the corner. I’m in the mood for a beer and burger.”
“That works for me,” she said.
He could see Chloe seemed almost nervous and wished they were driving together so he could find out what was going on but realized that she wouldn’t want that either.
They got to the parking lot of the pub and Chloe parked next to him. He walked to her and grabbed her hand. “Hey, you okay?”
“Yeah. I’ve been trying to put this from my mind all day, but it’s been hard. I can’t get a read on your friend to know if what he found was bad or not.”
“I don’t think so,” he said.
She frowned at him. “Did you ask before I got there?”
He knew she’d get pissed, but he couldn’t help it. “I did. He wouldn’t tell me so don’t worry. And whatever it is, we’ll get through. Remember, you don’t have to reach out to Emily. You did this to find out the facts first and foremost.”
“I know,” she said. “I told myself that all afternoon too. I think I figured since it took so long maybe there was a lot to find out.”
“Or not,” he said. “Zander could have been busy. Or he could have been looking and finding nothing and just wanted to double-check he didn’t miss anything. You’re not going to know until we talk to him.”
She squeezed his hand quickly. “Thanks. I’m normally reasonable and not sure why I’m not right now. At least my bosses and your father kept us entertained. It was pretty funny they were trying to get me to see Zander as a single guy.”
“Yeah, real funny,” he said.
Royce knew that Dane had asked her what was going on and Chloe admitted to having Emily looked into but nothing more. Not that she was dating him or that he was the one that recommended Zander.
He told himself they would get to the next stage and just had to be content with where they were now.
Zander pulled in and they waited for him, then went inside.
Once they were seated and drinks ordered, Zander started. “First off, there isn’t a lot to report. I spent some time really looking deep and I found nothing to raise any flags.”
He saw Chloe let out a breath. “Okay. Guess that is good. What did you find out then?”
“Emily Bask is Emily Nichols. She’s a nurse, as you already know. She married about twenty-five years ago. Her husband, Curt, works for the post office as a supervisor. He’s been there since out of high school when he started as a carrier.”
“Okay. A federal job,” Royce said. “So he has to keep his life somewhat clean, right?”
“To a point, yes,” Zander said. “But he has. They’ve got two kids. A daughter, Crystal, who is twenty-two and a son, Corbin, who is twenty. Both are in college right now. As you know, they live in Raleigh, not that far. At least Emily and Curt do. They’ve got no criminal records. Clean drivers’ licenses. No tickets, nothing. They are your everyday average middle class family just blending into life.”
“Hmm,” she said. “I guess I didn’t expect that. I’m not sure what I expected. She was sixteen when she was pregnant and gave me up.”
