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“Oh, she shouted for Everest and Phil to stop it. She tried to pull Phil’s arm, and he shoved her aside. Then she got mad and just watched until the bouncer threw us all outside. She and her friend got in their car and headed for home. We were behind them all the way to the farmhouse. Vicki got out of the car and headed into her parents’ home, and then her friend took off. We pulled up and let Phil out at his house, and then we left. That’s all there was to it. We told the police Phil sulks like that when he gets mad. And getting thrown out of the pub before he was finished drinking made him mad.”
“You don’t have a clue as to where he might have gone?” Nate asked.
“Nope. Not in the least.”
So that told them Ann had lied about seeing the confrontation at the pub. No wonder Phil’s parents were concerned something more was wrong.
Nate straightened. “What do all of you do at Phil’s house in the middle of the night? His parents said you would land in on him at all hours. And stay for just a short time.”
Randy’s expression darkened. “I don’t know what you’re talking about. That’s all I have to say.” Then he went inside his house and shut the door and locked it.
“Wow, I hadn’t expected you to hit him up with that,” Nicole said.
“He was thrown off his game, wasn’t he?” Nate said.
“Yeah, he sure was, which is why he shut us down right away. So they were involved in something illegal. Have you checked on court records to learn if they were involved in any criminal activities?”
“I have, but I haven’t been able to run anything down on any of them except that Ann had a couple of speeding tickets. Randy had one, but that was it.”
“Do you think if Everest has done anything more, his parents have gotten him out of the trouble?” Nicole asked.
“Yeah, possibly, if what the others told us was true.”
Once they were done, they headed back to Silver Town. Whether Nicole wanted to lie down or not, Nate drove her to her home next to the lodge. It was time for lunch, so he’d make her some, and then she could rest. “You’re having a nap after I fix you some lunch.”
She laughed. “Okay. I never expected to have my brother take care of me while I’m pregnant.”
“Well, someone’s got to do it. Blake’s at the lodge. If you want, I can call him and have him take care of you, but you have to take a nap. I don’t want those babies to come too early.” Nate really was worried about her, which was another reason why they wanted to reduce their caseload before he was with Kayla for a week and before Nicole was much further along.
“Thanks, Nate. How about if we call Blake to have him return home, and we can all have lunch together. Kayla too. And then I’ll lie down. I promise. But I’ll be back into the office later to help with the caseload.”
“Only if Blake says you can.”
“All right. I agree.” Then Nicole called Blake to invite him to have lunch with her.
At the same time, Nate called Kayla. “Hey, I’m bringing Nicole home to have lunch with Blake and take a rest. Do you want to join us?”
“Yeah, sure, let me tell Roxie she’s got to hold the fort down. She can go to lunch after I return.” Kayla sounded really relieved, like he’d rescued her from a pit of snakes.
He wondered what she was doing, but she probably couldn’t talk about it while she was at the lodge. “Okay, great. See you soon.” Then he ended the call and smiled at Nicole. “See? Kayla and I are fine together.”
Nicole sighed. “Yeah, but you have to keep after it or someone else is going to start asking her out because the two of you aren’t mating.”
“We’ll get there.” He was certain Nicole realized he was going to ask Kayla to mate him at the cabin but was dying to know for sure. He wasn’t planning to tell anyone before he asked Kayla though. What if she said no? Or she wanted to wait a while longer? He adored her, and he was afraid she’d never want to mate him. He knew she was afraid of change, maybe of commitment. What if she just wanted to remain good friends? It would kill him. Besides, he knew she was afraid of shifting if she stayed overnight with him during the full moon, and he wanted to prove to her that he would be just fine with it. Yet he was afraid that she’d reject his plan to stay with her at the cabin because of the moon issue.
“That’s what I want to hear.”
When they arrived home, Blake and Kayla werealready fixing chili for everyone. Nate loved seeing the siblings working together on the meal.
Nicole did look worn out. Blake quickly gave her a hug and gently ran his hand over her belly. Then he kissed her, and they all sat down to eat and talked about their day.
Nate couldn’t wait to be with Kayla like that. Kayla and her siblings treated him like he was family, but it would be different if they were mated. When Kayla started to tell him about the bride from hell, he wished he’d been there to straighten out the woman.
“I was just glad Kayla was dealing with it and not me.” Blake served up bowls of chili for everyone. “I had to take care of a situation where a guest had sneaked two schnauzers into their room. The dogs were barking their heads off in there. I thought their owners were off hiking or something. Who knew when they would return? The dogs had torn up the bedspread in their room and the toilet paper roll.”
“Yeah, but you didn’t tell them the best part.” Kayla topped everyone’s chili with sour cream and shredded cheese. “Blake accidentally let them loose, and they went straight to the banquet room where the wedding and reception were going to take place.”
“Oh, no,” Nicole said.
