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She hung up and dialed her father. It rang twice before he picked up. “Hello?”
Relief poured through her, and she rubbed her tight shoulders. The music from next door stopped. “Dad? Why didn’t you answer the door for Mrs. Lewis?”
He scoffed. “That old bat? What does she want now?”
Riley stood up from the desk and walked to the patio window. Her foot still hurt, but it was a low throbbing and wasn’t too bad. “To check on you. Duh.”
Her father’s low chuckle came through the line. “I don’t need a nurse.”
She scanned the beach dotted with children playing and adults lounging in deck chairs. “Let her in. You’re incorrigible, you know that?”
“Do you know what that woman did yesterday?”
“What?”
“She brought me stroganoff.”
A small dog ran past her window, and she could have sworn it was Sir Barks. Riley pressed her nose to the glass to try to see. “You love stroganoff.”
“I love stroganoff with no strings attached.”
“What does that mean?” She couldn’t find the dog, so she slid open the door and stepped out onto the patio.
“She bribed me. I wanted the stroganoff, so I had to sit and listen to her blabber on for an hour about her dead husband.” He grunted. “It was horrible.”
Sir Barks ran past again, and she turned to see Shadow step out onto his deck as well. She gave him a nod before turning back to the phone conversation with her father. “You like talking to Mrs. Lewis.”
“Usually. Not when she’s talking about dead people.”
Riley rolled her eyes. Really? Her father was jealous? She swore sometimes they were worse than teenagers. “Dad. Answer the door when she comes back. I’m sorry she talked about her late husband, but you still have to let her check on you.”
After some huffing and puffing, he agreed to let Mrs. Lewis in, and she hung up with him. Turning to Shadow, she shook her head. “He’s being stubborn with the neighbor again.”
“What’s the issue?”
Riley walked to the railing that separated their decks. “Honestly, I think he likes the woman. He just doesn’t like to be reminded that she once loved someone else.”
Shadow nodded. “Ah, I see.”
“Do you need anything? I texted earlier, but you must have been busy.”
He adjusted his mask. “I’m good. How’s your foot?”
“It’s fine. When will you need me to bring lunch?”
He frowned and looked out at the ocean. Sir Barks ran up the deck stairs and jumped on his legs. “Maybe in an hour.”
“Sure.” There seemed to be an awkwardness between them that Riley couldn’t quite figure out. Had she made him uncomfortable last night? She’d been kind of in a flirty mood, but she’d felt like he was dishing it out right back at her. Had she read his signals wrong? She had been a bit embarrassed when she’d almost kissed him, but she didn’t actually go through with it, so how could that be making him feel awkward?
She ran a finger along the railing. “Have you spoken to Jalen this morning? He wasn’t feeling too well last night. I could run and pick up some cold medicine for him.”
“He actually stopped by this morning and said he had something come up. He’s flying off the island today and won’t be back until Saturday.”
“Oh.” This surprised her. “I thought he usually stayed with you when you had gigs.”
He shrugged. “Usually. But not always.”
“Will you need extra help, then?”
