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She wasn’t sure why, but something in her stylist’s eye was still bothered by the incongruity of the woman in the ad above her head. She supposed the messaging of being your best self worked well with Micheline’s image, but the flowy script and the syrupy message seemed so false and fake.
A point that was only reinforced by a spaced-out, sharply dressed follower.
The woman gestured widely, coming close but not actually laying hands on Nova’s belly. “And I see you are beautiful with the bounty of new life.”
Although touching her belly had become something of an unconscious habit, there was something about standing before the wide-armed woman that made Nova want to lay both hands over the front of her stomach for protection. Which was silly. Good heavens, it was broad daylight. Yet that urge was there all the same.
Ever since the day she’d run from Ferdy’s office, she hadn’t questioned that small itch when it came at the back of her neck.
And it was itching now.
Nova might have teased Nikolas earlier about remarking on her pregnancy, but ever since she had “popped,” she’d gotten used to the attention her pregnancy drew. She’d gritted her teeth at some of the people who were too forward, but never had she felt so ill at ease.
All the same, she was the one who’d walked over. So playing along, she said, “I am the luckiest of women.”
“Yes, you are. Being your best self.” The woman
dreamily selected a flier off a stack she had nearby and handed it over. “Living our best lives is our eternal goal.”
The sign above the woman talked about that best-self nonsense, too, and Nova wondered what it was all about. Some sort of motto? Or maybe an outward focus to describe what the organization did.
She glanced down at the flier, several New Age words popping out at her as she quickly scanned the page. The words “best self” was on the page at least four times. So were terms like “inner harmony,” “personal affirmation” and “life-giving joy.”
“Well, thank you for taking the time. I should probably be going now.”
“You should come up and visit us,” the woman said, gesturing broadly once again, this time vaguely in the direction behind her. “We keep our home at the edge of town, near the beauteous bounty of the mountains.”
Oh, goodness, there she was, going on about bounties again. First the baby, now the mountains. Was everything bounteous and beautiful? One last glance into those vague eyes and Nova figured yes, to this woman it probably was.
Life in all its glory.
“I’ll definitely think about it.”
“Please do. And have a good day!”
Nova was already backing away, keeping a bright smile on her face and offering up a small wave. She hoped she’d looked friendly. It was only when she was seated back in her car that she took her first easy breath.
First the weirdness of that ad, with the woman who didn’t seem to quite match. And now the goofy follower, embracing life in all its bounty.
Something was off about those people.
It was only once she drove away, Nikolas’s office coming back into sight, that she finally felt the tension ease out of her shoulders.
* * *
Nikolas spent the afternoon making phone calls, the lifeblood of a PI’s day. He’d spoken to several nurses at Mustang Valley General and had questioned the phone company over a few records. He’d even managed to get a hold of Michael Seaver, Ace Colton’s new defense attorney since Ainsley’s fiancé, Santiago, had recused himself from the case.
He’d pick up tomorrow with a few face-to-face interviews at the hospital, but for now, he was getting ready to call it a day.
An oddly productive one, even if it hadn’t gone in a direction he could have possibly imagined.
What were the odds Ace Colton’s daughter would walk into his office? Even more intriguing, Ace’s long-lost daughter. In what world did that even happen?
Obviously, in his.
He still hadn’t figured out his reaction to Nova. While he wasn’t one to leave a person in need in the lurch, he also never considered himself particularly protective. He helped out where he was needed, but he’d never taken such a personal interest in another person.
Why now?
