AllFreeNovel
Share Us
He shrugged, but he wasn’t indifferent. His eyes were haunted, though whether it was the past or the future that plagued him, I couldn’t be sure.
“She’s hurting.”
“Baker? She seems all right to me.” I slugged back some wine. Marlow raised her glass and joined me.
“Trish.” Holt spoke her name as if he understood what she was going through.
“What do you know?” I demanded, and he shook his head.
“Nothing. It’s kinda obvious.”
“I’m not oblivious. I just—”
He held up his hands. “I know. I know. Married. I got it.” Holt pushed away his wine glass. “When can we get something real to drink?”
Marlow opened her clutch to reveal a slim metal flask. She grinned, and my mouth fell open.
“Don’t even think about it.” Dad’s stern voice had the three of us straightening in our seats. “Unless you plan on sharing.”
Patrick held out his hand, and my father slapped it.
“What did I miss?” Mrs. Quinn was breathless when she collapsed onto her chair.
Dad looked like he’d been caught doing something he shouldn’t. Marlow showed Mrs. Quinn the contents of her purse without hesitation.
“Getting to the good stuff.” She unscrewed the cap and took a swig before offering it to Mrs. Quinn.
The entire table nearly fell out of their seats when she accepted and slung a little of the liquid back. She didn’t even cough as she passed the flask to my father.
“Next time, I’m sitting at a table with y’all.” Drew kicked out the empty chair beside me and made himself at home. “And Mrs. Q, I won’t tell anyone about the contraband liquor.” He winked at her and held out his hand for the flask.
Patrick passed it down the line. My sister had some stout whiskey, but it went down smooth.
Drew wiped his mouth with the back of his hand after his shot. “Something weird happened the other day.” He folded his hands behind his head as if we were in his home instead of a charity fundraiser.
“Something tells me with Sonya as your wife, that happens a lot,” I said dryly.
“That’s for damn sure.” Drew snorted. “I meant with Trish.”
I opened my mouth to tell him I didn’t want to hear whatever he had to say. That she was of no concern to me. But when I did, nothing came out.
“We were working the food truck. You came by that day,” he said as if to jog my memory.
“I remember.”
“I was working the window, and Trish just froze. Like she was transported somewhere else or . . . hell, I don’t know.” He looked over his shoulder as if he sensed his wife’s presence. “Sugar, explain to Andrew what happened to Trish.”
Her face clouded. “She went to hell.”
The tone of her voice caused the hair on the back of my neck to stand. “What do you mean?”
She incinerated Drew with a look, one that was pissed he’d opened his mouth about this.
“That’s his woman. He has a right to know,” Drew said as if reading her mind.
“And it’s up to her to tell him,” she fired back.
“Tell me what?” If I didn’t keep these two on track, they’d get so far off, we’d be past the point of no return.
