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“Yep,” I agree, backing out of the back driveway and turning back toward Katherine’s property.
“And if she is working for MVP, do you think she’s just going to freely admit that just because you ask?” he presses.
“If we catch her off guard, at least we’ll be able to gauge her reaction,” I say confidently. “I’m sure that if we blindside her with our suspicions, she won’t be able to hide them.”
Eli looks at me, but I keep my eyes on the road. “If she’s a plant, she’s probably trained to keep her guard up.”
I ignore him.
“Maybe we should just wait until tomorrow,” Eli adds, suddenly sounding worried about the confrontation. “Katherine won’t like this.”
“We won’t do it in front of Katherine. I’m going to invite her over to my place for a drink.”
I glance over at Eli, and his brow is at his hairline. “And if she refuses?”
“She won’t,” I insist. “I said something about a drink at dinner—didn’t you hear me?”
Eli shakes his head as I pull up in front of Katherine’s dilapidated house.
“I wasn’t paying attention,” he admits. “I barely heard anything we talked about.”
Interesting. Because he was too busy checking out Rose, or because he was thinking about house repairs?
“I told her she should come over and meet the dogs, and Rose seemed excited about it. Maybe too excited in hindsight?”
My voice warms at the memory of Rose’s animation when I mentioned my two companions during our dinner. For all my determination to catch her doing something shady, I hope I’m wrong about her on some level. If she likes dogs, how bad could she be, really?
And honestly, Katherine deserves something good to happen in her life. Life hasn’t been easy for her since being widowed, and then her son abandoned her.
I know something about abandonment. It’s a wound that never closes. We always ask ourselves what we did to drive our loved ones away, what we could have done to keep them from leaving.
I shrug off the memory of my mother, fixing my mind on the task at hand.
Turning off the truck, I’m halfway to the steps before Eli even opens the door, but he doesn’t follow me as I rap on the front door. Katherine’s rusted truck is sitting under the carport, so I know they’re home.
Rose answers almost immediately, surprise overtaking her lovely face. “Connor! Is everything all right?”
I throw my thumb over my shoulder and nod toward Eli, who’s lingering by the truck. “Eli and I were talking about going back to my place for a drink. Care to join us? You can come and say hi to my dogs.”
I grin disarmingly at her, but she hesitates. “Oh… Katherine just went up to put her pajamas on. I think that glass of wine did her in.”
I lean in confidentially. “She wasn’t invited.”
I relish the blush that stains her peaches-and-cream complexion.
“Oh…” Her ivory teeth bite on her lower lip, and her sweet vanilla and citrus scent tickles my nose. She makes me hard just standing there, and I don’t like it—especially if she’s an MVP plant.
“Let me ask Katherine if it’s okay,” she says. “I don’t want to just leave her?—”
“Go! Live your life, darling,” Katherine interjects from behind her. “You don’t have to check in with me.”
Rose turns toward the older woman. “I don’t want to leave you alone.”
Katherine’s hooded laurel eyes flash with mild indignation. “I’ve taken care of myself this long without you, Rose, dear. I’m sure I can survive another couple of hours.”
“I won’t be that long!” Rose protests, and I feel my shoulders sinking as I realize they were hunched tightly near my ears.
“We won’t keep her too long,” I promise Katherine with a winning grin.
