Chapter 43
Standing in the open doorway, I glanced around. I saw no sign of her brothers, just her. I said, "Uh, hi."
She gave me a sunny smile. "Hi."
For some reason, I felt almost awkward. It's not that I was unhappy to see her. In fact, I owed her, big-time, for the help with the sewer. And yet, I wasn't blind to the fact that she lived on the other side of the state, so there had to be a particular reason for this visit.
Given my luck lately, I didn't want to speculate. With more than a little trepidation, I stepped aside and said, "Would you like to come in?"
"Sure, if you don't mind." And then, as if sensing my nervousness, she added, "I'm meeting my brothers here. Theydidtell you that? Right?"
Well, that was a relief.
Trying to be diplomatic, I said, "They might've, but there's been a lot going on, so I probably lost track."
"With them around? I can imagine." She gave me a tentative smile. "Speaking of which, you weren'ttoomad, were you?"
"For the pregnancy thing? Oh, I was definitely mad." I smiled. "But I'm pretty much over it now."
She cleared her throat. "Thanks. But, um, actually, I meant the other thing."
"Oh." I was almost afraid to ask. "What other thing?"
"My brothers. I sort of pawned them off on you."
My shoulders relaxed. Maybe that was true, but she'd also done me a huge favor, and not only with the sewer. In truth, the brothers had been the perfect distraction during what would've otherwise been a pretty lonely time.
As we made our way into the kitchen for coffee, I explained this to her as best as I could. "So, actually," I concluded, "they were kind of nice to have around."
"Don't tellthemthat," she said, "or they'll never leave." She rolled her eyes. "Don't ask me how I know. Oh, and get this. You know all that beer they were drinking?"
"You mean at your place?"
"Right. Jake's beer. Well, after they left, I found a whole bunch of it in the guest room, under the bed, no less. You know what I think?"
"What?"
"I think they were just doing it to get a rise out of Jake." She sighed. "Knowing them, they probably had some stupid bet on when he'd finally pop."
I didn't know what to say. Would it be snitching if I confirmed her theory? I was still debating that when she spared me the decision by changing the subject.
As I listened, she went on to explain that she was on her way back from Chicago, and that my house was practically on the way. Aside from seeing her brothers, she was here to pick up a family heirloom that they'd retrieved from their grandparents' house.
She finished by saying, "And it's kind of fragile, so I figured I should get it before it ends up in the back of their truck or something."
Something fragile?My stomach sank. Shehadto mean whatever had been inside the safe. I glanced at the nearby counter-top, where the safe had been sitting until just last night.
Talk about bad timing.
If only she'd stopped by yesterday, she'd be getting the heirloom – whatever it was – instead of bad news.
How on Earth was I supposed to tell her?
As if reading something in my expression, she asked, "What's wrong?"
I winced. "If you're talking about what they were storing in that safe, it went missing. And just so you know, I mean the whole safe, not just what was inside it. I’mreallysorry."
She frowned. "So they put it in a safe?"