“Never apologize for that. I’m glad you’re feeling better.”
She turns and starts toward the exit.
“Hey, Gentry,” I call after her.
She turns back, looking sad. “Yeah?”
“That was one hell of a kiss. Maybe the best of my life.”
She smiles, even though her eyes are still sad. “Doesn’t really make things easier, does it?”
“I’m not afraid of hard.”
She doesn’t look convinced, but she nods once before she leaves.
As soon as she’s out of earshot, I call Annabelle.
“What’s up, Levi? I thought you were on vacation.”
“I need to ask you for a favor.”
“You must mean the kind of favor you pay for, because you’re all out of the other kind.”
“I’ll pay whatever it takes. I need everything you can get me on Harley Lendew. Any deep hacking I’ll take care of, but I need everything you can dig up to get me started.”
“I thought he was out of the picture.”
“Brodie wants him back in. He thinks the guy can help his sisters, maybe come back and be a dad to them again.”
She snorts. “Unlikely.”
“When’d you get so jaded?”
“That’s not jaded, Levi, that’s realistic and you know it. A man who abandons his family doesn’t just show up again with good intentions.”
“I know.” Gentry didn’t outright say anything negative about her father, but a guy who makes his wife choose him over their kids is bad news in my book. I just need evidence to convince Brodie of that. And maybe, I’m also hoping the guy’s actually changed, because Gentry could really use the help. She deserves to go back to art school. “If there’s any chance he might be the exception to the rule, I need to find out.”
“I’m on it. How soon you need it?”
“Brodie wants him here for the wedding in three days. Think you can get it to me by the end of the day tomorrow?”
“Sure, buddy. I’ll just put all my other jobs and my life on hold for you.”
“You’re the best.”
“I hate you.”
I hang up with a smile, but I don’t have a good feeling about any of this.
Chapter Twelve
Gentry
Ifeel like I’ve run two marathons and gone three days without sleep. I’m blaming it on crying out all the water in my body. Unfortunately, going back to the inn and sleeping for a week isn’t an option.
I have to meet every member of Daphne’s family and be charming over a dinner of chicken casserole and salad.
“So, Gentry,” Daphne’s mother, Rose, says. “Brodie says you’re studying to be a nurse. My son Alex is a nurse.”
