“Amen to that,” Jane whispered, but loudly enough to be heard. “But in a charming, adorable way.”
A chuckle ran around the room, breaking the nasty tension. Even Frankie had a smile on her face.
“I’m still pissed off,” she declared, taking a deep breath. “Zack, don’t ever pull shit like that again. Do you hear me? I still know how to swing a racquet.”
“I am sorry,” Zack replied. “I thought I was protecting you, but I see now that was a toxic way to look at the situation. I won’t do it again.”
“Okay, then.” Frankie glanced over at Piper. “How about you? Are you good? Because if you’re not, I suggest you clock Zack right in the jaw, and then you’ll be even.”
Piper’s eyes narrowed as she gazed at Zack.
“I’m good, but I’m not happy. I will, however, get over it. But I reserve the right to kick his shin at a later time.”
“As long as it’s only my shin,” Zack muttered under his breath.
“Can we have dinner now?” Mark asked. “Because I’m starving.”
Tate was about to say that he wanted to wait for Cat, but as if on cue, the door to the tavern swung open and she walked in.
“You’re just in time,” Lucy said. “We were about to order dinner.”
“I’m hungry,” Cat said. “What are we having?”
Tate handed her a menu card from the table.
“Anything we want. Dinner is on me tonight.”
“Food always tastes better when it’s free,” Sam declared. “Let’s eat.”
Tate’s chef was quite simply a genius in the kitchen. He could do amazing comfort food, but he could also do a gourmet meal just as well. Tonight, no one challenged his skills much, mostly ordering burgers, pizza, chicken, and steak. Frankie, now retired from professional sports, had a double cheeseburger with home fries.
Piper, of course, went a different way. Extremely health-conscious, she’d ordered the grilled fish with asparagus. Her explanation was that she ate too much sugar from her baking business, so she had to make better choices the rest of the time.
When the meal was over, they were all groaning and patting their stomachs. Mark stood up and clanged his fork against his glass to get everyone’s attention. Tate didn’t have any idea what his uncle was about to say, but he knew from experience that Mark was going to say whatever he wanted to, and no one could stop him.
“After talking with Tate and the rest of you, I feel like I need to make my feelings on your new investigation clear. First of all, I support you a hundred percent in this. I agree that Joel’s investigation may have been haphazard at best and downright negligent at worst. However, as I explained earlier, I think you’re going in the wrong direction, looking at your father. He loved Lily in his own strange way. I don’t think he would want to hurt her. Second, I think you should look at the other people in your mother’s life. Hell, look at me, if you need to.”
“You’ve got my attention,” Sam said. “In your opinion, who else should we be looking at? I have a few theories of my own, but I’d like to hear your thoughts.”
“Lily’s best friend Shayla,” Mark said, sitting down in his chair. “Henry, perhaps. Joel’s brother, Rick.”
“What about Aunt Kim?” Piper asked softly, sucking in a breath. “She married Dad.”
“I love my sister,” Mark replied, turning to address Piper’s statement. “But love doesn’t mean being blind to someone’s faults. Do I think Kim is capable of cold-blooded murder? No, I do not.”
“Do you think she might know more than she’s letting on?” Sam asked. “We’ve always felt that Dad may not have killed Mom, but that he knew more than he was saying out loud.”
“Just because Aunt Kim is a narcissist doesn’t mean she had anything to do with Mom’s disappearance,” Cooper said. “I think she’s a total pain in the ass, but let’s be fair here. She wouldn’t sully her manicure with murder.”
“She was always jealous of Mom,” Frankie argued. “I was just a kid, but even I could see it. Then she did the ultimate jealousy move. She married Dad. Now she has Mom’s life. And she couldn’t have it if Mom were still around.”
“Let’s talk more about Shayla,” Tate suggested. “She left town about a year after Mom disappeared.”
In rather mysterious circumstances, too. She hadn’t said goodbye to anyone. She’d left quietly one day, and a “For Sale” sign had gone up in the yard. They’d never heard from her again.
“She was Mom’s very best friend,” Piper said. “They were close. Like sisters. I know they confided in each other. I remember Mom saying that Shayla was one of the few people she trusted in the world. No way that Shayla would have anything to do with something nefarious.”
“You don’t think it’s strange that she left town without a word?” Sam asked. “She was like family, and then suddenly she was gone. It’s like she never actually existed, and we all just imagined her. Has she tried to reach out to anyone here? Anyone at all?”
