Following him, I answered, “For your information I had salad for lunch. And I don’t think I had anything for breakfast.” No wonder I was starving, now that I thought about it. I really needed to start eating earlier. Coffee didn’t replace real food, although it made a valiant effort in my book.
He set the pizza boxes on the counter and pointed to the table. “You working on the shop’s books today? I thought your aunt handled most of that.”
I scrambled to close up the notebook and put away the laptop before he went thumbing through the pages and found the Who Killed Kacey page. I knew Greg wasn’t stupid enough to think I wasn’t investigating, but I didn’t want the proof to be so obvious. “I’m going back to school for my MBA. Aunt Jackie thinks I need to know more about how businesses run, seeing as I own one.”
Greg got plates from the counter and set them near the boxes. Then he took two beers out of the fridge and opened them. “You want a glass for your beer?”
“Waste of a glass. I can drink out of the bottle. Besides, I don’t want to run the dishwasher until Friday.” I pointed to the letter on the counter. “I’m already in trouble with the committee for watering my lawn. I don’t want to waste water on cleaning dishes.”
He picked up the letter, read the fine, and laughed. “Seriously? I don’t think you’ve watered the lawn in a year. That’s my job since you tend to forget.”
“I know, right?” I helped myself to a plate. “I’m turning it over to Aunt Jackie tomorrow and she can rein in her attack dog. Besides, I don’t think Josh is upset over the water. I think Harrold’s got him worried that Aunt Jackie’s going to dump him.”
Greg filled his own plate and took it to the table with a couple of paper towels. “I can see why he’d be worried. Harrold would be a perfect match for your aunt. They both like traveling and theater. I don’t know why we didn’t think of introducing them before now.”
“He is more her style.” I took a swig from the bottle, letting the cold beer race down my throat. Setting it down on the table, I smoothed my paper towel over my lap. “I don’t know, I just feel a little sorry for Josh.”
“Don’t tell me you want him to marry your aunt?” He picked up his pizza and folded it in half before taking a bite.
“No. I don’t want her to marry anyone.” I picked off a mushroom and ate it. “That sounded really selfish of me, huh?”
“You’re protective. That’s a good thing.” Greg wiped his mouth. “Of course, dragging her to Bakerstown to follow up on a crazy lead isn’t protecting her very well. What were you thinking?”
“I don’t think Austin killed Kacey.” I held up a hand before he could respond. “I know, not my circus, but just because he was hiding out from the law for over forty years doesn’t make him a killer. He sends the woman flowers every week for goodness’ sake.”
He raised his eyebrows. “Now you sound like Amy. Pro-Austin and not able to see anything but the nice guy he portrays here in town.”
“Believe me. I know Austin’s a royal jerk. Look what he did to Sadie. I’d like him thrown in jail for breaking her heart, but I don’t think you’d get away with it with the DA.” I took my first bite of the pizza, wanting to change the subject so I could eat, but not wanting to cut Greg off. He might tell me something about what he discovered the more we talked.
Greg laughed. “I don’t know. John’s ready to go to court on this guy. If I added reckless endangerment of Miss Sadie’s heart, he might just go for the kill. I’ve never seen him so sold on one person, even if all the evidence seems to prove Austin’s innocence.”
I thought about that statement. “Any chance John knows what happened to Sadie?”
“Everyone knows what happened to Sadie. I’m surprised Austin wasn’t run out of town for the crap he pulled. But it’s not illegal to be a jerk.” He finished the slices on his plate and looked at my still full one. “I thought you were hungry?”
“I’m worried about Sadie. Amy isn’t talking to me. And Aunt Jackie asked me to cover her shift Friday night, which means I’ll have to lie to Josh again about where she is instead of at the shop.” I took a bite of the pizza, but it didn’t taste as good as I’d hoped.
“She shouldn’t ask you to lie. Tell her to come clean with Josh.” He stood up and took two more pieces of the pepperoni. “Justin called me on the way back from Bakerstown with a plan to get you and Amy talking again.”
My stomach tightened. “What’s his plan?” I never liked it when the boys interfered in our stuff.
“We’re going out to do that geo-whatever stuff again on Sunday. Justin is getting really involved in the group, and he thinks doing an active double date will let the two of you work out your angst while we hike in the woods looking for hidden treasure.” He took the crust off his pizza and gave it to Emma, who didn’t even seem to chew or taste the buttery bread.