“See you this afternoon.”
Bruce Wayne was already at the office, sitting in his chair, when I arrived. The look on his face told me he was frustrated. He looked behind me, surprised. “Where’s Muffy?”
“I had too many errands to run to bring her,” I said, unbuttoning my coat. “Did the electrician not show?”
“Oh, he showed. It’s what he didn’t do that has me perturbed. Or rather what he wanted.”
I shook my head. “What are you talking about?”
“He said it was going to cost eight-hundred dollars to fix the mess, and I had to pay up front.”
“What? But Mr. Darby is supposed to pay for that.”
“I know, and I told him that, but he said Darby ain’t forking over a dime.”
I put my hand on my hip and let out a loud huff. “Now what are we gonna do?”
“Oh, I already done something.” He got up out of his chair. “I called Mason and told him. He’s gonna make an official call to our landlord.”
I groaned.
“You got the Assistant DA in your back pocket, Rose. Why ain’t you usin’ ’im?”
“You know very well why I’m not using him!”
“Rose.” He took a wary step toward me. “That man would pull the stars from the sky and put ’em on a chain around your neck if you wanted ’em. Why won’t you let him help you with this?”
“Because I spent twenty-four years lettin’ other people make every single decision for me, telling me what I could and couldn’t do. I was incapable of relying on myself, Bruce Wayne. I’m tired of being weak. I never want to be that girl again. I thought you of all people would understand.”
“There’s a difference between being weak and lettin’ people who love and care for you help you from time to time, Rose. You made me partial owner of this business when I didn’t put up a dime. Hell’s bells, you gave me a job when no one else would. You saw I was down on my luck and gave me a hand. Was I weak to accept that?”
“No!” I protested. “That was different.”
“No, it wasn’t. Not really.” A grin stretched his lips. “Besides, it’s a done deal. Like I said, I took care of it.”
I sat in my chair, perturbed. He was right, as hard as it was to admit.
“Nelly Kate dropped in earlier looking for you.”
I checked my phone. “She didn’t call me.”
“She was on her way to work. She said to tell you that she’d looked at the books last night.”
I sat up in excitement. “She did?”
“She also said she’d tried a new recipe, so she’s bringin’ some over for lunch. Said she’d tell you all about it then.”
That drew a less enthusiastic response. “Oh.”
He chuckled. “I suddenly remembered I’ve got somewhere I need to be for lunch. Sorry I’m gonna miss it.”
Neely Kate had experienced a recent burst of domestication. Ronnie had put his foot down—a rare instance—and told her that she couldn’t decorate the baby’s room until she found out if it was a boy or a girl. Instead, she’d poured her energy into watching cooking shows and trying out new recipes. Only Ronnie rarely liked what she cooked, so she’d been forcing it on me and Bruce Wayne . . . when she could actually catch him. It had only taken two meals for us to figure out Neely Kate’s gourmet adventure was akin to taking a joy ride on the Titanic. Mason seemed to have a sixth sense for when she was about to show up with leftovers. She’d stopped by his office with a stack of suspicious Tupperware a few times while I was over at the courthouse for a quick visit. He’d always claim he had a prior engagement or say he’d already eaten. I hadn’t been so lucky.
“Did she mention what she brought today?”
“Something about tofu burgers and Brussels sprouts muffins.”
I shuddered. “If she doesn’t find a new hobby soon, I’m gonna beg Ronnie to let her decorate that baby’s room.”
“Good luck with that.”
“Yeah, I know. Did she say what time she was coming?”
“She really wanted to talk to you, so she said she was coming early. Around eleven-thirty.”
I glanced at the clock on the wall—10:40. What could she have found in the books? Dread knotted my shoulders. I knew Violet had been irresponsible, but surely she hadn’t skimmed money off the business as Neely Kate had suggested was possible.
I looked around at what needed to be done. “Until we get the electricity situation sorted, we’re sunk on getting the computers and Internet set up.”
Bruce Wayne winked. “I got it covered.”
“How?”
“I borrowed my cousin’s generator.”