Luke didn’t say anything. She was on a roll, and he sensed she’d been waiting to unburden herself.
“The breast cancer came back with a vengeance after Ted’s death. Maybe it was karma. I don’t know. I’ve been away to ‘cancer camp.’”
“Cancer camp?”
“That’s just what I call it. Living with my sister. Chemo and radiation.” She shot him a sideways look. “Fun times.”
“I really would like to put them away,” Luke said.
“I’m not above manufacturing evidence,” she said, “but then, I’m dying and I don’t care. Your old partner . . .”
“Bolchoy,” Luke offered.
“He would take the risks, but I’m guessing you walk the line more.”
“I want them behind bars, not me.”
She smiled and it lit up her face. Then she immediately grew sober. “I want both of the Carreras to pay for taking Ted’s life. I owe him that.” Her eyes grew moist, but her expression was set and angry. “So, whatever I can do to help you, just let me know.”
“Let’s go over their tactics. How they first approached you and Ted. What they offered.”
“They were insistent right from the start. They wanted our property more than the others, at least that’s the way it seemed. They were undone that the Wrens were building the lodge, that it had been approved. That really pissed them off. Made them see red and more determined than ever.”
“Might be just the way they do business, from what I understand.”
“They’re cruel. Blake is anyway. They want it all. More than just the deal. I think they wanted to cut Ted’s balls off. Steal his wife, his home, his life. It’s like a game to them, and I fell for all of it.” She gazed back at the blank television. “Just promise me you’ll make them pay.”
“I’ll certainly give it my best shot.”
“I want to see Blake Carrera dead,” she stated flatly.
Luke understood the sentiment. “All right. Tell me all about how you met the Carreras, what your first dealings were with them, when you determined you weren’t going to sell to them. Things like that.”
She nodded and got up from her chair, heading toward the kitchen. “This is going to take a while, and if that’s the case, I’m going to add some rum to my coffee. Let me know if you need a shot yourself.”
“I think I’m okay.”
“Suit yourself.”
*
Waiting for Luke to contact her after his meeting with Peg Bellows was torture, and it gave Andi way too much time to review her meeting with Mimi. She texted Carter as soon as she was home, because he still hadn’t gotten back to her, and she added Emma to the string as well. Both of them got back to her almost immediately.
Emma: Shit what r we spose to do about that?
Carter: Is it Greg’s?
Don’t know yet, she texted back to both of them. She was just delivering the information, not analyzing it. Let them stew on it a while, and then maybe they could all work out how they wanted to deal with the baby’s impending birth. As far as she was concerned, the child was a Wren until proved otherwise.
It was half past four when Andi heard Luke’s truck rattling up her long drive. She glanced out the window in time to see him sweep into view from beneath the canopy of fir boughs. Her heart beat light and fast. It had been a long time since she’d seen him. Too long, she thought.
At that same moment she heard a text come in on her phone, which she’d left on the table by the door, where she always dropped her keys. She glanced at the screen and saw the message was from Trini: Bobby coming by Friday. I’m asking him if we can get together Saturday. Work 4 u?
Saturday was two days away. Andi didn’t have plans for either Friday or Saturday. Sure, she wrote back, dreading the meeting a little. It would be different if she had a date herself, she supposed, and idly wondered if Luke was busy.
Like you’re really going to ask him to go with you to meet your friend and her boyfriend. Then she thought: If you hire him as a bodyguard, you’ll see him all the time.
“I worry about you, Andi. I really do,” she murmured aloud as she, with a glance at the window, watched Luke’s long legs stride across her small yard and up the steps to the front door. He rapped once and she crossed the room in an instant.
He looked . . . good. She imagined what that hard chest would feel like pressed up against her and felt a jolt of awareness even though he hadn’t touched her in any way.
“Hey,” he greeted her with a big smile.
“Hey yourself.” She held the door wide. “Come on in.”
“Been a while,” he said as he entered her small cabin and looked around. “Looks nice.”
Andi followed his gaze to the furniture arrangement, a few items of artwork that included an impressionistic painting of sunflowers she’d done herself and hung over the fireplace. “I’ve been making it mine.”