Page 24 of Snow Storm

Aminah shrugged, smiling a little. “Yeah, she did. And she made good money, but also no one knew who she was. She used a very white Western European pen name, and she made enough to invest and pay all her grandkids’ college tuition. She gave me and Lyric a down payment for our house.”

Harley startled. “You don’t live here?”

She laughed. “Oh, we do. Lyric loves it out here now more than I do, so Claude is letting us build a house on the far side of his land. That way, we can stay close but have a place of our own.”

“Claude?” He’d heard that name once before, but for a moment, he couldn’t place it.

“The owner.” Right, yes. The owner. “He’s—oh, there he is.” She pointed off into the distance, and Harley squinted. It took him a second, but then he saw a man in a fluffy dark jacket and beanie moving along a dark path. He was in a wheelchair, so he had to be the man who almost knocked Harley on his ass when he first arrived.

He couldn’t see his face, but something about him seemed kind. And almost a little familiar.

“It must be nice to work for someone like that.”

“He’s a good guy,” Aminah said. “Sad a lot. He had a shitty ex-wife, so he probably understands your woes.”

“Did she sleep with their therapist?” Harley wondered aloud, then regretted it because that wasn’t his business what the man’s ex did.

But Aminah answered him anyway. “No. She fucked his TA in his office. He used to be a professor before he inherited this place. He lost everything when it happened, and he’s sworn off the whole love thing for good. I think he’s on the path to becoming some reclusive mountain man.”

“I don’t blame him,” Harley said, thinking about his current plans to scout out some caves to build himself an intricate home beneath the earth. His phone buzzed in his pocket, and he realized it was his alarm for his appointment with Daniel. His heart kicked up a notch, and he felt a wave of anticipation, but in the best way. “Sorry, I have to go.”

“Big meeting?” she asked with a smile.

He shook his head. “Massage.”

At that, her expression fell. “Oh. Did no one tell you? Daniel broke his arm yesterday morning. All the massage appointments were canceled.”

Harley had taken two steps away, and he could feel his heart beating in his throat. “Um. What? When was this?”

“Kind of early. Right around eight or nine, I think. I’m so sorry no one told you.”

“No, it’s…” He licked his lips. If Daniel broke his arm, who the hell was the man in his room because that happened much later. “That’s…well, that’s fine, but who did my massage yesterday morning?”

“What do you mean?”

Fear crept up Harley’s spine. “Well, a man who introduced himself as Daniel came into my spa room and gave me a verylovely massage. It was right around eleven. And he had me book an appointment the same time for today. So…who was that?”

“What did he look like?” she asked in a tense voice.

“Dark silver hair with a young face, pretty eyes. Big shoulders.”One of the most gorgeous men I’d ever laid eyes on, he added to himself, but he wasn’t going to tell her that. Especially now that he was wondering if some stranger had come and put his hands all over Harley. God, that would be just his luck. “Oh, and an accent? I thought it was maybe French? Am I missing something here?”

She let out a small breath. “I’m sorry. Did I say Daniel?”

He nodded.

“I meant…uh, Fred.”

He blinked at her. “Fred?”

“Yes.Fred.He broke his arm yesterday morning.Danielis totally fine. I forgot he was on the property this weekend doing massages. It’s been kind of hectic since Da—uh, Fred broke his arm.”

Harley didn’t buy it. But what reason did she have to lie? “Okay,” he said slowly.

“Why don’t you head down to the spa to get ready, and I’ll send Daniel a text and let him know you’re on your way.” She already had her phone out, her thumbs flying over the screen. “I hope you have a nice session, Harley. Thanks for chatting.”

It was a dismissal if Harley had ever heard one. And yeah, he was shit at social cues, but he definitely got that one, and he quickly turned on his heel, heading back to the hotel in hopes of figuring out what the hell was going on.

Chapter 8

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