Page 27 of Tequila Tuesdays

I thought about it. “Hmm. I like that idea. I don’t want to be the coach, but I’ll pass it on to the program director.”

“Why don’t you ever play golf with me anymore?” Ava said.

I mentally cringed. Every so often she got in these woe-is-me depressed moods, and she didn’t seem to care who was around or what she said.

“I play with you all the time,” I answered. That technically wasn’t true. I played with her when I couldn’t get out of it. “But I have some things to do this afternoon. And besides, you and Grace have more fun without me.”

“Is it because I broke your favorite driver?” she asked.

My hands clenched involuntarily. She had to remind me. “No. And that was years ago. I’ve gotten over it.” She’d run over my clubs when she’d been high and broken my driver in the process. Ryan, my fiancé, had given me that driver. Okay, I’dmostlygotten over it.

Ava heaved a big sigh and turned to Damien and Zeke. “How do you know Jonathan?”

Zeke folded his arms. “We’re friends, and our offices are in the same building across the hall. We also do work for their law firm sometimes.”

“What kind of business do you have?” Ava asked.

“Security systems and investigations. Sebastian’s our partner. I think we put in a security system at your house a couple of years ago.”

Ava nodded. “That’s right, you did. When Harley decided she wanted to be a criminal defense attorney full-time.”

Zeke tilted his head. “Why’d that make you decide to put a system in? I bet she usually doesn’t invite clients home.” I decided I liked Zeke.

Ava ignored Zeke’s subtle jab. “Have you seen some of the clients she works with? And she lives with me.”

Damien silently pushed his full mimosa over to me.

I looked at him and he leaned in. “I don’t like champagne. And I think you need it more than I do.”

Grace and Sheila glanced at each other. They’d seen Ava like this a few times.

“Ava, honey, didn’t you ask Harley to buy the small rundown house next to yours?” Sheila asked.

“Well, yes,” Ava admitted.

“She owns her own home, and there’s a fence between your properties,” Sheila continued. “So I think you’re pretty safe. And you both have Gary.”

I cringed inside. Gary was not a good topic to bring up. I grabbed the mimosa and took a big swallow.

Grace tried to salvage the conversation. “You did a marvelous job with your remodel, Harley. Your place looks great now.”

I smiled tightly. “Thanks, but your house is on a scale all its own. Doesn’t their house look great, Ava?”

Ava ignored me. “Even though Harley’s dad was a commercial real estate attorney, and she started with a real estate firm, she decided to be a criminal defense attorney instead.”

I needed to shut her up. “I don’t think anyone wants to hear this.”

She continued to ignore me. “I lost my husband, then she lost her fiancé whom we all adored. And I struggle with a life-threatening illness. But she decided after all that, she’s going to practice criminal law.”

Damien looked at me with a troubled expression. The table had gone quiet.

“And she won’t date. It’s been almost five years since Ryan died.” She turned to me. “And you won’t date. You won’t go out, and you don’t have sex.”

I’d had enough. She didn’t get to violate my privacy like that. “Not another word.” My voice was low, and it vibrated with hurt and anger.

She opened her mouth, but I put my hand up. “Not. One. Word.”

When she opened her mouth again, I leaned in and hissed at her. “Or I’ll tell everyone what your ‘life-threatening illness’ really is.”

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