Page 17 of The Sweet Life

“I’m sorry. I ended up leaving my phone here and didn’t realize it until I got to work. By then it was too late to come back and get it.” Robert, one of the founding partners at the firm, had made her day that much worse by insisting she return to work to argue a motion in court for one of his cases.

“Sage, it’s eleven o’clock. I’ve called several times in the lastfew hours, and you still didn’t answer. If this is some kind of passive-aggressive—”

“What do I have to be passive-aggressive about?” She pulled a face, glad that he couldn’t see her. Taking Max home with her could be construed as a passive-aggressive move. She’d been upset Jake got to stay in Sunshine Bay, surrounded by memories of Alice and her things, while Sage had to come home alone. Not that she’d admit to Jake that she hadn’t wanted to be alone. “Anyway, it wasn’t like I was ignoring your calls. I just got home from work.”

“It’s eleven o’clock. At night.”

“Yes, I think we’ve already established that. Now, I have some work to do before I go to bed, so could you get to the point of your call?”

“What do you mean, you have work to do? You just got home.”

She wanted to say,And your point is—?This was actually an early night for her. But she didn’t think hearing that would go over well with Jake, especially because Max had been home alone all day.

“I’d left a lot of things unfinished when I took off for Sunshine Bay yesterday morning, and I didn’t get in today until one. I can’t afford to get behind.” She got indigestion just thinking what her schedule would look like if that happened.

“Sage, it’s a little over twenty-four hours since we found out Alice died. The last place you need to be is at work.”

“No, it’s exactly where I need to be.” It made it easier to pretend this was all a bad dream. In an effort not to disturb Max, she slowly lowered herself onto the end of the bed. She got a grumbled yowl for her effort.

At the frustrated sigh coming over the line, Sage pictured Jake dragging his fingers through his hair. He’d reacted the same way as a teenager when she’d frustrated him.

“Okay. Whatever. I’m not about to tell you how to live your life, Sage.”

“Thanks. I really appreciate that,” she said, her voice laced with sarcasm.

He snorted. “Give me a break, okay. I was worried about you.”

Surprisingly, she understood how he felt. After being unable to reach Alice, and losing her the way that they had, Sage would feel the same way if she hadn’t been able to reach Jake or her family.

“Even though there was absolutely no reason for you to be worried about me, I appreciate that you were, and I’m sorry you couldn’t reach me. Next time, just call me at work. I’ll text you my direct extension and my work email.”

“Thanks, I appreciate it. There’s quite a bit that we’ll need to discuss over the next few weeks.”

“Such as?” There was an edge in her voice that he’d no doubt picked up on. She hadn’t meant for suspicion to creep into her tone. It was residue from her reaction to this morning’s news. She’d responded badly to Jake offering to handle their joint inheritance. She wasn’t the most trusting person on a good day, and today had been far from good.

“Okay. I let it go this morning, but I resent what you seem to be implying, Sage. It’s not like I’m going to take off with your share of the inheritance.”

“I’m not implying anything of the kind. Don’t be so sensitive.” She winced. Of course this would be a sore point forhim. It had taken Jake a long time to live down his reputation and his family’s in Sunshine Bay. “I’m sorry if it seemed that way. I know you’re handling everything so I shouldn’t complain, but it still feels like a lot.”

“I know. Sorry if I overreacted. I’ll do what I can to handle everything on my end, but I will need your opinion on things, as well as your signature.”

“Sure. Whatever you need. Is that why you were trying to reach me? Has something come up?”

“Don’t worry about it. We can talk when you get to town.”

“I’m not coming home for the weekend, Jake. I have too much to do. I can maybe get away next Saturday for a few hours. Would that help? It shouldn’t take us too long to pack up the house, should it?”

“I don’t need your help packing up the house. I just wanted to talk to you about this in person.”

“Talk about what? Does it have something to do with Alice?” There was a long pause. “Jake, what is it?”

“After you left this morning, I went back to the scene of Alice’s accident and took the same path she would have taken to the trail. I found her phone.”

“Did you give it to the police? What do they think?”

“I haven’t given it to them yet. It’s damaged, but I know a guy—”

“You knowa guy? Jake, you have to give the phone to the police. It’s evidence.”

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