Page 8 of Last Call

“What?” Andi returned.

“You’re not saying something. What aren’t you saying?” Riley asked.

“I suppose I don’t find it as unbelievable as everyone else.”

Riley’s gaze narrowed.

“I don’t,” Andi said. “Riley, when Jake first took a job in sales, I made a few trips with him to conferences. I saw things. I hope to God Jake never got involved with any of it. I saw men with girls—not women. I could tell you I believed they were eighteen or nineteen. I would bet a couple of the girls I saw weren’tover sixteen. Some were the daughters of men attending the conferences. It was sickening. Can you imagine allowing anyone to grope your daughter?”

“Oh, God.”

I remember this guy Jake worked with—Bruce Dearborn. Being near him gave me the shivers—and not the pleasant kind. He was—I couldn’t be around him. One time, we were in Vale for a conference, and Bruce showed up at a reception with this girl. I swear to you, Riley, she couldn’t have been more than sixteen—ifthat. I told Jake I needed to leave. Bruce has three daughters.” Andi shuddered. “I wish I could say I’m surprised by what Fallon learned. I’m not. It’s sickening—all of it. I couldn’t travel with Jake after that. Sometimes, I wondered if I had agreed to go with him, maybe he wouldn’t have strayed as much.

“Andi, you know Jake’s infidelity wasn’t your fault.Jaketold you that.”

“I know. It felt horrible, Riley. Watching the way some of his colleagues behaved. Not all of them—but too many of them. They liked to compete, and not just for contracts.”

“But Liv took risks, Andi. She could’ve gone to the police.”

Andi sipped her glass of wine without comment.

“Don’t tell me you agree with what she did,” Riley said.

“I don’t disagree with it,” Andi said. “I don’t mean running her car into a tree. What do you do when you discover something like that? For Liv to know her father exploited women? It makes me sick. I have no love for how Liv behaved with Fallon or me. I don’t know how I would react if I found out my father or Jake—or God forbid, one of my boys was sleeping with young girls, or worse, selling them to other men.”

Riley sighed. What would she do in Liv’s position? Could she say she would do something differently?

“I hope Fallon lets herself have some peace after talking to Angela,” Andi said.

“I hope so. Enough about Liv. How is married life?”

“The same as living in sin,” Andi said. “Except Billie is more relaxed. I’m not sure she would have agreed to make changes to the house if we weren’t married.”

“Do tell.”

“Well, we can’t do much until after snow and mud season. We plan to build a deck off the back—get rid of the gazebo.”

“Really?”

“I think so. There will be more room for the kids,” Andi offered.

“Kids?”

Andi rolled her eyes. “Notmykids.Yourkids. Dave’s kids. The town’s kids. Not mine.”

“Ah. Are you sure about that?”

“If there is a percentage above infinity, that’s how sure I am.”

“So, just yard work?” Riley inquired.

“No. We’re turning Jake’s old office into a family room. I think it’s a great idea for…”

“The kids,” Riley guessed.

“And for us. Having a less formal place than my living room will be nice. What about you? How goes the house building?”

“We met with the builders yesterday. They’ll start April 1st.”

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