Page 36 of The Summer Request
Val flashed a smile. “Oh, heh. I didn’t know she was going to come. Chloe and I have been texting back and forth. I’ve been encouraging her to dump Lou and move on with her life. I might’ve mentioned that if she was in the neighborhood, she could stop by.”
“And there she is,” Lisa said quietly, catching Chloe’s eye and waving her over.
“She might have some news for us,” Val said, smiling a bright smile.
Michelle shook her head and took a sip of her banana mango smoothie. “I thought we agreed to let all of that go?”
“We agreed to let it go if we didn’t find anything,” Val corrected. “I’d say a multi-million-dollar life insurance payout is definitely something.”
“What are we going to do?” Michelle asked in a hushed voice. “There aren’t any more houses to break into, and if you do end up being successful in getting Chloe to dump Lou, you’ve lost your only ‘in.’”
Chloe arrived at the edge of their table, a smile on her face. “Hi! It’s nice to see you all again.”
“Chloe, welcome!” Val stood and gave her a hug. “Have a seat. Have you eaten yet?”
“Not yet,” she said, voice small. “I don’t mean to crash your breakfast.”
“Oh please, you’re always welcome,” Val said with a smile.
The waitress stopped by and took Chloe’s order – black coffee. “I won’t stay long. I wanted to give you guys something. I found it when…well, I decided to keep looking after you left.”
Michelle buried her face in her hands. “Please don’t encourage them.”
“I didn’t find much,” she added quickly. “There was nothing else in the house, but I went to Lou’s storage unit and found a box with Justine’s name on it. I took a picture of what was inside – I can go back and get whatever you want – but most of it was little things. Sea shells, pictures, keychain beer openers. Nothing special. But then I found this.”
She reached into her bag and pulled out a black-and-white speckled notebook. “I think it was her diary. I didn’t read it, but I thought you might want to have it.”
Lisa reached for the soft, worn notebook and flipped to the first page. “Look, she wrote a title! ‘From the Honeymoon and Beyond.’”
Val groaned. “She doodled hearts all over.”
“Yeah, like hundreds of hearts,” Michelle said, leaning in. She laughed. “That’s so Justine.”
Lisa snatched the notebook away defensively. “She was only like, twenty, when she got married. What do you expect?” Lisa looked up at Chloe. “Thanks for this. It’s really nice.”
She smiled. “You’re welcome. I also wanted to tell you about an opportunity.”
Michelle narrowed her eyes. “An opportunity?”
Chloe nodded, accepting her coffee from the waitress. “There’s an Emerald conference happening tomorrow in the city. I can get you tickets, and you might be able to find more information about who Sam Beverly is.”
Val clapped her hands together. “I love it. I love this plan for us.”
Chloe continued. “Lou’s assistant, Keith, knows everything. You just need to get him to talk.”
“How do we get him to talk?” Val asked.
“Well, it won’t be easy, but I’ve heard he’s not been happy with how things are running and…”
Lisa was only half listening, instead focused on flipping through the pages of Justine’s diary. At first, the entries were close together, every few days. Then the time between them stretched to months, until full years passed. Justine had filled the entire notebook, though it had taken her almost ten years.
“Awesome! I love this,” Val said. “I think we can fit into her schedule. Can’t we, ladies?”
“Valerie,” Michelle said with a sigh. “Do you really think Lou is going to let us waltz into one of his events?”
“He probably won’t see you,” Chloe said. “He usually only comes for the last speech of the night. He lets the volunteers handle everything else.”
“Lisa, what do you think?” Michelle asked. “Are you comfortable with this?”
