Page 65 of The Summer Request
Instead, all she could do was watch. A truck pulled up behind the Mercedes and a man got out. The other driver joined him and they walked toward the house.
Michelle squinted in the darkness. She didn’t recognize the man. The other person was a woman.
Not any woman. Lisa!
Michelle ran down the stairs and pulled the front door open, calling out to her. “I’m in here!”
Lisa ran, throwing her arms around Michelle’s neck. “Are you okay?”
“I think so. Where’s Lou?”
Lisa shook her head. “I’ve no idea. He must’ve run off.”
“Thank goodness. Lisa, I think he was going to kill me!”
The man who had followed Lisa tilted his hat. “Ma’am. I heard you were having some trouble?”
She stared at him. He had a chiseled jaw and a broad set of shoulders – far too good looking for Michelle to process right now. Michelle was startled by her own reaction to him. “Uh, yes. Thanks for coming. The previous owner was trying to break the door down.”
He nodded, his handsome face lined by a frown. “He was my neighbor. Never liked the guy. Luke, was it?”
“Lou,” Lisa corrected. “He’s not going to be happy once he sees what I did to his car.”
The man smiled and winked. “Best not to mention that when the police arrive.”
Lisa nodded, eyes wide. “Oh. Of course.”
A patrol car with two officers pulled up a few minutes later. The handsome neighbor went off to greet them, all smiles and laughs. They knew each other.
Of course. It was like San Juan. Everyone knew each other.
The officers were polite, and when they came to speak to her, Michelle described what had happened. Lisa also gave her side of the story, wisely leaving out the part where she’d stolen Lou’s car and almost run him over.
Michelle wasn’t absolutely sure they hadn’t been wrong to stay in the house, though. Was it possible Lou had gotten this house in the divorce? Were they trespassing?
She decided to give Zora a quick call to check, and Zora answered right away, full of apologies. “I had no idea Lou was in the area. I’m so sorry. It’s such a mess.”
“It’s okay. The police officer needs to know if Lou has any rights to be on the property.”
“Absolutely not.”
Michelle let out a sigh. That was a relief. “Who owns it now, Zora?”
“Ah,” Zora paused. “I do. Justine left it to me. I can talk to the police, if you need?”
Well. That was something. “Yeah. I think I’ll put you on with him in a second. I just also – thank you. It was really nice of you to let us stay here.”
“It was my pleasure. It’s the least I could do.”
Michelle wasn’t sure about that. The least she could’ve done was nothing – not organize the memorial, or their trip, or any of this.
Unless Zora had done it all out of guilt.
No. Michelle wasn’t going to go down that path. Silly theories were Val’s thing, not hers.
“Is the officer still there?” Zora asked.
“Oh, yes.” She walked over and interrupted Lisa, who sounded like she was getting dangerously close to ratting herself out. “Here is the owner of the house.”
