Page 44 of The Spotted Cottage By the Sea
“I understand, but I don’t think you can. It’s too easy for them to dismiss an anonymous source, or even anything coming from us. They would claim we fabricated all the evidence. You, however, have no reason to lie.”
Patty turned to her, her forehead creased, but said nothing.
It was not the outcome Sheila had hoped for. She thought it would be easy after she proved where Lottie had come from. Threatening the owners of Marine Magic Funland had not been in her plans.
“Thanks for your help,” she said. “I have a lot to think about.”
On the drive home, Patty talked about the rain, the fog that morning, and about needing to clean the windows in the kitchen.
It took her nine minutes to break down. “Oh, just give it to me! I’ll say I was the one who saw her captured and that I was the one who broke into the whale stadium to get the recording. Who’s going to arrest a grandma?”
It was a sweet gesture, but Sheila couldn’t let it happen. “I’m not going to let you go down for this. It’s my responsibility. I need to be the one to do it.”
Patty sighed. “I understand.”
The phone rang and Sheila’s heart jumped. Were they onto her? Did Inge already tell all her friends the good news and now people were going to start asking questions?
Sheila cleared her throat. “Hello?”
“Hey Sheila, it’s Russell. How’s it going?”
She’d answered the call on speakerphone, but the excited look on Patty’s face made her regret it. “Everything’s good. How’re you?”
“I’m good, I’m good. I, uh – there’s this restaurant on the island. Il Palazzo Friday Harbor. Have you heard of it?”
“I haven’t, no.”
“They have a yacht where they do this seven-course dinner every few months, and I’ve always wanted to go but felt too embarrassed to go by myself. There’s one tomorrow night. I wanted to know if you’re busy?”
Patty shot her a look and loudly whispered, “He’s asking you on a date!”
Sheila wrestled with her phone, getting it off speaker and quickly pulling it to her ear. “Tomorrow?”
“Feel free to say no. It’s just…I can’t resist a seven-course Italian dinner. Do you like Italian food?”
Patty jabbed her in the ribs a little too hard. “Say yes!” she whispered.
Sheila shot her an annoyed look. “I do.”
“My treat, of course. You can see first-hand how bad I am with money before you really dive into the details.”
Patty cut in, yelling, “What time should I send her over?”
They’d reached the cottage, so Sheila parked the car and shut her eyes. This was too much all at once, and she needed to end this call so Patty couldn’t say any more. “Sure, yeah. I was meaning to start on your account this week anyway.”
“Perfect! I’ll tell you more over dinner. Pick you up at six?”
Her heart leapt. Pick her up? This did feel like a date. “See you then.”
She hung up. Patty sat in the passenger seat, her hands clasped in her lap, a smile on her face.
“He’s no Idris Elba, but you could do worse,” she said.
Sheila laughed. “It’s just dinner.”
“Of course it is.”
“We’re going to discuss him becoming a client of mine.”
