Page 22 of Spotted at Lighthouse Bay
She forced a smile. “I will.”
Adelaide stood, and Rick and Mia shot to their feet.
“Nice meeting you,” Mia said, first one to the door.
Rick nodded. “Take care.”
They walked through the parking lot, silent as their feet plodded against the pavement. Once the car doors slammed shut, Mia spoke first.
“I feel so bad for Lawrence!”
Addy sighed. “Me too. My mom left out the little detail that she’d broken up with him.”
Mia gasped. “What? Why?”
“My mother…” Adelaide bowed her head forward. The pulsing intensified. “She’s a complicated woman.”
Addy pulled out her phone and navigated to Flex Knock’s website. There wasn’t much there. No site listing with salespeople. The business card had the name of the CEO: Cliff Atkin.
There was, at least, a phone number. She dialed out on speakerphone, and the ringing echoed endlessly in the car.
After a minute, she gave up and ended the call. “Weird,” she said. “I guess I can’t avoid talking to my mom about this. Do you mind if I call her now?”
Mia shook her head. “I’m invested. It’s like a soap opera.”
“Ha. It is.” Addy hit call again. Her mom answered quickly.
“Adelaide, you need to find me a quieter place to stay,” she said, breathless. “These boats are too loud and I can’t sleep.”
“If you stay outside of town, you won’t be able to walk anywhere,” she said.
“Then you’ll have to drive me!”
One problem at a time. “Mom, I just spoke to Lawrence. Why didn’t you tell me you’d broken up with him?”
“Does it matter?”
“Sort of, yeah.” She sighed. “What else aren’t you telling me?”
“Nothing!” she squeaked, voice sky-high.
Adelaide knew this game. She waited.
“Well,” her mom finally said, “I don’t see what difference it makes, but…”
Addy kept her voice steady. “Yes?”
“I suppose when I got my money out of the bank, we weren’tfullytogether anymore, but I didn’t want to leave the house! They told me I could take over the payments.”
“Who told you that?”
She sighed. “The guys. I told you, the ones who came to the house.”
Ah, the mysterious guys who came to the house. Of course. “They told you that you could take over as a renter?”
“No, theyspecificallysaid I’d be buying it.”
There it was. Addy shot a look at Mia, who had covered her mouth with her hand.
