Page 11 of SEAL'S Baby Surprise
No real way to say it, but to just say it. “So, I’m worried. I promise she doesn’t know how to hike into the backwoods and live on her own. The few times I’ve had her up at the cabin for a visit, she freaked out when a squirrel ran across the porch.”
“It does seem odd,” Kandis agrees, carefully standing up with Slugger over her shoulder. His dark head is nestled against her neck, his mouth is slack with sleep, and he drools a little.
“Want help?”
“I’ve got it,” she says. She walks away, leaving me with my worries and no specific plan of action.
When she returns, her arms are empty. “He went down like a little angel. Amazing how much sweeter they look when they are asleep.”
“Yeah,” I agree. “And when they are in their bed, you know where they are. You know what’s weird, Kandy?”
“What,” she asks, sitting down in her chair and picking up her tablet and drawing stylus. Kandy had gotten bored staying at home when Charlie was a baby and had started making little digital sketches. She’d posted some of them, got requests for them, and soon she was selling her little doodles.
We don’t need the income, but it gives her a sense of independence, beyond her inheritance of the vineyard. It never hurts to have something to fall back on.
“There’s no ransom note. If Rylie was kidnapped, then there should be a note, a request or something.”
“Maybe she found someone she liked better,” Kandis comments. “I never liked Jason in the first place. He reminds me too much of Justin — both the name, and his actions.” Justin is her ex-boyfriend whom she’d caught in bed with her ex-best friend. Yeah, we both had entered our relationship with emotional baggage.
“He does seem like a bit of a slimy weasel,” I agree, thoughtfully staring into space. “I honestly can’t say that I like him either. I’ve got their prenup agreement on my desk, but I’ve not signed off on it.”
“Do you need to do that?” Kandy asks.
“If it’s legal,” I say. “I’m in charge of the family finances. All Rylie’s ever had is her allowance, and the stuff I buy for her.Shoot, she’s hardly out of college. I’ve not signed the thing. It makes me uneasy.”
“What are you going to do?” Kandis asks.
“I’m thinking about hiring a private detective to look for her. She took off wearing enough in diamonds and pearls to cover the vineyard payroll for the next two years. She could have been mugged for the gems and left dead somewhere.”
Kandis says. “I think a detective is a good idea, Rich. They say the first three days in a missing person case is vital, and you’ve not been able to find a trace of her in any of the usual places. For all we know, Mr. Slimy did the deed.”
“We’re on the same wavelength,” I say. “Delard knows of a couple of good men for this kind of job. I’ll call him tonight and see what we can get going.”
“Charlie and I will be fine if you want to go looking personally,” Kandis says.
I shake my head. “I’m no good at that sort of thing. I’d just mess things up and maybe get my sister killed by blundering around.”
“All right,” she says. “Try to come to bed before dawn.”
“I’ll try,” I say. She knows me well. I find it hard to sleep when something like this is riding me. She’s as fond of Rylie as I am, but knows she needs to get some rest before Slugger gets out of bed. The kid has radar for inattention. The last thing we need is for him to go missing, too.
6
LEE
My brothers saythat I’m a complete airhead when it comes to money. But even I know that it has to come from somewhere. I don’t want to be a burden on him, and I know that if I’m going to get anywhere, I need to do so on my own.
So, I ask Austin if there’s somewhere I can sell my strings of pearls and diamonds, or pawn them or something.
Austin is making pancakes for breakfast, and the neighborhood twins, Betty and Bobby, have invited themselves to share our meal.
Bobby says, “My mom always takes her sewing machine to the pawn shop up on the square when we run out of milk between paydays. Dad says she shouldn’t do it, cause it always costs us an extra five bucks to get it back.”
“Why does she need the sewing machine?” I ask.
“Cause Bobby’s always ripping the seat out of his britches,” Betty tattles on her brother.
“I ain’t any harder on my britches than you are,” Bobby grumbles at his sister. “At least I didn’t try to use a board for a slip-and-slide and wear the whole seat out of them.”
