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I sighed. “Alice, why are you stepping outside in the middle of the night?”
She blushed and looked away. Reena, however, had no problem outing Alice.
“She smokes when she doesn’t think anyone is looking.”
Alice’s eyes grew wide. “How did you know that?”
Reena rolled her eyes. “I’ve lived with you for over thirty years. Don’t you think I would have figured it out?”
Brian lifted an impatient hand. “It doesn’t matter.”
Reena’s eyes narrowed. “Like hell it doesn’t matter. Cigarette smoke will kill you, and I don’t want to be in the market for a new roommate. It was hard enough to lose Max.”
And then they were crying, Lord have mercy.
Alice sobbed. “I am sorry, Reena, you are right.”
Reena blubbered, “I just don’t want you to get hurt.”
Brian looked at me with incredulous eyes. Sometimes I forgot that he wasn’t used to the Otterville Falls crowd. And then it struck me that I was used to them. The drama, the petty fights, the fierce loyalty—it didn’t phase me anymore. What was even more terrifying was that I was beginning to really care about these people.
Sutton Enterprises still took up a large part of my day. Working remotely and doing video conferences had become like second nature to me.
Was I becoming...countrified?
“Look, if you are not going to use the system, then I will have a guard in place.” Brian was ignoring the sob fest.
I reached over and handed them a box of tissues. “We are very grateful that you came to us with the information. Can you tell us what the man looked like?”
This seemed to help bring them back to the present.
“It was a man,” Alice said. And Reena nodded her head.
“Yes, definitely a man.”
I could hear Brian’s jaw clenching.
“What did he have on?” I encouraged.
“Oh!” Reena’s eyes brightened. “He was wearing blue jeans and a baseball cap.”
“I think it was a ball team of some kind,” Alice added. “It was black with orange letters?”
“Giants,” Brain added. “Could they have been an S and F intertwined?”
“I think that was exactly it!” Alice sighed. “And then there was the scruffy beard. Couldn’t really see much of his face.”
“How much beard are we talking?” Brian used his hands to show length.
“Um, not quite Unabomber but distinctly past ten o’clock shadow,” Reena added helpfully.
I snorted, not sure where these girls got their imaginations from.
“You have given us a lot to go off of.” Brian got up and we all followed. “I would like to escort you home to make sure you get there safely.”
You would think the man had asked them to prom. The girls giggled and flirted themselves silly all the way out the door. I was just turning back to the documents when Candice walked in.
“How is she?” I asked.