Page 51

“You know better than that.”
“What’s going on here, Buck?”
He took off his cowboy hat and ran his hand through his long hair.
“You need to see a barber.”
His eyes opened wide, and he laughed. “Probably right.” The smile left his face. “I’m not exactly sure what set it off, but if I had to guess, I’d say your mother and Ali may have had words.”
He had to be wrong. That didn’t sound like either of them. “What happened?”
“About two hours after your mother showed up at your apartment with a month’s worth of groceries, Ali stormed out of it. She didn’t say anything until after we were off the elevator and headed over to her building.”
“Who was?”
“Ali and me.”
“Go on.”
“She’s usually pretty friendly, but not today. At least not then. She stopped at the entrance to the building and asked me not to come upstairs.”
“You went anyway?”
“Of course I did. As I told her, it was the job I was hired to do.”
“Then what?”
Buck laughed. “She tried mighty hard to slam the door. I think she might’ve hurt herself doin’ it.”
Before I could react to Ali being hurt, her door swung open. She stood on the threshold with her right hand on her hip. “I can hear you talking about me.”
“Have I told any lies?” Buck asked her in a tone that was far too flirtatious in my opinion. Where in the hell was Rock, anyway?
“You’re here. You might as well come in.” She waved her hand at me and glared at Buck, who just kept laughing.
I followed her into the kitchen.
“Can I get you anything?” she asked.
I nodded at the half-full bottle of wine on the counter. “Are you supposed to be drinking that while you’re on pain meds?”
“Do you want a glass or not?”
“Sure.” I pulled out a stool at the kitchen counter and sat. “What’s this all about, Ali?” I asked, waving the envelope.
“It’s a thank you note.” She set a glass of wine in front of me and turned to look in the refrigerator. “I’d offer you something to eat, but I haven’t had a chance to go to the market.”
“What happened between you and my mom?”
“We had a friendly conversation, during which she warned me away from you, and I listened.”
It was all I could do not to let my jaw drop. “You’re kidding.”
She took a hefty swig of the wine in her glass and refilled it with what was left in the bottle. “That was the gist of it.”
I stood, walked around the counter, took Ali’s glass from her hand, and set it down. She ran her hand through her hair, like Buck had, only she dragged it over her face. “How much of this have you had?” I asked when I opened the trash to throw the one away and saw a second empty bottle.
“I didn’t drink all of that one.”