Page 12 of Beach Cottage Kisses

And, hoping it wasn’t denoting a change in them, asked, “This case, is it bothering you more than most for some reason?”

Her job as close friend, as listening ear, was to hear what was said. And what wasn’t, too.

His shrug wasn’t clear to her. Was that a yes or a no?

He started to walk. As Morgan and Angel joined in, she fell in beside them. Trying to home in on the sliver of life bouncing in the moon’s beam on the waves enough to distract her from the tension suddenly tightening her insides.

“She’s guilty as hell.” Scott’s words, as lethal as they were, calmed her.

It had been a yes. It was the case bothering him.

Not her.

Or their weird sojourn at the wedding on Saturday.

“I’m going to put her away for attempted murder without the least bit of regret for doing so. She made a horrible decision, knowingly, with forethought, intricate planning. Interviewed hitmen. Jumped through hoops to pay him without a trace. The actions were clearly deliberate. And wholly wrong. Illegal on many counts.”

Iris nodded.

And waited.

There was abutthere. She could hear it.

Felt invested in it.

Because he was. And she was his friend.

“But it all comes down to motive.” Scott was always about the motive.The reason that made the crime believable to a jury. He found it. And he won his cases.

“She wanted him dead. That one’s pretty clear,” Iris said, putting her hands in the pockets of the leggings she’d worn that day.

“It’swhyshe wanted him dead.”

Invigorated by the conversation, the fact that they werethemagain, she said, “Doesn’t matter. Her motive was clearly murder for hire. Those are the only charges you have to prove. You’ve got her dead to rights there.”

“The defense is trying to prove that she wasn’t in her right mind when she made those choices.”

Seemed pretty cut-and-dried to her. And Iris frowned. Wondering what she’d missed. Hating that she was still allowing worry about them to interrupt their getting back to normal. “They had to come up with something. What else was there?”

When he didn’t answer she said, “It’s a common defense, right? I’ve heard you mention it many times.”

He nodded but was looking down. Not at the dogs. Not out at the darkened beach lit only by cottage porch lights. The waves, or at her. Which would have been his usual. His feet seemed to be holding his interest.

“She…went through a rough patch. Ended up in counseling. On antidepressants for a while—”

“A lot of people struggle at different points in their lives,” Iris shot back. Interrupting him. Suffering, being on medication to regulate emotions, was absolutely not any indication of one being out of their right mind, nor did it serve as permission to commit murder.

If it had been…

Just…no.

“She lost her job. And then a second one. Crying in class.Having panic attacks. As an elementary schoolteacher, that pretty much tanked her career. Developed a type of waking coma where she’d stop talking in the middle of a conversation and just stare into space, sometimes for five minutes or more, not remembering what she was talking about when she came to. Her pysche’s way of checking out because she couldn’t cope…”

That time when he paused, Iris didn’t say a word. Scott was struggling. And had come down the beach to her.

Nothing else mattered.

“Her psychiatric staff finally determined that it was all caused by her high-profile, hugely visible husband being neglectful of her. He worked ungodly hours. Didn’t call. Missing appointments. Social engagements with her friends and family. Had at least one affair. But wouldn’t divorce her because of his image. Due to the prenuptial agreement, if she sued him for divorce, she lost everything. So she sued him for emotional distress.”