Page 24
The white sand was hot on my bare feet, so I slipped into flip-flops before making my way down to the ocean. Emma would have loved running here, but I hadn’t run all week. Instead, I’d been hanging out with Greg on the chaise lounges and walking. A lot of walking. Tonight, we were staying at the resort for an authentic luau. Yes, we were in Hawaii. Not the most original of honeymoon destinations, but I loved it. And Greg had known I would. Amy was going to be so jealous.
I walked into the water to cool myself off. We were on the resort’s private beach, so I recognized some people from seeing them in the lobby. We’d been friendly, but we’d kept our distance. If there was a mystery hanging around our resort, we didn’t want to know about it.
When I got back to the cabana, Greg looked up from his book. “I thought you were swimming?”
“Nope, I just wanted to cool off.” I held up my book. “I’m just a few chapters from the end. I need to find out what happens.”
“You didn’t read ahead?” H e held my gaze.
Smiling, I settled on my chair. “I’ ll never tell.”
“Hey, I don’t want to disturb you, but I got a call from the DA. Roger turned on Maryanne. He turned over surveillance that clearly showed Maryanne and Vince plotting against Kane and himself. He’d been next on the list for the brother-sister hit team.” He leaned his head back and closed his eyes. “I can’t believe Mom was married to the guy. Vince is a psycho and Maryanne’s worse. Beth says their parents were strict and probably abusive, from what she can piece together from her research.”
“Two sets of kids who found a home in their mutual dysfunction. It could be a L ifetime movie.”
Greg opened his book. “Beth’s getting some interest in her book about New Hope. It migh t just happen.”
“She should call Deek and talk to him about his agent.” I pulled out my phone and texted her a message, includi ng Deek’s cell.
After Greg went back to reading, I held my book open, but instead of focusing on the page, I thought about Kane and New Hope. He hadn’t been the nicest person, but he’d had a vision of a better future. And he was a terrific salesman. Except he couldn’t sell his family on chang ing their ways.
A man is never a prophet in his own backyard. Or something like that. Kane had been trying to change his ways, and that’s what got him killed. Like with most murders, life wasn’t fair, it was just life. Or, I guess, I sh ould say death.
Not like the situations in the books I loved. I started reading again. Good conquers evil and that’s the way it’s supposed to be. A hard-earned happy ending for our fictional heroes and heroines. That’s why I read. And as a bonus, tonight I got t o go to a luau.
Greg and I had finally tied the knot. We had a home in a town we loved. And we had Emm a. And friends.
Life was good.