“Did you find that little vintage boutique I told you about?”
“Oh. My. God. Iglaïne is everything you promised. Thank you. If you’re a good girl, you just might get a package in the mail with a classic Chanel suit.”
“What?” Tina exclaimed.
“I couldn’t resist the sky-blue color and Austrian crystal buttons. It just screamed Tina.”
“But you’re a penny-pincher.”
“Not in Paris.” Seagulls screeched overhead. “Where are you?” Lily asked.
“Sitting on a rock at Oso Bay.”
“By the apartments?”
“Yep.” Tina smiled. “Vincent woke me up early, cooked breakfast, then left.”
“Wow. I remember cringing if I had to call you before nine on the weekend. What’s he got that I don’t?”
“Really want me to rattle off the list?”
“Please no. Well, the girls are ridiculously rambunctious from a total sugar high. And I’m in need of a hot bath and sleep. Check Facebook tomorrow—I’ll post pics from our motorcycle adventure. Love you, girl.”
“Ditto.”
As soon as she disconnected, her phone chimed again. “Mom.”
“Hello, Tina.”
They hadn’t spoken in a week. “Are you having a pleasant weekend?”
“Wonderful, actually—Dad took us to Chicago for a show and dinner.”
“How’s Dustin?” Their latest foster kid had anger control issues, but seemed dedicated to making his new home permanent. He’d been placed with her parents a year ago.
“That’s why I called, honey.”
Tina shifted, settling in for what she foresaw as a lengthy conversation. “Did something happen?”
“Nothing bad. After months of wrestling with a decision, we’ve decided to adopt Dustin.”
“Really?” Tina didn’t know what to say. It shocked and pleased her at the same time. Healthy and fairly young, her mom and dad didn’t hide their joy when she left for college. They immediately remodeled the house and started traveling more frequently. “What’s changed?”
“Us,” she answered without hesitation. “With all the blessings in our lives, we decided to give back. Dustin is an exceptional kid, Tina. Smart and comical. And completely determined to win over his big sister.”
Tina wiped a tear from her eye. Perhaps her parents were suffering from a delayed form of empty-nest syndrome. Or maybe they’d fallen in love with Dustin. Regardless of the reasons, she approved completely. “I’m so happy. Are there any legal obstacles?”
“None. We sign the final adoption papers next week. I’m sorry we didn’t discuss it with you sooner—we just wanted to be sure everything went through first. Now that it has, we’ve planned a getaway to celebrate.”
“Europe? California?”
“No. Padre Island.”
She hadn’t seen her family since last Christmas. “I could use a mom hug right now.”
Her mother laughed. “I’m thrilled to hear it. Do you think you could check on the condo and maybe do some grocery shopping before the twentieth? Plan on having Thanksgiving dinner together.”
“Absolutely,” Tina said. “I can’t wait to see you guys.”
Her mother blew kisses over the phone, then disconnected. Could today get any better? If it did, Tina might have to pinch herself.
Chapter 10
Vincent didn’t like starting the week with bad news. The background report on Kline Walker Barnes was waiting on his desk in the bar office. The son of a bitch had a novel-length criminal background without any prior convictions. Just the recent one for assault. He scanned the front page of the document again: suspected of eight assaults, even statutory rape in Arizona.
Money bought silence. The heir to his late father’s fortune, the man spent his time traveling and apparently harassing women. Only this time, the bastard picked the wrong girl. Sure that Tina didn’t know his complete history, he fired off an email requesting a late lunch with her.
She texted an answer: Miss me already?
He rolled his eyes and typed, Define miss.
According to Thesaurus.com, desire, crave, need, long for…
His gaze canvassed the room for a distraction. Whenever she confronted him this way, made him think about sex with her, his whole body suffered. He responded, From what I see, it means fumble, botch, and disregard.
LOL, she replied. Nice try.
Yes, he finally admitted. I want to see you again. Hester’s Cafe on South Alameda Street, 2PM.
I’ll be there.
He’d try his best to convince her to get more proactive about Kline. In his experience, waiting to contain a situation only made it worse. And if she didn’t take his advice, Vincent planned on visiting the asshole himself, with or without her approval.