“Patty?” A dark cloud passed behind Katie’s eyes. “Don’t know,” she admitted. “She has a place over near the river, but she’s gone a lot. Very private person—kind of weird, I think. Never got over her mother’s suicide.” Frowning slightly, Katie glanced at her watch and found a way to change the subject. “I think we should talk to Tiffany.”

“Now?” Bliss was stunned.

“No time like the present.” Katie dropped a few dollars onto the table and pretended that she didn’t hear Bliss’s protests that she would pick up the tab. “Come on.” Katie was already on her way to the door.

With trepidation as her companion, Bliss slung the strap of her purse over her shoulder. “Don’t you think we should call her first? Give her some time to get used to the idea?”

“Probably.” But Katie shouldered open the door and walked briskly toward her convertible. “Trust me, she won’t be that shocked. I already introduced myself a couple of weeks ago.”

“But—”

“Come on. You’re not a coward.”

“No, just cautious.”

“Oh, I don’t believe that one for a minute. No daughter of John Cawthorne’s is cautious.”

“Okay, okay.” There seemed to be no talking Katie out of her half-baked plan, and Bliss reluctantly climbed into her half-sister’s disreputable car. “You know, she might not be all that interested in meeting me.”

“Never know until you try.” Katie jammed the car into gear.

Bliss settled back in the seat and sighed. The truth of the matter was that she wanted to know more about her older half-sister, and if the truth were known, the fact that Tiffany was Mason’s landlord only added to her interest.

“This could be the best thing that ever happened to you!” Katie took a corner a little too fast and Bliss slid in her seat.

Or, Bliss thought, it might just be the worst.

* * *

The air-conditioning was on the fritz and Mason’s office was an oven. Even with the windows partially open, the room was stuffy and warm. Sweat collected around his collar and hairline, and he thought of dozens of reasons to take the rest of the day off. But he couldn’t leave quite yet. Edie was in the outer office and, as the door between their rooms was ajar, he heard her humming to herself as her fingers flew over the keyboard of her computer.

“So I’m not sure where I’ll be,” Terri said over the phone. “Bob has a place up on Orcas Island and it’s absolutely beautiful in the summer.”

“Dee Dee needs a permanent home.”

“So you’ve said.”

“Terri, for once, think of her.”

“Like I don’t?” she replied, her voice elevating an octave. “Do I have to remind you that I’ve raised her almost single-handedly these past eight years?”