Eve leaned back against the counter. “No. But you and Cate have full plates. You don’t have to keep checking in with me. I’m in excellent hands.” She cringed. Poor choice of words.

“In a literal or rhetorical sense?”

Of course her sister would home in on her faux pas.

“Very funny.”

“I’m serious. Cate texted me a photo of Brent Lange. Whoa! Hot guys like him never enter my orbit—not that I’d want to replicate your meeting strategy, you understand. There have to be easier . . . oops. Call coming in. I have to take this.”

“Go. I’m fine. I’ll see you tomorrow. Come hungry.”

“Never a problem. Watch your back.”

The line went dead.

Eve set her cell back on the counter and went in search of the stepladder to chase down the elusive dill. It had probably gotten pushed to the back of the cabinet.

But her mind wasn’t on cooking. It was on her sister’s suggestion that she invite Brent to join them.

Too bad Cate and Grace were so nosey. If she did ask him to dinner, they wouldn’t give him a moment’s peace the whole evening.

As soon as this nightmare was over, though, he was going to be first on her guest list. She’d make her killer moussaka—and she would not invite her sisters.

Brent could very well drag his feet about accepting her invitation, given his conviction that he wasn’t romance material. But nothing could be further from the truth.

And proving that to him was going to be her number one goal the instant the person or persons intent on wreaking havoc in her world were safely behind bars.

21

YOU DON’T LOOK like a happy camper on this bright, beautiful Thursday.”

Brent leaned back in his desk chair and scowled as Colin entered. “Jackson lawyered up—and clammed up. He’s out on bail.”

“Who’d he hire?”

When Brent shared the name of the attorney, Colin groaned. “He doesn’t play nice.”

“I know. I ran into him while testifying during a few trials. With this case, he’ll discredit all the circumstantial evidence in the first ten minutes—and I hate to think what he’ll do to Jeremy’s testimony if the boy ends up on the stand. Assuming we get that far.”

Colin sat. “He’ll do his best to punch holes in it, that’s a given. But on the bright side, Jackson can’t evade the reckless driving charge. There are too many witnesses.”

“His wife also walked out on him. He did let that slip during our interview here, before his attorney shut him down.”

“So there’s some justice, at least.”

“Not the kind I’m after.”