Can’t. She typed the word rapidly, then reconsidered. Why not go grab a burger with a couple friends from work? She did consider Ben her friend, and if she had to put up with know-it-all Jonah, so what? She didn’t feel like going home to Coquina Cottage and eating another solitary pizza by herself. God help her but she wanted to be part of the team. She x’d out the previous message and retyped, On way.

Ben and Jonah were seated at a table outside the wood-framed building, in the shade of one of the dozens of palm trees planted around the Chattaway’s deck area in old claw-foot bathtubs.

“I’m telling you right now,” Jonah said, leaning across the table. “We had our best recruiting year ever. We’ve got defense, we’ve got offense, this is going to be the year of the Gator.”

“Gross,” Drue said, pulling up a chair alongside Ben’s. “Football, again? Don’t you guys ever think of anything else?”

Jonah waved to their server, who arrived tableside with a menu and order pad.

“There is nothing else besides football,” Ben said, raising his glass and clinking it against his friend’s. “And gaming. And women. What took you so long? We were about to give up on you.”

“Tell you in a minute. I’m starved.” She opened the menu. “What’s good here?”

“Get the Chattaburger and onion rings,” Jonah advised, taking the menu and handing it back to the waitress.

Drue frowned.

“What? Oh, I get it, you’re a hippie east coast girl and you don’t eat meat, right?”

He knew precisely how to get under her skin.

“No, asshole. I just don’t feel like a burger tonight, okay? Is it all right with you if I order my own food, or do you need to tell me how to do that too?”

She hadn’t eaten red meat in ages, but suddenly would have killed for a rare, juicy, greasy burger. Drue looked up at the server. “I’ll have a grouper sandwich. And a side salad.” She glared at Jonah. “And a glass of iced tea. Okay?”

“You were about to tell us what took you so long,” Ben prompted.

“I got strung along with my 7-Eleven caller,” Drue admitted with a sigh. “I really thought I might have my first referral of the week. Right up until I asked her the question about an arrest. Which is when I heard crickets.”

“Just as well,” Ben advised. “Brice hates slip-and-falls.”

“Then why do we have billboards and ads for them on the side of every bus in town?” Drue asked.

“Visibility,” Jonah said.

“Too many of those clients are hoaxers,” Ben explained. “Even if we get a settlement, it’s nickels and dimes, because their injuries are rarely all that serious.”

“Just remember, in the land of personal injury, the badder the injury, the better the case,” Jonah added.