“Your face looks like it isn’t good news. What do they say?”

“I need to pull back and factor this into the big picture. But initially, it’s confirmation of what I suspected.”

“What do you suspect? We’re not talking anything criminal, are we?”

He hesitated. “No. Not criminal. More . . . negligent. Like Thornton was in over his head, but instead of asking for a life preserver, he kept treading water, hoping he could build a boat with one hand while keeping the business afloat with the other.”

I sank back into my chair. “Thanks for the visual.”

“I don’t want you to completely lose hope. But you might want to prepare yourself for potentially bad news. The sum total of everything I’m discovering doesn’t look good.”

If he wasn’t so well-intentioned and also working for free, I might have been annoyed by his pessimism. Winding Way was a thriving business. It was busy. Active. Beloved by so many people. There was no way it could fail. “Thanks for all you’re doing, Simon. I really appreciate your help.”

He stood. “It’s not a problem. So I’ll wait to hear from you, then?”

“Of course. I’ll talk to Ida this afternoon and look into the employee history as well. I’m sure she’ll help with whatever you need.”

“Sounds good. Thanks, Lane.” He walked to the door but paused before leaving, turning back to face me. “Jamie says you’re coming up to Bristol for Cooper’s farewell.”

“Oh yeah. I guess I am.”

“I’m glad you’re coming. It’s crazy—all of us together at home—but it’s fun too.”

The warmth and sincerity in his voice was a little disconcerting. Awesome. But disconcerting. “Is, um, Karen going to be there?”

The light dropped from his eyes the second I said her name. The change was so visible I immediately wished I could take it back. He shook his head. “No. She’s still overseas.”

“Oh. Sorry. That must be hard.”

“Yeah. We’ve gotten to talk on the phone a couple times this week, but I haven’t seen her since April.”

“That’s really tough.”

Any further response he might have given hardly mattered the second “You’ll Get Me Back” started playing from inside my desk drawer. Curse Randi and her incessant calling. Twice she was going to embarrass me in one day? Also, why hadn’t I silenced my entire phone instead of just the one call?

Simon’s lip twitched into a tiny hint of a smile. “You better get that.”

“I swear that’s not my regular ringtone. It’s my college roommate. The band . . . It was kind of our thing.” For Randi to call instead of text was weird. To call twice in a thirty-minute period? Far outside of the ordinary.

“Yeah, that’s what they all say,” Simon said.