He followed her guidance until they arrived at a café in the middle of nowhere. He stopped the car and she turned to him. “If I max out my credit card, can I use yours?” she asked.
“Sure,” he said and couldn’t stop his grin as he watched her get out of the car. Lacy was back.
Epilogue
Michael answered the door in boxers and a t-shirt. His hair was tousled and his eyes still crusted with sleep.
“It’s eleven o’clock in the morning,” Jason said.
“When I ordered a wakeup call, I assumed they’d send a beautiful woman,” Michael said. He moved aside to let Jason in.
“I haven’t slept until eleven since…never, actually.”
“Cool story, Grandpa,” Michael said. “Coffee?”
“Sure.” He eyed Michael’s couch, weighing its cleanliness before he sat down.
“Not that it’s any of your business, but I was up half the night trying to chase Suze away from my window,” Michael said, ending on a yawn.
“That woman is so squirrelly she was probably searching for her lost acorns,” Jason said.
“Worse, she was attempting to serenade me with a ukulele,” Michael said.
“Suze plays the ukulele?”
“No. And the only song she ‘knows’ is ‘Back in Black.’ If you’ve ever heard a tone-deaf person attempt to play AC/DC on a ukulele, then you’d know why I didn’t sleep. It was like listening to a cat being murdered in the middle of Hawaii.” He handed Jason his coffee. “What brings you out?”
“I hadn’t talked to you since the thing.”
“By ‘the thing’ do you mean the meeting where you forcibly outed all the Steele family secrets?”
“Yes, that thing. I wanted to make sure you were okay.”
Michael gave him the side eye. “You came all the way over here on your day off, acting cagey and nervous, to make sure I’m okay?”
“Yes,” Jason said.
“Is the next family secret going to be that you have a man crush on me? ‘Cause it feels like that’s where this is headed, and I gotta tell you I’m not down with that.”
“You’re Lacy’s brother now.”
“A fact you established with ill-gotten DNA,” Michael said.
“So I thought maybe as your first official act you could tell me what you think of this.” He pulled a box out of his pocket and tossed it to Michael who caught it deftly with one hand.
“It’s not my style, but thanks,” Michael said.
“You’re enjoying my pain,” Jason said.
“Immensely.” He glanced at the ring again. “Actually, though, it looks like her—simple, elegant, and vintage. She’s going to love it.” He tossed it back. “When are you going to do the deed?”
Jason tucked the ring back in his pocket. “When the time is right.”
“Word of advice? People who always search for the perfect time never seem to find it.”
“Did you read that in a fortune cookie?” Jason asked.
“Confucius say man who show up uninvited get unsolicited advice.”
“I think he also said something about wearing pants when you have guests,” Jason said.
Someone rapped on the door. “Could you get that? I’m going to grab a shower,” Michael said.
“Take your time, and make sure to pick out some pants,” Jason said. He pulled open the door and was surprised to see Lacy on the other side. “What are you doing here?”
“I’m having lunch with Michael. What are you doing here?”
“I hadn’t talked to him since the thing. I came to see if he was okay,” he said, which was only half a lie.
“You came all the way over here on your day off to make sure your friend was all right?” she said.
“Yes,” he said with as much fake humility as he could muster.
“You are the sweetest guy in the whole world,” she said.
“Michael’s in the shower, so I have about five minutes to change your mind,” Jason said and pulled her inside.
Table of Contents
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Epilogue
Last Resort of Murder (A Lacy Steele Mystery Book 9) Page 16