by Natalie Ann
“Ohhh, secret passages and all.”
“Wiseass,” Eli said. But when she heard footsteps she turned and saw Griffin standing there in jeans and T-shirt like Eli. Neither of them were dressed as fancy as they normally were on the floor of the casino. The guy was built but not like a bodybuilder. She had a feeling he might not have much fat on him and didn’t need the bulk to take someone down.
Eli was just over six foot, but Griffin had an inch or so over him.
“Hi,” she said to the guy that still screamed military with his short-cropped cut and clean-shaven face.
“Griffin Zale, I don’t believe you’ve officially met one of my many cousins. This is Dr. Ava Mills.”
“Nice to meet you,” Griffin said, coming forward and shaking hands, then turning and making himself right at home getting coffee and popping a bagel into the toaster.
“Can I get you something to eat?” Eli said. “Griffin, put another in for me.”
“He’s your maid too?” she asked.
Griffin laughed and turned. “I like her. She has spunk.” It was the first time she’d seen the guy smile when he was normally so stoic.
Eli snorted. “A lot of the women in my family have it. No, Griffin isn’t my maid and if you weren’t here he might have told me to do it myself but in much more colorful terms. I like to yank his chain knowing he won’t do it with company.”
These two seemed to have an interesting relationship, but it wasn’t why she was here. “So, do I need to fill you two in on what is going on?”
“We know the gist of it,” Eli said. “I’m just listening, so talk to Griffin as he is doing all the work on it.”
“Thank you again,” she said to Eli and then turned to Griffin. “And to you too for doing this. I’m sure Eli works you harder than he needs to. He’s pretty high maintenance and we all know it.”
Griffin cracked a grin. “I work for not only Eli but the family as well.”
She hadn’t known that. “You do?”
“Not like you think,” Eli said. “Griffin works for the casino, but, as you know, my father has a stake in the casino and then in multiple other businesses. You know how things are done here.”
She did. The Bond family took care of their own. “Well, what I know is that someone stole my identity about six months ago. When I went to get a loan, my credit was dinged and thankfully the bank president called me directly before anyone else could see it and Seth managed to keep it quiet.”
“Seth Young?” Eli asked.
“Yes. He said he works with a lot of the family on the island and that is why he took care of this situation.”
“Good guy,” Eli said. “Very private and secure. You can trust it won’t go any further in the bank.”
“So he said. He’s been very helpful and was extremely understanding of my plight. Hailey and he have been working on getting the cards taken out in my name stopped and filing papers of fraud to get the debt wiped. My social security number has been locked not allowing anyone to do anything with that right now either.”
“So you feel like your life is frozen?” Griffin asked.
“Pretty much. I shouldn’t feel that way. I’ve got money. My legitimate bills are being paid and on time like always. I’m trying to continue on as if nothing is going on because I can’t fast track this the way I’d like.”
“These things take time,” Eli said. “But if anyone can figure out who the person is, it’s Griffin.”
She pulled out an envelope from her purse. “Here are the transactions on two of the cards. Hailey is still waiting to get the information on the other three. Seth locked down all my bank accounts so no one can touch them for payment or to withdraw any money.”
“This will help,” Griffin said. “With your permission, can I contact Seth and Hailey?”
“Of course.”
“I’ll need your social security number, date of birth, and any passwords you might normally use for things.” She hesitated and he laughed. “I won’t open any cards in your name, I promise. If I need them bad enough, I’ve got all of Eli’s information.”
Eli laughed. “I’d trust him with my life. I obviously trust him with my identity. Of course he couldn’t pass for me. He’s not as handsome.”
She wasn’t so sure of that. Eli had a polished look to him that had no problem attracting the ladies that she’d heard of. Griffin was more of a bad boy and she suspected he could get his fair share.
That wasn’t her concern either way though. “Do you have something for me to write it all down on?”
Griffin opened a drawer as if this were his own kitchen and grabbed a pen and pad to push toward her. She put the information down without her name and pushed it back.
“I’ll get to work on this and we’ll be in touch,” Griffin said. His bagel had popped up and he put peanut butter on it and then left, leaving Eli’s there for him to do himself.
“I have to ask,” she said. “What is the deal with you two?”
“Meaning what?” Eli asked. “You don’t think there is anything romantic between us, do you?”
The shocked look on Eli’s face made her howl with laughter. “Of course not. It’s just you seem almost as comfortable with him as you do your brothers.”
“I am. Maybe more so. As I said, I trust him with my life. He feels the same about me. You’re in good hands and we are all here to help you with this. And if you can’t find a place to stay until this is straightened out, I’ll find you a room here. I’ve got spots and am always bumping people up.”
“That’s nice, Eli. I appreciate it. I’ll figure it out. I can stay with my parents as long as I need to and Drew has his eyes open for any rentals the company might have. Then I won’t have to worry about a background and credit check.”
“He’ll find you something, but the offer stands.”
“Thanks,” she said. “And I’ll get out of your way, as I’m sure you’ve got a lot of schmoozing to do with guests.”
“That’s the fun of it all,” Eli said, laughing.
When she was driving back to her parents for the day she wondered when she’d get to have some fun herself.
It’d been a week since she’d talked to Seth and she was kind of bummed over that. Guess he wasn’t ready like she predicted and she’d just have to move on with trying to get control of her own life.
Only later that night, her phone rang when she was watching TV with her parents. Talk about an exciting life in your thirties.
“Hello,” she said, seeing it was Seth and walking out of the room to take the call. She knew her smile filled her face and her parents would be questioning her when she returned.
“Ava. I hope it’s not too late.”
“It’s just after eight. If that was too late that would mean I’m a pretty boring person. I never thought I was, but all things considered in my life right now, maybe I need that.”
He laughed on the other end. “We could all use some quiet time. Myself included. I just got Adele in bed and it’s the first free moment I’ve had. My mother who watches her for me went on a cruise and won’t be back until Tuesday so I’ve been on vacation and entertaining Adele.”
Which meant he probably didn’t sit down much. “That sounds like fun.”
“It can be, but it’s exhausting too.”
“I hope that you’re calling at eight on a Saturday for personal reasons and not professional ones.”
“You did say to call when I was ready. I am. I think I have been. Sorry, I’m rambling. I don’t want you to think I haven’t dated because I have, but it’s hard.”
“I get it,” she said. “And I did wonder if Adele put you on the spot and maybe I shouldn’t have jumped on it. I guess I took advantage of it and it could have backfired on me.”
“Or pushed me,” he said. “Would you like to get dinner sometime? My mother will be back in town this week, as I said. So I couldn’t do anything until next weekend. If you are on the island.”
“
I’m on call next weekend, so that wouldn’t work,” she said. Figures it would fall that way.
“How about the following weekend or should we wait until you are here permanently? It’s just about a month.”
She didn’t want to wait that long. Of course if she went on a date with him in two weeks she’d have to stay on the island and then her parents would know. Did it really matter at this point?
“I can do the following weekend. Why don’t you get back to me on a time and place and I’ll make it work.”
“I can do that,” he said. “Have a great night.”
Guess they weren’t going to sit there and chat and it was probably for the best. “You too.”
She walked back into the living room and her mother looked ready to pounce like a tiger going in for the meal. “Was that Seth?”
“You know it was,” she said. “And yes, he asked me on a date which will be in two weeks since I’m on call next week. As long as you don’t mind me staying the night here again because I’m sure it might be too late to catch the ferry back.”
“Of course we don’t mind,” her father said. Then he looked at her mother. “And we won’t watch the clock waiting for you to come home and won’t drill you either.”
She grinned at her mother’s fallen face. “Fine,” her mother said.
“Deal,” she said and got comfortable to finish watching the movie that was playing.
11
Make It Clear
Last weekend didn’t work out the way Seth had planned.
Here he was all excited over the date that was scheduled with Ava, but Adele started to come down with a cold and he wouldn’t leave her with his mother so he could spend time with a woman.
His mother had told him to go and she had it covered, but the guilt was too great.
Ava said she understood and thankfully she wasn’t on call this weekend either so they could reschedule. It probably worked out for the best and would save him from having to explain that his daughter had to come first.
He shouldn’t be as nervous as he was, but found out it was hard to stop that.
“Where are you going, Daddy?” Adele asked when he was in the bathroom combing his hair. He wasn’t dressed in a suit and tie like he wore daily to work. The one thing he was used to but didn’t care about. The banking institution was still old school like law. Suits and ties were the norm.
“Out to dinner with a friend,” he said. He didn’t want to lie to her but wasn’t sure he wanted to say who.
“Is it Ava?”
So much for not saying and, again, he didn’t want to lie. Adele had been asking about Ava for weeks and when she’d get to learn how to braid. He’d been trying to teach his daughter himself and found it wasn’t as easy to be the teacher as it was the student.
“It is.”
“Yay. Is she coming here again?”
“Not tonight,” he said, looking over at her. This was hard. He wasn’t ready to let his daughter know about dating, but how would he address this? “This is just the two of us.”
“Because you helped her once and need to again?” Adele asked.
He forgot how his daughter remembered everything or things he wasn’t so sure he wanted her to. “Something like that,” he said. “I think I hear Grandma downstairs. Why don’t you go down and say hi.”
“Okay,” Adele said, taking off on a run and letting him finish getting ready. Not that there was much to do. He picked up the cologne, then put it down. No, too much, he was thinking.
Why was this so hard?
He turned when he heard footsteps and saw his mother in the doorway. “Struggling?”
“It’s not my first date, you know, since Ellen passed away.”
“No, but it’s the first time you’ve taken this long off before trying again. You weren’t ready before. You said you are now. It’s different in your mind.”
“I suppose. I don’t know if anything will come of this and I’m not planning on it.”
“But you’d like the possibility,” his mother said. “It’s different because she knows about Adele when some of the other women didn’t going in. She knows your situation too. It saves you from explaining that.”
“True. I felt bad canceling last week.”
“Which you didn’t need to do. Adele had the sniffles and a slight cough that lasted for three days. I’m not sure if you got cold feet, but since you rescheduled it right away I figured it wasn’t that.”
“No, it wasn’t.”
“Then it was guilt?”
“Yes,” he said. “Adele has to come first.”
“And she does and I’m sure Ava is completely aware of that.”
“I think so. If not, I’ll make it clear tonight.”
His mother laughed. “She’s probably pretty smart so don’t drill it home like you tend to do and insult her.”
It might be a good reminder for him. He was used to doing things and having no one to answer to.
“Will do,” he said.
“Now stop fussing. You look fine.” He grinned and walked out of the bathroom and into his closet to grab a pair of shoes. “Are you picking her up?”
“No. We are meeting. She’s staying at her parents’ tonight. I didn’t offer and I got the feeling she was good with that too.”
“Is she going to be living with them when she transfers here?” his mother asked.
“No clue. She was looking for a place to buy or rent, but real estate is limited. I’m sure she’ll let me know more tonight.”
He felt that was a good enough explanation for his mother without going into Ava’s personal issues. It wasn’t Ava’s fault that her credit was shot and he didn’t want his mother judging her. Shit happened in life and if anyone knew how sudden a stinky pile of brown goo could smack you in the face and linger it was Seth.
“Have fun,” his mother said. “Don’t rush home. Adele will be in bed by eight. Don’t check on her, don’t call to say goodnight. She’s in good hands and you know it.”
“I do,” he said, leaning down to give her a kiss on the cheek. “I can’t even thank you enough for putting your life on hold and helping me out.”
“My life isn’t on hold,” she said “I’ve got an active life with friends. I enjoy spending time with my granddaughter. It’s not that much.”
“I should consider the before and after school program next year,” he said. “But before now she was just so young. She talks about her friends being in it though.”
“A thought for next school year. There are only about six weeks left now. Don’t think of it.”
“I’ve got a sitter lined up again this summer,” he told her.
“Take your Daddy hat off for the night. Now go out and have fun.”
He laughed. His mother was right. It’d been hard to step out of that zone, but he was determined to try.
And when he pulled into the parking lot of the restaurant he’d suggested, he noticed Ava getting out of her car, so he moved to park next to her.
“Good timing,” she said when he got out.
“I could say the same to you. But I will say you look very nice.” She had on a pair of dark gray jeans with a fitted purple and gray shirt that was cinched at the waist and showed off how tiny she really was. There were gray pumps on her feet, raising her up several inches and making his mouth water.
“Thanks. Better than my UGG boots or sneakers?” she asked. “You can say it. I do know how to dress like something other than a college kid.”
He grinned. “It’s funny. That is what I thought of the first time I saw you in my office.”
“It’s comfortable,” she said. “I’m on my feet daily.”
“And do you wear scrubs or dress up?” he asked. For some reason the only image he had was Ellen’s OBGYN and the woman was in a long lab coat or scrubs at the hospital. Nothing else. He didn’t think he paid attention to it on those doctor’s visits and just remembered the hospital. It wasn’t even the same doctor that deli
vered Adele, as Ellen had changed when she was pregnant the second time.
“I only have scrubs on in the hospital. During the day I’m pretty dressy. I guess you could say it’s the equivalent of your normal daily wear, but I don’t wear heels quite this high there.”
“So just for me?” he asked, grinning and feeling himself warm up.
“Special occasions,” she said. “I think this might call for one on both of our ends.”
“Really?” he asked. “You’ll have to tell me your reason for that when we are seated.” He held his hand out for her to proceed when he really wanted to put it on her lower back but decided not to push it for either of them. “Young,” he said to the hostess.
“Follow me,” the hostess said, bringing them to the back of the restaurant in a corner booth. He couldn’t have asked for a better placement and wondered if luck might be on his side for once.
“This is nice,” Ava said. “I’ve never been here before.”
“Me either.” He didn’t want to say that he tried to find a place not owned or operated by a member of her family. It’s not like all establishments were, but there were enough. “I’ve heard good things about it from some at work.”
The waitress came over and they placed their drink orders. He got a desperately needed beer while Ava ordered wine. He’d make note of what she liked for future reference. If they got past this night.
“So, you asked why this was a special occasion,” she said. “I think for you maybe it’s a turning point. Or so I hope and if I’m presuming, then you can tell me to shut my trap.”
He laughed. “I wouldn’t do that. And yes. I know you want to know more and wouldn’t ask. Or at least wouldn’t in front of Adele. I appreciate that.”
“It wasn’t the place and I figured if we ever got to this point, you’d tell me what you wanted me to know without me asking.”
“I will. But first tell me—what’s special for you about tonight? Or is it just you got me to meet you here?”
She laughed. “I am happy you called me. I won’t deny that.” He liked the sound of that. “But I might have a lead on a place to stay. Maybe.”