Eleanor busied herself with transferring the leftover vegetables into a glass container. “What do you want to know?”
Who is she? What put those shadows in her eyes? Is she involved with anyone?
He couldn’t ask any of those questions so he focused on the dozen other things he wanted to know.
“How did you hear about her? And how do you know you can trust her not to rob you blind?”
Eleanor’s mouth tightened with annoyance. “You might not believe this but sometimes I know what I’m doing. I did my research. She comes highly recommended and not just by Lucinda. I called other clients, who all had nothing but good things to say about her and her partner.”
That was something, at least. “That’s good to know. It’s not a question of me not believing that you know what you’re doing. I just worry about you. It’s kind of in my job description. I don’t want to see you get scammed by an opportunist out to take advantage of your kind nature and willingness to believe the best in people.”
Eleanor’s expression softened. “Jess isn’t like that. She doesn’t take any kind of commission on anything I might sell down the line. Her fee is standard and more than reasonable for the services she provides. Oh, and she’s Rachel McBride’s sister.”
He stared. “Seriously? The Rachel McBride we know?”
“Yes. Cody’s wife. Mom to those darling kids. The Rachel McBride who lives in town and has all those social media followers.”
That was certainly unexpected information. Rachel was tall, willowy, with a warm, friendly smile and long dark hair. She tended to wear flowered dresses and lived in a house with a literal picket fence.
He had only had one brief encounter with Jess but she had struck him as sharp-edged, independent, tough. Jess had short, choppy honey-colored hair, lean, sculpted features and a vague air of restlessness.
On reflection, he thought he could picture a resemblance in the eye color, that green that reminded him of the ocean on a stormy afternoon.
Rachel had moved to town around high school age, he thought he remembered. She had lived with Kurt and Jan Miller. He only knew that because the Millers’ older daughter had dated one of his friends.
“I didn’t know Rachel had a sister.”
“I wouldn’t have known about the connection myself, though I think Rachel had mentioned Transitions in passing to me. But my friend who recommended Jess mentioned Cape Sanctuary to her and Jess told her about her sister here.”
Rachel was married to one of the subs who often did work for Nate at his construction company. He had always found Cody a good guy, honest and hardworking. He had even socialized with the McBrides on occasion.
That made him feel slightly better about the whole thing. If nothing else, he would probably be able to track her down if she absconded with any of his family’s valuables.
“You’ve already gone through your father’s bookshelves and taken the books you wanted. Do you want to go through his office one more time to see if there’s anything else you would like to keep, before we start purging things tomorrow?”
No. He wanted his father back, he didn’t want to try holding on to the memory of Jack Whitaker through inanimate objects.
“I’ll take a look,” he said.
He hadn’t spent much time in his father’s study in the six months since his death. The scent of dusty old books and leather furniture hit him like a two-by-four to the gut.
He stood helpless for a moment, lost in his grief for the man who had wanted so much for Nate to follow in his academic footsteps.
He was picking out a book on tying flies and another collection of short stories by an author they had both admired when Sophie came in.
“It smells like Grandpa in here,” she said.
“Yeah.”
She inhaled, closing her eyes as if to absorb it into her skin. When she opened her eyes, he thought he saw glimpses of his sweet daughter before she looked away.
“I’m done with my assignment. My friend Maria texted while I was working and asked if I could go to a slumber party at her house.”
“When?”
“Friday. Her mom will be there so you don’t have to worry about that.”
Which gave him only about a million other things to worry about when it came to his child.
“Who’s going to be at this slumber party?”
“Just some kids from school.”
“Which kids?”
“I don’t know all of them. She goes to the Catholic school and some of her friends from there will be going.”
He raised an eyebrow. “Boys?”
“I don’t know. She hasn’t told me everyone who’s coming. Do you need every single name on the list?”
By her defiance, he suspected there was far more to the story than she was letting on. “Yes. Or at least the number of Maria’s mom so I can ask her.”
“That is so stupid. You don’t trust me. I feel like I’m living with the NSA or something. Why do you have to know every detail of my life? I’ll be fourteen years old in only five months.”
“Right. So that’s four years and five months longer during which I’m still responsible for keeping you safe and out of juvenile detention.”
“I might as well be in jail. Even prisoners get time off once in a while for good behavior.”
Maybe you could show some good behavior once in a while. Then we can talk.
He opted not to inflame the situation more by saying that. “I’m sorry you feel that way. I’m only concerned for my daughter’s physical and emotional safety.”
The look she gave him would have soured the milk of a whole pasture full of cows.
“I’m going home. My head hurts.”
“Fine. Put your phone on the charger when you get home. I’ll be there in a minute.”
She glared at him and stomped out. He followed and saw that she at least lifted her cranky mood long enough to hug her grandmother.
“Night, Gram. I had a really fun day today.”
“So did I, darling.”
After Sophie left with their black Lab, Cinder, in tow, Nate turned to his mother.
“You think I’m too hard on her, don’t you?”
She shrugged. “I think you’ve never been a thirteen-year-old girl.”
“Thank the Lord.”
She laughed. “She’s a good girl, Nate. But if you push her too hard to be who you want her to be, she’s going to instinctively run in the other direction.”