“Well, I already did,” he said. “I gave you a chance to pick. You didn’t, so I did. Done deal. Go back inside and get another cup of coffee to-go.”
“You can’t tell me what to do,” she said.
He looked at her with interest. “Will you ever stop arguing?” he asked.
She frowned. “I’m not arguing.”
He rolled his eyes at that. “Well, maybe you should ask some other people around here if you are or are not.” He watched as she turned to look at the crowd that had gathered. Flushed, she glared at him and said, “You’re making me crazy.”
“Hey, you were already crazy,” he said, as he walked up behind her and ushered her back into the kitchen. He grinned at Levi, shook his head, and said, “You sure you don’t have somebody else to go on this detail?”
“You’re perfect,” Ice announced from the table, where she sat, holding her son on her lap.
“I’ve got to wonder what you define as perfect in this case.”
She smirked at Noah. “Ask me that question in a few days.”
“Just don’t try any of your matchmaking stuff,” he said. He walked over, refilled his coffee cup, and sat down beside Di.
She glared at him. “You’re not my partner yet. No need to be so chummy.”
He snickered. “Glad you’ve adjusted to your new circumstances.” She shifted over in her chair, giving him the cold shoulder, and he laughed out loud.
Dianne faced Ice. “Really, is he the best you could do?”
Ice nodded. “Yep. He’ll look after you and keep you safe.”
Dianne’s shoulders slumped. “Fine,” she said, “but he wouldn’t be my choice.”
“Too bad,” Levi said, with a big grin. “He’s our choice.”
She sighed. “Well, can I stay here for a few hours?”
“Of course,” Ice said. “If you had a swimsuit, we could go outside and enjoy the afternoon sun.”
“I didn’t bring my bag with me,” she said. “It’s still at the hotel.” She frowned and looked at Noah, as if it were his fault. “I’m sure that’s your fault. We should have gone to get it.”
His eyebrows shot up. “When? When I was carrying you unconscious into the truck or trying to persuade you to go to the hospital or maybe when you were sound asleep while I was driving you here.”
“That’s no excuse,” she announced, then gave him a sharp nod, turned, and looked away. When she noted Ice and Levi both grinning at her crazily, she groaned. “You know that I’ll be absolutely stir-crazy by the time I’m done with this.”
“You might be,” Ice said. “I think he’ll be stir-crazy too, so take some satisfaction in that.”
At that, Dianne burst out laughing.
Chapter 3
“So you seem well equipped here. Do you have a spare bathing suit?” Di asked her friend.
“I sure do,” Ice said. “We actually have a selection. Come on. Let’s get you away from going crazy with Noah and out to the pool, where you can relax, and we can have a visit.”
“If I could even do some laps,” she said, “it would take care of some of this stress.”
“Do you want to work out instead?” she asked. “We have a big gym.”
“The pool sounds nice,” she said.
“What about your hair?”
“Screw the hair,” she said succinctly. “If I can get a shower afterward, that’ll be okay. Wash and wear, that’s my style.”
“What about those wounds?” Noah asked. “Is it okay to get that wet? Don’t you have stitches?”
“Yes, Mother, but don’t worry. I’m cleared to bathe, so I’m cleared to swim, not that it’s any of your business.”
And with that, the women left the kitchen.
Within fifteen minutes, the two women and baby Hunter were ensconced on the shaded side of the pool, while Di floated.
“Hey, this is nice,” she said. “I really need to work out, but right now I’m just exhausted. What about you?”
“No, I’m good,” Ice said. “Just go ahead and do whatever you need to do to decompress.”
And, with that, Dianne floated for a while, and then she swam a little. Soon she picked it up and got into her crawl rhythm and kept going. By the time she slowed, she felt the exhaustion all the way through her. She dragged her body up out of the pool and crashed on the big lounger beside Ice, who was working on a laptop while Hunter slept between her legs. “You have a beautiful place here,” Dianne murmured. “I know you’ve sent me photos, but they don’t do justice to the whole atmosphere here.”
“Yeah, it’s great. We’ve worked really hard for quite a while to get it this way.”
Di sat here in comfort and felt herself getting sleepy. She murmured to Ice, “You okay if I nod off?”
“Of course,” Ice said. “You’re safe here.”
And, on that note, Dianne drifted off.
*
Noah walked out to the pool area to see the two women lying on the loungers. Ice looked up at him and smiled. “You okay to go in to town?”
“I am,” he said, “and was wondering about the time. I don’t know how much prep time she needs before her workshop.”
Ice looked at her watch and nodded. “I was trying to give her as much time to sleep as she needed.”
“As long as she’s in the shade, we don’t have to worry about her getting burned, but she’ll need a shower, and we have to get her back in time to get her presentation materials, I’m sure.”
“Well, if you’ve got nothing else to do,” Ice teased, “I’ve always got paperwork you can help out with.”
He shuddered and stepped back. “Oh, no thanks. Appreciate the offer, Ice, but that’s the kind of training I’m not ready for,” he said. “I probably should go down and get a workout in. You know? Kind of tune up in case there’s trouble—if you’re okay with that of course.”
“Sure enough,” Ice said, with a chuckle. “Come back in an hour.”
He nodded and headed downstairs. In the back of his mind he was still wondering about that car park and how she ended up in the hatch of her rental. Was it Maxwell or someone else? He crossed paths with Levi, who had just finished up a workout. “I know the hotel said they didn’t have any cameras in that garage level,” Noah said, “but do you think anybody else may have had a camera view?”
Levi stopped and stared. “Meaning?”
“Streets outside or anybody coming or going at the same time.”
“Yet we know who attacked her.”
“I know,” Noah said, raising both hands. “It just seems so weird, the way I found her.”
“I hear you, plus she had the head injury.”
Noah nodded. “And she said that could have been from the original attack, but I don’t know if it was or not.”
“A lot of unknowns,” Levi said, “but I wouldn’t let that part of it worry you.”