Hot Sauce (Suncoast Society #26)(29)

Tilly emerged from the office just as Eliza had been about to head into the office. Eliza and Tilly engaged in a quick, whispered conversation, high-fived each other, and headed back into the office together.

Vanessa missed all of this.

Lyle, however, saw it, his eyes going wide on the other side of Vanessa as Reed stared at him over her head.

Jenny leaned in and whispered in Reed’s far ear. “Suck it up, buttercup. It’s already been decided. Relax and enjoy.”

She patted him on the shoulder before straightening. “I’m going to go pick at the dessert table,” she said in a normal tone. “Nessie, want me to bring you anything, sweetie?”

She looked up, shaking her head. “No, thank you,” she quietly said. “I don’t know if I’ll be able to finish this or not.”

Jenny and Ken headed off.

He noticed that Vanessa’s energy seemed sapped compared to earlier. Probably the weight of everything hitting her, combined with the nervous adrenaline she’d likely felt before arriving at the club finally wearing off.

Her crash was imminent.

Taking a risk, he spoke up. “Are you doing anything tomorrow?”

She shook her head.

“Would you like to go out on the boat with us? It’s a shame to waste the day.”

“I…How long? I can’t leave Carlo.”

“Carlo?” His heart skipped. Had there been some crucial part of the story he’d missed?

“Basco’s—my dog.” She looked back down at her plate. “He’s my dog now, I guess.” She closed her eyes and his heart broke when he spotted silent tears falling again. Of course, Basco’s dog. He’d loved his dog almost as much as he’d loved his sister.

He and Lyle nearly fought over the tissue box, Lyle grabbing it first and ripping a couple out to press into her hand.

“We’ll just go out for the morning,” Reed said. “We’ll even come pick you up. We’ll be back by early afternoon.”

Jenny seemed to magically appear behind Vanessa from out of nowhere. “I think that’s a great idea!” she said. “What time will you guys pick her up?”

Vanessa hadn’t even officially agreed to it, but from the way Jenny had placed her hands on Vanessa’s shoulders, somehow, Reed knew, she would get Vanessa to agree to it.

If it was the last thing she did.

And if she didn’t, she’d probably sic Tilly and Eliza on her, the tag-team from hell.

“We won’t leave real early. How about eight?”

“Eight’s perfect!” All Jenny missed was adding an enthusiastic squee to punctuate her statement.

Rusty, sitting across the table from them, said, “You know, I’m honestly not sure that it’s a good idea Vanessa drives herself home tonight.”

Betrayal from their own kind. Great.

“I think when she’s ready to leave,” Rusty continued, “one of you should drive her. The other can follow. And, bonus, you’ll know where she lives for tomorrow morning.”

“Excellent idea,” Jenny agreed.

Vanessa nodded, but didn’t look up.

Tony, Scrye, Kel, and the others had already left the table long ago. He looked to Ken for help.

He merely shrugged.

Vanessa was still dabbing at her eyes.

He glared at Rusty, who gave him a serene smile.

“Are you helping?” he mouthed at his friend.

“I’m not hurting,” Rusty mouthed back.

Reed rolled his eyes. He didn’t know how Rusty lived with Eliza.

Wait, yes, he did. Rusty was submissive to her.

Having a few random inappropriate thoughts on his own was one thing. To suddenly have what appeared to be the bulk of their friends encouraging something to happen was completely another—and uncomfortable—thing.

He didn’t feel like the kid caught with his hand in the cookie jar. He felt like the kid with the sadistic parent who caught him with his hand in the cookie jar, and then proceeded to make him eat all the cookies as punishment.

Well, this definitely isn’t how I thought the evening would work out.





Chapter Twelve


Over the next couple of hours, Vanessa somehow found herself…subsumed by the others.

And she wasn’t even sure how.

It surprised her even more to realize she didn’t mind.

If this was the kind of treatment her brother had received when he first entered the local community, then she felt comforted to know these people had been his friends.

She ended up seated between Lyle and Reed at the table, talking with them most of the night about Basco, happy to answer their questions about what he was like growing up as well as them answering hers about him and the time they’d known him.

Yes, she realized logic dictated her instant affinity for them was due in no small part to their relationship with her brother. She got it. She wasn’t an idiot.

It didn’t mean she found it any less comforting to her, personally. Add to that both Eliza and Jenny seemed to think very highly of the two men, and it wasn’t difficult for Vanessa to want to trust them.

The club didn’t close until two, but by one o’clock she felt exhausted, mentally and physically. If she was going to go out on the boat with them tomorrow, she’d need to get to bed.