Hot Sauce (Suncoast Society #26)(30)

“I’m sorry, I’m not trying to rush you guys, but I need to go home. I’m sure I can drive myself. It’s okay if you want to stay here.”

“Nope,” Tilly said. “I don’t want you out there alone. Sorry, but the nurse training is kicking in.”

“You’re a nurse? I thought they said you worked for a film production company?”

“Once a nurse, always a nurse. Don’t worry, I wouldn’t let you leave with these guys if I didn’t trust them completely.”

Knowing it would be pointless to argue, because she knew she didn’t have the strength to argue with Tilly or Jenny or Eliza or anyone else, she nodded her head. “Okay. I’m sorry if it’s putting you guys through any trouble.”

“Stop,” Tilly said. “Listen, we take care of our friends. I wish I’d known Basco was sick, I would have dragged his ass to the ER for you.” Her bravado faded, replaced by sadness. “Please, let us be here for you. He was our friend, and he’d want us to all take care of you.”

That finished Vanessa off, her tears flowing again. Tilly pulled her close, holding her as she cried.

“I feel so alone,” Vanessa admitted. “He was all I had.”

“How about your parents?”

“I’m an adult. I can’t ask them to drop their lives and take care of me.”

“Then all the more reason why you need to let us take care of you and get you through this. Believe me, this is what we’re good at.” Somehow, Tilly slipped her into Lyle’s arms.

She wouldn’t deny it felt good to lean against someone male.

Someone strong.

“Come on,” he said. “Give Reed your keys. He’ll drive you while I follow in my car.”

After a round of hugs and good-byes to her new friends, Tilly, Eliza, and Jenny walked Vanessa and the men out to the vehicles. Lyle opened the passenger door of her car for her after Reed found and hit the unlock button on the key fob.

“We expect to see you at dinner tomorrow night,” Tilly said. “We’ll all be there, don’t worry.” She turned to Lyle. “I’m adding you on as three for the RSVP.”

The way Tilly said it almost sounded like an order.

“We’ll be there,” he assured her.

Once Vanessa was in the car and her seat belt fastened, and Reed was situated behind the wheel, she took a deep breath and let it out. It was only a minute or so later when she realized he’d started the car, but they were just sitting there.

When she looked at him, he kindly smiled. “Where to, madam?”

A haggard laugh escaped her. “Yeah, I guess that would be helpful, wouldn’t it? I’m not too far north of Beneva and Fruitville.”

“Perfect. We live about ten minutes from there anyway. See? It’s not out of our way.”

“Thank you, again, for this. And for tomorrow.”

“You don’t need to thank us. It’s what friends do for each other.”





Reed hoped whatever this was, or was destined to become, that he didn’t do something to screw it up and hurt her. Whether they would be friends, or more, he desperately wanted to do right by the obviously suffering woman.

“How long are you taking off work?” Reed asked.

“I go back on Monday.”

“Monday? They only gave you a week off?”

“Oh, I could have taken longer. I actually have about six weeks’ of vacation time accrued. I didn’t want to.”

“Not to sound insensitive, but why didn’t you take more time?”

“I just couldn’t. Rattling around in the house without him there is hard enough. I’d rather get back to work.”

“I think he’d want you to take care of yourself, though.”

“This is the only way I know how,” she quietly said. “In a couple of months, I’ll go visit my parents in Seattle for a weekend or something.”

He snapped his mouth shut on what he wanted to say. He was a confirmed workaholic himself. Him telling her how to run her life was like him trying to tell Da Vinci how to paint a portrait.

He felt stupid for even thinking about trying.

Tilly, however, would be the perfect person to point in her direction. Now that Tilly was aware of Vanessa’s situation, and now that Vanessa had reached out to them, Tilly likely would make Vanessa her hobby—bringing her into the fold at the very least as a friend, even if Vanessa never got involved in the lifestyle.

He mentally stumbled to pick up the conversation and not let awkward silence fill the car. “Have you ever been out on a boat before?”

“Not really, no. I mean, a canoe and stuff. When we were kids. Not out in the Gulf.”

“Oh.”

“I like the beach, though. And Tony used to take me fishing when we were kids.”

It took him a second to remember Basco’s real name was Tony. “So what do you do for a living, again?”

“I’m a regional manager for Karr Partz,” she said. “I’ve got thirty stores under me.”

“Uh, wow. That’s impressive.”

He risked a glance over at her.

She stared forward, but shrugged. “It’s okay. It’s a job. I’ve never worked anywhere but there. I started out a part-timer in high school and worked my way up.”