The Last of the Moon Girls(83)

“I’ve been thinking, Evvie . . .”

Evvie’s eyes narrowed. “Thinking what?”

“That maybe I’m in over my head. I mean, who am I kidding, thinking I can do what the police couldn’t do eight years ago? Maybe it’s time to put my energy into getting this place on the market and forget the sleuthing. All I’m doing is pissing people off.”

“You scared?”

Lizzy stiffened. She wasn’t scared. But things were starting to get messy, and on more fronts than she’d counted on. “I’m not scared. It’s just . . .”

Evvie folded her paper and tossed it to the end of the table. “There’s no shame in being scared, little girl. Not with what’s been going on around here. But if you’re thinking of throwing in the towel because people are in a snit, that’s a whole nother kettle of crawdads.”

Lizzy would have smiled at Evvie’s colorful turn of phrase if she weren’t so distracted. “I’m not scared, Evvie. I’m just wondering what I’m really accomplishing. All I’ve managed to do so far is remind everyone why they don’t like us. But as far as the actual case goes, what do I know now that I didn’t know when I got here? That Heather Gilman was a wild child who broke curfew and drank with boys—like half the girls in Salem Creek. That she dumped her BFFs with no explanation, and one of her old friends thinks she might have been afraid to go home.”

“It’s more than the police managed to find out.”

“Maybe, but what does it prove? Mrs. Gilman said herself that she doesn’t believe her husband was capable of hurting their daughters. And let’s not forget that he has an ironclad alibi for the night they went missing. No wonder the police won’t reopen the case. If Fred Gilman is really in the clear, there’s nowhere else to look.”

“So that’s it? You’re going to quit? Just go back to New York?”

Lizzy’s face softened. She reached across the table and laid a hand over Evvie’s. “This was never supposed to be permanent, Evvie. You know that. At some point, I’m going to have to throw in the towel and go home.”

Evvie poked out her lower lip. “This is home.”

“It was—once upon a time. It’s where I grew up. But sometimes growing up means growing out of things.”

“You can’t grow out of your home, Lizzy. Home is in your blood. It’s not just where you live, it’s who you are.”

“New York is who I am now, Evvie.”

There was a beat of hesitation before Evvie spoke again, as if she were weighing her next words. “What about Andrew?”

Lizzy withdrew her hand and picked up her mug, carefully avoiding Evvie’s gaze. There was no way she could know about last night. And what if she did? It was a kiss. One innocent, ill-advised kiss. “What does Andrew have to do with anything?”

Evvie pursed her lips thoughtfully. “I wonder.”

A ping from Lizzy’s cell phone spared her from having to respond. She tapped the message open, already knowing it would be Luc.

Call me, Lizzy. I mean it.

Evvie’s eyes narrowed. “Something wrong?”

“It’s just work. I need to make a call.”

She waited until she was upstairs to dial Luc’s cell. She had nothing new to report, no return date she could give, but his message was clear enough. He’d run out of patience.

Luc didn’t bother with hello when he answered. “Do they not have cell phone towers in New Hampshire?”

Lizzy suppressed a sigh. “Hello, Luc.”

“I’ve been leaving messages for over a week. Were you ever going to call?”

“I’m calling now.”

“To say you’re coming back?”

“No. But I am meeting with the Realtor tomorrow. Then it looks like I’ll be heading to the bank to arrange for a loan so I can swing the repairs and property taxes until we find a buyer. It shouldn’t take long to hire the contractors once I have the funds. Andrew can give me some recommendations on who to use, and keep an eye on the workmen.”

Luc huffed into the phone. “How ’bout I just write you a check for the taxes, and you leave today?”

“I’m not letting my boss pay the taxes on my grandmother’s farm.”

“It’s your farm now, Lizzy. And we both know I’m more than just your boss. Stop being stubborn and let me help you.”

Lizzy counted to ten, annoyed by his presumption. “I’m not being stubborn, Luc. It’s a kind offer, really, but this is my problem.”

“I’m curious,” he said coolly. “You dragging your feet wouldn’t have anything to do with Andrew, would it? It feels like maybe your attention’s being . . . diverted. Please tell me you’re not thinking of throwing away your career to chase some silly happily-ever-after with the boy next door.”

Lizzy struggled to control her temper. He was pushing her buttons, bullying her because she wasn’t jumping to attention every time he called. As if her salary somehow entitled him to a say in her personal life. “We agreed when we stopped seeing each other that we’d keep it professional, Luc. My happily-ever-after is none of your business.”

“We didn’t stop seeing each other. You stopped seeing me. But if you want to keep things strictly professional, I can do that too. I have a company to run, Ms. Moon. When I gave you that promotion, I expected to get my money’s worth. And instead of gratitude, I get the runaround.”