“Loretta,” Meredith provided. “When you didn’t answer my call or texts, I phoned one of the Ellery sisters, and she filled me in. Poor Loretta. Poor you! My God, your daughter didn’t see that, did she?”
“No.”
And this conversation was sounding a little too friendly for Nicky. Not that she minded friendliness, but it felt strange coming from Meredith. Over the past seventeen years, they’d seen each other three times. Once at a fund-raiser. Then a second time when Nicky had run into Meredith in a restaurant. That’s why it’d surprised her when Meredith had shown up at the widow’s support group.
It surprised Nicky even more, though, when she’d found out what Meredith had wanted.
The woman made a sound of relief over Kaylee not seeing the body, and this time it was Nicky who interrupted her. “Look, Meredith, I’ve considered what we talked about at the support group meeting, but I don’t think it’s a good idea for you to stay at the Widows’ House.”
Silence. For a long time. “I see.” More silence. “I know I’m a divorcée and not a widow, but I can promise you I need the therapy and quiet time as much as the rest of you. I’ve been through a lot, Nicky.”
She didn’t doubt that, and Nicky wasn’t immune to the emotion she heard in Meredith’s voice. A nasty divorce was a nasty thing. But Nicky also knew Meredith had brought some of that nastiness on herself. Unless...
Nicky went back to what Clay had said about the flashbacks.
She hadn’t exactly spent much time combing the internet for info about Garrett and Meredith. A friend had sent her the sex video, and Nicky had read some articles about the troubles with the Granger family business. Trouble that had now been resolved, apparently, but she’d purposely avoided anything personal. Maybe that had been a mistake.
“Do you think Garrett will have any trouble being around Kaylee?” Nicky came out and asked. It was an out-and-out fishing expedition, and she didn’t expect much. She got plenty though.
“Maybe,” Meredith said right off. But like before, she paused. “Garrett hasn’t said anything about our daughter?”
Daughter? “Uh, no.”
“Well, he probably won’t. We lost her, you see. Stillborn. And Garrett was never the same after that. Neither was I,” she admitted, and Nicky thought the woman might be crying or close to it. “Anyway, Kaylee and our little girl would have been about the same age.”
Mercy. Yes, that definitely explained the flashback comment. “I’m so sorry,” Nicky said.
“Now you know why I need to be at the Widows’ House. I’ve always loved Z.T.’s old place. Always felt a peace and calm there, and I’m hoping it’ll help. I need to heal. I need to get better.”
Crud. How was she supposed to say no to that? And she was about to give in. Then, she remembered Garrett and knew this would be just another thorn in his side.
“I’ll get back to you,” she told Meredith, and Nicky ended the call before the woman could launch into another tear-filled argument. One that Meredith would almost certainly win this time.
Nicky groaned and put away her phone. Her quest for peace and healing was turning into a huge poop pile. And now she needed to sign that report for Clay. Which meant she’d have to read all about the dead man. Hopefully there wouldn’t be any photos of the body to accompany the report.
She stood, checked on Garrett again. Frowned again. Lady had leaned in even closer. Garrett wasn’t leaning, though. He glanced at the office window and met Nicky’s gaze. He shot her a glare, and that was her cue to get out there and rescue him from Lady. And no, it didn’t have anything to do with Nicky being jealous. She just wanted to minimize the crud that Garrett was having to face because they were all there.
Nicky grabbed her purse and was on the way out the door when she heard the footsteps, and she hoped this wasn’t another widow in search of sanctuary. If so, she’d have to turn her away. She looked in the hall to do just that. But it wasn’t a widow. Heck, it wasn’t even a woman.
It was Roman.
He came toward her, several widows trailing behind him. Not showing him the way obviously. Because he knew the way in his own home. No, she recognized the signs. They were starstruck or rather Roman-struck as she used to call it. He definitely had that effect on most women. Not her, though. Nicky had never had a thing for bad boys, and Roman was very, very bad.
“Nicky,” Roman greeted. As greetings went, it wasn’t exactly warm and fuzzy. “I’ve come here to evict you.”
NICKY DRAGGED IN a long breath, one that she was certain she would need for the argument she was about to have with Roman. Obviously, his brother had gotten to him and convinced Roman to oust them. For a moment Nicky considered letting him do just that with no argument whatsoever from her, but then she remembered there were actually women who needed the Widows’ House.
Including her.
“Roman, please, don’t kick us off the ranch.” Nicky figured she was going to have to say a lot more than that to convince him.
He shrugged. “Okay.”
Nicky took another long breath, but that’s because she was confused. The confusion didn’t clear up any when Roman took some keys from his pocket and dangled them in front of her.
“A friend lent me his RV.” He took her hand, put the keys in her palm. “It sleeps six so that means you won’t have to spend the night on Garrett’s desk again. I’ve also told Mom to put someone in my old room. Sophie insists someone use hers, too. That’ll mean fewer women will have to double and triple up. But the RV is for you. Consider that my version of an eviction.”
She hadn’t intended to kiss him but Nicky did. The kiss was purely chaste and on his cheek, but one of the gawking widows sighed.
“Thank you,” she whispered to him. “But how’d you know I’d slept on his desk?”
“I got it from the horse’s mouth when he called me about some ranching business. At least he said it was ranching business, but really Garrett just wanted to vent.”
Of course, he did. She would vent if everyone else weren’t doing the same thing. In fact, this had turned into a vent-a-thon where all the complaints were becoming white noise.
“I swear, we’ll clear out of here as soon as I can manage it,” Nicky assured him.
He shrugged again in that lazy way that most mortal men couldn’t have managed. “My brother’s going through some stuff.”
That was a nice way of saying Garrett’s life had taken a nosedive. “I knew about some of it,” she said. “But if I’d had the big picture, I would have just bitten the bullet and sent all the widows away.”
“Big picture?” he repeated. “You mean his baby?”
She nodded. “I only just found out about it. He must think about her every time he looks at my little girl.”
“He thinks about her even when your daughter’s not here. Nothing you can do about that. Nothing any of us can do,” he added in a mumble. Roman tipped his head to the purse she’d looped over her shoulder. “Going somewhere?”
“Clay’s office to sign a report.” She followed his gaze to the window where he’d spotted Garrett and Lady. “But I can stay if you want to catch up.”
“No. I should see Garrett.” He checked his watch. “I’ll wait, though, about twenty or thirty minutes. I enjoy seeing him sweat a little.”
Nicky