A Call for Kelp by Bree Baker

Author:Bree Baker
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Sourcebooks
Published: 2020-03-09T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter Sixteen

I fell asleep on my couch, waiting for the nightly news. One minute my mind was racing over possible suspects, stolen files, and bees in the archives. The next minute my phone was buzzing on the coffee table and I was dragging my eyes open, trying to remember why I was on the couch. My heart seized at the sight of Grady’s number on the phone screen. He rarely messaged me without a prompt, and I could only imagine what new and awful thing had happened now.

I swiveled upright and grabbed the phone to read his message. Was someone else dead? Were my aunts in trouble?

Are you awake?

Kind of, I thought. Now that he woke me. I rubbed sleep from my eyes and raked shaky fingers through my tangled hair.

Yes.

I lied, panic and curiosity already winding me up.

Grady’s response was immediate.

Can I come up?

“Up?” I asked the empty room. Not over? As if he was already… Oh no. I ran to the window overlooking my front porch and spotted his truck in the driveway. Shoot! I made a mad dash for the bathroom and attempted to brush my teeth and hair at the same time. It was the adult equivalent of rub your head and pat your belly, and I wasn’t any better at it today than I had been twenty years ago. My brush was momentarily stuck in my hair as a result. I let it hang there while I rinsed and spat, then went back to freeing the brush. I ran a washcloth over my face and balm across my lips, then grabbed an elastic band on my way to the steps, wrangling my wild hair into a ponytail as I fumbled to the foyer on sleepy legs.

I greeted Grady with a cautious smile, unsure if the news he’d come to deliver was the sort that warranted one. “Come in.”

He followed me back up to my living quarters, and I set a kettle on for tea.

“Make yourself at home,” I said. “Are you hungry?”

His mouth said “No” but his stomach growled, giving away the lie.

“Okay,” I said, pulling sliced ham and cheese from the refrigerator and selecting a loaf of fresh baked bread from the pantry. I hit the preheat button on my oven before turning to face him. “What’s up?”

Grady’s gaze jumped from my bare legs to my eyes when I turned. He had his black cowboy hat in hand, held close to his chest, and for a moment I thought someone else really had died.

“Grady?”

“Denise told me what happened today. With Ryan,” he added for clarification, as if anything else Denise had done today warranted a late night face-to-face.

“And you’re here why?” I asked. To apologize for his au pair’s behavior? Explain it away? How was that his responsibility? And why did he think the event needed further discussion—unless there was more to the story, as I’d suspected.

“A couple reasons.” He watched me for a long beat before speaking again. “We know Mr. Butters separated from Wyatt and Amelia before the luncheon.

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