Gia pushed her foot against the deck, rocking the swing. An unusual cool breeze ruffled her hair off her face, and Gia was reminded winter was about to begin. She envisioned a beautifully decorated Christmas tree sitting in the front bay window of the house, and a zing of nerves sizzled through her. What if Savannah didn’t like the house? What if she was too nervous to go inside? What if she felt like Gia was throwing her out?
With another rock of the swing, she dismissed all of the what-ifs. Savannah told her she wanted a place of her own, and she’d be fine to go inside with both Hunt and Leo there. And, as far as the house went, what was not to like?
Mallory retreated to the side yard somewhere to make her calls, out of earshot of Gia’s eavesdropping.
Not for lack of trying on her part.
Hunt’s olive-green Jeep pulled over on the edge of the front lawn. and Savannah hopped out of the back seat.
Gia hurried across the lawn and yelled, “Surprise!”
Savannah stopped short. Her gaze landed on the “For Sale” sign on the front lawn, and her mouth fell open.
Gia gestured toward the house. “Do you love it?”
Leo got out from the passenger side and rounded the front of the car, then stood beside Savannah and hooked an arm around her shoulders.
“Oh my.” Tears shimmered in Savannah’s eyes and she shook her head. “Gia, I don’t know what to say.”
“Please, start with you love it and it’s perfect.” She held her breath and waited for Savannah to answer.
“I love it, and it’s perfect!” She squealed and gripped Gia’s hand.
“Come on, wait until you see the inside.” When Gia started toward the front door, Savannah’s grip on her hand tightened, and she hesitated. Only for a moment, until she glanced behind her at Hunt and Leo. Gia ignored the pause and moved forward slowly with Savannah’s hand held tight in hers. “You’re going to love it. Now, when you walk in the front door, I just want you to stop and look. Okay?”
“Sure.” Savannah shrugged, her attention consumed first by the garden and then the wide wrap around porch. “Oh, look at all the hibiscus plants.”
“I knew you’d love those.” Gia pushed the front door open then stepped back for Savannah and Leo to walk in together.
One step in, they both stopped and stared through the great room to the pool.
Savannah shot Gia a wide grin.
Yes! She gave a mental fist pump.
“So, do your friends love it as much as you do?” Mallory folded her arms across her chest and leaned a hip against the railing. She peered from beneath her lashes at Hunt, then glanced at Gia and straightened up.
Hmm…interesting. Were they friends of a sort now? Did Mallory consider Hunt off limits because Gia had listened while she talked? Come to think of it; why did she open up so freely to Gia? Could it possibly have something to do with the fact that her boyfriend was the police captain in charge of Robyn’s case?
Was Mallory doing the same thing to Gia that she’d done to Robyn when she positioned herself as her maid of honor? Using her? Gia hated feeling that way, hated being suspicious when Mallory might well have just needed someone to talk to. She smiled at Mallory. Whatever the reason, it couldn’t hurt to let her know she appreciated her laying off the flirtatious routine. “I’m pretty sure they love it, then again, they haven’t stopped oohing and aahing long enough to actually tell me.”
She laughed as she followed Savannah and Leo into the house.
Hunt took Gia’s hand and kissed her temple. “You did good. I can see them living here.”
Warmth spread through her as they stepped inside and stopped in the doorway. She gripped his arm with her free hand and laid her head against his shoulder. “Me too. It’s perfect, isn’t it?”
“Wow. I’ll say it’s perfect. Look at that pool area. I can already smell the steaks grilling out there.” His stomach growled, and he pressed a hand against it and grinned.
“And you haven’t even seen the back yard yet.” Mallory set her purse on the breakfast bar and her phone beside it, then pointed toward the window over the kitchen sink, which overlooked another acre of property, surrounded on three sides by towering pine trees and giant moss-covered oaks.
“Incredible.” Gia set her bag beside Mallory’s. If all went as well as she hoped once Savannah and Leo returned from touring the rest of the house, they might be there for a while. She moved to stand beside Mallory at the window.
A swing, made from a plank with two ropes knotted through it, hung from one branch of a huge oak, swaying gently in the soft breeze. For Gia, it was the perfect touch to make the house feel like a home.
“Did you see the bedrooms? And the master bath?” Savannah rushed into the kitchen and threw her arms around Gia’s neck. “I don’t know how I can ever thank you for this, Gia.”
Gia hugged her back, thrilled to be a part of making Savannah’s dreams come true while selfishly keeping her nearby. She stepped back and laughed, then wiped a stray tear that had tipped over and tracked down her cheek. “Actually, I wanted to give you and Leo space to look around together first, so I haven’t seen the rest of the house yet.”
Savannah grinned from ear to ear. “Well, it’s perfect! No, it’s beyond perfect. It’s amazing, it’s stupendous, it’s…It’s home.”
“I can’t tell you how happy I am for both of you.”
“Well, you gave Leo and me time to look at the house together, and I appreciate that, but now you have got to see this tub.” Savannah hooked her arm through Gia’s and hauled her toward the hallway, chattering a mile a minute about how amazing the house was.
She wasn’t wrong, the master suite was just as perfect as the rest of the house, high vaulted ceiling, a set of French doors set amid a wall of windows overlooking the pool oasis. And the master bath boasted not only a walk-in shower with three shower heads, including a rainfall shower head, but a huge, deep jacuzzi tub you could lose yourself in for hours. In all, the master suite was the perfect retreat, like a tropical getaway within your own home.
Savannah returned to the master bedroom and pushed open the French doors, inviting the coolish breeze inside.
“So, what do you think?”
Gia whirled toward the sound of Mallory’s voice from the bedroom doorway.
“Oh, I love it. It’s perfect.” Savannah flung her arms out to encompass both the room and the yard.
“I’ll go ahead and get the paperwork started for you to make an offer,” Mallory said.
Gia glanced at Savannah to be sure she was certain. She didn’t want Mallory pushing her into something she wasn’t ready for. She didn’t read any hesitation in Savannah’s expression, but still. “You can take some time to talk it over with Leo if you want.”
Savannah waved her off. “Nope. We already talked about it. It’s perfect. In the neighborhood we wanted to be in, within our price range, and even better, less than a mile away from you, Gia. I could walk over to say hello any time I want.”
Gia shivered. Though she often walked around her yard with Thor—and her bear spray close at hand—she hadn’t yet worked up the nerve to wander around the neighborhood surrounded by the thick Ocala National Forest.
Savannah’s laugher echoed through the cavernous, empty room. “Don’t look so stricken, Gia. Not all of us are afraid of every little critter.”
Gia didn’t argue, simply laughed with her. Savannah grew up in rural Florida, so to her bears, alligators, and giant snakes were the norm. Gia hadn’t yet mastered her level of comfort with the Florida wildlife yet, though, in her defense, she was getting better.
“Oh, wait, you know what I didn’t realize?” Mallory held up a finger and frowned, then pushed the bedroom door closed gently, with only the softest click. “Unfortunately, there might be one little problem.”
Savannah spun toward her. “Problem? What kind of problem?”
“Well…” Mallory shrugged and put on her best pout, her full, recently polished lips accentuating the expression. “It seems your cousin and your fiancé ask an awful lot of questions, ya know? And for some reason they keep coming back to question me.”
What was she talking about? As far as Gia knew Mallory had only been questioned the day of Robyn’s murder, with a few follow up questions from Hunt earlier this morning. And Gia had seen Hunt grill a suspect before; his questions for Mallory had been tame in comparison.
“I mean, it’s not like I haven’t already given a complete statement of the events that occurred around Robyn’s tragic death,” Mallory continued, “and answered everything they’ve asked, multiple times now.”
Gia moved to stand beside Savannah. Whatever game Mallory was playing, she wasn’t going to get away with it. “What are you talking about?”
“Well, it makes a girl wonder if she’s a suspect, you know?” She lowered her gaze and peered from beneath her thick lashes, a move that might have had more of an effect on an unsuspecting man.
It only served to irritate Gia further.
“And I’m sure it would be a conflict of interest for a suspect in a murder investigation to sell a house to one of the investigating officers.” She folded one arm across her body and tapped a dagger sharp French manicured nail against her lips.
Who said anything about her being a suspect? As far as Gia knew, she wasn’t suspected of anything, though she did suspect Mallory had lied to Hunt about being late for the tasting. And now here she was trying to manipulate some part of the investigation, though Gia wasn’t quite sure just exactly what her goal was.
Mallory’s perfectly sculpted brows drew together in a scowl, which Gia suspected she’d spent considerable time practicing in front of a mirror. “It sure would be unfortunate if the sale fell through because of something like that. Don’t you think?”
Enough of this nonsense. Gia took a step forward, sucked in a breath, and opened her mouth to let Mallory have it.
Savannah lay a gentle hand against her wrist to stop her, then smiled sweetly at Mallory. “Well, bless your heart, dear.”
Uh oh. Whenever Savannah started out with bless your heart in that syrupy tone, nothing good was coming. Oh, well, Mallory had brought it on herself.
Savannah took a step toward Mallory. “You’re right, of course.”
Wait. What?
Mallory fluttered her lashes. “I’m glad you can see my dilemma. Now, what could we possibly do to resolve it?”
Savannah hefted her oversized bag higher on her shoulder and moved toward the door, continuing as if Mallory hadn’t said anything. “And in that case, since you are right and since I definitely want this house, I will contact the listing agent directly and make the offer through him or her. Thank you for your time.”
“Wait, what?” Mallory’s mouth fell open and her eyes went wide as she stumbled after her.
Gia bit back a grin as Savannah reached for the door knob.
“Wait!” Mallory stepped in front of her and splayed a hand against the door. “You can’t do that. I already took the time to show you the house, along with five others I showed your friend this morning.”
Actually, it was only four others, but who’s counting? Apparently, not Mallory.
“I know, and I appreciate that.” With a dismissive nod, Savannah sidestepped Mallory, then once again reached for the door. “Thank you for your time, dear. Much appreciated, but I can take it from here.”
Gia bit the inside of her cheek to keep from smiling. Mallory had clearly underestimated Savannah.
“You can’t just go somewhere else. That’s not legal!” Mallory was on the verge of whining. Clearly, whatever her angle was, she hadn’t thought it through before opening her mouth. Rule number one when you want to intimidate someone, know your opponent, which she obviously had not taken into consideration.
Savannah’s slight build and innocent, sometimes naïve, disposition often led people to believe she was a pushover. Those people couldn’t be more wrong. A lesson Mallory Levine was about to learn the hard way. Under other circumstances, Gia might have felt sorry for the woman. As it was, not so much.
“Of course, I can. I can do business with whomever I choose, and while it might be unethical under other circumstances, it is most definitely not illegal. Especially when the agent in question just tried to blackmail me into something, though I’m not even sure what, to be honest.”
Mallory’s complexion paled beneath her makeup. “Please, you took what I said wrong. I didn’t mean it that way.”
“Oh, then what did you mean?” When Savannah tilted her head, her smile was all sugar. “And before you open your mouth and stick your foot back in it, you should know that before I went to work for Gia as a waitress at the café, I was a real estate agent.”
“Uh…Oh.” Mallory deflated. “Look, I didn’t mean anything, I was just saying…”
Savannah propped and hand on her hip. “And for the record, I agreed with you, so what’s the problem?”
“You don’t understand. I really need this sale, and I don’t want to lose it. Please, listen to me.”
Savannah pursed her lips and shot Gia a glance.
Gia just shrugged. On the one hand, she really wanted to walk out of there and let someone else sell Savannah the house, and on the other hand, Mallory obviously had something on her mind, and Gia would be lying to herself if she didn’t admit to a certain amount of morbid curiosity about what it was.
With a quick glance at her watch, Savannah wrapped her arms around herself, cocked a hip, and tapped her foot. “You have one minute.”
“It’s not that I have a problem with Captain Quinn or Detective Dumont, it’s not even that I mind answering their questions. I certainly want them to find out who killed Robyn. I just want to know I’m off the suspect list, ya know?” Tears once again shimmered just short of falling over her lashes.
“No, not really. Why would you assume you were on the suspect list in the first place?”
“Well, Captain Quinn came back in this morning to ask me questions again, and my experience with the police has been—” She stopped short, a look of horror crossing her face. Clearly she had almost slipped and said more than she’d intended. “Look, I have to get going on this if you want me to put in an offer. While we’re here dilly-dallying, someone else could beat you to it.”
Savannah bit her lip. “I don’t know. I really don’t want to run into problems down the line. Like you said, I might be better off with someone else that I know won’t have a conflict of interest.”
“Please, there won’t be any conflict. I shouldn’t have said that, and I apologize. I just thought maybe, you know, you could ask those two to look elsewhere for a suspect. Robyn wasn’t exactly my friend, but she was once my brother’s wife, and I was very close with him, and I did like Robyn, and I most certainly wouldn’t have hurt her…” She swallowed hard. “Or worse.”
“Who do you think killed her?” Savannah blurted, catching Mallory and Gia both off guard.
“I…I…uh…I have no idea.” She whipped the door open. “And like I said, I’d love to hang around and chat, but if you don’t want to miss out on this perfect house, I have to get the offer in.”
Savannah held up a finger. “All right, fine, but there had better be no problems.”
“Oh, there won’t be. Thank you.” She started through the doorway.
“And Mallory?” Savannah called after her.
She paused. “Yes?”
“Believe me when I tell you…” She smiled and batted her lashes in perfect imitation of Mallory’s earlier ploys. “If you pull anything that costs me getting this house, or if you ever try to intimidate me again, I will ruin you.”
Mallory swallowed hard and nodded.
Gia watched her walk out, questions swirling around in a chaotic jumble in her mind, questions she’d love to ask at a more opportune moment. Hunt had said Mallory insisted there were real leaves and berries on the cake, though Gia hadn’t seen any. She definitely wanted to ask about that. And she really wanted to know what Mallory had stopped just short of revealing about her past experience with the police. But now wasn’t the time. This was Savannah’s moment. There would be plenty of time to track Mallory down and demand answers later.