Gia held her soaking wet shirt away from her skin and aimed the blow dryer at the worst of the wet spots. She needed to do her hair too, but her wet clothes had her freezing. Being cold hadn’t been a problem since moving to Florida, but it did make it feel a little more like the Christmas season. With holiday music playing softly from the speakers and the café decorated for Christmas, the warm weather had seemed out of place. Still, it was better than being cold, which she now realized.
A knock at the door interrupted her.
“Come in,” she yelled without turning off the dryer.
The door eased open and Hunt poked his head inside her office. “Hey, got a minute.”
“Sure.” Reluctantly, she turned off the dryer. “Come on in.”
He pointed at her clothes. “I saw Savannah on my way in. She said she was going up to the apartment to get dry clothes, and she’d grab some for you too.”
“Oh, great.” Thankfully, she’d left leggings and T-shirts upstairs in case she ever decided to stay over. Even though Savannah was smaller than her, she should be able to find something that would work for her. Gia unplugged the hair dryer, wrapped the cord, and stuffed it back into her bottom desk drawer. The desk Savannah had put in the café until Gia could afford something better, the desk Savannah’s pa had made her, that she’d taken to New York with her, and that Gia had stubbed her toes on more times than she could count. “I’m going to have to buy a desk.”
Hunt frowned. “Okay, I’ll bite. Why?”
“Oh, sorry. Just thinking out loud.” Gia grabbed the sweater off the back of her chair and put it on. It would do until Savannah got back. She grabbed a brush from her top drawer and started tugging it through the tangled mess of wet curls. “The desk is Savannah’s. Her pa made it, and she loaned it to me. Now that she’s getting her own house, she should have it back.”
“Come here.” Hunt pushed the office door shut, then took the brush from her hand and set it on top of the file cabinet. He wrapped his arms around Gia from behind and rested his chin on her shoulder.
She leaned back against him, grateful for the warmth of his embrace. “You’re going to get soaked.”
“Don’t worry about it.” He nuzzled her neck, sending a different kind of chill rushing through her. “I won’t melt.”
Gia wrapped her arms around herself, gripping Hunt’s arms. “What brings you by, other than warming up your girlfriend who had to ride all the way home with the top down in the pouring rain thanks to your crazy cousin.”
“Hey,” he laughed. “She’s your friend. At least I can say she was born into the family; you actually chose to befriend her.”
She couldn’t argue with that logic, so she changed the subject. “You’re done early. I figured you’d be at the station most of the day.”
He leaned against the desk, taking her with him. “Nah, I just read Isaac the riot act, gave him a severe warning about going near Mallory again, and dropped him off home before heading back to the station.”
Gia turned to face him and kissed his lip where it had started to bruise. “You let him go? Just like that? Even after he hit you?”
Hunt shrugged it off and slid onto the desk. “You were there. It wasn’t like he hit me on purpose. If Mallory hadn’t moved, he’d have hit her, instead.”
“Yeah, well…” The thought did appeal. Shocked at the thought, Gia mentally reprimanded herself. “I think maybe you’re turning into a big softie in your old age.”
“It’s not his fault dear old Aunt Mallory has a way of provoking him.”
“Seems everyone does, if you ask me.”
“Could be. He does have a bit of a temper, but he’s mostly harmless.”
“So, you don’t think he killed his mother?” Gia grabbed the brush from the cabinet, plopped onto the chair in front of her desk, and went back to work on her hair.
Hunt folded his arms across his chest. “I mean, I wouldn’t go that far, especially since he’s the sole beneficiary as far as we can tell now, but time will tell.”
“Ow.” She tugged through a particularly tough knot. “I suppose it will. What about Jeremy? Is he a suspect?”
“Right now, everyone’s a suspect, but I don’t have any evidence that leads me to believe Jeremy had anything to do with Robyn’s death.” He frowned. “At the moment, we can’t even be completely sure she was the intended target.”
“So, you think it was Mallory the killer was after?”
“Could be. Seems the most likely since she’s the one who gave her slice of cake to Robyn.”
“But why would someone want to kill Mallory?” Unless it was the girlfriend of some guy she hit on.
“Isn’t that the million-dollar question? And once we can answer it, we’ll probably know who killed her.”
Gia had come to love discussing Hunt’s cases with him. While he often stopped by the café, hung out for a while if he had time, had something to eat, she couldn’t be a part of his world in that way. Not that she couldn’t stop by the station and say hello, but she didn’t often. Chatting about his cases allowed her to share in his day. Plus, she enjoyed the fact that he trusted her enough to confide in her and often considered her opinions. “Have you found any proof that Mallory was at the caterer earlier than she admitted to?”
“No.” He boosted himself onto the desk to sit, then clasped his hands between his knees, settling in for a chat. “But we did find a surveillance camera a block over that shows a man walking away from Rinaldi’s and rounding a corner. The quality of the footage is awful, and the man is only seen from the back, but the build and hair color is in line with it having been Ethan Carter.”
“Jeremy’s best man? You think he was there and left before he showed up after Robyn was killed?” She set the brush aside and sat on the chair across from him, slipping her shoes off and tucking her cold feet beneath her.
“We think it’s possible. Now that we know what direction the man was headed, we’re trying to find footage he shows up on again, or a video that shows a car leaving the area he was last seen in. Anything that might point us in the right direction. At least then we might luck out and get a tag to run.”
“And if it’s his?”
He shrugged. “It shows he was in the area and lied, so we can pick him up as a person of interest and bring him in for questioning. Rattle the cage a bit and see what happens.”
“Why didn’t you bring Isaac in for questioning?” It didn’t seem like Hunt to keep picking someone up and releasing him.
“We did. A few times now. But we didn’t get anywhere. As much as he’s all bluster while he’s accusing Jeremy of murder in public, once we get him alone in an interrogation room all he does is whine for a lawyer. Isaac wants to talk, but he most definitely does not want to answer questions.”
“Hmm…” Maybe she’d have more luck getting him to open up than the police had, since he might not perceive her as a threat. Plus, he’d seen her with Hunt a couple of times now, so he might think she’d be able to sway him. Little did he know Hunt if that was the case, but it could work to her advantage.
“Gia.” Hunt’s tone changed, his voice deepening in warning.
“Yup?” She realized she’d zoned out for a second and winced.
“That ‘hmm…’ sounded like you’re up to something.”
“Not at all, just thinking I should try to get something done soon.” True enough.
“Uh huh.” He eyeballed her from the corner of his eye. “Just make sure you leave the investigating to us.”
“Of course.” Certainly, a condolence call wouldn’t be considered investigating. But just in case, it probably wouldn’t hurt to wait until afterward to mention it.
He hopped off the desk and held a hand out to her. “Anyway, I’ve got to get going. We just stopped by because Leo had to drop something off to Savannah, and I wanted to stop in and say a quick hello.”
Disappointment surged. With the chill of her wet clothes still embracing her, she’d love nothing more than to cuddle up with Hunt and forget all about murder, even for a little while. “Are you going to be staying at Trevor’s tonight?”
“Yeah, as long as nothing breaks on the case. Leo and I are planning to stay out there until after the wedding.”
“I still can’t believe they’re getting married in three days.” No matter how long they’d been planning it, the date seemed to be flying up on her faster than she could comprehend.
“No, me neither.” Hunt studied Gia, his expression soft, as if she’d caught him in an unguarded moment. He seemed like he was about to say something, then shook his head as if he’d changed his mind. “Anyway, I’d better get going. And, Gia…”
“Yeah.”
“Next time it rains, put the top up.” He winked and walked out.
Her gaze lingered on the doorway he’d just walked through. Could she really have a future with Hunt? Could she envision herself sharing the rest of her life with him, starting a family, growing old together? She wasn’t sure. But the one thing she was absolutely certain of was, if she was going to share her life with anyone, it would be Hunt.
Savannah shoved the door open and tossed a bag onto Gia’s desk. “There you go. Dry clothes.”
Not a minute too soon. She’d just started shivering again. “Thanks, Savannah, you’re a lifesaver.”
“It’s the least I could do considering I’m the one who got you soaked in the first place.” She hopped up onto the desk next to the bag and let her legs swing. “Thanks for that, by the way.”
“No problem.” She grinned. “Shivering put me in the holiday spirit.”
Savannah laughed. “I do have to admit, that was the only time of year I enjoyed the cold weather when I lived in New York. There was something so magical about walking down thirty-fourth street, all bundled up in that big thick coat, gloves, hat, scarf pulled over my nose and mouth so my lungs wouldn’t freeze when I breathed, especially when it snowed. I loved the big fat flakes that clung to my eyelashes when I was trying to take in the Christmas decorations in the Macy’s window. Throw in one of those amazing big pretzels from the corner stands, and it was just about perfect.”
Abandoning the thought of changing into dry clothes, Gia dropped onto the chair in front of the desk. “When we lived together in New York, in the beginning, at least, did you think you would stay?”
Savannah tilted her head and stared off into space for a couple of minutes. “I don’t think so. I think on some level I always knew Boggy Creek was my home and always would be, but I just couldn’t bring myself to settle down into that life until I at least tried to pursue my dreams.”
“Do you ever regret the years you lost there? Years you could have been here with Leo, starting your life together?”
“No,” she answered without a moment’s hesitation. “If I hadn’t gone, I’d always have wondered what it would have been like, if I could have made it on Broadway, ya know? Now, I always have the knowledge that I tried, that I got to take dance classes with real Broadway stars, that I had the courage to follow my dreams, and that I met you. That’s one thing I wouldn’t change for the world.”
“Even though you ended up hating living in New York?”
“Are you kidding me? I appreciate everything I have here so much more than I ever could have if I hadn’t experienced something else, all the things I used to take for granted when I was young.” She leaned forward, propped her elbows on her knees, and clasped her hands together, her expression turning serious. “Sometimes, it’s the difficult times in our lives that make us be able to appreciate the joy in a way we couldn’t have if life had been easy. All we can do is learn from our mistakes, take those lessons with us, and move on to something better.”
Gia had no doubt the conversation had just changed track from a fun reminiscence to something deeper. She also had no doubt it had something to do with Hunt. “And what happens if we repeat the same mistakes? It’s not like we have control over what other people do.”
“No, we don’t. So we have to learn to make better choices in the people we surround ourselves with. And if we get hurt, then we get hurt. The joy of loving someone so completely is worth the risk.”
Gia lowered her gaze to her hands in her lap. Why couldn’t she just let go and love as freely as Savannah seemed to do so easily?
“Anyway.” Savannah jumped off the desk and patted Gia’s shoulder. “That’s enough words of wisdom for today. Ponder that while you change into dry clothes and I go get this nail fixed. Tina squeezed me in, but if I don’t hurry I’m going to miss the appointment. See you in a bit.”
Gia said good-bye, then quickly changed into dry clothes. Instead of blow drying her hair, she simply pulled it up so the wet strands wouldn’t hang down the back of her dry shirt. She’d have to wear it up in a little while anyway when she took over the grill from Cole. But for now, if she hurried, she could put together a new basket and go have a chat with Isaac before Savannah returned. At least then, if he freaked out or turned out to be a killer, she wouldn’t be putting Savannah at risk.