Chapter Sixteen

Friday, mid-morning, Aggie sat in the chair across from Richard Harris. For the past thirty minutes, she’d regaled him with fun, inspiring stories of Meemaw in the hopes he might want to ask Meemaw out. They were waiting for Max to show up for a meeting. A meeting Aggie forgot to tell him about.

Not that Max knew the mix-up was her fault. When she’d texted him, she made it sound like he’d somehow forgotten about it.

“There was this one time when Meemaw put on a wig and wore glamour glasses and came to an event at my school called Muffins with Mom. She proceeded to introduce herself as my mom to my classmate, Wanda Pratt, who’d been teasing me because I didn’t have a mom.”

“Your meemaw raised you?”

Normally, this was where Aggie would change the subject. But she didn’t because she needed to stall until Max showed up. “When I was four, Mom dumped me on Meemaw’s porch while she was at work.” Aggie refused to let her brain dwell on those long hours she sat waiting for Meemaw to come home. Afraid she wouldn’t. Afraid she’d have to sleep outside all by herself.

“I’m so sorry. I can’t imagine how that must have felt. What happened when Meemaw found you?”

“She invited me inside, and we had a tea party. We talked about all the adventures we would have while waiting for Mom to come back and take me home.”

“But she never did?”

“Nope.”

Richard stood and stepped to the windows. “Do you have any memories of your mom?” For an older gentleman, he was well preserved. He and Meemaw would make a cute couple. Maybe she should just offer him Meemaw’s number.

“I remember her dropping me inside a trash bin outside a restaurant and telling me to dig through the trash for food.” She hadn’t meant to share that memory, but somehow, knowing Richard came from poverty as well, it seemed safe to do so. But she didn’t mention she also had to search for half-empty liquor bottles while in the dumpster.

Richard jerked around and swore under his breath. “That’s one thing I never had to do.”

Aggie shifted and tucked her feet up on the cushions. “Meemaw told me to look at it as a blessing. It made me life tough. I’m practically invincible.”

He didn’t laugh. “Have you ever tried to find her?”

She glanced down at her hands. “Meemaw is all the family I need.” Part of the statement was true. She definitely needed no one else to love her.

Richard sat down and leaned forward. When she looked at him, his expression was intent. “That’s not what I asked.”

How had they gotten so personal? “I have. But to no avail.”

“How hard have you tried?” He leaned back, folded his arms across his chest.

She dropped her feet back to the floor. Her brain told her to stand up and flee this conversation. But she didn’t listen. “Any time I have extra cash, I give it to a detective who uses it to search for Mom.” He wasn’t actually a detective. More of a dropout with amazing computer tracking skills.

Richard pulled at his earlobe. “Any leads?”

Why did he care? Then again, as long as they kept talking, the less chance for him to get mad because Max still hadn’t shown. “Not yet.”

“How does Meemaw feel about your search?”

“She doesn’t know. It would break her heart.” Aggie inhaled slowly to steady her emotions and laced her fingers in her lap. “She would worry she didn’t do enough for me growing up. Which is anything but the truth.” Meemaw had saved her.

Richard removed a business card from a silver cardholder, scribbled something on the back. “This is the number of a guy I know who is superb at finding people who don’t want to be found. Call him and tell him I recommended him. Tell him to give you the Richard Harris discount.”

She didn’t reach for the card. Temptation and reality warred with each other. It was like taking the packet of information one needed in order to sign up for the Washington, D.C. trip even while knowing going on said trip was nothing but a pipe dream. “Thank you, but I’m sure, even with the Richard Harris discount, he’s out of my price range.”

“Rubbish. Take my card. I have him on retainer. When I’m not using him, I’ve been known to loan him out to my friends at no cost.”

“Do you have a lot of friends in need of a detective?” Had he loaned this detective out to Max so he could run a background check on Meemaw?

He winked at her. “One. You. Now, please take the card.”

She still didn’t reach for the card. Free was never really free. What strings were attached? She didn’t get the vibe from Richard it would be sex, but she could have a broken vibe detector. After all, she actually liked Max.

Richard leaned forward.

Oh God. Here it comes. Disappointment jabbed her brain with both its middle fingers.

“In return,” Richard said, “how about giving me Meemaw’s personal number? She sounds like someone I’d like to have coffee with.”

Aggie smiled. Her vibe detector worked. He wasn’t a pervert. Which meant Max might actually be worthy of taking a chance on. She casually took the card. “Richard Harris, has anyone ever told you you’re as sweet as a Georgia peach?”

She grabbed a Post-it and jotted Meemaw’s number and real name. “I don’t give this number to just any man,” she teased. “Guard it with your life.” As she leaned across the table to hand it to him, a shadow in the doorway caught her attention.

She jerked her head in that direction. Max. Sweet baby Jesus. How much of their conversation had he heard? The last thing she wanted was for him to know the dirty details of her childhood. Or that she’d just set up Meemaw with Richard. Max would for sure think that was as unprofessional as short skirts.

“There you are, boss man.” Her words sounded like a guilty person spoke them. “I’ll leave the two of you to your meeting.”

Max fixed his gaze on Richard. “Please forgive me. I don’t know how this meeting didn’t stay on my radar.”

“Don’t fret. Trust me, I’m not,” Richard said. “I’ve thoroughly enjoyed spending time with this lovely, lovely woman. Aggie, please don’t forget to consider my…proposal.”

“Proposal?” Max sounded like a lion one second away from pouncing on its prey. “Richard, if I didn’t know better, I’d think you’ve been busy trying to steal my assistant.”

Richard chuckled. “I never mix business with pleasure.”

“Me, either.” Max turned his full gaze on Aggie. “Did you get those estimates I needed?”

“Stop barking at your assistant and come talk,” Richard said before she could admit she hadn’t. “We have business to finish up, and if it works well, there might be another deal.”

“Another deal?” Max echoed.

“After listening to Aggie rave about your ability to see the big picture without getting lost in the woods, I’m convinced you might be the right man for a new project.”

It was kind of Richard to not tell Max about what they’d been discussing in his absence.

“I’m glad to hear she wasn’t boring you with stories about nothing,” Max said. “I’ve discovered she can sometimes be rather chatty.”

Was that supposed to be an insult? Because if it was, she didn’t care. Being able to carry on an interesting conversation was a valuable life tool. Meemaw had taught her that.

“May I speak to you for a moment?” Max aimed a too-sweet smile at Aggie. Gah. He’d be brushing his teeth for an hour to get all that sugar off them.

“Can’t it wait? Richard has been waiting a while already.”

Max’s expression went perfectly blank. “I’m afraid not.”