“Fuck.”
Kane ran his hands through his dark hair. “Yeah. But no one came back last night. I set a few things in place before I left, and none of them were disturbed. Same with your place in town. I’ve got cameras on the doors to monitor there, too.” Knowing Kane, after I’d gone to bed, he’d probably started setting things up. “What’s your plan, Drake?”
I thought for a second. “Hayden, can you call Ewing and ask how long Milano has been offering?”
“Sure. Let me check really quick.” Hayden walked a few steps away, his phone to his ear.
Mariah sat at Kane’s feet, and my brother looked at me, waiting for the plan. I started with the obvious. “I need to flush this bastard out. It’s not just letters and bank offers. They came to my house. For Lex.”
“How are you going to do it?”
Hayden walked back to us. “Ewing said he’s been getting offers for about three years. Until about six months ago they weren’t worth entertaining.”
“That would have been when Lloyd was still alive.” I needed to find Dad and see what he had found out. “Do you know where Dad is?”
Hayden said, “He’s in the shop out back. He mentioned he wanted to speak with the princess when he woke up.”
I shoved my brother, and Kane chuckled, adding, “More like the pissy princess, if you ask me.”
As I started to the back, I shot them both the birds again. Mature, I know. But that was all I had at the moment. I mean, come on… prissy princess? We still acted like we were right back in high school. Some things never changed. I called over my shoulder. “You guys might want to hear this if you’re done being immature assholes.”
They caught up with me, and I explained. “I asked Dad to look into Lloyd’s accident.”
“You think it might not have been one?” Kane asked. The fact that he hadn’t made a joke about it told me he probably agreed with my thoughts on the subject.
Glancing back at the house, I saw Lex at the window. She waved and gave me a smile.
Kane hit me on the back of the head. “You’re an embarrassment to the Foster name. Stop getting that stupid-ass grin on your face, or I may have to disown you.”
To really aggravate him, I put my hands in the shape of a heart then pointed to Lex. I could see her laughing in the window. Kane muttered and stalked off to the barn. Hayden just shook his head. I said, “I can’t wait till that dipshit falls for someone. I’m going to make so much fun of him.”
“Yeah… me, too.” We’d walked a few more steps when I asked, “You thought any more about that girl?”
“I’ve tried not to.” Hayden’s entire demeanor changed. If anything, he probably hadn’t been able to stop thinking about her. There was a new intenseness about him.
Of course, I had to press on. “And how’s that working out for you?”
“Not good. I got an address for her.”
Whoa. That was a serious step for him. “And…”
“I don’t know.”
This time I shook my head, wanting to bang his head against the wall. I had been in this miserable purgatory not too long ago. And I should have gone after Lex. It would have saved us a lot of heartache. Instead of reminding him of that, I went at it from another angle. “Well, she must not be that great considering how much thinking you’re doing. Was probably just a piece of ass to tap for the summer.”
In the next second, I was ducking to keep Hayden’s fist from connecting with my face. “Don’t say that about her,” he spat.
“That’s what I thought.”
That made Hayden stop, and he stood there with his fist cocked, ready to deal another blow. “What?”
“My advice? Go after her before it’s too late. You obviously care about her. Don’t deny it. Just don’t get into a situation like I was in with Lex. You can’t go back in time. I should have gone to her and talked things through when I was in New York. Not just assumed she was with Hollis. We wouldn’t have spent the last two years miserable if I had. And if something had happened to keep us apart forever, I would have spent my life regretting it and wondering what if.”
His mouth opened and closed a couple of times. And I kept walking. “Think about it. But don’t think too long.”
We made it to the shop, Hayden still deep in thought, his brow creased. Hopefully he wouldn’t dick around.
Kane had left the door wide open and was sitting on a chair, looking at blueprint plans. “Are those the final ones for Hollis’s cabin?”