Liv looked at Zeke. “Y’all live in Steele Ridge?”
“Unfortunately, yes.”
Carlie Beth laughed. “That’s not even all the cousins.”
Liv couldn’t imagine having that much family close by. Most of hers were scattered across the country, so she rarely got to see them in person.
“What do you do for a living, Olivia?” Carlie Beth asked.
It was the one question Liv dreaded answering at parties. People's reactions ranged from impressed to wary to downright hostile. “I’m a special agent with the FBI.”
“Do you work with Cameron?”
“Ash,” Zeke grumbled.
Liv ignored him. “Yes, we’ve worked on a few cases together. He’s a terrific agent.”
“Are the other G-men in your office as handsome as the ones on TV?”
Grif sent his wife a blistering look, which she ignored.
Liv chuckled. “Some are. Some aren’t. Probably the same odds as any office.”
Carlie Beth’s hopeful expression fell. Grif smirked.
“I could give you a tour, so you can decide for yourself.”
“You’re on, girl.”
The decibel level had risen to such a degree that conversation was almost impossible and a thicket of guests blocked Liv’s view of the exhibit table.
“A lady at the bar said one of the showpieces—a doll—disappeared,” Carlie Beth said, noticing her distraction.
When neither she nor Zeke remarked on the incident, Grif pinned his cousin with a glacial stare. “What do you know about the missing doll?”
“Only what Nicola’s curator told us.”
“Which was?”
“That it was missing.”
“Dammit, Zeke. Do you always have to be an ass?”
“Only when the right elements are present.”
Carlie Beth slipped her arm through her husband’s. “That’s enough family reunion for now.” She scowled at Zeke, then smiled at Liv. “Don’t forget your promise to visit.”
“I won’t. It was really nice meeting you both.”
Grif nodded at Liv and allowed his wife to usher him away.
As soon as the couple was out of earshot, Liv stepped out of Zeke’s embrace. She wasn’t sure why she’d stayed next to him through the volatile exchange with his cousin. But she’d sensed in him a need for an ally, a need for connection.
Then again, maybe it wasn’t his need at all, but hers.
“What was all that about?” she asked.
“All what?”