* * *
“Sensible Solutions,”Evie answered the ring from an unknown caller. She figured getting the name out there was good advertising even if it wasn’t a client—which it usually wasn’t, since this was her mother’s number in the phone book.
Standing in for Mavis at the shop, she completed a sale for a crystal while the person on the other end of the line hesitated.
“I’m looking for Evangeline Carstairs,” the unfamiliar voice replied.
Hmmm, Evie didn’t generally use her father’s name. Where had she used it last? With Larraine Ward—and in California. She pulled together her scattered thoughts, waved off her customer, and focused. “Speaking.”
“This is Officer Reilly from the San Bernardino County Sheriff’s office. We need you to sign your sworn statement concerning the Pendleton case. What address shall we use? It will need to be notarized.”
They’d only given the sheriff the address for Jax’s old Savannah law office, avoiding any connection with their real location. Evie knew zilch about police work. She could just be overly suspicious. It happened. But she wasn’t giving her address to this stranger.
“The law office of S&S is fine. My lawyer will have notaries. I hope you’ve caught the terrible person who killed a nice gentleman like Mr. Pendleton!” Her theatrics needed a little work.
“We called the law firm, and they didn’t list you as a client—”
“For good reason. Just send it care of Mr. Jackson as we said. It will be fine.” Evie tried to think of agood reasonif anyone asked. She was a famous film star?
“It’s unusual for witnesses—”
“We were strangers passing through, not witnesses.” Evie cut off that line of thought. If this was someone fishing for info... A reporter? “I have to go. Good-day.”
She punched off, wondering if she ought to be worried. How had they found the phone number? Another customer entered, and she forgot about it.
Loretta arrived after Mavis returned, and Evie set aside her dust cloth. “I was just about to hunt lunch, tadpole. Have you had any yet?”
“Iddy offered an eggplant salad, but I said I had to get home or you’d be lonely.” Loretta skipped alongside Evie as they took the sidewalk route around the block to home.
“Lonely.” Evie snorted, thinking of her house full of men. “You’ll need to work on your story-telling. Tuna salad sound better?”
“Is it awful to eat fish?” Beneath her dark bangs and large-framed glasses, Loretta looked serious. “Iddy makes me feel bad about eating anything that walks the earth, but fish are in water.”
“Plants are alive. Maybe most of them don’t walk, but they’re alive, and there is evidence they know when they’re hurt. So is it better to yank the fruit off an eggplant or the leaf off a lettuce? I prefer the Native American way of thanking the earth for its bounty and returning the gift by making the world a better place.”
“So maybe I can grow up to be an environmentalist and save the tuna from toxins and overfishing.” Loretta skipped happily.
With her wealth, Loretta could do a lot more, but Evie preferred to keep money out of it. Loretta had the brains and the good vibes to do it on her own. “Listen to your teachers and learn, and you’ll work it out one day.”
“Oh, Iddy said Ariel emailed. She wants you to deliver turtle food and a turtle house, if you have time.” Loretta ran up the stairs and into the house, presumably in search of tuna.
“Good thing I’m used to being errand boy,” Evie muttered as she followed in her ward’s footsteps. But she wasn’t complaining. Jax’s sister roused her insatiable curiosity.
Reuben and Roark were in the kitchen preparing a pitcher of iced tea. Evie gave them credit for at least attempting to look as if they were preparing their own lunch. “Security camera showed we were heading this way, right?”
Unabashed, they filled a glass for her. “We didn’t think you’d like us rummaging in your fridge.”
“Aunt Val’s ex-husband liked parties. They knocked out a wall to add that fridge. It might be half a century old, but it holds enough for two armies. You can put your stuff in there. You do know how to grocery shop, right?” Evie sorted through cabinets and refrigerator for salad ingredients.
“For beer and chips.” Roark helpfully opened the cans of tuna.
“The microwave in the van is small. We nuke frozen meals.” Reuben studied the celery that Evie pushed at him.
“Loretta, toast some of that stale bread, will you?” Evie directed her troops at the point of a knife. “Fine, then I’ll make meals. In return, you tell me what fun things you discovered today.”
“If we don’t tell you?” Roark asked, simply because that’s how his mind worked.
“You can go back to your hole, and Loretta and I will take our salad over to Ariel.” Evie had seen how Roark’s aura spiked whenever Jax’s sister was mentioned. She wasn’t ashamed of using her secret knowledge.