31. Needed To Hear That

31

NEEDED TO HEAR THAT

J arrett was glad to be back on the island and was sweating to get out of court on time and make it to the ferry through traffic.

He would have made it back tonight but didn't want to be late. At least the snow hadn't started yet.

A few inches wasn't going to be the end of the world and since it was a Friday night, he and Andi could just cuddle up and relax in front of his fireplace.

She had one appointment tomorrow and he'd get some chores done and any work he had to catch up on.

He knew she was slow at work so he wasn't going to complain if she had appointments scattered at odd times to get what she could.

When he heard knocking on his door, he went and opened it to see Andi standing there.

"Why didn't you just come in?" he asked.

"I've kind of learned my lesson about walking into people's houses."

He didn't like hearing her say that.

Or being compared to her ex-boyfriend.

He frowned. "I knew you were coming."

"I know," she said. "And I've insulted you and I didn't mean it. I'm sorry."

"No," he said. "It's me that is sorry. I hate testifying in court. I don't normally have to go to Boston to do it, but this was one of those that crossed over to the island and was being tried there."

"Sounds like fun," she said. He grabbed the two bags out of her hands and brought them to the kitchen,herfollowing after she hung her jacket up and took her boots off.

"The only fun thing was seeing my cousin Roark coming into the courthouse for another case. I don't think he was having too much fun though."

"They just had a baby, right?"

"His wife, Chelsea, had their daughter, Taryn, almost two weeks ago." He'd asked why Roark was there but was told it was a case that couldn't be put off again. "He took last week off, working this week for a caseandthen will take another off."

"I'm sure it's not easy in a job like that," she said.

"No. Hailey is out right now too for two months. It's only been a month since she had Adelyn. She'll go back after two months and then Rex is going to take a month off."

"You're kidding me," she said. "That's so sweet."

"He owns the investment firm," he said. "He can do what he wants. I'm sure he's not off completely. He'll have clients who will only want him."

"Maybe I should look into some of that," she said. "I've kept most of my money in savings accounts andCD'sjust spread out. I'm not sure how deep of a dive they do into those things. I haven't had the energy to look."

He knew what she was talking about. "I'm sure Jack made sure you're able to do anything. But Rex would be someone you could trust." She knew the players in their family and what they all did. "Or my cousin Grayson works for Rex here on the island. Rex isn't on the island that much. Maybe once a week in the winter, more in the summer."

"I forgot you said that your cousin worked here. I should reach out to Jack first and make sure I can do that so I don't have to worry."

He nodded. "That's up to you."

He wouldn't tell her what to do with her money; that was none of his business.

"I should have given you a kiss when I came in, but was too busy with worrying I insulted you."

"Don't be worried about that," he said. "Trust me, I've been insulted enough in my life."

She laughed. "Stop. I think you read more into it."

"You're probably right," he said.

"I have to tell you about this last-minute client I got in today. Just makes me shake my head. She and her friends, all early twenties, are going to the casino and staying the night for a girls' single party. She comes from money, not sure about the other two, but my guess is they probably did. Kylie, my client, was almost whining that her father makes her workpart timeat his law firm when she just wants to be an influencer."

"God," he said. "Don't get me going on that."

"I know," she said. "I know so many do it or want to. She's got a lot of beauty sponsors. She had some hair product she wanted me to use and I did, then got pictures she posted of her hair when it was done. She tagged Amanda's salon and my social media accounts."

"What?" he asked. He turned sharply to look at her. "Is that smart?"

"That is part of my business," she said. "It's not like my picture is on my accounts." She pulled her phone out and showed him. "It's a cartoon picture of me. Lots of people do it. The rest are pictures of styles I've done. Not even my client's faces, as most don't want that."

He took her phone out of her hand and looked. A lot of the pictures were from the back or side and if they were front on, the faces were blurred some.

"Is this the person that tagged you today?" he asked.

"Yes," she said. "As you can see, it's just abefore and afterpicture of her. The only picture she posted from the salon is the one I took from the back. Her before and after were taken in the hotel room. Now it looks like she's talking about the product she used and doing more with them."

He pulled her phone back and saw what she was looking at.

It didn't make him feel any better but not much he could do about it either now.

"Do you normally have that happen?" he asked, handing her phone back. "Have people tag you like that?"

"Yes," she said. "It's how we network for business. I do it with Amanda and other stylists too. It was hard to start all over again two years ago. It's not like I could use pictures from my old account. I couldn't risk anyone tying them back. Those accounts were taken down and that was it."

"Because Colleen is in the ocean?" he asked, lifting an eyebrow.

"Her name is," she said. "But not her."

"Damn straight," he said. "She's right here in front of me. The woman I love. I don't care what your name is or was." He hugged her.

"I don't know why I needed to hear that. Sometimes I think of the past and just wonder. Kylie was saying it was her lucky day because she had an appointment with me. I thought, well gee, if that is what luck is for her, then she has no understanding of life at all, or has no concept of what people are going through."

"Probably a combination of both," he said.

"But I know I'm damn lucky to have you and it was the first thing I thought."

"Maybe I needed to hear that too," he said,giving her a kisson the forehead. "And I'll help you cook dinner while we're at it. I thought we could sit in front of the fireplace tonight while the snow was falling. Maybe find a movie to watch?"

"That sounds great," she said. "But you want to shower because I got here too fast. Maybe I was just excited to see you."

"I'll always want you to be excited to see me," he said.

"Go shower and I'll make brownies. That's our dessert."

He kissed her one more time and went upstairs to shower and change. He grabbed her bag of clothes that she'd left by the door and set it on the bed.

Andi was right, some people didn't understand what luck was, but he knew and he was never going to forget it.

And had to dial back his reactions to things like the picture on social media. Maybe he didn't have as good a handle on his emotions as he thought.