Bailed Out (The Anna Albertini Files #2) - Rebecca Zanetti Page 0,51

phone before meeting my sisters on the deck. “I just realized that my phone hasn’t been ringing like crazy.”

Tessa nodded, her eyes sparkling. “We told the grandmas to spread the word that we’ve got this, and everyone needs to leave you alone for now.”

Gratitude for my two older sisters nearly had me tackling them both in a hug. “I love you guys.”

Donna slung an arm over my shoulder. “This will all be okay.”

“Yeah,” Tessa said, turning to lead the way down to the dock and waiting pontoon boat. “I’m thinking we build a potato gun and knock Jolene’s head off her body with it. What do you think?”

I chuckled. It had been years since we’d built a potato gun. “I’m thinking that’s assault and battery. Besides, the last one we built didn’t have that kind of power.” We’d built more than our share and shot potatoes into the river or lake growing up. All you really needed was potatoes, PVC pipe, hairspray, and a lighter. “However, I wouldn’t mind figuring something out with her.”

“Oh, we will,” Donna promised grimly, untying the boat. “But today, we’re going to go float in the middle of the lake, tan ourselves, drink some alcohol, and relax. It’s a day off for us all.”

My mind was spinning too fast to relax completely, but a day on the lake was appealing. We boated out to the middle and just floated. The pontoon boat had two loungers in the back along with a sun deck. Donna and I took the loungers, and Tessa flopped across the sun deck face down with her Irish skin already freckling. Her blondish-red hair glowed in the full sun.

I let my mind drift a little bit for about half an hour before speaking. “Nick Basanelli couldn’t stop looking at Tessa the other morning. I feel like they have a connection.”

“Shut up,” Tessa said drowsily.

Donna reached for a bottle of water from the ice chest settled between us. “They do make a nice couple. What’s wrong with him, T?”

“Nothing.” Tessa didn’t so much as open her eyes. “We’re just too different.”

“Opposites attract,” I countered, reaching into the cooler for an iced coffee. “Tess thinks he’s all a hero and stuff, and she isn’t and doesn’t like school.”

Donna rolled her eyes. “That’s dumb.” She winked at me.

Yep. We were going to come up with a plan. It felt good to have something positive in the future, although Tessa was stubborn to the nth degree, so it wasn’t going to be easy. Getting Nick on board would probably be easier, but he also seemed to have a whole hottie bachelor thing going on.

Tess stretched and turned her head to face us. “What did Aiden think about the newspaper article?”

I drank down the potent coffee. “We haven’t talked about it yet.” Yeah, that was a little weird. “He was gone last night, and I left him a message but haven’t heard back. Maybe he’s dealing with the Lordes and him dating a prosecutor?” Not that those guys seemed to care what each other did, really. “We’ll catch up later.” I hoped.

Donna reached for more sunscreen and tossed it at Tessa. “You’re turning red already.” The tube bounced on the sun deck.

Tessa shifted to sit and then slathered on the cream. “I wish I would’ve gotten the Italian skin.” She burned like all of the Irish family members.

Donna never burned and instead turned a lovely tan shade. I, on the other hand, didn’t burn like Tess or tan like Donna. I was a mixture in that my body got mostly tan and my face burned, so I had to be careful in the sun. With my brunette hair and odd gray with a hint of green eyes, I didn’t look like anybody in the family. “I’m not sure what heritage my real father, the mailman, had,” I said. It was an old family joke.

Tessa chuckled. “That’s funny, but you look just like our great, great grandmother. I found a bunch of old pictures at mom and dad’s, and I keep forgetting to bring it to you. She had brown hair and gray eyes, too.”

Huh. I hadn’t known that. My face started to tingle so I held out my hand and caught the sunscreen when Tessa threw it. I was relaxed and feeling much better about everything, so my mind started to work again. “When you were dating Danny, did you know a guy named Rich? One who has a tattoo on his arm and rides motorcycles? Maybe