at her. “Are you trying to say that your mother has a thing for Lassiter? And they apparently aren’t suffering from Kel’s problem?”
She nodded. “My guess is that’s where she is.”
Jake laughed. “That Lassiter is an irresistible fellow.” He saw her face was serious and wiped the smile away. “Lassiter’s all right, Sugar.”
“All right?”
“Yeah. I mean, he’s everything you’d want for Maggie. He’s got more money than Zeus, he’s kind, he’s upright. Don’t get me wrong, he’s got his ways. But we all do.”
“His ways?” She narrowed her eyes.
“I like this protective side of you. It speaks well when a daughter—”
“Jake. Pay attention. I don’t want Maggie getting her heart broken by a man who has ‘ways’.”
“Oh. You’re asking if he’s a womanizer. No, I can definitely tell you he’s not. The ladies try. When I say ways,” Jake said, his face earnest, “I just mean that occasionally he goes off. That’s all.”
“Goes off?”
“By himself. For alone time. It only lasts a day or so. Sometimes three.”
“Why?” Sugar asked.
Jake shrugged. “He’s still grieving for his wife. She died fifteen years ago, but they’d gotten married in their teens. So he goes off and has a few days of sitting in his cabin with a bottle. No big deal.”
“That’s so sad.” Sugar blinked. “How do you know all this?”
“He tells me. We have a bit of a bromance going on.”
Sugar waited. “Go on.”
“Our properties are side by side. Almost every night, we spend a little time sipping and looking over the fence. Just staring at nothing, really, except the goodness of God. The wideness of nothing.”
“You have a deep side?”
“Hell, no,” Jake said. “I just like to drink and listen to the old man. Now I know why he hasn’t shown up for the past week.”
“Yeah.” Sugar spun herself away from Jake’s hand, rotating the stool to face the bar. She drank her vodka in one shot, thinking. “Lucy doesn’t come home till late, Jake. Then she leaves early.”
“I know where she is too,” Jake said. “However, I think I’m not telling. But all this aloneness you’re suffering makes me realize you’re sleeping alone. Which bedroom is yours? I’m betting you took the Scarlet O’Hara nemesis room.”
She frowned at him. “I am not discussing my sleeping arrangements with you.”
“Too soon?” Jake smiled. “You do realize the old folks skipped all the dating steps? Maybe it makes things less uncomfortable to just get to the good stuff.”
“I don’t want to talk about Lassiter and Maggie.” Sugar got up. “I’ve got to go.”
“Wait,” Jake said. “Your leg and I were just getting to be good friends.”
“Come on, Paris.”
The dog jumped up to follow her. “Sugar, wait.” Jake looked at her, took her hand to pull her a bit closer to him. “Did I say something wrong? I can tell you where Lucy is, but I really think it’s something she’d rather I didn’t know. I just happen to know almost everything in PC.”
She pulled away even though she missed the comfort. The whole idea of Maggie and Lassiter made her nervous, brought back old memories. She was happy for Maggie, just like she’d told Lucy she would be if their mother found romance with someone. But she couldn’t help remembering that she’d run off her mother’s second husband, and the memory of that night was dark and painful, bringing home painfully why she’d grabbed that baseball bat.
“Just tell me that Lucy’s not doing anything bad,” Sugar said. “That she’s with good people.”
“The best,” Jake said. “I promise you she’s with the very best people in this town. Don’t get me wrong, they have their ways too, but I think you’d find them acceptable, despite their ways.” He kissed her forehead, pressed his hands down into her hands, clasping her fingers between his. “Hey, if you stay a little longer, maybe I can find a cucumber to go with another snort of vodka, even if I have to send out for one. Trust me, if I ask Kel to go get a cucumber, he’ll tear up someone’s garden and won’t even ask why. You want a cucumber, lady, it can be done.”
She shook her head. “No, thanks. I’ll see you later.”
“Now that I know you’re sleeping alone in that big house, can I bring Paris a midnight snack? Apparently, I’m free at night these days. No more bromance.”
“Sorry. I’m not sleeping alone.” She pointed to her dog. “Paris and I are going to stay up late, watch old movies and eat popcorn in bed.