you’re safe. I’m not one of those crazy friends that just leaves their friend and hopes it will work out.”
“What about your job?”
“It’s an internship.” She shrugged. “I mean, it’s a good internship and it pays, but it is what it is. I called my boss before I left to see if I could work from here for the time being. I don’t really need to be in the office right now, so let’s see what they say?”
“What did I do to get a friend like you?” I could feel myself growing overwhelmed. “You really are the best friend a girl could ask for, you know that?”
“I’m here for you, for life. And I’m never going to allow you to put up with shit or to be in harm’s way. Never. What’s that saying, we are our brother’s keeper? I’m your keeper, girl. I am here for you. You can count on me, for absolutely anything, at any time. You can tell me anything, I will always have your back. You’re my best friend, Savannah. You’re like a sister to me.” Her voice caught. “I’m going to get emotional and I’m really not trying to, but all my life I prayed for a best friend like you. Someone who had my back. My ride or die and you’ve been it. I know you have this attraction to Wade and I know you want him to be a good guy. And I want that so badly for you. But if he’s not a good guy, I’m going to be here to catch your fall.”
“Lucy, everyone deserves a best friend like you.” I squeezed her hand. “And whichever lucky guy gets you is going to be the most blessed man in the world.”
“I hope so.” She smiled ruefully. “I can’t seem to meet any guy that feels that way about me.”
“All in good time.” I smiled. “Trust me, I know he’s out there for you. And you know what. If Wade is a shit head, I will leave with you.” Even as I said the words, I felt a sharp pain in my gut. It would be hard to leave. It would be so damn hard.
“Come on, you grab the wine and I’ll grab my laptop and let’s do some sleuthing.”
“Don’t you want to see your room first and have a shower?”
“Girl, if I have a shower, I’m going to sleep.” She giggled. “Show me later.”
“Okay.” I grinned. “I understand.” I pointed to the hallway. “Go down there, take the first right and you’ll be in the living room. We can chillax on the sectional and see what we can find.”
I watched Lucy as she grabbed her bag and walked to the living room. Jolene followed behind her and I felt a tinge of jealousy that she hadn’t waited for me, but I knew that I was being irrational. I found a bottle opener and grabbed a bottle of Zinfandel and carried them into the living room along with the wine glasses.
“Okay, girl, I found something interesting.” Lucy looked up from her laptop as I handed her a very full glass of wine.
“Oh, what’s that?” I sat next to her on the couch and leaned over to rub Jolene before the ears before having a large sip of the chilled wine.
“So Wade Hart is CEO of Hart Enterprises, right?”
“Yeah, that’s the name of the company.”
“And his dad was Joseph Hart?” Lucy sipped her wine, her eyes not leaving the screen.
“Yeah, the dad was Joseph and the mom is Louisa, or as I like to think of her, Queen Bitch.”
“Oh Savannah.” Lucy laughed. “Okay, well did you know that a few years ago, the company was in really big trouble.”
“Oh God, what now? What happened?” I shook my head. “And no, I didn’t know.”
“They were on the verge of bankruptcy.” Lucy was reading quickly. “People thought it might have been the next Bernie Madoff case.”
“Bernie Madoff, the guy that stole all those people money?” I raised an eyebrow. “No way.”
“Yeah, he was being investigated by the SEC and some other government agencies. A number of his clients were concerned about how he was investing their money.”
“Really?” I frowned. “I didn’t know they had a hedge fund or anything? Wade doesn’t seem to do anything like that.” I tried to think about all the calls I’d been involved in. “He lends money to Third World countries to develop and some other corporate real estate stuff.”
“Hmm, I don’t know, but this reporter from the New