Saltwater Secrets - Amelia Addler Page 0,47

promises about when he’d finish the various jobs. He did good work – when he was in the mood. Margie had found much better contractors since she’d worked with Eddie, but poor Betty was just discovering how flighty he could be.

“Don’t tell Eddie that I’m coming,” Margie said when she got the call. “I’d like to surprise him.”

As she drove north, Margie didn’t feel nervous at all. She only felt determined. It was better that no one knew what she was up to – explaining it would’ve made her sound a bit crazy. And it was good that Hank didn’t know, because he surely would’ve tried to talk her out of it.

There was no going back. She pulled up to the restaurant and saw Eddie right away. It looked like he had two other guys working with him. He alternated between being on his phone and yelling orders.

This was going to be harder than she thought. She got out of her car and approached him; as she got closer, he saw her before turning his back to her, continuing his phone conversation.

Margie didn’t mind. She stood next to him, waiting until he finally had to get off the phone.

He said his goodbyes before turning around. “Margie, how’s it going?”

“You tell me Eddie. How’s your car?”

He shrugged. “Just fine. Why do you ask?”

Margie narrowed her eyes. “I heard you had some trouble with it.”

He set his phone next to his toolbox and frowned. “Nope. No trouble here. Is there something I can help you with?”

Margie smiled and casually leaned her weight onto a nearby ladder. “Well – ”

“Watch it!” Eddie yelled. The ladder came crashing to the ground, trailed by a small can of paint.

“Oh my goodness!” Margie covered her mouth with her hands. “I am so sorry Eddie.”

“You come around here poking your nose into my business, making a mess? Get out of here!” he yelled, stooping to flip the paint can right side up and collect the brushes that scattered in the grass.

“I’m such a klutz,” Margie said. “And you’re obviously busy, I’ll talk to you later.”

“Yeah, yeah.” He didn’t look back at her, instead focusing on cleaning up the mess she’d made.

She felt bad about the spilled paint – that wasn’t nice of her. But it was a price she was willing to pay.

Margie turned and walked back to her car, trying to act natural – but all she could think about was Eddie’s phone, tucked snugly into her coat pocket.

Chapter 18

His phone vibrated. Again.

Matthew closed his eyes, letting out a sigh. He’d asked Laura to stop calling him while he was at work, but she’d already called twice that day.

The first time was because he hadn’t answered her text about going to the country club to finalize their membership. The second time, she was eating lunch and was bored.

If she was calling about the country club again, he wasn’t going to answer. He didn’t feel like getting into this argument right now.

Or ever.

He’d made it clear that he wasn’t interested in joining – he’d even found an alternative group that they could join for a far more reasonable price: twenty dollars a year.

That suggestion didn’t go over well, though. He first brought it up that past weekend. The argument lasted for hours and made them late for the party on Lopez Island. For some reason, their biggest fights always happened before they needed to be somewhere.

It wasn’t a fun night, compounded by the fact that Laura kept him so busy that he barely got to talk to Jade before she disappeared. He was worried she might be angry at him, maybe for being late. Or maybe because he didn’t give her any updates about arson suspects?

He didn’t know. But he never got a chance to talk to her. She probably had somewhere better to be – she looked quite dressed up. Laura made a comment about how Jade’s dress was “too much” for the event, but Matthew thought she looked lovely.

He had to keep that to himself, though.

The phone rang again. He was afraid that if he answered he might say something harsh, so he decided to let it go to voicemail. A few moments later, it rang a third time.

He sighed, pulling it out of his pocket. Surprisingly, it wasn’t Laura calling – it was Margie.

“Hey Margie, what’s up?”

“Oh hi! I’m sorry to bother you at work – but I didn’t know who else to turn to. Do you have a minute?”

“Sure, what’s going on?”

“If I