“I stole our school mascot, stuck it in his truck, and got him suspended from the biggest game of his high school career.”
“No, I mean he’s the asshole who—”
Abby slapped her hands over Lexi’s mouth. “Why don’t you just post it on Facebook and be done with it, that way we can be sure that everyone knows. Jesus, Lex, if even one of my brothers hears that, there is going to be a brawl the size of China in Nonna’s front room.”
“Can you get your hands off my mouth,” Lexi mumbled through Abby’s fingers. When she didn’t move then, Lexi stuck her tongue out.
“Gross, Lex. Grow up,” Abby said, grimacing, hand not budging.
“Says the girl convinced someone is outside the door listening.” She frowned. “And why do you taste like lasagna?”
“Don’t ask. And I forgot you’re an only child,” Abby said as though her grown brothers still made a habit of hiding outside bathroom doors. “I will remove them if you promise to be quiet.”
Lexi nodded.
Abby dropped her hands.
“Well, it obviously didn’t hurt his career all that much. I mean, you said the guy played in the NFL. Plus, he deserved it.” Abby might have framed him for a silly high school prank, but Jack had broken Abby’s heart.
After her parents died, Abby went into a deep depression, shutting out everyone. She was lost and scared and blamed herself for living when her parents hadn’t. Jack ran into her at the right time and sweet-talked his way into Abby’s kick-pants, then went to homecoming with another set of pom-poms.
“If I had known”—Lexi draped a supportive arms around her friend’s shoulders—“I never would have hired him in the first place.”
“He said he only agreed to do the bistro because he knew I was managing the project.” Abby’s body sagged. “What if he’s trying to ruin my life?”
“Over a stupid prank that happened ten years ago? I don’t think so.” Lexi pulled her friend closer, and Abby rested her head on Lexi’s shoulder, only she was so much shorter her head only came to Lexi’s chest. “Maybe he just wants to learn piano.”
Abby shook her head, and when she looked up at Lexi, she knew that there was more to the story. “He was one of the biggest investors in Richard’s and my vineyard.”
“Oh.”
“I didn’t know at the time. The money was a contact of Marc’s, and it came through Jack’s company, so I didn’t make the connection.”
“Until he came back to the valley?”
“No, until he told me yesterday. He said since I was a designer and he a contractor, that we were bound to work on more projects together in the future.” She shrugged. “He claims that he just wanted to clear the air.”
“Is he asking for the money back?”
“No. I told him that I didn’t know about him investing and promised I would pay him back, but he said he would rather have the lessons.”
“Maybe that’s just his way of saying he knows that you didn’t help Richard.”
Some people in town still believed that Abby had been in on the scam, and her moving to Santa Barbara only made the rumors more convincing. Which had been hard to take, since nearly all of the investors had been close friends and family. Not that her family believed she played a role in the embezzlement, but she lost a lot of lifelong friends over the situation.
Abby rolled her eyes. “A million dollars in lessons?”
“Oh.” That was a lot more than learning how to play “Chopsticks.” And trying to be a good guy or not, that didn’t sit right with Lexi. No matter how rich someone was, forgiving a million in exchange for music lessons sounded too good to be true. And in Lexi and Abby’s world, that meant it usually was.
“Yeah. Oh.” Abby sighed. “I just got the courage to divorce Richard. Now I have to sit in the same room with some guy who lost a bunch of money because of my inability to tell a thieving limp-dick from a good husband.”
“Maybe to him a million is pocket change. Have you seen his house? It’s bigger than this one.”
“One million is one million, Lex. I don’t care how many car and underwear ads the guy did.”
“He did underwear ads? Like tighty-whities, or those sexy boxer-brief ones?”
“Does it matter? Nonna invited him tonight as a setup. For me!” Abby dropped her head to her knees. “If you had given