N. Walters - Past Promises

“I’m so sorry,” Amanda began.

“Families can suck,” Cyndi added.

Their arms came around her and the three of them shared a group hug. She pulled back and stared at them in wonder. “Why are you here? How did you know?”

Amanda pushed her wire-rimmed glasses up onto the bridge of her nose. “Levi called Jonah last night.”

Linda wasn’t quite certain how she felt about Levi telling her business to other people. But when she looked at their sympathetic faces, she couldn’t be mad with him. It felt good for her to have her friends around her. And besides which, they’d have to know eventually. Everyone in Jamesville would know before too long. Gossip like this wouldn’t stay hidden in a small town for more than a day or two.

“I’m here to cover the shop for you until you get back from your meeting with the banker. Is there anything I need to know about how you handle your sales?” Amanda went over to the counter and poked around. “I think it’s pretty basic. I may not know anything about antique furniture, but I know how to talk to customers.” She shot Linda a cocky smile. “And I certainly know how to charge their credit cards.”

Linda laughed in spite of the gravity of the situation. A weight lifted from her shoulders. No matter what happened, she’d be okay. She had good friends around her. “You guys are the best.” She turned to Cyndi. “I take it you’re here for moral support.”

She shook her head. “I’m going to the bank with you. I’ll wait outside the office while you talk with Albert Kramer. But you don’t need to do this alone.”

“How did you know my meeting was with Kramer?” Linda was stunned by how much information her friends had about the situation. She raised her hand to stop Cyndi from speaking. “Let me guess. Levi?”

“Not quite. Levi talked to Jonah, who told Amanda, who called me and spilled everything. Shamus knows too, but that’s everyone. We want to help. We need to help. You should have called.” Cyndi hugged her again and she heard the underlying hurt in her friend’s voice.

“I was going to tell you.” She sniffed and then laughed when Amanda handed her a tissue. “I spent a lot of time on this war paint, I can’t afford to smear it.” She dabbed carefully beneath her eyes.

“You look fine,” Amanda assured her. “But you should have called us.”

“I’d planned to. I was just going to wait until after my meeting this morning. I wanted to know exactly where I stand with things.” She held out her hands to both women. They each took one hand, holding on tight. “I was in no shape to call anyone last night.”

Cyndi squeezed her hand and nodded. “I’m sorry. I should understand that better than anyone. My own family life wasn’t exactly what you could call normal. I don’t know how I would have gotten through everything without Shamus.” She released Linda’s hand and shoved her purse strap further up on her shoulder. “At least you have Levi to help you.”

Linda nodded, released Amanda’s hand and fiddled with the button on her jacket. She had Levi. For now. She had no idea how long he would be staying in Jamesville, but she was grateful for everything he’d done.

“Are you ready?” Cyndi jolted her out of her pity party, reminding her there were problems that wouldn’t wait.

“I am.” She gave Amanda what she hoped was a reassuring smile. “You’ll be fine. This shouldn’t take too long.”

Amanda waved them away. “Take your time and don’t worry about a thing. But stop by Delicious Delights on the way back. I think we’re going to need something sweet and fattening. I’ll have the coffee on.”

“We can take my car,” Cyndi offered.

Linda nodded. “Let’s get this done.”

Levi heard Linda head downstairs to the shop. As much as he wanted to see her one more time before she left for her meeting, he didn’t want to do anything to upset the balance she’d seemed to find over breakfast.

At least she’d eaten something healthy. She’d missed supper last night and he worried about her. The oatmeal would hold her over until lunchtime.

He also had reinforcements waiting downstairs. Maybe he’d overstepped the boundaries of privacy, but he didn’t care. Linda would have to tell them eventually. This way she didn’t have to worry about that. Her friends already knew the situation. Plus, they could help her out this morning, give her some added confidence by letting her know she wasn’t alone.

Both Amanda and Cyndi had exceeded his expectations. Amanda had grabbed the phone from Jonah last night, wanting to talk to Linda. When he’d told her she was resting, Amanda had let him know she’d be there first thing in the morning and would cover the store for Linda while she was at her meeting. When he’d protested, she’d ignored him, saying that she didn’t open By the Book until noon anyway and she’d call her part-timer to handle things for her.

Cyndi had phoned a half hour after he’d finished speaking with Jonah and Amanda. She’d promised to go to the bank with Linda and try and exert any pressure she could, even threatening to use the James name if she had to. Cyndi had been born into the James family, the most prominent one in town. She was also the bank’s biggest client.

There was probably little Cyndi could do at this point. The bank had already sold the promissory note to the bank in Vermont. But she could be there for moral support.

Levi was doing what he did best—digging up intel on the enemy. In this case, the enemy was Simon Dyson and Linda’s family. On the surface, they seemed like moral, upstanding citizens. But Levi dug deeper. People who treated their family and loved ones as heavy handedly as they were treating Linda surely had skeletons somewhere in the closet.

He had three laptops set up on the table and was currently running complex search programs through various banking and government systems. It was illegal as hell, but Levi didn’t care. Uncle Sam had given him these skills and he was making good use of them. Nothing he found would ever hold up in a court of law, but it didn’t have to. It was meant for leverage against Dyson and her family.

A knock came on the door. “It’s open,” he called. He’d been expecting Jonah all morning. The door opened and Jonah walked in, followed by Shamus. Levi downsized the screen on his laptop and stood when he saw the third man. He walked around the table, downsizing screens on each of the other computers. He hadn’t expected to see the local sheriff. Patrick O’Rourke seemed like an okay guy, but he was still the law.

“We brought coffee.” Jonah carried a paper tray with four large cups and set it on the corner of the table. “What have you got?”

Levi glanced at Patrick. “Not much. Yet. I’m still searching.”

Patrick crossed his arms over his chest, his dark gray eyes narrowing as he read between the lines. The man was nobody’s fool. He’d seen the look passed between the two friends. “I won’t ask you what you’re doing so you won’t have to lie to me. Just let me know if there is anything I can do on my end to help.”

Levi nodded as he tugged the cover off one of the coffees and took a sip. Black and strong. Just the way he liked it.

Shamus had propped himself against the wall, coffee cup in hand. “Family can be nothing but trouble sometimes.” He shot his brother a glance. “Present company excluded, of course.”

Patrick snorted. “Of course.” He grabbed a cup of coffee and saluted them. “You’ll talk more freely without me here. You know where to find me if you need my help.”

“Will do.” Levi inclined his head. “Thanks for the offer.” He waited until Patrick was gone, then he turned to Shamus. “If you’re going to have a problem with my methods, you should go. If you don’t know anything, you can’t be held accountable.”