She would swear Rick grumbled as she sailed out the front door. Men are so easy.

Chapter Six

“I can’t believe how great this place looks.” Judy spread her arms in the middle of the living room of Zach and Karen’s home and spun in a circle. “I love the high ceilings, the wainscoting . . . even the windows that had to be a pain to replicate.”

Karen ran a hand along the drapes framing the windows that spanned half the length of the wall. “Zach was relentless in the effort to keep as many of the original fixtures or make sure a modern fit had an old feel.” The Victorian home would have been drafty with the single-pane windows that undoubtedly came with the original structure.

“You must be happy.”

“More than you can know.”

Karen’s smile laid claim to her happiness. Meg’s shopping excursion was delayed until Judy could join them, and being a Saturday, Judy opted to help Karen out by staying at the house so she and Zach could sneak away for an overnight trip. Not that teenage kids couldn’t keep to themselves, but with the courts watching every move while they worked on getting all the proper licenses to get The Village running full bore, Karen didn’t want to take any chances.

Zach walked into the room with a small bag in his hand. “There you are.”

Karen slid into his embrace and accepted the kiss he laid on her cheek. “You ready?”

Zach winked. “I pack light.”

“Which means he didn’t pack much of anything.” If Judy had to guess, her brother and his wife wouldn’t make it out of the hotel room. They really were in love.

“Devon’s shift ends at nine, his curfew is eleven. Dina is in her room. She’s been a bit moody lately.”

“Everything OK?”

“I think so. The counselor said to expect more than normal mood swings.”

“I guess that’s to be expected in light of everything that’s happened.” Judy couldn’t imagine how the kids coped with the loss of their mom and living with the knowledge that their dad murdered her.

Zach patted Karen’s butt. “We’re burning daylight, hon.”

“OK, I’m done. Call if you need anything,” Karen said.

“I will. Have fun and don’t worry.” Judy turned away as they walked out of the room.

They’d just stepped out of the room and Karen ducked back in. “Oh, by the way . . . Rick is coming by to work on the security system, adjust cameras and such.”

With the mention of Rick’s name, Judy’s cheeks heated. “Rick?”

Karen waved. “I’m sure he won’t get in your way. Have a good night.”

If Judy didn’t know any better, she would have sworn there was a dancing light in Karen’s eyes when she wiggled her eyebrows and left the room.

Ignoring the flutter in her chest, Judy took her small overnight bag and walked through the hall and up the stairs to one of the guest rooms. The light blue and white color palette matched the seaside view from the window. The entire home screamed tranquility, and Judy found herself caught up in the view of a passing sailboat and wondering who might be on it.

“Hey?”

Judy turned to see Dina standing in the doorway.

“Hey.”

The girl’s dark skin and soulful eyes stood in contrast to the light, airy room. At sixteen, she had an extra twenty pounds on her frame than she really needed, which she tried to hide behind baggy clothes.

“I take it Karen and Zach left.”

Judy moved away from the window. “Yeah.”

“I really don’t need a babysitter.” Her defensive words matched the arms she crossed over her chest.

“Good thing. I never did like to babysit.”

“It’s stupid. Nobody cared that Devon and I were on our own for months. Now we’re here and there are nothing but rules.”

Judy sat on the edge of the bed. “And I’ll bet your parents left you guys alone a lot.”

“All the time. Nobody cared then, either.”

“It’s the overnight thing. I’m sure things will loosen up in time.”

“Stupid.”

“Oh, well.” Judy stood and walked toward the door. “Might as well make the most of it.”

Dina followed her down the stairs and into the kitchen. Judy dug in the refrigerator and removed a package of ground beef, an onion . . . a few eggs.

“You don’t have to cook for me.”

Boy, this girl was a hard sell today. “You don’t have to eat it. I’m sure Karen and Zach will like the leftovers.” She rolled up her sleeves and washed her hands. “Can you grab the bread?”

Judy watched from the corner of her eye as Dina stepped into the pantry and removed a loaf. She picked up the onion and waved it in the air. “Do you want onion duty or shredding the bread?”

Dina narrowed her eyes. “You’re making meatloaf?”

“Yeah. I don’t do gourmet. Meatloaf and mashed potatoes.”

“What about gravy?”

Judy nearly smiled, but hid her excitement. Seemed maybe Dina was going to step out of her funk after all.

“I kinda suck at gravy. Do you know how to make it without lumps?”

Dina gave a tiny nod. “I think so.”

“Great. I’ll cry over the onion, you slave over the gravy.”

Judy was crying over the onions while Dina removed a few potatoes and started to peel them. “Do you like to cook?”

When Dina didn’t answer, Judy kept talking. “Growing up in a small town meant there weren’t many options of restaurants.”

“Even fast food?”

“We could go to the next town over for a burger joint, but we didn’t go all the time. Conrad’s has the best fries.”

Dina actually laughed. “Your brother said the same thing.”

“Our mom taught us all the basics. The first two years in college, I only cooked when I went home to visit. Then Meg and I got an apartment off campus and I cooked all the time. Gained a bunch of weight, too.”

Dina scoffed at that. “You’re thin.”

“Yeah, well, doesn’t mean I don’t have to work on it. Meg and I went to an exercise class in Seattle but we haven’t found anything that isn’t crazy expensive here. I’ve been reduced to jogging after work.”

“Karen jogs all the time.”

Judy glanced out the kitchen window. “If I lived on the beach I’d be happy to jog all the time. In the city I have to dodge cars and suck in the exhaust.”