Chapter 96

“If you’re looking for late dinner,” Andy said, “there’s Neptune’s Cove up the street a bit; they seat until midnight.”

Scooter finally managed to get to his feet. He strode into the dining area, bringing his best glare with him. “Look what the cat dragged in,” he said.

“Hey, boss!” Jeff Tucker said, opening his arms and running over to Scooter for a hug. “Knew I shoulda called first.”

“You fucking asshole,” Scooter said, pounding Jeff on the back.

“Wait, you’re the infamous Jeff?” Andy said wryly. “Huh. I thought you’d be taller.”

Debbie, Jeff’s girlfriend, was medium tall, with honey brown hair. She was wearing blue-tinted sunglasses, even though it had been dark outside for at least two hours. She tilted the glasses down on her nose and grinned. “Debbie Tucker,” she said, offering Andy her hand. “New hire?”

Scooter, who’d practically lifted Jeff off the floor, let go of him suddenly. “Did I hear that right? Did…Jeff!” He cuffed Jeff in the back of the head. “Bad enough you run off, but yougot married and didn’t even call us? Asshole.”

“Hey, Scooter,” Debbie said, her hand still locked around Andy’s wrist. She did that, and if Andy had a watch worth stealing, Scooter’d be warning him to keep his hand on it. “Sorry, it was kinda a drunken bit of crazy at three in the morning. We could probably still get it annulled.”

“No takebacks, Debbie!” Jeff protested. “So, who’s the city slicker who’s holed up in my house?”

“That’d be me,” Andy said. His mouth curved like he was amused, but his eyes were darting around cautiously. “Took your job, too. And good luck getting your dog back.”

Jeff’s mouth dropped open. “You gave away my dog? That’s just cold, Scooter.”

“Talk to Trick about it,” Scooter suggested. “He was heartbroken when you left. Andy’s been all that’s keepin’ him calm, so yeah, think you kinda bought that trouble yourself. How was Nevada?”

“Hot,” Jeff said. “Except when it was cold. I don’t like it much. Thought I’d come home.”

Scooter groaned. More of that bad timing. He’d been considering what to do, as September drew closer, but hadn’t gotten around to it. He didn’t want to push.

“Well, you’ll need to find something else for right now,” Scooter said. “Give Kat a call. I’m sure she and Jason can put you two up for a while. You know, provided she doesn’t drop kick you into the Sound for getting married without telling anyone.”

Andy was watching him; he could feel Andy’s gaze practically burning a hole in the side of his head. “I…could stay with you tonight,” he said, quiet, nearly tentative, even though he slept at Scooter’s more than half the time anyway, “and we can sort out all the details tomorrow.” He quirked a small smile. “I mean, Kat might kill him outright, and then no one would have to move anything.”

“I’m not throwing you out of your home, Andy,” Scooter said. “Jeff chose to leave. If he forgot that actions have consequences, or didn’t consider them before acting, that’s on him.”

Andy glanced at Jeff and Debbie, who were both bemused by Scooter’s little speech, then back at Scooter. “I didn’t think you were,” he said. “But you can’t tell me Jeff isn’t one of yours, and he should get to come home, too.”

“You know,” Jeff said, slowly, “I didn’t actually come here to pick a fight.”

“Jeff,” Debbie said, “that’s why you go everywhere. Stop acting like an ass.” She reached into her pocket and pulled out a legal-sized envelope. “You’re not being replaced. No one’s replacing you. You’re still Scooter’s family.” She handed the envelope to Andy. “Give this to Scooter. Don’t let him tear it up or anything stupid, okay?”

Andy lifted his eyebrows at her, then slowly opened the envelope and pulled out a folded sheet of paper. He unfolded it, and another piece of paper fluttered free to fall to the floor, just exactly the size of a cashier’s check. Andy scooped it up quickly, then scanned the note and handed it—but not the check, if that’s what it was—to Scooter.

“What is this?”

“Can you believe it? So unfair. I spent months getting in on a high stakes poker game. Weeks of research, learning my competition. This idiot goes into the casino to get free drinks. Plonks six dollars into a slot machine out of boredom? And wins two and a half million dollars.”

“Debbie Tucker, only you would complain about that,” Jeff said. “So…we owe you. Between you and your dad.”

Andy unfolded the check, and his eyebrows went way, way up. He folded it back up and pointed at Scooter. “You can have this when you’ve proven you can handle it.”

Scooter stared at Jeff. “You have money? I mean, I know you have money, I meant…”

“Well, I have money now,” Jeff shot back, a little guilty, “like, money.”

Scooter blinked again. He’d stepped on a jellyfish once when he was ten or so. This was like that: a soft brush and then sudden, searing pain. Only this pain was in his head. “Jeff, you’re a thief and an ex-carnie. How did you win two million dollars?”

“Dumb luck, emphasis on dumb,” Jeff said. “That’s me. But me an’ Debbie, we thought we’d—well, we thought we’d stay here while we set it up, but we wanna buy one of the rentals down the beach. We’ll rent it out, go traveling when we want to, an’ come home when we’re bored. We thought you might…manage it for us, while we were gone? If that’s…if that’s a thing. That you’d want to do for us. I mean, we’d pay you for that, an’ all. I know it’s more work.”

“I don’t know anything about managing property,” Scooter said, numb. He glanced at Andy, who was patting his pocket, his mouth twisting into an unbearably smug grin.