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.She whirled, a look of annoyance crossing her delicate features.Seeing Ritz, her expression changed from irritation to delight.She leaned forward to let the elegant plantation owner air kiss each of her perfectly made-up cheeks.“Ritz, you wonderful man, what a breathtaking spot you have here.I’m so glad you suggested it for our show.”“But of course.Koffee Land has everything one could desire.”Stacey’s gaze drifted over to Tom Hunter, who was eying her with his usual cool composure.“And who is this handsome man?” Stacey widened heavily mascaraed eyes as she questioned Tom.“Are you interested in auditioning for our next Bride and the Bachelor show?Tom smiled and crossed his hands in front of each other in a “no way” gesture.“Nope.I’m not an actor.Just a tourist.”She smiled a brilliant smile of her own and reached into an off-white lizard handbag that screamed Prada.“Here’s my card in case you change your mind.You have a natural attractiveness.The women will eat you up.”Hey.The only woman who got to eat Tom up was me, and I wasn’t sharing my dinner.I introduced myself to Stacey, who merely nodded.She didn’t hand over a business card so she evidently didn’t anticipate any male contenders noshing on me.When Ritz and Stacey left to find the reality show’s director, Regan and Tiffany joined our group.My sister-in-law looked tired, but happier than I’d seen her since our arrival.I nudged her arm.“How’s Dave?”“He’s fine.We were up late last night, um, talking.” Regan giggled.“I told him to sleep in.He should be here any time though.He wanted to participate in catching…” she stopped when she realized Tiffany was absorbing every word.“Tif, honey, why don’t you check out the food tent and see if they need refills on coffee or anything.”Tiffany smiled and bounded off toward the tent.Regan shook her head.“Ah, youth.Dave wanted to be here when the police arrested Henry.” She spun around, her expression puzzled.“I haven’t seen Detective Lee yet.Didn’t you call him?”“I left three messages.I don’t know whether something more important came up or if he decided Henry isn’t a viable suspect.Did Henry pick up his pay check yet?”“It’s tucked away so he can’t grab it and run.Ritz said Henry was coming by to make sure everything was okay for the initial run.” She chewed on her thumb.“It’s still difficult for me to believe Henry would kill Joey and Keiki because he was worried about his reputation.Tom, do you think we could be wrong about Henry?”“Hey, you know my position.I think you should all stay out of the detective’s way and let him solve this case,” Tom said.“I’m just here to make sure Laurel doesn’t do anything stu…” he stumbled then finished, “stupendous.”“Nice save,” Stan remarked.“Weeks of practice,” Tom shot back.Men.Gay or straight.They were all annoying at times.I turned my back on both of them and glanced around to see what the contestants were up to now.The women, all equally adorable ranged from petite to tall and sported hairdos that ran the gamut from short blonde bobs to long ebony manes.The pavilion looked like a mini-United Nations with a myriad of ethnicities represented.Amanda caught my eye and waved.The vivacious marine expert appeared to be in her element.I grabbed Tom’s hand and led him over.Between the beautiful contestants and Ms.Leung-Chandler, I wasn’t leaving Tom alone for a second.Otherwise, before I knew it, he’d be signed up as the poster boy for the The Bride and the Bachelor, Cougar Edition.“Hi, Laurel, isn’t this exciting?” Amanda eyed Tom curiously and I introduced him as my boyfriend from California.She furrowed her brow.“Does Steve know you have a boyfriend back home?”My face colored and I diverted the conversation to something safer than my love life.“Did Steve find someone to help out while you’re shooting the show?”“Timmy finally showed up for last night’s sunset sail so Steve said he could fill in for me temporarily.Steve was really ticked off about his disappearance.But Timmy has listened to my lectures for months now so he should be okay.I feel kind of bad about taking off for the show.”“Where did Timmy go?”Amanda’s eyes opened wide.She looked left then right as if she were about to disclose a state secret.“I asked him about it, but he said it would be better if I didn’t know.He had things to take care of.Something about his family’s honor, whatever that means.”“So he’s been gone since Friday?” I mulled over Timmy’s disappearance for the last three days.Where had the young man gone, and what had he been up to? Too bad he hadn’t shared anything with Amanda.“Do you get to ride on the zip-line today?” I asked.“No, I was a last-minute substitution and the girls were already selected for the zip-lining.Jacques and I are going to picnic at the beach instead.” Her green eyes grew misty.“I think a picnic will be so much more romantic.”She stared at the bachelor, her gaze intent.“Once he and I are alone, we can really make progress in our relationship.I’m sure none of these other girls have researched him like I have.We’re a perfect match.”Amanda noticed Stacey Leung-Crawford beckoning to her.“Oops, gotta run.” She raced off to join the bevy of beauties heading to the viewing deck.We wished her luck then walked back to join Stan, Mother and Regan [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]