“I…I…” Tadgh’s dark eyes flicked from me and back to her before he shook his head, seeming to come to terms with the bizarre direction his day had taken. “I’ll have a talk to her about that.”
“Perfect! For now, shall we get inside where we’re not all so… publicly exposed?”
“Yeah, let’s do that.” He glanced at the massive basket in my arms. “I hope that’s not all for me.”
“Well, notentirelyfor you,” I admitted. Although I had been the one to supply my card for the purchasing, Cherry had been in charge of directing the staff on what to buy. I didn’t really get the point of it, since all three of the great families on the East Coast were plenty wealthy, but she’d said it was the thought that counted.
The McElroy heir just shook his head and crossed to his passenger door, which he opened for Cherry.
“Hope you don’t mind,” he said to me. “Ladies first, after all.”
“Naturally,” I agreed. “I hope you don’t think me paranoid when I remind you that allies do not poach employees.”
“Why, I wouldn’t dream of it!” he said, like someone who had very much been contemplating it. Or maybe I really was just paranoid. Funny how a murder investigation could do that to someone.
“Please, gentlemen, no need to fight over little old me. Let’s just hurry inside, shall we?”
I had no idea if this particular bout of tension was all part of Cherry’s plans, but what Ididknow was that I was feeling awfully territorial. I didn’t get an answer before we were allgetting into the car, Cherry up front with Tadgh and me in the back with the oversized gift basket.
Thankfully, it was a quick drive to the back of the house, and this time, instead of being politely sequestered in a secondary sitting room, Tadgh pulled into a garage not too dissimilar from our own, then led us to the foyer.
“Wait here,” he said, and I could almost feel Cherry vibrate with opportunity next to me. “I’m gonna go get my parents. I’ll send the staff to see to you if you need anything.”
“Oh, you don’t have to worry about anything like that,” I said.
The look he sent me was one part scathing and two parts affronted. Honestly, if his expression grew any sharper, I might end up just as dead as my father was.
“What kind of hospitality is that?” he asked as if I had just spat at his feet. Huh, maybe Cherry had been right; us rich folks seemed to be awfully up our own asses.
Still, a concern about being a good host was a more acceptable character flaw than many I’d seen in my lifetime.
“Point taken. We will be happy to request whatever we need from the staff you send our way.”
“Good. And none of that pretending you’re not hungry or thirsty to be polite. I can smell your appetite from here.”
He headed off, and Cherry narrowed her eyes at me.
“I thought you said you’d eaten breakfast.”
“I did,” I replied, and although I kept my tone relatively even, I was flattered that she even cared about such a thing. Although it was a bit frustrating that I knew she could see such aprivateemotion. Well, the theme of the day was distraction, so maybe I could use that tactic as well. “Haveyouhad anything but coffee, an energy drink, and the seaweed snacks you had for lunch because you started to get nauseous?”
“I had some goldfish crackers too,” she muttered.
It was little moments like this that kept me from sinking too deep into the reality of everything that had been revealed during our disastrous funeral trap.
“A balanced diet you have there,” I said.
I could tell Cherry was ready to verbally spar with me, but I heard heavy footsteps approaching, so I held a finger to my lips. Briefly, there was a flash in my mind of doing that toher,but that wouldn’t exactly go along with me trying to be logical about our dalliances, so I refrained.
Fortunately, Cherry got the message just as a middle-aged shifter I vaguely recognized came down the stairs.
“Well, I’ll be, you can’t tell me that’s the young VanMarche son! Chris! I ain’t seen you since you were about hip height!”
Ah, very abruptly, I knew exactly which uncle this was. He was the one who had been born of an affair and sent off to live on his mother’s family farm. When the current alpha came of age, he’d rushed to bring his brother home. He was a Jedediah in a sea of very Irish names, and although I hadn’t been alive during the scandal, my father had mentioned it to us when we were confused why one of the McElroys sounded like he came straight out of blazing saddles.
“I’m Paul, actually,” I said cordially. “Chris is my older brother.”
“Whoops, sorry about that, my good man. Always did have a hard time keeping track of Yankee names. I’ll go grab my brother. After that shindig of a funeral, I know he’s just dying to talk with you!”