It took me only a moment to weigh the pros and cons and ultimately give in. I was sure I would regret taking her up on her offer at some point, but it was just too good a deal to pass up. She did insist after all—and one never refused Aunt Lula.
“Only if you’re sure. I can start paying rent as soon as I get a job.” I didn’t want to take advantage of my aunt’s generosity. Plus, I still had to support myself.
“Out of the question,” she said. “I’m leaving you the place when I die, so I don’t see any reason why you can’t take ownership now. At least this way, I’m still alive to watch you enjoy it,” she said. “Besides, there’s a catch.”
Of course there was a catch. There were always strings attached when it came to Aunt Lula. I only hoped working at her store again wasn’t part of the deal.
She didn’t keep me in suspense long. “I must insist that you have dinner with me at least once a week,” she said.
After everything I’d been through—meeting my stalker face-to-face, being tied up by a calculating, greedy widow—spending time with Aunt Lula didn’t sound like such a bad deal in the grand scheme of things. I would’ve agreed to dinner every night of the week if it got me my own beachfront condo. I grinned as I hugged my aunt. “You got a deal.”
“Oh, and there’s one more thing.”
Damn. I knew it was too easy. Nothing was ever easy with Aunt Lula.
“You might want to make it a point to be a little nicer to the deputy chief,” she said. “Seems that boy is still stuck on you.”
“What?” I couldn’t believe my ears. Aunt Lula was encouraging me to date Justin?
“He might have inquired about your relationship status, and I might have told him you’d recently broken up with your beau, but I drew the line on the issue of him taking you to a romantic dinner.”
“Thanks, but I don’t know what to do about Justin.” I wasn’t sure how I felt about that. Now he must be thinking he still had a chance with me. Did he? Was I ready to go traipsing down memory lane? There was too much history between us. Now more than ever, with the memory of Heather almost killing me because of our past. And what about Hartley? There was definitely something there, and I thought I wanted to pursue it.
“All I’m saying is that you could be nicer to the boy.”
“You mean you didn’t encourage him?” I was surprised Aunt Lula didn’t run out that second and buy me new monogrammed stationary.
Aunt Lula laughed. “I may be an old crow according to your mother, but I like to think of myself as a modern kind of gal. Only you can decide when it’s time to start a family or not start a family. Why, look at me now—I run a successful business all by myself.”
Incredible. “Thanks, Aunt Lula.”
I gave my aunt several more hugs to show my gratitude over her gift before leaving to tell my folks that I’d made a decision to stay in Trouble.
Justin was waiting for me outside my parents’ house.
“Word is you’re sticking around for a while,” he said.
“I guess good news really does travel fast. Let’s just say my aunt made me an offer I couldn’t refuse.” And I supposed the possibility of rekindling old flames could be considered a small factor in my decision, although I wouldn’t admit to it out loud. We still had a few issues to iron out, but perhaps in the meantime I could let him take me out to dinner, as friends. At least for now.
“I see. And what if I said I would’ve been willing to make my own offer?”
Was I ready to pick up where we’d left off all those years ago? No. Not yet. We had a lot of baggage to unpack before I could even consider the possibility of us seeing each other in a romantic way. There was also Hartley. He seemed excited about the prospect of me moving back to the island. How did I come to Trouble minus a boyfriend and end up with the possibility of dating two?
“Do you think that’s a good idea?” I asked.
“We’re different people now, Jules. Maybe it’s the right time to start over, don’t you think?”
We’d grown up over the last ten years, and I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t interested in getting to know him better this second time around. A decade was a long time. I was a different person now—at least I’d like to think so—and I’m sure he was, too.
The question was, was I ready?
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
This book was a long time in the making, and I wish to thank all the fabulous folks that made it possible. To my former colleagues at the Fairfax County Police Department and the Office of the Commonwealth’s Attorney, all I can say is, “good times.” We worked on some great cases together, and I am honored to have worked with some of the best law enforcement professionals in the field. To Karri Klawiter and Jeff Bryan, I wouldn’t have gotten this far without you. Special thanks goes out to my friends and family members who loaned me the use of their names: Charisse Berree, Teresa Brown, Sara Duck, Ryan Irsik, Cannon Manatt, Carol Rheal-Breault, and Jackie Wysong. And to all the gals at Lilly Pulitzer Tysons, y’all will always continue to bring color into my life.
AUTHOR’S NOTE
I worked in the law enforcement field for many years, but I am also a writer. I make things up, I fudge things . . . in other words, I write fiction. While I have a good working knowledge of how the justice system works, I take full responsibility (but make no apologies) for taking creative liberties with my story.
I hope you enjoyed Destined for Trouble as much as I enjoyed writing it!
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Photo © 2013 Burnett “Chip” Deyerle III
Claudia Lefeve was born and raised so far down the Texas Gulf Coast she has to pull out a map to show people it’s nowhere near Houston. Now living in Northern Virginia, she is taking a temporary hiatus from a civilian career in law enforcement in order to write full time. She lives with her husband and three dogs. You can visit Claudia at www.claudialefeve.com, www.facebook.com/claudialefeve, and twitter.com/claudialefeve.
Claudia Lefeve, Destined for Trouble (A Jules Cannon Mystery Book 1)
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