Page 21 of Is Anyone Listening?
"I'm fine. I just need you to stop encouraging Cole to follow in your footsteps."
"You should be happy he wants to work with me. Otherwise, he probably would have left a long time ago. You have a history of driving people away."
The sheriff started to say something, then realized we were avidly listening to their conversation. "Sorry about this, ladies. I hope you enjoy your stay in Stonecross." He tipped his head, then took his coffee and walked out of the bar.
Jeff slid into the seat on the other side of Tessa.
"I don't think we've met. I'm Jeff Holloway, Tom's brother, Cole's uncle, in case you hadn't figured that out," he said with an easy smile.
"Tessa…Cassidy," Tessa said, tipping her head to me. "We're visiting."
"I figured. You're staying at the inn, right?"
"How did you know?" I asked.
"The inn gets a lot of visitors about your age these days. Ellen definitely found a way to drum up some new business, not that any of us are complaining. I run a boat charter service if you want to go out on the ocean."
"That sounds fun," Tessa said.
"Holloway Charters. I have an office on the pier, and if I'm not there, someone else will be. Or you can check our times and prices on the web. I'm always happy to give customers of the inn a special deal."
"We might take you up on that," Tessa said, pausing as Finn appeared with two plates loaded with burgers and fries.
"Why don't I show you to a booth?" Finn suggested. "You'll be more comfortable."
"Okay," Tessa said. "It was nice to meet you, Jeff."
"You, too."
Tessa and I followed Finn to a booth against the wall.
"Fair warning—these are messy," Finn said as he set down our plates. "Sophie is bringing you extra napkins. I know she wants to talk to you about New York, so I told her she can take a break, and she'll be right out."
"Great, thanks," I said.
"Was that a little weird?" Tessa asked. "Finn moving us to a booth?"
"It is more comfortable."
"Or maybe he didn't want us talking to Jeff Holloway."
"Why would he care? Jeff seemed friendly enough. Although he was in trouble with his brother."
" Family drama is everywhere."
"I wonder if we should talk to Jeff about the woman who took the boat out and then disappeared. If he runs a charter service, he might know something about that."
"Good idea, but I thought we were concentrating on Natalie."
"You're right, but still something to think about."
"Right now, all I'm thinking is about how good this burger is," she said, her mouth full of her first bite.
I laughed and joined in, completely agreeing with her assessment as the secret sauce overwhelmed my taste buds with its deliciousness.
"Napkins," Sophie announced as she came to the booth and slid in next to Tessa.
"Thank you," Tessa said, immediately grabbing one to wipe her mouth.
