“Yeah, this is great.”
“Okay, I”ll be right back. Do you like vodka or beer? I know that we have both of those. I’m not really sure what else there is.”
“A beer would be nice,” he replied.
Riley walked off to the kitchen and grabbed two beers from the fridge. Bernard was sitting at the bar, reading a novel. “I would have brought those out for you, Riley.”
“You enjoy your book, Bernard. You deserve to relax too. If Dr. Hunter decides to stay a while, maybe you could help me put some snacks together though? I’m not very good in the kitchen,” she asked.
“It would be my pleasure.” The old man smiled. Riley truly didn’t want him waiting on her hand
and foot, but it seemed to trouble him she hadn’t given him anything to do, so snacks was a win-win.
“Okay, awesome. Maybe in like, an hour?”
“I’m on it,” he replied.
Riley took the two beers out to the patio and handed one to Donovan. “None of these are my groceries, so I’m still kind of figuring out what we have here. Hope this is okay.”
“It’s perfect, thank you.”
Scrappy had settled himself next to Donovan, clearly realizing that is where the most attention would come from.
“So, did you really stop by just to see how this big lug of a dog was doing?” Dancing around a point was never her forte, and she hadn’t planned on starting now. Might as well find out what this guy’s agenda was out of the gate.
“I’m just being neighborly, and a good veterinarian,” he said with a grin. “And, yes, I wanted to come see you as well. I wanted to apologize for being so nosy about what your intentions were. I never even told you how sorry I was for your loss. You and Jameson must have been quite close for him to leave you with,” Donovan gestured his hands around the space, “… all this?”.
Riley eyed Donovan from across the table that separated them. She didn’t have anyone to confide in, but she also didn’t know this guy at all. He was friends with that turd Gavin though. Even still, her half-smile was unavoidable. “Jameson and I knew each other and worked very closely together for the last eighteen months or so.”
“So, you were work colleagues?” Donovan asked.
“Sort of.”
Donovan waited for her to say more and when she didn’t offer, he asked, “When was the last time you saw him?”
“It was about a year ago. I did work for him from the city.” Riley wasn’t ready to discuss Jameson’s memoirs, they seemed too personal.
“Oh, really? What do you do?”
“I’m a writer, mostly. I was writing some things for him,” she offered, hoping he wouldn’t ask for more detail.
“Jameson is… was, a particular man. You must be quite good at it.”
The flattery was not lost on her, and Riley blushed a little. “I’m not bad.” She grinned. “So, Doctor, why don’t you tell me about this town of yours. What am I missing out on?”
Donovan chuckled. “Well, the summer is just beginning here in the Port. The people watching is to die for, and there’s usually quite a few celebrities walking about. I’d say in about two weeks, people will start rolling in for the summer.”
“I’d heard that, but I’ve never been here before.” She glanced out to the water. “Would you like to go for a walk? I haven’t been down to the water since I arrived yesterday, and I’d like to.”
“Sure, that would be great.” Donovan set his bottle down on the table and stood up, to Scrappy’s dismay. His giant head had been resting on Donovan’s lap.
“Do you know if I can take Scrappy out there without a leash? Will he run away?” she asked him.
“He won’t run away, and his breed isn't particularly aggressive, so he should be fine.”
“Come on, dog, let’s go!”
Scrappy realized where they were going, and took off into a canter ahead of Donovan and Riley as they made their way down the path to the beach. Riley wanted to get away from the house, and out of range from Bernard so she could ask Donovan what he might know about Jameson and the secrets kept locked inside that house.