“True.” And that worried her, too. What would Miles find? Was WinJet guilty of sloppy safety procedures? It was hard to believe, but right now that’s what it was looking like. Unless their mysterious insider had somehow changed things so it appeared that the Wingate family wasn’t concerned about safety.
So who exactly was behind that? They had to know, even if the answer would be more painful than the question.
“How’s Mom?”
“She’s...” Beth paused to find the right word. Ava had been right in the thick of all of this since the moment it started. For a woman who really hadn’t spent much time with the family business, their mother was like a force of nature. “Tougher than I thought. She’s in the middle of it all, and Uncle Keith is volunteering his time to help Mom and the twins find the truth.”
“He’s still panting after Mom?”
“Thank you.” Beth shook her head, made a right turn at the next block and pulled into the first parking spot she found. She couldn’t concentrate on driving while she was dealing with all of this, too. “I thought I was the only one who was convinced Keith was desperately in love with her.”
“You’re not. The last time I was in Royal, it seemed so obvious to me. Even when Dad was alive, Keith was smitten.”
“Smitten?” Beth smiled to herself.
“It’s a perfectly good word. And I wonder why Mom doesn’t see it.”
“Piper says she does and we shouldn’t worry about it.”
“I guess Piper would know,” Harley mused, but didn’t sound confident. Then she half covered the phone and said, “Daniel, we’ll go for a walk as soon as I’m finished talking to Aunt Beth, okay?”
“Give him my love.” Beth sighed. “I really miss you guys. Daniel’s going to be six feet tall the next time I see him.”
“He’s only four,” Harley replied, laughing. “And you could come to Thailand for a visit.”
“Trust me,” Beth said on a sigh, “I wish I was there right now.”
“I bet.” Harley paused. “Look, Beth, I’m actually calling for a more personal reason.”
“Everything okay?” Sister alarm bells went off in her mind and Beth sat up straighter.
“Yes, sure. I told you, we’re fine. The problem is Zest,” she admitted.
“Your nonprofit?” Beth waved at Marva Wilson, walking her ancient beagle down the sidewalk. “What’s wrong?”
“We’re not making enough money to stay alive,” Harley confessed. “I’ve been dipping into my trust to make ends meet because I can’t bear the thought of letting down the women who depend on me. And, frankly, I could really use your fund-raising skills.”
Worry rippled through Beth. She hated to think of her little sister losing the foundation that meant so much to her. She also dreaded the thought of Harley dipping into a trust fund meant to take care of her and her son.
Harley had helped countless women to stand on their own two feet. To help them make enough money to support their families. To build better lives. Naturally Beth’s little sister wouldn’t give up finding ways to keep that kind of commitment going.
“Of course I’ll help.”
Harley sighed in relief. “Thank you. I knew I could count on you. Honestly, Beth, you have no idea how much this means to me.”
“Yeah, I do.” Her sister had the biggest heart of them all, and Beth would do whatever she could to make sure that heart didn’t get broken. “And you can absolutely count on me to help any way I can.” Her mind was already spinning with ideas on how to pull this off.
Before she lost Gracie as her assistant, Beth was going to drag her into helping work this out. “I’m sitting in a parking space off Main Street right now, so I can’t really get into anything specific.”
“Ohh. I miss Main Street. Where are you parked?”
Beth looked up. “I’m across the street from the ice-cream parlor.”
Harley sighed. “That’s so mean to tell me that.”
“Sorry,” Beth said on a laugh. “I meant I’m by the tire store.”
“A lie, but easier to take. Thanks.”