Free Decadence (An Emerald Valley Spring Fling) by Riley Shane Page B

on…whatever it is you’re surprising Devlin with tonight.”
    Devereaux wasn’t the kind of guy to pry, and at the moment, I was grateful for his unobtrusive nature. Lord knew I wouldn’t get the same consideration at my next stop.
    * * * *
    “Tell me.”
    “No.”
    “Tell me.”
    “No.”
    “Tell meeeee .”
    Leah Montgomery-Levi was many things—wife, mother, best friend, and business partner, to name a few. She and I co-owned and ran Emerald Valley Bed & Breakfast and had done an amazing job, if I did say so myself. Yet despite the levels of maturity, responsibility, and business acumen it took to not only run the Emerald but a side business as a graphic artist as well, Leah could and often did act like a three-year-old when someone she loved was keeping a secret from her. Which was why, rather than doing paperwork in the Emerald’s kitchen like she normally did, Leah had planted herself in my office and was currently taking over half my desk so she could harangue me while we worked.
    I tried not to laugh, but whenever Lei tried to pout, she looked ridiculous. “Don’t you have a daughter who should be doing the whole ‘acting like a toddler’ thing? Where is Miri, anyway? You didn’t bring her in this morning.”
    “Oh, I sold her to pirates.”
    “Pirates?”
    “Would you prefer traveling circus?”
    “Lei…”
    “Traded her for magic beans?”
    “Sometimes I find it unfair that no one outside family ever sees what a lunatic you are.”
    “That’s your lot in life. Miri’s to be spoiled by Jon’s parents for the day. Part of me thinks that’s the last thing she needs right now. She had an all-out tantrum when I told her we weren’t bringing the cat with us to the Emerald. I’m not even exaggerating—my beautiful baby girl transformed into a shrieking demon hell spawn in five seconds flat. But whether or not she deserves a day of fun after that, I desperately wanted a break from the terrible twos. Given how much paperwork I knew I’d be dealing with today, I didn’t want to deal with any monster-child tantrums. Jon’s working late, but after work he’ll pick her up and come on over.”
    “Thanks for covering for me tonight.” Despite having a perfectly good home, Devlin and I were still living at my apartment at the B and B. The downside of the Emerald being a two-woman show was that either Leah or I had to be there at night. Since Leah had married Jon, that person had been me, which hadn’t been a problem until recently. The two of us had been searching for an innkeeper so Devlin and I could actually move into our new home, but so far we hadn’t had any luck finding someone qualified for the job. And now with a baby on the way, I didn’t know how I’d be able to budget for a new hire, even though we’d need an innkeeper more urgently than before. “I’ll make sure my apartment here is toddler-proof. It should be, but between Devlin working all hours at the restaurant and me working here and having every weekend booked with spring-wedding photography clients, I haven’t been paying much attention. I do know I’ve got half-packed boxes everywhere, and I apologize in advance for the mess.”
    “Don’t worry about it. Barring any walk-ins, we don’t have guests on the first floor tonight, just the two couples on the second. I figured we’d take the family-sized guest room on one and leave your apartment alone. Miri’s monster-under-the-bed nightmares have pretty much stopped, but I’d rather not be on the same floor as guests just in case.
    “Now stop trying to change the subject, and tell me what you’re up to. Aside from playing hooky to sex it up in your new house, of course.”
    “Who says I’m up to anything?”
    She snorted. “Naya, we’ve been best friends for nearly three decades. Three decades . I know when you’re hiding something. Spill. Now.”
    That was actually true. She and I had been best friends for practically forever. The only thing that had