Free Kindling the Moon by Jenn Bennett Page B

big deal, I’m just being extra careful.”
    â€œDo you have another crazy stalker boy?”
    Ugh. “Don’t remind me,” I said. A few months ago some punk kid starting hanging outside the bar after we closed, trying to follow me to my car. Turned out he was bipolar and off his meds; if I never saw him again, it would be too soon. “Hey, speaking of boys—well, men—I met someone from your neck of the woods. Have you ever heard of Lon Butler? He’s a—”
    â€œYou met Lon Butler? Ohmygod, that’s so cool! Was he nice? I heard he was kind of a jerk. I’ve seen him at thefarmers’ market a couple of times but I was too nervous to approach him.”
    I feigned casual interest, but I was dying to find out what she knew. “He wasn’t warm and friendly. How do you know about him?”
    â€œEveryone knows about him in La Sirena. He’s got a cool piece of property at the edge of town on one of the cliffs overlooking the ocean. He inherited it from his father and built a house up there, but the only way to really see it is from a boat.”
    â€œHmm.” Boring. “What else?”
    â€œLet’s see, he travels around the world to exotic locations for photo shoots. Umm … Oh, yeah—you know his ex-wife, that model, Yvonne Giovanni?”
    I shook my head. I had no idea who she was talking about. “Where have you been living, Arcadia? Under a rock? She used to be a supermodel.”
    â€œDoesn’t ring a bell.”
    â€œBack when I was a teenager, she was always in the gossip columns because she partied with tons of celebrities. I heard that’s why they split up. His son goes to junior high with my cousin, Rosy. You remember her, right? I brought her by here a couple of months ago on my day off, that morning when you and Kar Yee were doing inventory?”
    â€œUh-huh, I remember.” I didn’t, but whatever.
    â€œWell,
she
said the rumor going around school is that Yvonne is only allowed supervised visits with the son a couple of times a year.”
    I grabbed the box cutter off the bar counter and broke down the empty boxes that were accumulating at my feet. “That’s a little weird. He mentioned that he had custody.”
    â€œYeah, and you don’t see a father getting that very often, do you? I think it’s fishy. Anyway, how did you meet him?”
    Kar Yee walked up to the bar and took a seat. “Who did you meet?”
    â€œLon Butler.”
    Kar Yee squinched up her face. “Who?”
    â€œThe famous photographer from La Sirena,” Amanda said in exasperation. I should have known she’d be a wealth of gossipy tidbits; if you listened to her weekly reports from the home front, you’d think that La Sirena was populated with nothing but soap opera characters with elaborate backstories.
    â€œAren’t there like a billion photographers in La Sirena?” Kar Yee stuck her hand inside the box of rice crackers that I’d just opened and scooped out a handful.
    â€œThat’s not sanitary,” I chastised. She shrugged and began munching.
    Amanda made a frustrated noise, then proceeded to tell her about the model/ex-wife; Kar Yee hadn’t heard of her either. “He’s a local celebrity,” she finished.
    Kar Yee gave me a sidelong glance as Amanda’s back was turned. “Whatever you say.” She swiveled her chair around to face me. “Did you call Lisa?”
    â€œYeah, she’s subbing for me tonight and tomorrow. I also called Heidi and asked if she’d help Amanda for a few hours tonight during peak hours since that concert will be letting out around midnight.”
    â€œWell, I guess you’re off the hook, then.”
    I glared at her. “I’m half owner, you know. I don’t need your permission.”
    Kar Yee formed her hand into the shape of a yapping mouth repeatedly opening and closing.
    I picked up the stack