I wasn’t sure how to respond. Bobby seemed a drain on society. That probably wasn’t what she wanted to hear. “Have you considered giving him an ultimatum? Maybe if you say you’ll never date him again unless he gets a real job he’ll do as you want.”
Her snort was disdainful. “Yeah, I’ve never found ultimatums work in relationships. I’ve tried several times. The last guy laughed at me like I was an idiot. I guess that’s what I get for trying to date old guys these days.”
It was a strange statement. “You tried to date an old guy?”
She nodded and sipped her drink. “Yeah. I thought an older man might be more ... grounded. I guess that’s the word I’m looking for. I don’t think I’m that hard to please. I want a man who is willing to take care of me, provide a good house, and allow me to remain at home. That’s it.”
That sounded like a lot. “So ... you want to be a homemaker? Like, have a bunch of kids or something?”
She shrugged. “I could take or leave the kids.”
Apparently she just didn’t want to work. “Where did you find this old guy?” There didn’t seem many options for dating in that particular pool in Shadow Hills. If you were a good guy, made a decent living, and weren’t a complete tool, odds were you were already married.
“It wasn’t easy, and I had to lower my standards like you wouldn’t believe,” she replied. “The thing is, I asked myself a very serious question when it came time to define my future needs. That’s a thing on all these talk shows, defining future needs.
“I wanted financial stability more than I wanted sexual chemistry,” she continued. “That’s most important to me, so that forced me to adjust my expectations. I had tons of sexual chemistry with Bobby, but he might be the most unmotivated man in the world. I can’t deal with that.”
I could see that. Still, sacrificing the chemistry seemed unfathomable. “Have you ever considered there’s someone out there who can check the boxes in both the financial and chemistry columns?”
“Not in Shadow Hills.”
“You’re still young,” I reminded her. “You have plenty of time to find someone.”
“I’ll be thirty in a few years. Everybody knows that you start losing your looks at thirty.”
I didn’t know that. “But ... .”
She kept talking as if she hadn’t heard me. “If I want to get the future I deserve, then I have to stop messing around. Bobby is a menace. The only way he’ll fulfill those needs is if he somehow gets hit in the head, comes down with amnesia, and develops a work ethic. I have tons of chemistry with him, but he can’t give me what I want. That’s why I told him we needed a clean break this last time. He’s not happy about it — he caused several scenes in the office demanding to know who I was dating — but he’s going to have to learn to deal with it. I need a strong man.”
I thought of the drunken man I’d spent time with a few nights before. “He seems to have a few issues,” I hedged.
“He’s an idiot.”
“His father is kind of a jerk, too,” I continued. “I went in to ask him questions about Roy and he gave me a really creepy feeling.”
Her forehead wrinkled in surprise. “You went to see Barry? Why?”
“Oh, um ... I had some hypothetical questions about what would happen to Roy’s estate should it be revealed that he had a child out of wedlock. I wanted to know if that would affect what Vera was due to inherit.”
“What did he say?”
I shrugged. “He said there were a lot of factors, including whether or not the other woman signed off on a financial stake.”
“I didn’t know that.” She straightened in her chair. “Is an agreement signed before a death still legal in a case like this?”
I nodded. “Apparently so.”
“I ... well ... huh.” She looked conflicted. “Do you think someone killed Roy because of money?”
“It’s possible.”
“I bet it was Vera.” Erin’s expression darkened. “She refused to let that poor man go even though it was obvious he didn’t love her. The more he tried to escape, the tighter she clung to him. It was pretty sickening.”
The vehemence pooling off her made me distinctly uncomfortable. “I think she’s just frightened. She’s never been on her own. I don’t know that she’s broken-hearted about his death but I don’t think she wished him ill.”
“No, she’s evil.”
“Well, Barry said that Roy’s estate is probably going to be a nightmare to unravel if there are other children out there.” I thought of Dakota. “Someone will have to put in a claim and go through a DNA test if it comes to that.”
“Can you even do a DNA test when someone is pregnant?”
I shrugged. “I was thinking more along the lines of children who already exist. Vera said there might be one or two running around ... and even if Roy managed to get the mother to sign off, there’s still the possibility of battling over the estate in court.”
“But ... that doesn’t seem right. I mean, if you sign off, you sign off.”
“I don’t think anything is simple when you’re dealing with law enforcement,” I replied. “Either way, I don’t look for Roy’s murder to be solved anytime soon. The money would likely be held up until Vera is cleared as a suspect. The insurance company won’t pay out to a murder suspect.”
Erin rubbed her chin. “I’m surprised that she hasn’t been arrested yet. She’s the one with the most to gain from his death.”
“There are questions about the logistics of the murder.”
“What do you mean?”
“Roy was killed behind the restaurant, but his vehicle was found over here. Hunter said they’re checking it for prints and he expects a hit. I guess we’ll see.”
“I guess.” Erin’s expression was momentarily cloudy and then she forced a smile. “So ... what’s going on with you and Hunter? Once he dumps Monica, is it smooth sailing back to one another?”
Ugh. That was a question I didn’t — and couldn’t — answer. “Nothing is going on with Hunter,” I repeated. “As for me ... .” I trailed off, my gaze drifting to the funeral home across the street. “I just remembered, I have to talk to Sebastian about something. It was nice talking to you.”
I was eager to make my escape.
“Okay, but the questions about Hunter aren’t going anywhere,” she said mischievously. “The fact that he spent the night with you on your couch is going to come up at some point.”
“Not today.” I headed for the door. “Good luck on the job search ... and I hope things work out well with your old guy.”
“You and me both, honey.”
28
Twenty-Eight
Sebastian reclined on one of the settees, flipping through a heavy book. He straightened, pasted a businesslike welcoming smile on his face, and then deflated when he saw it was me.
“It’s nice to see you, too,” I snickered.