When I got home from work, Talon was nowhere to be found, but Marj was in the kitchen.
“Hey,” she said. “I’m making manicotti.”
“Oh, yeah? Where’s Felicia?”
“I gave her the afternoon off. I felt like cooking tonight.”
I inhaled. “It smells delish. Can I help?”
“Sure. Why don’t you put together a salad?”
I headed to the fridge and pulled out a head of romaine, a tomato, some radishes, and some baby spinach. “Where is Talon?”
“I haven’t the foggiest. I haven’t seen him since this morning.”
She was ahead of me. I hadn’t seen him this morning. He’d left my bed sometime during the night.
“By the way, Ryan and Joe are coming for dinner.”
Good. Maybe Marj and I could talk to them about Talon. “Okay. When?”
“They should be here any minute.”
“But Talon’s not coming?”
Marj shrugged. “As I said, I haven’t the foggiest. His car is gone, and I’ve no idea where he went. I’ve given up on him. After all, he stood us up last time, remember? My guess is he’s gone for the day and evening. He does that sometimes, goes into Grand Junction on business and has dinner there.”
“Did he ever apologize to you about the other night?” He hadn’t told me where he’d been. Maybe he’d told Marj.
She nodded. “Yeah. Sort of. Talon has issues with apologies. But he felt bad. I could tell.”
“Where did he go?”
“Same thing. To Grand Junction. He didn’t say why.”
I let it go. The guys arrived shortly thereafter, and Marj poured us all a glass of Ryan’s Italian blend. The robust aroma of the zesty tomato sauce wafted out from the oven as we sat at the kitchen table to drink wine and munch on skewers of honeydew melon and prosciutto drizzled with olive oil.
We engaged in small talk, until finally the perfect moment arrived for me to bring up Talon.
“I haven’t had a chance to thank you, Jade,” Jonah said, “for getting that good deal for Talon with the city.”
“You don’t have to thank me. I was glad to do it. You guys have all done so much for me, letting me stay here, and you, Ryan, letting me work at the winery the first few weeks I was here.”
“We miss you over there,” Ryan said. “Anytime you want to come back, there’s an open invitation.”
“She has a license to practice law now, Ry,” Jonah said. “I doubt she wants to make wine for living.”
“Actually, that doesn’t sound too bad. Honestly, I’m not sure law was ever my true calling. I knew I wanted to do something where I could draw good pay. My dad and I pretty much lived paycheck to paycheck, and I didn’t want to do that for the rest of my life. Plus, I’m not really happy with my boss right now. It was a clear breach of ethics for me to even work on Talon’s case, but I’m glad I could help. I’m not sure what Larry would’ve done with it.”
Jonah scoffed. “Larry Wade is a moron. Of course he didn’t see any ethical problem with you working on Talon’s case. He wouldn’t know ethics if they hit him in the head. Honestly, I’m glad you’re working on it, breach of ethics or not. I don’t trust Larry as far as I can throw him.”
I nodded. I didn’t really trust the guy either, and I’d only known him for a couple of days. “Talon originally wanted to plead guilty and get jail time. Did you guys know that?” I said.
Jonah raised his eyebrows. “That doesn’t sound like Talon.”
Ryan shook his head. “It sure doesn’t. Talon hates being locked up.”
“Well, I’m sure no one likes being locked up,” I said. “Is he claustrophobic or something?”
“Well, not exactly…” Jonah looked down at his glass of wine.
Marj piped up. “Then what exactly do you mean?”
“Nothing,” Ryan said. “He means nothing. It’s like Jade said. No one likes being locked up.”
“I don’t buy it,” Marj said.
I didn’t either, but as a visitor, I wasn’t really at liberty to say so. I was glad Marj had.
“What exactly is there to buy, Marjorie?” Jonah asked.
Marj let out a chuckle. “Using my full name? I’ve hit a nerve somewhere.” She turned to me. “Why don’t you guys tell us exactly what’s going on here? Jade’s been asking me for weeks what the story is with Talon, and I’ve been telling her the same thing you guys have always told me. It’s just his way. He’s always been that way. But it occurs to me that you guys have known him a lot longer than I have. He’s my brother, and I love him as much as I love the two of you. What is going on?”
Ryan and Jonah exchanged a fleeting glance. Very fleeting, actually, but I noticed it. I was on high alert when it came to Talon. I would’ve noticed anything.
“Let it go, Marj,” Jonah said softly.
“I can’t let it go any longer,” Marj said. “He’s my brother too, damn it. What are you hiding?”