page83 (2/2)

“On a cleanse, yes And I don’t want to put them back on” It was a constant battle of balance for ht probleer eat that extra candy bar without it ballooning outthat I didn’t overindulge

I glared balefully at the plate of mini-pastries Bailey put on the table “This is just mean”

“Oh, shut up and eat” She sat down as she placed our coffee s on the table

I took the one she offered and watched as she delved straight into the pastries

Usually,to talk it off, but Bailey had been distracted for weeks She orried about Ivy

“Spoken to Ivy lately?”

She gri

at her mom and dad’s”

After the police closed the case on Oliver Frost as a heroin overdose, Iris and Ira packed up an eht her home to Hartwell Bailey was convinced there was more to the story Iris and Ira had aired their concerns over the last few years about how distant Ivy had groith everyone They’d never liked Oliver I suspected they suspected some kind of abuse, but that was merely speculation on my part I think Bailey had similar suspicions, but neither of us had said it out loud You never kneas listening in I loved Hartwell, but it was a small town and rumors spread like wildfire

Bailey scowled “Did you know Ian Devlin asked the Greens if they were considering selling the pizzeria so they could concentrate on their daughter’s needs? Direct quote!”

I ust “That uely horrible happen to them, he swoops in to manipulate them when they’re vulnerable”

“He’s the devil,” Bailey decided “I’m convinced of it”

Maybe she wasn’t far off the hter No one had seen or heard from Rebecca Devlin in a few years She’d left town for reasons unknown and had not returned

I didn’t blame her I hadn’t known her well, but she seemed to be a sweet person, which would s Well, the youngest Devlin, Jamie, was only eleven years old and hopefully played no part in the devious plans of his three older brothers and father

We ate in silence for a while and then Bailey said, “That new restaurant couldn’t be opening at a worse time for Iris and Ira”