Author's Note: I love the idea of Laura Hardy adopting Nancy. I think that's starting to happen. And poor Frank... this is just so awkward for him. It's fun. :)

Awkward Arrangements

"You must be Nancy," Laura Hardy said, and Nancy nodded, unsure how to react in front of Frank's mother. Normally, she'd fall back on good manners, but she didn't know that good manners applied when greeting her fake boyfriend's mother.

The older woman embraced her, and Nancy tried not to let it be awkward. This is just like Hannah, she thought, though Hannah wasn't pretending and was a housekeeper, not a mother.

"The boys have told me a lot about you," Laura said as she stepped back. "Seems you made quite an impression on both of them."

Nancy felt herself flushing. She wasn't sure why—Joe didn't seem to think all that much of her, and Frank... Well, she liked the idea of impressing Frank, but she wasn't sure how to feel about him talking about her. "I... It wasn't much."

Laura laughed. "Sure it wasn't. It's not every girl that would agree to having my sons investigate at her birthday party. Most of them would never speak to them afterward if they did."

"Hey, that was one time," Joe protested. "And Iola forgave me."

Frank snorted. "No, she hasn't. She just took pity on you and let you stop apologizing because you suck at it."

Joe tried to hit his brother, and Frank dodged it. Nancy laughed, seeing them interact. They were fun to watch.

"I am glad you were able to come," Laura told her. "Fenton is out somewhere, investigating though he claims he's working on his golf swing. I'll take your things into the other room. The boys will have to share the fold out bed."

"Share it?" Joe sputtered, shaking his head. "No way. I'm not doing the folding couch—not sharing it anyway. There are two beds in our part of the suite. Nancy can have one, and I get the other one, and Frank can have the hideabed."

"Joe," his mother began, shaking her head at his declaration. "It's inappropriate. Nancy gets her own room."

Nancy fidgeted. "I can take the fold out. It's fine. There's only one of me and two of them."

Laura didn't seem to like that idea. "No. You're our guest and—"

"And eventually she'll be family anyway," Joe said, grinning madly at his brother. "She'll just marry Frank and—"

Frank lunged for Joe, getting hold of him. He held him with the arm in the cast, using his other hand to cover his mouth. "Excuse us. I'm going to go kill my brother and then we won't have an issue with the beds."

Joe fought against his hold as Frank dragged him into the other room. Laura looked after them and sighed. "Those two..."

Nancy wanted to laugh, though she shouldn't because Joe making jokes about her becoming family weren't that funny. She had a boyfriend, and she needed to call Ned to tell him what was going on. He needed to hear it from her first that she was pretending to be another boy's girlfriend. "It's fine. Really. I can have the fold out."

"We'll figure it out," Laura promised. "In the meantime, why don't you take some time to look around? It's a big resort, and I haven't seen all of it yet myself. I'm thinking of getting a few spa treatments later if you feel like joining me."

"Well..." Nancy began. She didn't know much about spa treatments or anything like that. Why did they need her if they had Laura with them? She should ask Frank about that.

Frank came back into the room, alone. He looked frustrated, and Nancy thought maybe the only reason he wasn't swearing was because his mother was in the room. "When he gets back, I am going to kill him."

"Let me talk to him," Laura suggested. "I'll make sure he listens. You go ahead and show Nancy around. I'm sure you have plenty to talk about—and investigate."

"So," Nancy began, keeping a bright smile on her face—she was more vibrant, more alive, when she was working on a mystery, a sharp contrast from when she was in school. She was still active, but there was another side to her when she discussed a case. Frank had seen it the moment she confronted him about his undercover work. That had changed her whole face. "Where to first?"

"Definitely not the tunnel of love."

She looked at Frank, and he grimaced. "It's—sorry. I'm sure you haven't missed how Joe's been acting. He's taking this cover way too far, and I'm still wishing we had a better one. It's not right to ask you to do this."

She nodded. "I know Ned won't be very happy about that part, but I don't want anything to happen to your mom or anyone else. It's important to judge the ends and the means together, and I think that if telling people I'm your girlfriend keeps someone else from being hurt, then it is... actually more acceptable a lie than the ones I told my dad when I said I wasn't sleuthing."

Frank forced a smile. That was all well and good, but it didn't feel that great to have a girl say she was okay just pretending to be his girlfriend. He knew he wasn't okay with it. He'd been raised to be a gentleman, as his mother and aunt liked to say, and pretending didn't feel right. He'd rather be involved than faking it, and he thought maybe that was why he hadn't done more than a couple dates with Callie. He got the sense she wanted more, but he didn't think he was ready for that—not when mysteries came first and he didn't feel right involving Callie.

He had asked for Nancy's help, though, and that made things that much more awkward.

"Well, and then there was the room thing—we weren't able to get you one of your own—"

"I don't need one, and I am fine with the couch," she said, reaching over to take Frank's hand. His mouth went dry, and he tried not to stare at her. "You don't have to go to any trouble."

"Mom believes in good manners—and being gentlemen. Joe doesn't always listen, but there's a part of me that says there's no way you can have that couch." Frank felt hot and turned away. "So... Let's just hope Mom has a brainstorm. We should look around the resort."

"What's Joe up to?"

"He does most of his investigation from the pool," Frank admitted. Nancy looked at him, and he nodded. "It hasn't been directed toward you—be glad it hasn't; he can't seem to stop flirting to save his life—but Joe has a lot of charm. He has made friends with all the lifeguards and wait staff down there. He's gathering information, at least. And it's not like I could do much around the pool."

She looked at his cast. "Yeah, I suppose so. How are you feeling?"

Frank shrugged. "It doesn't hurt. Mostly it's just annoying. It keeps getting in the way of stuff I want to do."

"Well, now that I'm here, I can be your hands. What did you want to do?"

He frowned. "Well, there are a few computers I'd like to get a look at, but I haven't been able to—I can't break in fast enough when I can only hunt and peck, and I haven't had a chance to write a program for Joe to use, either, because it's too frustrating and time consuming to do with one hand."

She smiled. "Where are these computers?"

"This way."

"So, wait, your parents let your brother's girlfriend come along?"

Joe nodded, sipping from his drink. He picked up the umbrella and turned it over in his fingers before speaking. "I think they felt sorry for him. You know... him being such a klutz that he broke his arm right before we came. He's not really having much fun here. That... and he was moping around without her. It was pathetic, really. We all needed her to come to put us out of our misery."

The waitress laughed, her fruit earrings bouncing as she did, and Joe wondered how much those things weighed. She looked ridiculous with them—her hair was so short the fruit took over her whole face. She was cute enough, though, and she'd already told him plenty about her coworkers. He found it was easy to learn things from gossips, and Kerrie Berrie—he had better never call her by that name, even if he couldn't stop using it in his head—was one of the worst he'd ever met.

"Does he really have it that bad?"

"Oh, yeah," Joe said, knowing Frank would hate him if he knew he was saying half of this. "He hasn't been the same since he met her. He started listening to her music—on vinyl, no less—and bought her the dorkiest gift from an antique store. She likes vintage, which is good because Frank is grade A vintage dork."

Kerrie laughed, snorting loudly as she did. Joe tried not to react to her laugh. He liked her and all, since she was a good source of information even with the lousy fashion sense, but he really disliked her laugh. It drove him crazy.

"If you have any advice on where a good antique store would be that I could send the dorks off to, I'll pass it along," Joe said. "Or maybe you know a few romantic locations they should disappear to...?"

"Are you planning on using them with some other girl?"

Joe stared at her. "Me? Just what do you take me for, Kerrie?"

"A complete flirt," she said, rolling her eyes. "Like I haven't noticed you talking to everyone around the pool. I should shove you right in there and let you drown."

"You wouldn't. You like me too much."

She sighed. "That's true. I do. Did I tell you what I heard about Senator Rose?"

"No," Joe said, sitting back and preparing to listen. Sometimes he thought the blackmailers didn't need any special equipment or surveillance to dig up dirt on anyone—all they needed was one waitress named Kerrie.