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“You haven’t told her I’m here though, have you?”
“No. I don’t want to upset her. She’s excited about your visit. She’s so looking forward to seeing you.” She continued to hold his gaze, wanting him to feel the full weight of her displeasure. “I’m not entirely sure why you told her Friday and arrived Tuesday, but that’s none of my business. I just don’t want to see her hurt.”
“And why would I hurt her?”
“I’m not sure. But maybe sneaking into town—”
“I’m not sneaking.”
“She doesn’t know you’re here though, and you gave me a false name.”
“I gave you my name.”
“But not your surname. Because you knew I’d recognize the name Justice.” Her voice grew harder, her tone frostier. “Not sure what you were doing in my chair earlier, asking so many questions.”
“She’s talked a lot about you. I was curious to find out more about you.”
“Then why not introduce yourself as Bette’s grandson? You commented on her chair. You heard me say she was a favorite client.”
The waitress approached, and asked if Amanda would like to order something. Amanda was about to say no, when she realized she was shivering on the inside, from nerves and cold. “I could use a coffee.”
“Nothing to eat?” Tyler asked.
“No, but thank you,” she added to the waitress, giving her a smile. Her smile disappeared as the waitress walked away and she looked at Tyler. “I’m not hungry because I had lunch with your grandmother an hour ago, just before her hair appointment.”
“Do you do that often?”
“Once or twice a week.”
“Is she that lonely?”
Amanda stiffened. “What kind of question is that?”
“I’m genuinely curious.”
“Your grandmother is not at all lonely. She plays in a duplicate bridge group. She is part of a birthday club. She is part of a gardening club. Bette organizes a weekly movie matinee day at the Palace Theatre and she is the ringleader of thirty some seniors that meet for the movies every Wednesday. Why don’t you go tomorrow and see how lonely she is?”
“Why so hostile?”
“Why assume she is lonely, just because she and I are close?”
His broad shoulders shifted carelessly. His expression was equally detached. Amanda couldn’t get a read on him.
“I would think you’d both prefer the company of someone closer to your own ages,” he said.
Her chin notched up. “Apparently, you’re confused, but then, you’re not the only one. Bette is confused, too. She thinks you’re arriving Friday to convince her to move to California, only you’re not living in California, are you? Didn’t you say you’re in Austin? Maybe you should explain to her where she’d live and why, since she thinks you’re a stand-up, honest guy?” She gave him another long, pointed look before rising. “I’ll get my coffee to go.”
“I am an honest guy. And if you’d give me a chance to explain—”
“I don’t believe in manipulating people or playing games.”
“I’m not playing games.”
“That’s right. You just design them.” She shot him a reproachful look and started for the bar counter but he reached out to catch her sleeve, his fingertips just brushing the inside of her bare wrist.
“What are you going to tell my grandmother?” he asked.
It had only been the briefest of touches, and yet she could still feel the warmth of his skin against hers, and for a moment she couldn’t think, torn between anger and disappointment. She’d so enjoyed talking to him earlier, when she’d cut his hair, and yet now she just wanted to put distance between them. “I’m not going to tell her anything. She’s your grandmother. But do the right thing so that you don’t end up hurting her. She’s so excited to see you. Be kind to her.”
“I would never hurt her. I adore Gram—”
“Well, so do I.” And then she moved on, walking to the bar where Shane was pouring drinks.
“What can I get for you, Mandy?” Shane asked, brushing a long tendril of blonde hair behind her ear.
“I’d ordered a coffee but I need to get back to the salon. Can I get it to go instead?”
“No problem.”
Shane filled a paper cup, popped a lid on it, and handed it over, but then waved off Mandy’s money. “I’ve got this. Get back to work and keep making Marietta beautiful.”
Amanda laughed and headed out, but her smile faded as she approached Tyler’s booth. She squared her shoulders, and kept her gaze fixed on the door so she wouldn’t make eye contact with him, and then only exhaled after she was in the hall.
For a moment Tyler just sat there, watching Amanda exit the hotel bar, and then he rose and threw down some bills and followed her out.
Amanda was hurt, and angry, and he didn’t blame her. He should have told her who he was earlier, especially when his grandmother’s name was mentioned, but he wanted to learn as much about Amanda Wright as he could, without her being guarded, or defensive, but of course she didn’t know any of that.
He caught up with her in the middle of the Graff’s formal lobby. “Slow down,” he said gruffly, putting a hand to her upper arm. “Please?”
She stopped walking to face him, but her expression was no longer friendly or smiling, and it crossed his mind that while he still didn’t know very much about her, he’d discovered that although pretty, she wasn’t soft, and she wasn’t a pushover. Amanda Wright had a backbone. Nor did she appreciate being played for a fool.
“I’m sorry,” he said, his voice deep, and rough. He was uncomfortable and embarrassed. “I’m sorry I didn’t tell you who I was earlier. And I apologize if I’ve made things awkward. That wasn’t my intention.”
“Then what was your intention, booking me for a haircut and giving me a false name?”
“It’s my real name.”
“And telling me you were here for a business meeting?” She looked him in the eye, unblinking, unflinching. “What was that about?”
“I do have a business meeting. Two, actually, one with an investment broker, and another with a local Realtor.”
“Why? Are you investing in Marietta? Thinking of a buying a house, or business here?”
“It never hurts to understand a local economy.”
Her full lips compressed. “There are different ways to get to know a community. There is more to Marietta than its economy—which is booming, lately. If you really want to know why your grandmother loves Marietta, get to know her friends. Discov
er the town. Join her for the Wednesday matinee movie. Take her to dinner at Rocco’s, or pie at the diner—”
“Gram turns eighty this year.”
“That’s right, in June, and we’re working on a lovely party for her, too.”
“She’s not going to live forever.”
“No one does, Ty. But what makes you think she’d be happier living with you in Texas or wherever it is you call home now?”
“Well, I’d be there.”
“Yes, but you work, don’t you? And I’m sure you have a social life. You’re not going to sit home with her twenty-four seven.”
“She’d make new friends.”
Amanda drew a sharp breath, furious. “Of course you’d say that.” Frustration filled her. He didn’t get it, did he? Bette would be lost without her friends in Marietta. Her friends were the ones that had been there for her after Don’s death, and Patrick’s funeral. Friends had given her life meaning. They wouldn’t be easily replaced. Nor would Marietta be the same without her. “You don’t understand how important she is here in Marietta, and how much she does for the community.”
“I know she’s a generous source of support—”
“This isn’t about her making donations and writing checks.” Amanda gripped her cup tightly. She couldn’t remember when she last felt so upset. “Bette is loved. And she loves us. And we don’t want to lose her.”
“Neither do I.”
“Then start spending time here! Come see her. Get to know her on her terms. Don’t make her sacrifice everything just to have a relationship with you.”
“Life is about change. It’s about being flexible, adaptable.”
“You might be brilliant at creating software, but you don’t know the first thing about people. She’s not a character in one of your games. Maybe you’re the one that needs to be flexible and adapt.”
“What does that mean?”
“Maybe you should consider moving here.” And then she was walking away from him again, quickly. This time he didn’t pursue her.
Tyler walked from the Graff to his grandmother’s house on Bramble. Her home was on the north end, closer to the high school than the courthouse. Many of the homes around her were modest Victorians, nothing as grand as the big, stately homes surrounding the historic Bramble House B&B but they all embodied turn of the century American charm.
