Page 26

Alessandra stopped talking midsentence, her head jerking toward the door. Charlotte swiveled around to look, but she didn’t see anything amiss.

“What is it?”

That was when she saw him.

Tyler Hayes. The jerk who’d cheated on Toni before she started dating Lawrence.

And he was walking straight toward them.

“Good morning, ladies,” he said. His tone was completely casual, as if he had no reason to suspect they might not want to talk to him. He gave them a cocky grin, full of unwarranted confidence. Charlotte had no idea how Toni had put up with him for so long.

“Tyler,” she said, which was as close to a greeting as she’d allow him.

He waited for Alessandra to greet him.

Which she didn’t.

“It’s a small town,” he finally said.

“Meaning?” Alessandra’s tone dripped with disdain.

“Meaning we’re bound to run into each other more often than not.” He smiled again, though it didn’t reach his eyes. “Truce?”

Alessandra raised her chin. “What do you want, Tyler?”

“Just to patch things up between us after your fiancé’s buddy—”

Hit him in the face.

Charlotte only wished she’d been there to see it.

“Kenton is not responsible for Lawrence Derrickson’s actions,” Alessandra said, not letting him finish. “And even if he was, you more than deserved it for what you said about Toni. How you could be so crude after—”

“She did break up with me.”

He didn’t seem very torn up about it.

Alessandra rolled her eyes, not even attempting to hide her annoyance. “Anything else?” she said with plenty of attitude. “We were having a conversation here.”

He looked around, as if judging whether anyone else would hear him, then said, “Something’s up with Zach, and I’d like to know what it is.”

That seemed to surprise Alessandra as much as it did Charlotte. Zach Walsh, she knew, was the man who’d broken into Ye Old Curiosities, although the whole thing was a bit of a mystery. What would he do with a handful of mood-changing pens, anyway?

“Pardon me?” Alessandra said.

Tyler shifted his weight from one foot to the other.

“Despite what you may think, he didn’t break into the shop because of me. I wasn’t happy about it, and he’s been acting strange ever since. Whenever I ask about it, he just says I should stay away from the Derricksons. And from your boy, Kenton.”

Alessandra sighed as if talking to him expended every ounce of her energy. Oh, her honesty was one of the things Charlotte loved about her. While Charlotte felt yoked to politeness, her friend felt no such need. Which was for the best, really. This jerk didn’t deserve the benefit of the doubt.

“First of all, I probably wouldn’t refer to Kenton as a boy, but that’s just me. Secondly, if you honestly think I’ve any contact with Zach or would know more than you do about the break-in, then you’re both a jerk and delusional.”

Splotches of red appeared on Tyler’s neck. He just stared at her for a moment, eyes narrowed, then said, “Your boys are the outsiders here. Don’t forget that.”

With that, he turned toward the line, but his grand exit was ruined. There were too many people for him to step around, so he was forced to stand behind Alessandra for a moment, so close she could reach out and clock him if she was so inclined. Which she looked like she would very much enjoy.

Turning her back to him, Alessandra made a face. Charlotte just barely managed to keep it together until Tyler walked away.

“What the hell was that?” she finally burst out.

“Who knows.” Blinking, Alessandra took a sip of tea. “I don’t want to give Zach or Tyler any more thought than necessary. So, what do you say? Dinner at our house at 6:00?”

It was another brush-off, and she knew it. It made her less inclined to accept her friend’s invitation, even though she knew it was petty. Besides, she suspected the department chair position would officially be announced at Tuesday’s faculty meeting. She should be getting her ducks in a row for the promotion she wanted and thought she deserved.

“Charlotte? Don’t you dare wimp out on me just because you were out with the town playboy until all hours of the night.”

The town playboy. That’s exactly what Torr was, lest she forget it.

Alessandra’s tone shifted to plaintive. “First we hardly see you—”

“OK, OK,” she said, shaking her head ruefully. “I’ll be there.”

Thankfully, he would not.