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His gaze swept over her long legs, and he remembered the bare and silky feel of them as they caressed his body and wrapped around his waist...but then he met Christina, and everything changed.
Christina bothered him in more ways than one, and after the other night, he had questions. What happened shouldn’t have because she was still married and they had a whole lot of lies and hurt between them. The woman had always driven him crazy, and he hated that she still had the power to bring him to his knees.
Looking Tracy over, Alex realized she could be a needed distraction, help keep Christina away from him. Because no matter what he told himself, he knew that one signal from Christina and they’d both be naked.
“You remembering us?” Tracy asked, moving in closer.
“How could I forget you?” He offered her a sexy grin that he knew made the ladies weak in the knees. “We need to catch up...for old times’ sake.”
“I have somewhere to be now,” she whispered, and looked hesitant to walk away. Grinning up at him, she said, “I moved back into my old house after my parents died a few years ago, so come by and see me.” Tracy trailed a finger down his chest and dipped into the waist of his jeans.
“Soon,” he agreed, and licked his lips as he watched her saunter away in her tight little shorts.
She’d been the only girl in Port Jude to be a regular port of call when he’d been in his late teens and early twenties…until he’d met Christina.
Sighing, Alex took one more look around him, and realized that Agnes’s son, Paul, had caught the whole exchange before he’d darted back inside the pharmacy. The barbershop quartet also focused on him. That reminded him that he needed to convince Saige to go and talk to them.
He entered the pharmacy and caught up with her. “What did they do?”
She didn’t hesitate and knew exactly who he was asking about. “It was a long time ago.”
“Saige, we’re on the same side.” He grabbed her wrist and gave her a slight tug.
“When I eventually came home, they weren’t very pleasant to me. Taunted me really. It got to the point that I wouldn’t come into town.” She shrugged. “I’d drive to Tampa once a month for things I wanted because it was big enough that no one would know who I was. If it was something small, then I’d drive to the next town over.” She gave him a weary smile. “After a few attempts, I avoided town and haven’t really been in it since before I was taken.”
That had been the last thing he expected. The Lockwood name was one of the names around town. The fact that they had treated Saige poorly was a huge surprise.
Whatever questions he had would have to wait because she disappeared deeper into the pharmacy, which was just as he remembered. Old shelves held the items for sale, and the wooden floor creaked in the same place since he was a child. Nothing had changed. The wooden and glass display case housing the old, round glasses and medical journal of the first town doctor was still in one corner of the store.
The town liked tradition, and there was nothing wrong with that. He just wished that the current residents wouldn’t pass on their prejudices to their children. It hadn’t been warranted all those years ago and it wasn’t warranted now. But everyone was set in their ways and he couldn’t see change happening anytime soon.
“Alex,” Saige called, “you remember Agnes?”
He groaned inwardly because he’d hoped Saige would run with the questions that they’d planned and leave him in the background to listen in.
Agnes would remember him, and it wouldn’t be with fondness.
“Yes”—he stepped forward—“I remember Agnes.”
Saige raised a brow at his tone, but turned back to the smirking woman.
“I’m surprised it wasn’t you who ended up in jail. I was so shocked when Quinten was arrested and convicted. That boy wouldn’t have hurt a hair on anyone’s head.” She looked down her nose at Alex. “You, on the other hand...You’re the one that I thought would end up incarcerated.” Agnes shook her head while Alex clenched his jaw closed so that he wouldn’t ruin this for Saige.
They both wanted answers, but he didn’t want to disappoint his brother’s girl by acting before thinking, which he’d always done before.
“I will say that I agree with you about Quinten, but have to disagree about Alex,” Saige said slowly, and he could hear a tinge of anger in her voice. “Right now though, we’re trying to find something that will clear Quinten or, at least, something that will cause more doubt on his guilt so that a stay can be requested.” Saige paused and looked to Alex.
He moved beside her, holding his tongue on his thoughts about Agnes, and instead pleaded, “I know you couldn’t care less about me, but what you said about Quinten is true. He isn’t guilty and we really need answers to try and get him a retrial, at the very least, before it’s too late. Please help us.” You old bat. He grinned.
Agnes flushed and gazed around the pharmacy. No one else was present, but he did catch her son lurking in the drug dispensing area. Alex had a vague recollection of Paul and remembered him being away at school around the same time that Saige had been. Paul always used to be in the pharmacy whenever he would go in, messing with one thing or another. As a boy, Paul could never be still, but that seemed to have changed as he watched Alex and Saige with his mother.
“I’m not sure how you think I can help. I told the sheriff back then that I hadn’t seen anyone with Saige, or Quinten lurking around. I mean, of course I’d see Quinten in town.” She waved her hands around and became flustered. “I’d see him grocery shopping or, on occasion, going inside the bar. I didn’t see him all that often with Jocelyn. She tended to go off on her own, if you know what I mean.”
Alex glanced at Saige and knew that she held the answers they sought, but, for now, her memories were locked away. He could see that Saige was trying to remember. Her hand went to her forehead and rubbed.
“What about strangers? Did you see any around town before I disappeared?” Saige asked Agnes.
He didn’t think it was a stranger. It was someone who knew her, and he had a feeling that it was someone who knew Quinten as well. But the big question was who?
