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Diana isn’t going to be the only one drunk if this keeps up.
“We were just talking about you!” Diana exclaims, her blue eyes twinkling.
Toby’s cheeks flush. “All good things, I hope?”
“Only good things.” She winks, then lets out another hiccup. “For God’s sake, this is embarrassing. Excuse me, I need to use the bathroom. Sorry, I mean the ‘restroom.’ Be back in a minute.” Diana stands and strolls for the Ladies’ Room sign on the far side, her hips swaying a touch more than normal thanks to the alcohol flowing through her veins, her head held high as usual with confidence, earning plenty of gawking looks. In a room full of jeans, plaid jackets, and baseball caps, she’s a leggy, five-foot-ten-inch blonde siren in leather boots.
Jonah sees her passing and steals a glance over my way. He lifts off his stool, looking ready to come over, and my excitement swells. But then Marie stops him with a hand on his forearm and asks him a question that pulls him back into the conversation with two other locals. He eases back onto the stool.
I feel the sour expression take over my face. Am I being a jealous, slightly drunk girlfriend? Or was that an intentional move on her part?
“So? Good birthday?” Toby asks, regarding me curiously.
I force a smile. “Great birthday.” Despite the rocky start and this lingering sense of doom.
He drags a chair out and settles into it, opposite me. “How surprised were you to see that Jeep roll up?”
I didn’t see it roll up, exactly, but no need to get into the details. “More like shocked. Did you know about all this? About Diana coming?”
“Nah …” A few beats pass and then his grin gives him away. “Yeah, I found out last week.”
I give him a playful kick under the table. “You should have told me!”
“You kidding? Jonah would’ve beat my ass.” His gaze drifts over to where Jonah and Marie sit, lingering on her a moment.
“Have you asked her out yet?”
He laughs, his cheeks flushing with embarrassment. “Working up the nerve. By the way, what happened between you and Roy? I went to help him out today, and he asked me if you still wanted him dead.”
“Really?” A blip of surprise stirs in my stomach. But what do I care if the curmudgeon’s been wondering that? I don’t give a shit about Roy Donovan.
“What did he do?” Toby asks in a knowing tone.
I shrug. “Typical Roy, but worse. We had a huge fight on the way home from the hospital yesterday. He said a bunch of mean stuff and told me to stop coming around, and he insisted on walking home from the main road.” I don’t really want to get into the details of Roy basically claiming I have daddy issues. I know what daddy issues are because I used to have them. Now all I have is a desire to keep my father’s memory alive.
But there is no way that would ever happen in the form of Roy Donovan. Not unless Roy is the evil and monstrous Mr. Hyde version of Wren Fletcher.
Toby chuckles and shakes his head. “I hope you let him walk.”
“Not like I had much choice. I think he would have tucked and rolled out the door, broken bones and all.”
Toby’s face splits into that wide smile that he inherited from his mother.
“So, was he a pain when you went today?” I ask.
Toby frowns. “No, actually. He was decent. Didn’t complain much at all. It was weird, now that I think about it.”
That is weird. Maybe he ended up taking those painkillers after all and they’ve sedated him to the point of being “nice.” If that’s even possible for Roy, which I doubt. It sounds like he can swing far in the other direction, though, if what he says about his wife leaving him is true. But how far, exactly, is the question. What made her run, besides his acerbic disposition?
What did he do wrong?
This morbid curiosity with the old man in the woods is getting the better of me once again.
“Well, unless he apologizes to me, I’m done helping him.”
“Roy, apologize?” Toby gives me a doubtful look.
“Exactly. So, sorry, but someone else will have to take over. Maybe your mom can find a friendly ax murderer, or someone equally insane.”
