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“Oh, that makes a lot more sense.” Miles grabbed a stool and dropped down. “I can’t wait to hear the details of why you had a line of interested women stretching down to the movie theater.” He chuckled. “We drove through town earlier, and my superstar brother thought it had something to do with him and his best friend.”
“What’s Dax doing home? Shouldn’t he be getting ready for opening day?”
“He still has three weeks before the season opens.” Miles took a slug of his drink. “His best friend, Scott Clemins, is going through a thing, so Dax took a couple of days off. They’re hanging at Sanderling on the Outer Banks.”
Teague moved a low-angle jack and set down his bottle. “Now there’s a guy who’s had a bad go of it.”
“A cautionary tale, that’s for damn sure.”
Teague cringed and thought about the uber-famous quarterback’s failed proposal. Who in the hell asked a question on national TV they didn’t know the answer to? Especially if it involved holy matrimony. Flexing his fingers, he thanked the good Lord that he’d never been tempted to make himself a fool for love.
“So, what made her do it?”
Pulled out of his musings, he looked up. “What’s that?”
“Why did Tancy do you dirty? Did you do something to piss her off?”
“No!” He picked at the label on the bottle. “This had to be one of her good deeds gone wrong.”
“Is that a regular thing?”
“It happens a hell of a lot more than I’d like.” He looked through the large street window and saw Tancy walk a woman and her children to their car. “Did you know she used to be a hotshot attorney in DC?”
Miles shook his head. “Had no idea. I’ve only been retired for a half dozen months and never kept up with local gossip.”
“Tancy is one of the smartest people I’ve ever encountered and easily has the tenacity of a team guy.” He took a slug of water. “Dedicated and single-minded too.”
“That’s a lot of positive adjectives for someone who pulled a stunt. Are you sure that you don’t have a thing for your neighbor?”
“The woman is infuriating.”
She also happened to have saved his life. A fact he tried to keep top of mind when she tested his last nerve. “She has opinions about everything and believes festooning her house in holiday decorations is a moral duty. And I’m not just talking about the major ones. She’s coerced the cul-de-sac to join her, and there’s barely a two-week stretch when some plastic decoration isn’t marring everyone’s front yard.”
Miles raised an eyebrow. “Guess you never found your holiday spirit.”
Realizing he’d gotten off on a tangent, he crossed his arms over his chest. “Anyway, she lost a huge case that my aunt said was damn near unwinnable. Not that it stopped Tancy from pursuing it because God knows the woman doesn’t back down from anything.”
“Sounds a lot like the people we’ve spent the last decade with.”
“I know,” he mumbled quietly, acknowledging his deep respect for the woman. “Tancy took the loss hard and flamed out. Quit the practice, returned home, and walked around in her pajamas for a year.”
“Damn,” Miles muttered. “That’s rough.”
“She had good timing; I’ll give her that. It happened at the pandemic's start, so the pajama thing wasn’t a big deal. She eventually pulled herself together and started working with Aunt Ellie at the legal aid office.”
“And how does all of that lead to the alleged shenanigans?”
“The woman is a relentless do-gooder. If her fast-moving mind isn’t fully occupied, she finds someone or something she can fix.”
“Do people welcome that sort of thing?”
“Not always. He let out a rueful laugh. “It doesn’t slow her down though, since she moves much like the Titanic, with little regard for signs telling her to turn back.”
Miles pushed himself to his feet. “I wish you luck because if she can get dozens of women to show up at your shop on a Monday afternoon, then you’d be wise to keep your head on a swivel.”
“I plan on it, believe me.” And he also planned on blasting Tancy with a speech so righteous that she wouldn’t be tempted to blanket him in her benevolence ever again.
If something like that was possible, considering she lived by her own rules and didn’t display an ounce of a shrink-to-fit mentality. All traits he admired. Along with her twisty mind, drool-worthy curves, and heart-breaking smile.
