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She laughed and shook her head. “Oh no, I wouldn’t say that. But there you are, every time I turn on my TV. What’s the expression—like a bad penny?”
He raised his eyebrows. “Charming.”
His offense only lasted a few seconds though; he tipped his head to one side in a question. “So, you’re a sports fan?”
“No, not at all. But when I flick through the channels you’re always there somewhere. Even if it’s on the news. I half expected to start seeing you in those car or shampoo commercials, just so I would never get any peace from the nine-year-old who accused me of stealing his interview.”
Dawson put his elbows on the table and leaned forward. “So, that’s what this is about.” He was nodding as if pieces of the puzzle were falling into place for him.
But something else was distracting her.Him. As he’d leaned forward, she’d caught a scent of his woody aftershave. Right now, it was assaulting all her senses. It suited him. It hinted of a guy who liked to be outdoors, to be active and fit. She tried not to let her eyes go to his chest and upper arms, because she already knew the defined muscles she would see. Instead, she focused on his words.
“You took a swipe at me about time keeping as soon as I walked in that attorneys’ office. We were nine. Haven’t you gotten over that yet?” She kept her eyes firmly locked on his as she took a drink from the bottle.
“Touché.” He smiled. He regarded her for a few moments. “Did you have any idea at all?”
“About all this? Not a clue,” Piper said quickly. “I haven’t seen or heard from Margaret Smith since back then.”
He leaned back again, watching her carefully. “What really happened at that interview?”
Piper frowned. “What do you mean—what really happened? I asked her some questions about the book. Told her I loved it. And wrote her answers—or what I thought were her answers in the school newsletter.” She was getting annoyed now.
His gaze was steady and she could tell he didn’t believe her.
She threw up her hands. “What? I was nine. There is no mystery here.” She took another drink from her beer. “At least I didn’t have a temper tantrum,” she muttered, knowing fine well he could hear every word.
His bottle thudded a little too forcibly on the table. “I didnothave a temper tantrum.”
Piper didn’t speak, merely raised her eyebrows.
“I did not,” he repeated. “Anyhow, we were supposed to meet at the house at ten o’clock. Ten. T-E-N.”
“I can spell.” She couldn’t believe this still bothered him.
“Well, you clearly couldn’t tell the time.”
“I was early—what’s wrong with that?”
He glared at her. He wasn’t quite so handsome when he glared. It ruined his forehead and added lines around his eyes.
“Watch out—you’re going to ruin your television face. Might need Botox if you keep glaring at me like that.”
“You’re impossible.”
“I’m to the point. Always have been. And I was early. Do you know why I was early? Because I checked how long it took to walk to Margaret Smith’s house. Remember those days when we were kids and could walk places? I knew it would take me fifteen minutes. But I also knew if I added in an extra five, I could buy some candy from Mrs. Malone’s store. I figured that the lady who wrote my favorite story might deserve some candy.”
“You were going to bribe her?” Dawson looked horrified.
Piper laughed out loud. “At nine, I didn’t even know what bribe meant. I was being nice. But in the end, it didn’t matter, because I forgot to take any money with me to school. So I couldn’t stop and buy candy, and I was so nervous I walked quicker than usual, meaning I got there early. I didn’t actually think about the time, so I just went and knocked on her door.”
“Didn’t you remember you were supposed to meet me?”
She leaned forward. “Dawson, this might surprise you. But you weren’t the first thing on my mind. I was meeting an author. A real live author of a Christmas story that I loved. Then she showed me her fabulous gardens and greenhouses and I just lost my mind.” Piper sighed at the memory.
Dawson sighed, too, but his was a sigh of exasperation. “Weren’t you the newsletter editor? I thought you were supposed to be interested in journalism?”
“I was. I was also interested in archaeology, Egyptology, and NASA. Like a hundred other kids.”
He looked at her curiously. “So, what do you actually do now?”
