Now You See Me. Kris Fletcher

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СКАЧАТЬ Memorial conference room in Town Hall and slid into one of the last empty chairs gathered around the polished maple table.

      “Thank God this is the last time this committee has to meet,” Lyddie said to the older woman on her right. Beneath the table, she eased her shoes off and wiggled her toes. Some days were harder on the feet than others. “Please tell me I’m late enough that the meeting is over and I can go home.”

      “Sorry, kid. Her Worship hasn’t made an appearance yet.” Nadine Krupnick was not only Lyddie’s assistant at her coffee shop, River Joe’s, she was also both friend and secret keeper to half the town. More important, she was the only one who could get away with calling Mayor Jillian McFarlane “Your Worship” to her face. “What made you late, anyway?”

      “Sara called. She wanted to tell me every detail of her day.”

      “I thought she wasn’t speaking to you.”

      “I’m her favorite mom again since I said she could go to my sister’s for the summer.” Lyddie raised a hand in anticipation of Nadine’s protest. “I know, I know. She’s only fourteen, Vancouver is too far away, yada yada yada. But there’s not much for someone her age to do here all summer, and Zoë can use the help. It’ll be good for Sara to take on some responsibility.”

      “No need to sound so defensive. I think it’s a great idea.”

      “You do?” Lyddie reached into the paper bag Nadine pushed toward her and pulled out one of the muffins left from that day’s baking. Lemon poppy—her favorite. She peeled back the paper before helping herself to a healthy bite. Tart lemon and crunchy seeds combined to give her the most sensual treat she’d known in ages. “Everyone else thinks I’m crazy.”

      “Let me guess. By ‘everyone,’ you mean your mother-in-law.”

      Lyddie stayed silent, not ready to let Nadine know she’d hit the nail on the head. Nor did she want to get into a discussion of why Ruth Brewster was afraid to let any of her family slip beyond the town line. Lyddie understood her mother-in-law’s sentiments. She couldn’t deny that there were times late at night when she, too, feared that Sara would never want to return to a quiet little tourist town after two months in Vancouver.

      But in the light of day, things seemed far more optimistic. This was home now, and had been for four years. Sara was old enough to remember their old life, but still, this was her reality. Of course she would come home.

      “Speaking of getting away, I booked my own flight last night.” Nadine must have understood that Lyddie was ready to talk about something other than family. “As soon as Labour Day is over, I’m out of here. Las Vegas, here I come.”

      “Planning to hit the jackpot and run away with an Elvis impersonator?”

      “Hell, no. I’m holding out for a magician. I figure if they can saw a woman in half, maybe I’ll find one who can slice off some wrinkles, shave off a few years then put me back together so I look like I’m thirty-two again.”

      Lyddie laughed. “Throw in a breast lift and I’m next in line.”

      “Like you need it. Wait until you hit your sixties and it takes a crane to get the girls off the floor.”

      Good thing there was a water pitcher on the table. Lyddie needed a drink, fast, after Nadine’s comments left her choking on a poppy seed. When she had finished coughing and Nadine had delivered a final blow to her back, Lyddie shook her head.

      “You might have twenty years on me according to the calendar, Nadine, but you still have the mouth of a teenager.”

      “Three decades slinging hash in the school cafeteria stomped the shrinking violet out of me real fast.”

      The door to the conference room flew open. Jillian marched in, heels snapping on the floor, two bright spots of color burning high on her cheeks.

      “Uh-oh,” Nadine whispered. Lyddie agreed.

      Jillian set her briefcase on the floor, dropped into her chair and smacked a handful of papers against the table.

      “Good evening, folks. Let’s get moving.”

      And with that, the Discover Downtown meeting was launched. Jillian led them through the agenda at breakneck speed, slowing only when Tracy Potter, the local postmistress, tried to slip in unnoticed fifteen minutes late. Jillian glared at Tracy with such righteous indignation that it was all Lyddie could do to keep from bursting into laughter.

      Honestly, the things she endured for this town...

      By Lyddie’s standards, it was a reasonably successful night. Jillian seemed too distracted to try to rope anyone into extra duties, and the rest of the committee members actually spoke up on their own a couple of times instead of waiting for Lyddie to speak first and then echoing her thoughts. The final report was given, and the meeting railroaded to a close. Lyddie, Tracy and Nadine walked together into the coolness of the night, chatting as they rambled toward Lyddie’s van.

      As soon as they were out of earshot of the other committee members, Nadine broached the subject that had kept Lyddie entertained throughout the meeting.

      “What bug crawled up Jillian’s arse and bit her tonight?”

      “No idea,” Lyddie said, but Tracy was practically dancing with excitement.

      “You mean you haven’t heard? You’ll never guess who’s back.”

      “Is Bill Shatner here again?” Nadine asked. “He owes me money.”

      Tracy laughed and pulled black curls back from the breeze. “Better. J. T. Delaney.”

      For only the second or third time in their years together, Lyddie had the immense pleasure of seeing Nadine struck silent. She hoped it wouldn’t last long. Tracy was obviously dying to spill, and Nadine could weasel out any forgotten tidbits Tracy might forget. Lyddie needed to get home soon—there were three children waiting to dump a day’s worth of living on her—but after years of hearing stories about the legendary bad boy of Comeback Cove, she was dying to know more. She leaned against her van and waited for Nadine to regain her powers of speech.

      “J.T. is back?”

      Tracy nodded. “Yes, ma’am. I saw him myself, late this afternoon, driving Iris’s little Honda up Main Street. At first I didn’t think it was her car because it was in the middle of the road instead of the middle of the sidewalk. That woman really needs to stop driving, you know? Then I saw who it was and I almost went off the road myself. And I was walking!”

      “How’s he look?” Nadine leaned forward in her favorite you-can-tell-me-anything pose. Tracy grinned and fanned herself.

      “Still?”

      Tracy nodded. “Just like that picture in the yearbook where he was voted most likely to deflower a nun.”

      Lyddie nudged a pointy bit of gravel away from her tired feet. “So what exactly did this guy do? I mean, I know he started that fire. But there was more than that, right?”

      Nadine’s words came slow. “He wasn’t bad, really. Just a little wild. The long hair, the leather jacket... All those things that make a boy look suspicious.”

      “Don’t СКАЧАТЬ