Four

THEO AND I HAVE PICKED out four of the ten guys on my list who we can probably run into casually—just by chance—sometime during the day on a Sunday.

The first one is Mick Bradford, who attends early Mass at one of the Catholic churches every week. I only have vague memories of Mick from school, but Theo is absolutely certain of his faithful church attendance.

Since the early service at this church ends at nine thirty, Theo and I are sitting on a bench nearby at nine twenty-five, drinking the coffee he got us from the coffee shop and pretending to be simply passing by.

It’s probably a silly enterprise. All this plotting for something so trivial. But here we are. Theo is clearly taking it seriously, which makes me think it can’t be too ridiculous.

Theo isn’t the kind of man to spend his time on ridiculous schemes, so maybe I’m merely feeling self-conscious about the whole situation.

“I don’t remember Mick very well,” I say mostly to fill the silence between us. “He played trumpet in band, didn’t he?”

“Yeah. He was on the chess team with me, so I knew him better, but we never hung out much.”

In my recollection, Theo didn’t hang out with anyone other than Chris’s circle. He and Chris were neighbors and were friends from the time they could talk. Chris was the outgoing one, and their social circle revolved around him. He pulled me into his orbit like he did everyone else. But I don’t actually remember Theo having friends who weren’t already in Chris’s circle.

Not that I’m one to talk. I didn’t either.

Maybe I still don’t.

“But he’ll remember who you are?”

“Yeah. Of course. We still see each other around. And I defended one of his cousins last year.”

“Oh really? What was the charge? Oh, are you allowed to tell me?”

“I’m not allowed to tell you anything that falls under attorney-client privilege, but the charge is public record. He was just a kid. A couple of the guys he was hanging out with robbed a convenience store, and he was the one who was caught.”

“Did you get him off?”

“Of course.” He meets my eyes. “Believe it or not but I’m pretty good at my job.”

“I know you are. I mean, I wouldn’t have doubted it. But sometimes even good lawyers get losing cases for whatever reason.”

“True. But I got Mick’s cousin off. He made some less than wise choices, but he’s a good kid. He didn’t deserve the railroading he got.”

“I’m glad you got him off then. Getting convicted for that might have ruined his life.”

“I know.” He’s about to say more, but the front doors of the church open just then, and people start to come out.

The early service must not be very full. There are only a few dozen people filing out the doors and down the stairs after saying a few words to the priest or shaking his hand.

“Father Paul has been here a long time,” I say, just an idle comment.

“Has he? I thought you went to the church down the block from Tee’s.”

“We do. But we visited here a few times, and I remember Father Paul from a long time ago. He was always really nice, and he made me laugh.”

Our parish priest was always lofty and intimidating, so Father Paul’s kind eyes and sense of humor made an impression on the sensitive little girl I used to be.

“There he is,” Theo murmurs, standing up and stretching out a hand to me.

I take his hand instinctively, letting him help me to my feet. Then we wander slowly down the sidewalk toward the foot of the steps.

Father Paul sees me as we approach. He waves and grins but is waylaid by an elderly lady who is walking out slowly with a cane but obviously has a number of important insights to share with the priest.

Theo calls out for Mick, who sees him and then says something brief to his parents before stepping over to us to say hello.

“Hey, Humphrey,” Mick says, shooting me a quick, casual glance. “Been a while. Do you finally have a girlfriend?”

I don’t react, but Theo frowns. “This is Maya Alexander.”

“Oh, Chris’s girl. Right.” He turns to nod at me. “Sorry about that.”

“No worries. It’s been a long time.”

“I haven’t seen you around town lately.” He furrows his brow. “Have I?”

“No, I’ve been gone for a couple of years, ever since the car accident.”

“I was really sorry to hear about that. What are you up to now?” He’s obviously just being polite. He has no particular interest in talking to me, but he’s going through the motions of civility.

“Maya has made an impressive name for herself on social media,” Theo puts in before I can give my normal self-deprecating response to this kind of question.

“Oh really?” Mick visibly perks up. “Are you one of those influencers? My girlfriend is trying to do that. Everything’s about posting on her Instagram and TikTok. Do you have a lot of followers?”

I meet his eyes blandly. “I have a decent number, yes.”

“Do you think you can maybe put in a good word for Krystal? She does all these videos of herself primping in her clothes and hair and makeup. If you have a lot, maybe you can give her a boost.”

This is not the first and won’t be the last time this brand of inquiry is aimed at me, and I’m practiced in dealing with it. “I’m not sure my brand will really fit hers, but I wouldn’t mind giving her account a look.”

I wait for a minute as Mick pulls up Instagram on his phone so he can tell me his girlfriend’s handle. I make a show of jotting it down and saying I’ll look through it, but I’m not sure I’ll be able to help her much.

Mick appears satisfied with my gesture. He turns back to Theo and says, “Hey, thanks again for helping out Jake last year.”

Theo gives an appropriate response and catches my eye with a silent question. I give my head a discreet shake.

There is absolutely no reason to go through with the questions we planned in advance for these encounters. There’s no way in the world Mick is my pen pal unless he’s the most convincing actor I’ve ever seen.

He has no idea who I am online, and he doesn’t care, except in how I might help his girlfriend. He’s not the person we’re looking for.

Theo reads my signal and tells Mick we’ve got to get going. We tell him goodbye as he returns to his parents, who were waiting for him at the foot of the steps.

“Well, that’s another one we can cross off,” Theo says as he takes my arm as we walk away.

I turn my head to shoot one more smile at Father Paul, who is still being monopolized by the old woman, before I look back up at Theo. “Yep. One down. Nine more to go.”

***

OUR NEXT STOP IS A bistro downtown for brunch since one of our potentials is the owner and is always there on Sundays, the biggest day of the week for the restaurant.

It’s crowded, of course, since it’s prime time for weekend brunch. We have to wait twenty minutes to get a table and then another half hour for our food. At that point, we’ve still seen no sign of Jesse Angus. Theo finally asks our friendly server, who tells us that Jesse is on vacation for a week.

So our entire goal in coming here gets thrown out the window. At least the food is good. I eat most of my Belgian waffle and a section of Theo’s omelet. (He offers a much bigger piece than I expect when I ask for a taste.)

Fortunately, most of the people brunching here today are the ultrawealthy in town. Not the regular wealthy of most of our social circle. So I only recognize a few people, and they don’t recognize me at all.

The whole thing takes almost two hours out of our day for no purpose, but I don’t have as bad a time as I would have expected. Theo has gotten less silent and scowly with me as the weekend has passed. He’s still not what I would consider a chatter, but he answers questions readily and he asks a few of his own. We talk at first about our strategy for the last two potentials on our list for today. Then he asks me about some of the places I’ve traveled over the past two years, and that conversation takes us through the end of our meal and then almost twenty minutes after we’re done eating.

It’s fine. We’ve already planned to spend all day together—at least until we encounter and talk to everyone on our list. It’s not like it matters if we’re hanging out having brunch or killing time in the car, waiting for our next man to ambush.

On our way out, someone calls out to Theo, so we pause to say hello to a very handsome man and a blonde who is obviously his wife. Friendly and engaging, the man smiles at me after he greets Theo.

I might stare just a little. The man is ridiculously good-looking with the most vivid green eyes I’ve ever seen.

“This is Maya Alexander,” Theo says, putting a hand on my back to nudge me forward slightly. It felt like his conversation, so I was standing a step farther back. “Maya, this is Lincoln and Summer Wilson.”

Lincoln Wilson. That’s a name I’ve heard before. He’s several years older than us, and I don’t actually remember ever seeing him in person before. He’s the son of one of Green Valley’s premiere families, and his wife is the only heir of a billionaire’s fortune.

These are lofty circles indeed.

I expect either Lincoln or Summer to associate me with Chris—since that car accident that killed him was big news in town for months—but they don’t appear to recognize my name. Lincoln asks me about myself briefly, and then he asks Theo about his work. Summer asks what we got for brunch, and the conversation ends naturally on a friendly note.

I’m absolutely certain that Lincoln and Summer came away from that conversation assuming that I am Theo’s girlfriend, but he’s too clueless to realize how it must have come across.

It makes me a little squirmy, but I don’t mention it. Not because I’m particularly discreet or tactful but because I don’t want to raise the topic at all. The next time they run into Theo, he can clarify matters to them.

What strangers believe about my relational status isn’t something to worry about.

***

OUR NEXT STOP IS THE country club, and if things go well, we can happen to run into both our final targets for the day there.

Unsurprisingly, I’m not a member of the country club. My family never was and wouldn’t want to be even if we were able to keep up with the hefty annual fees. I’m actually surprised that Theo is a member since he doesn’t seem to be the type, but he explains his parents gift him the membership every year. He occasionally meets acquaintances over golf, or he takes out his parents’ boat from the connected marina.

I didn’t realize before that his family is a country-club type. No wonder Chris’s parents always encouraged their friendship when they discouraged his relationship with me.

Whatever the reason, his membership comes in handy to us today. We’re able to get in to a place we otherwise wouldn’t have been able to set foot in.

Billy Curtis was in Chris and Theo’s year in school. Theo says he hasn’t kept up with him since graduation, but he’s heard he’s always at the country club if he isn’t at work.

We luck out this time. As soon as we check into the front desk and walk in one of the lush lounge areas in the main building, Theo nods toward a man working at a table on a laptop.

I’m not sure I would have recognized him if Theo hadn’t pointed him out. He’s thin and has a kind of coffeehouse aesthetic with his receding hairline and small goatee.

He’s nothing I would have expected from his appearance, however. Theo greets him when we wander over in his direction, and then we both sit down in nearby chairs without waiting for an invitation.

After a few minutes of conversation, it’s clear to me that Billy is not interested in friendly conversation. He’s holding on to the bare minimum of courtesy, but he’s more absorbed in the work he’s doing on his laptop than anything either one of us has to say.

My introduction has zero effect on him. He doesn’t care about me in even the slightest way. When Theo mentions that I’m a successful influencer, he does ask me if I’m interested in investing because he could help me with that. As soon as I make it clear I’m not a potential client, he loses all interest in me.

I meet Theo’s eyes when Billy turns back to his laptop. There’s no way this could be my pen pal. He’d never drag himself away from work enough to sustain a lengthy correspondence with someone who couldn’t help him financially.

At least it didn’t take long to determine that fact. We get up by mutual agreement and walk out of the lounge and down the hall toward the restaurant.

We glance in, just to be sure our final potential isn’t there. When we discover he’s not, we keep walking.

Theo told me that, as far as he’s ever seen, Reston Graber is always here on the weekends. But the country club is huge. He could be on the tennis courts or on the golf course or in one of the social areas or down by the lake and marina.

We walk around for about twenty minutes until we spot him at one of the bars, drinking beer with a few of his friends.

He was the year between me and Theo, and he was my lab partner for a while in a biology class. I’ve never thought much about him, but he was always friendly enough. Surely it won’t be too hard to get him talking.

While Theo goes up to get us drinks, I stroll over to a table near the one where Reston is seated. He’s attractive enough with longish blond hair and a wide, white smile. When he glances in my direction, I smile and wave at him.

He looks slightly confused, but maybe that’s because he’s drunk too much. He glances around to make sure I’m smiling at him, and then he hefts himself up to come sit beside me.

“Hi,” he says, sliding onto the bench seat right next to me. Way too close to me. He smells strongly of beer. “I know you from somewhere, beautiful, but you’ll have to remind me where.”

Oh great. He’s like that. “We were in biology together a long time ago.”

“Oh yes. Mala. Mava.” He blinks several times, making great effort to think.

“Maya.” I correct him with a smile, easing away from him slightly. His hand is already touching my thigh. “It’s been a long time.”

“Too long. Where have you been hiding yourself away?” He leans close. Very close.

I lean back as discreetly as I can. I don’t want to offend him since I need to talk to him, but I really don’t want him breathing on me. “I’ve been traveling. I’m just back in town for the holidays.”

“Well, I’m glad you came back. What are you doing tonight? I can keep you company if you need—”

“Graber!” The one word cuts into the uncomfortable vibes like a knife. Theo is looming over us. “You’re in my seat. Clear out.”

Some people get angry when they’re drunk. Some people, on the other hand, are utterly compliant. Fortunately, Reston is the latter. He obediently gets off the bench and collapses into the chair across the table from me.

Theo slides onto the bench right beside me.

It’s a relief. He’s close but not all over me. And he smells pleasant—like soap and laundry and coffee—not like beer.

He slides a glass of light white wine in front of me. “What have you been up to since high school, Graber?”

Reston looks annoyed and confused both. Like he’s not getting something he wanted, but he can’t actually remember what that was. He shrugs. “Hanging out.”

His family has money. That much I remember. And he must be one of the trust-fund kids who don’t work.

Not all the wealthy in Green Valley are like that, but a lot of them are.

“Are you two together?” Reston asks, still looking rather baffled by this whole encounter.

“Yes,” Theo says blithely with no hesitation at all. “Sorry to disappoint, but she’s not available.”

I shoot him a quick look, slightly annoyed with his high-handedness but not enough to make a fuss. After all, his bristly attitude has saved me from Reston’s unwanted advances.

“Too bad,” he says with a sigh, wrapping his fingers around his glass of beer and standing up unsteadily. “We could have had a damn good night.”

“I’ll live with the disappointment,” I reply.

I don’t think this man can be my pen pal any more than Billy or Mick, and I don’t want to waste more time talking to him.

His name is getting crossed off my list for sure.

He reaches over toward me. I’m not exactly sure why since he’s so wobbly, but it feels like he’s going to touch me again, and I don’t want him to. I shrink toward Theo.

“Hands off,” Theo says bluntly, wrapping an arm around me.

Reston gives a little huff. “Y’all are no fun at all.”

I giggle as he slouches away. Then I can’t seem to stop. I turn my head and laugh against Theo’s shoulder until I realize what I’m doing.

This is not how we interact at all.

I don’t even like this man. Why am I snuggled all up against him?

When I straighten, he retrieves his arm, but he doesn’t get up and move to the chair. He stays right beside me on the bench until we’ve finished our drinks.

***

WE’RE WALKING OUT AT the same time as Reston has gotten refills of beer for him and his friends. He’s loping toward us, carrying two glasses in each hand. Maybe he does it on purpose. Maybe he’s really that drunk.

Either way, he doesn’t steer clear of our path. And when we draw abreast of each other, he bumps into me, spilling two of the glasses all down the front of my favorite red-and-brown dress.

I let out an exclamation, and Theo barks out something to Reston about watching where he’s going. The bartender points out a restroom where I can clean up, but I can only do so much.

The front of my dress is drenched, and I can smell nothing but beer.

It’s almost sickening.

I’m drooping when I come out of the bathroom and walk over to where Theo is waiting for me.

“Well, this has been a messy end to an unsuccessful day.”

“We were able to cross three names off your list, so it wasn’t entirely unsuccessful,” he says, putting a hand on my back as we start toward the door. “But I agree the end could have been better.”

“Now my truck is going to smell like beer forever.” I sigh, hating the idea of it. Chris was killed by a drunk driver. I wasn’t around during the accident and have no idea if beer was involved, but I still haven’t drunk beer since.

“We’re close enough to my place to walk. You can shower and change there so the smell doesn’t get into your car.”

I look at him, relieved by the suggestion but wondering if he thinks I’m overreacting. After all, it’s just beer. Not the end of the world. “You don’t mind?”

“Of course not. Why would I? We’ll head over to my place, and when you’re ready, I’ll walk you back to your truck.”

“That’s a lot of wasted time for you.”

“I’ve got no plans for the rest of the day.” He meets my eyes, and I can see he’s serious. He doesn’t think I’m being silly, and he doesn’t mind taking the time.

“Okay. Thanks. I haven’t been able to deal with the smell of beer since Chris died.”

“I get it. I don’t mind. Come on. Let’s get out of here.”