He leaned on the countertop and proffered what he hoped was a casual smile. “That coffee smells good.”
She indicated the large urn at the end of the counter. “Cups are on the other side, three sizes with the prices marked.”
He took a large cup from the dispenser. “I see you have pastries, too. I’ll take one of these bear claws to go with my coffee.” He placed his money on the counter and she rang up the sale.
The stress level inside Vicki increased dramatically. What did he want from her? Why did he insist on hanging around? She tried to maintain a businesslike manner. “Did you need something else or will that be all?”
He watched as she nervously bit at her lower lip. Her discomfort showed in the way she kept shifting her weight from one foot to the other. Her gaze constantly darted around the market, not staying on any one thing for more than a second or two.
He took a swallow from his coffee cup, deliberately stalling before his response. “Are you expecting someone?”
“Uh...no. No one in particular. Why do you ask?”
“You keep glancing out the window. I just thought maybe you were expecting a delivery or something.” Her behavior continued to be what he considered strange, at least for the Vicki Dalton he once knew—back before his whole world turned upside down on him.
He was now more convinced than ever that she was hiding some kind of secret and he was determined to find out what it was. In spite of the fact that she had hurt him and left him empty and angry, she had remained the one and only woman he truly wanted. Now, for reasons he did not clearly understand, they had been thrown together again. He had a second chance and he was not going to let it go without a fight. He would find out exactly what had happened all those years ago when she walked out on him.
“Vicki...” He saw the way she jumped at the sound of his voice. “Are you all right? I’ve never seen you so jittery.” His words came out as half concern and half irritation.
The buzzer intruded into their conversation once again. Someone had opened the front door of the market. Vicki breathed a sigh of rehef as she turned to see who it was. Her relief immediately turned to anxiety when she saw Alice Thackery.
Wyatt eyed the disagreeable woman. He lowered his voice so that only Vicki could hear him. “We’ll continue this conversation later. I want to get out of here before she pins me to the wall about something I might have done twenty-five years ago.” He nodded curtly to Alice, acknowledging her presence as he left.
Alice watched him until he was out of sight, then turned toward Vicki. Her tightly pursed lips only added to the harshness of her unsmiling features. Her tone was sarcastic and condemning. “Well, I see it didn’t take long for Henry’s boy to come sniffing around here.”
Vicki refused to acknowledge her comment. “Is there something I can help you with, Mrs. Thackery?”
The woman ignored Vicki’s question, preferring to continue with her train of thought. “He has live-in servants up there, you know.” She divulged the information as if she were gossiping about some sort of illicit behavior. “No reason for him to be doing his own marketing.” She pointedly stared at Vicki, as if waiting for her to answer some sort of unspoken accusation.
By no stretch of anybody’s imagination did Vicki feel she owed Alice Thackery any type of explanation, nor did she have any intention of giving her one. She stood her ground, determined to wait it out.
The awkward silence lasted for several seconds before Alice finally became flustered and grabbed the nearest thing to her without even looking to see what she had picked up. She plopped it on the counter with an exaggerated flair. “I’ll take this.”
“Are you sure?”
Alice refused to look at the item she had placed on the counter, as if to do so would have cast doubt on her selection. She pursed her lips in a hard line as she stared straight ahead. “I’m sure.”
Vicki suppressed a grin as she rang up the sale for a package of bubble gum. She could not stop that same grin from turning up the corners of her mouth as she watched Alice Thackery huff out of the market and down the sidewalk, passing the sheriff’s station and volunteer fire department on the way toward her house in the next block. Then the smile slowly faded.
Apprehension shuddered through her. She had the uncomfortable feeling that the disagreeable busybody was going to be responsible for causing her a lot of problems. If anyone would be able to spot the distinct physical resemblance between Wyatt and Richie, it would be Alice Thackery. Vicki could almost feel the dark clouds gathering overhead.
Thankfully, the rest of the morning passed with business as usual, until about eleven o’clock.
“Vicki.” Wyatt stepped through the connecting door, his sudden appearance startling her. His voice held an air of absolute authority. “I think we should finish our conversation now.”
Her nerves were pulled about as taut as they could be without snapping. Wyatt, Mrs. Thackery and now Wyatt again. Would this day never end? She took a steadying breath before looking in the direction of Wyatt’s voice. “What conversation was that?” He was at her side before she was even aware that he had moved.
His manner softened, but there was still an antagonistic edge to his voice. “The one where I was about to ask you to have lunch with me. We could talk over old times and catch up on what’s been going on without interruptions from your customers.”
She closed her eyes for a moment as she tried to collect the panic welling inside her and shove it back into some out-of-the-way corner. Was it her imagination or had he added extra emphasis to the words old times? The last thing she wanted to discuss with Wyatt Edwards was old times. “I couldn’t possibly have lunch with you. I have to be here. Noreen doesn’t come to work until two o’clock.” She hurried over to the magazine rack and began straightening the periodicals, just as she had done the day before.
He stood behind her, reached over her shoulder, and took the magazine from her hand. He replaced it on the rack, then grabbed her shoulders and turned her around to face him. He leveled a stern look at her. “I don’t know what’s going on here, Vicki, but we have to talk. We need to clear the air about—” He felt her body stiffen and saw the way her eyes filled with a very real fear that he did not understand—a fear that threatened to turn into all-out panic.
She shook loose from his grasp, determination on her face as she stepped back from him. “I...I’m very busy here. I don’t have time to talk about unimportant things.”
“Unimportant things?” He felt a stab of anger that carried over into his voice. She had walked out on him, and he wanted to know why, needed to know why—had to know why. “I’m talking about us—about what happened fifteen years ago.”
She turned away so that she did not have to look at him. She could not keep the anger out of her voice. “The past is just that, Wyatt. It’s the past. It’s over and done and can’t be changed. Now, if you’ll excuse me...” She walked away from him without waiting for a response.
How dare he try to dredge up all the pain and humiliation he put her through fifteen years ago! He had walked out on her without so much as a goodbye note. He hadn’t even waited around long enough to discover that she was pregnant with his child. She was afraid to look back, afraid her anger and her newly opened wounds would cause her
