Chapter Sixteen
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Easton hadn’t tried to kiss Dizzy when they were lying next to the stream but he should have. He’d been thinking about it but this whole relationship with her was so new. He wanted more with her but he didn’t want to push. Taking a page from Dizzy’s playbook, he was going to be fatalistic about it. If it was meant to happen…it would.
He couldn’t will a relationship to happen – no matter how much he wanted it – and he couldn’t make her feel romantic feelings about him. Last night she’d definitely acted like he was what she wanted and the same for this morning, but he also knew that for all Dizzy’s talk about embracing life she was a cautious woman when it came to dating. She’d had a few boyfriends since returning to Tremont but not what he would call an active social life. While he had wholeheartedly cheered on her pickiness when it came to men before, now it was a different story.
So he’d thought about kissing Dizzy all through the ride back to Tremont and then during lunch as well. They’d stopped at the local diner to eat and practically every head in the place had swiveled to see the two of them walking in together. Apparently, the gossip mill was working overtime because no one looked surprised. They’d already heard about the date last night. He’d felt the weight of their gaze as they’d sat down and ordered and all through their meal. At one point, he’d thought Dizzy hadn’t noticed but then she’d smiled behind her napkin when two older ladies walked by and practically tripped over their shoes because they’d been too busy staring to watch where they were going.
“We’re like animals in the zoo,” Easton muttered as the two women exited the diner. Unfortunately, there were still a couple of dozen people inside doing a terrible job of pretending that Easton and Dizzy weren’t the center of attention and the topic of conversation.
Laughing, Dizzy took the last bite of chocolate cake. “Except they’re stuck in cages and we can walk away any time. Does it really bother you that much?”
“Yes and no. Yes, because they’re acting like us sitting in the same booth is such a shocking thing. No, because this town has the attention span of a gnat. They’ll be on to the next thing in a few days.”
“Well…I’m not the usual female that Easton Anderson dates.”
She wasn’t, thank goodness. She was so much more.
“I think that’s a good thing.”
He was rewarded with a smile. “You’re such a sweet talker. Would you mind if we stopped into the bookstore for a minute? Elena said she found some interesting used books when she was in Seattle for the weekend and she wanted to show them to me.”
He’d already paid the bill so he nodded and they stood up to leave, his hand on her lower back. Twenty-four sets of eyes followed their every movement until he and Dizzy were standing outside in the sunshine.
“I hope they find their new topic of gossip soon,” he said as they walked two doors down to the bookstore. “You may be used to this but I’m not.”
“After awhile you won’t care, trust me.”
He opened the door for her and it rang a bell to alert the proprietor. Elena’s family had been running this bookstore for almost sixty years and everyone in town knew her and her mother and grandmother before her. At somewhere south of forty, she managed the store and her four children singlehandedly all while giving back to the community. She had donated stacks of books to the community center when it first opened and then on Christmas too so that every child would have a brand-new book from Santa.
The smiling woman waved at them from the top of a ladder where she was shelving books.
“Come on in. Are you here to look at those books, Dizzy?”
The smell of new and old books hit his olfactory senses and he couldn’t stop the smile that immediately came to his face. There was something about a bookstore that made him happy.
“I am if this is a convenient time.”
Elena scrambled down the ladder as if she was half her age. “Perfect timing. I was just going to take a break.”
Easton nodded toward the back of the store where he knew she kept a large selection of historical biographies. “While you ladies do that, I think I’ll go browse.”
“There’s a new Teddy Roosevelt back there you might want to look at,” Elena said. “Just came in the other day.”
That was right up his alley so he made a beeline for the display, leaving Elena and Dizzy enthusiastically diving into a pile of musty old books behind the front counter. He was paging through the Teddy Roosevelt tome when he felt someone walk up behind him. Moving aside to let them peruse the bookshelf, he was shocked to see Madame Viola standing there looking incredibly normal. No bright colors or gold. No oversized earrings. If he didn’t know better he would have taken her for a friendly grandmother picking out books for her grandchildren.
Clearing his throat, he nodded at the older woman. “It’s nice to see you again, Madame Viola.”
He felt a little silly calling her by her work name but he had no idea what her actual last name was. Or if Viola was even her real name.
She didn’t greet him in return or even smile, her entire expression grave. “I’m glad I saw you. I’ve needed to speak to you.”
Placing the book back on the shelf, he hoped this wasn’t a complaint. Had the Accounts Payable department forgotten to cut her a check for the party? He went straight into businessman mode.
“Of course, how can I help you?”
She shook her head. “It’s how I can help you. I received more messages and you need to know. Your soulmate is in danger. There is evil all around her.”
“Um…yes, I remember you telling me that.”
It wasn’t information he was likely to forget even if he thought it was all bull.
“You have to protect her.” Viola placed her hand on his arm, her tone urgent. “The evil is growing stronger.”
By now the entire story about Dizzy, Trip, and the call to the police was all over town, of course, and clearly Madame Viola was exploiting it for her own gain. She’d made a lucky guess at the party last week but she was pushing this too far.
Straightening his shoulders, he tried to be as polite as possible but he wasn’t going to take any crap either. This town needed to get their nose out of his life. He’d start with this woman.
“Madame Viola, I appreciate your concern but frankly this is none of your business, and I would ask that you leave me and also Dizzy Foster alone. I don’t believe in psychics or mediums or any of that shit. I think you’re taking a local gossip item and using it to your advantage, which I find reprehensible. Now if you will excuse me I need to leave.”
Not waiting for a reply – because he didn’t care what more she had to say – Easton strode back to the front of the store. Anger burned deep in his gut but he hadn’t let it loose on Madame Viola as much as he could have. If the woman was smart, she’d give him a wide berth. In fact, the whole fucking town could do that as well. He was going to do what he wanted to do, say what he wanted to say, and date whomever he wanted to date.
Tremont could kiss his ass.