The Charmer (15 page)

A
LEX PUSHED OPEN
the front door of The Coffee Bean and scanned the crowd inside, looking for Tenley’s grandfather. He’d stopped by the gallery, only to find a
note on the door indicating that Tom had gone to breakfast. Alex didn’t know Sawyer Bay well, but he knew the best place for breakfast was The Coffee Bean.

Tom was sitting at a table with Harvey Willis, the two of them in deep discussion. Alex hesitated before he approached, knowing that the town police chief didn’t have a high opinion of him.

“Morning,” Alex said.

Harvey grinned. “Well, there he is. Were your ears burning? You’ve been the subject of some wild speculation ‘round town.”

“I’m sure I have,” Alex replied.

Harvey got to his feet and indicated his empty chair. “Have a seat. It’s all warmed up for you. Tom, nice talking to you. Thanks for the donation. Your pictures always bring a pretty penny in our raffle.”

“Thanks, Harvey. I’ll talk to you later.”

Alex rested his hands on the back of the chair. “Mind if I sit?” he asked.

“Not at all. I’ve been expecting a visit from you. Would you like some coffee?” He twisted in his chair. “Audrey, bring us another cup of coffee, would you?”

The waitress nodded, then hurried over with a full pot and another menu. “What can I get you?”

Alex scanned the choices, then pointed to the Lumberjack Breakfast. It was what Tenley had ordered the last time they dined at The Coffee Bean. He was beginning to understand her point. After the previous night’s activities in her bed, he was ravenous.

“So, I suppose you’re here to discuss Tenley,” Tom
said. “You’re worried she might not want to go through with this?”

Alex shook his head. “No. She’s agreed to the contract. We’re going to publish her novel.”

Tom grinned and clapped his hands. “I knew it. I knew something was going on with her.”

“Going on?”

“Tenley has had a very hard time of it these past years. Lots of sadness in her life.”

“Tell me about that,” Alex said. “I know her brother died, that he drowned. And that it made her shut herself off to everyone around her. But that’s all I know.”

Tenley’s grandfather took a slow slip of his coffee. “I’m not going to tell you anything. If Tenley wants you to know, she’ll tell you. And if she does talk about it, then I think she’s really ready to move on.” He sighed. “If you feel a need to know, anyone in town can fill you in. Or you can read about it in the old newspapers at the library. May 15, 1999. That’s when it happened.” He paused. “But if I were you, I’d want to know her side of the story first. If she trusts you enough to tell you, then I think you might be the kind of man she needs in her life.”

“I think I want to be that man,” Alex said. “But I’m a little worried. I’ve gotten to know Tenley—her feelings can shift in the blink of an eye.”

“Are you in love with her, Alex?”

He was surprised by the direct question. But then, it was clear where Tenley had gotten her plainspoken curiosity. “I don’t know,” he admitted. “I’ve never been in
love before. I’m not quite sure how it’s supposed to feel.”

“I’d appreciate it if you’d be very careful with her heart. It was broken once and I’m not sure she’ll be able to survive having it broken again.”

“I won’t hurt her,” Alex said. “I can promise you that. But I can’t guarantee she won’t break my heart.”

“She’s a piece of work, isn’t she?” Tom chuckled. “Oh, you should have seen the two of them. They were a pair. When they were born, their parents put them in separate cribs and they screamed until they were together again. After that, Tenley and Tommy were inseparable. When they started to talk, their words were gibberish to everybody else. They had their own language. No one understood it except the two of them.” He reached into his back pocket and pulled out his wallet. “See. There they are. This was their tenth birthday.”

Alex examined the photo. Tenley hadn’t changed much. The dark hair and the pale blue eyes, the delicate limbs. “She was cute.”

“After Tommy died, my son and his wife couldn’t handle the grief. They grew apart, separated, and then decided to divorce. Tenley was uncontrollable, angry, lashing out at anyone who tried to get close. They ended up leaving, but she just flat-out refused. So she lived with her grandmother and me. I thought it was good she wanted to get back to her normal life, but that’s not what happened. A few years later, I found out the reason she stayed was because she thought he might come back.
That the body they found wasn’t really his and that he was alive.”

“She’s been waiting all this time?”

“She has. But I think she’s stopped waiting for Tommy. I think maybe she’s been waiting for you. Or someone like you. Someone she could trust. Someone who could give her the same confidence that her brother gave her. I think you’ve done that for her, Alex. And no matter what happens between the two of you, you need to respect that.”

Alex had always shied away from commitment in the past, but this time, he wanted to make all the promises necessary to ensure Tenley’s happiness. “I care about her. But if publishing this novel is going to hurt her in some way, I’ll turn around and go back to Chicago today.”

“No,” Tom said. “I think you might be the best thing that’s ever happened to her.”

Alex smiled. “She’s a very talented artist. And an incredible storyteller. I just want readers to see that.”

“She and her brother used to draw cartoons all the time. After he died, she just stopped drawing. This is a big step for her. Don’t do anything to mess it up, all right?”

“You can trust me,” Alex said.

Tom’s eyebrow arched up and he fixed Alex with a shrewd stare. “Can I? Will you stick with her, even when she’s trying her damnedest to push you away? Because she will, you know. She’ll find some excuse to run away and do everything to make you hate her.”

“I think I can deal with that,” he said, frowning. “I’ve used that technique myself on occasion.” How many women had he charmed then ignored when he grew bored with the relationship? Except for the motivations, what Tenley did wasn’t much different.

“You’re taking on trouble,” Tom warned. “But I’d venture to say the reward will be well worth the battle.” He held up his coffee cup in a mock toast. “I wish you luck, young man.”

They passed the rest of their time discussing Tenley’s novel and what kind of opportunities publication would offer her. Alex was glad for Tom’s insight into Tenley’s behavior. Though there were moments when he thought he knew her well, he realized she was like a puzzle. Each individual piece was simple to understand, but it was how the pieces fit together that complicated matters.

When they were finished, Tom paid the bill, then invited Alex back to his studio, anxious to show him photos of Tenley’s childhood. But Alex begged off. Tenley had closed herself in the studio at the house, determined to work on her new drawings. And Alex was anxious to see her progress.

But before he went back, he had to pick up his new phone from the Harbor Inn, call the office, then check out of his room at the bed-and-breakfast and move his things to Tenley’s cabin. He and Tenley would spend the rest of his vacation together.

He walked back to the inn, where he’d parked the rental, then decided to surrender to his curiosity. He’d
seen a sign on Main Street for the local library. It was past ten, so it would probably be open.

As he drove through the snow-covered streets, Alex wondered if it might be best just to let it go. Would it make a difference knowing the whole truth about Tenley’s past? It might help him understand her insecurities a little better. And it could explain why it took her all these years to work through her grief.

He parked the SUV in an empty spot on the street and walked the short distance to the library, a small building that looked like it might have once been a bank. A young woman, not much older than Tenley, greeted him from the circulation desk.

“I’m interested in looking at some old newspapers,” he said. “From this town, if possible. Back about ten years ago.”

“That would be the Sawyer Bay Clarion,” she said. “They stopped publishing it two years ago, but back issues can be found in the periodical section. If you want one from any further back than fifteen years, I’ll have to go down to the basement and fetch them.”

“Thanks,” Alex said. He wandered to the back of the building and found the huge books on a shelf near a big library table. May 15th, 1999. He laid the book on the table and flipped through the yellowed pages. The paper was a weekly, so he found the article in the issue dated May 19th.

The headline was huge. LOCAL BOY DROWNS IN BOATING ACCIDENT. The words sent a shiver through him. Tenley had lived through this tragedy. As
his gaze skimmed the story, he was stunned to learn that she’d nearly died as well. She’d been clinging to the overturned sailboat for four hours before she’d been found. Her brother hadn’t been so lucky.

“It was a tragedy.”

Alex glanced over his shoulder to find the librarian standing behind him. “I guess you found what you came for.”

“Yes. Did you know them?”

“I went to high school with them both. They were a few grades younger than me, but everyone knows everyone in this town. I think it was the most tragic thing that ever happened in this community. Everyone loved them so much.”

“I can’t imagine what she went though. But why would they have gone out in bad weather?”

“They were always doing crazy things,” she said. “Always getting in trouble. Some folks said it was bound to happen, one of them getting hurt. It’s the way they were raised. No one ever said no. There was no discipline. Children need boundaries.”

“She blames herself,” he said.

“I heard she was the one who talked her brother into going outside the harbor. They were always challenging each other. Dares and double dares and triple dares. Everything was game to them.” The librarian shook her head. “She never forgave herself. That’s why she’s. different.”

He slammed the book closed. “I like different,” Alex said in a cool tone. He nodded at the librarian and
headed back toward the door. “And you can tell everyone in town, if they’re wondering.”

As he walked back to his SUV, he thought about what it must have been like for Tenley. He was close to his two sisters and couldn’t imagine how he’d feel if anything ever happened to one of them. It would be like a part of his soul had been cut away. Not only had Tenley lost her twin brother, she’d probably blamed herself for the breakup of her parents’ marriage.

Suddenly, the burden of her happiness seemed like too much to bear. What if he couldn’t be the man she needed? What if he failed her in the end? This was all moving so fast. Alex wasn’t sure he was ready for it to go any further.

Maybe he shouldn’t have pried into the past. It might have been better to remain comfortably oblivious. He got behind the wheel, then turned the key in the ignition. Alex wasn’t sure what the future held for the two of them. But if this was love, then he sure as hell was going to give it a chance.

“H
AVE YOU SEEN
Alex?” Tenley distractedly flipped through the mail, separating the envelopes into bills to be paid and checks to be cashed.

“I did,” her grandfather said. “We had breakfast this morning at The Coffee Bean. Had a nice chat. Although I’ve never seen anyone eat as much for breakfast as he did. Except for you.”

Tenley smiled. “I think I’m going to take him snowshoeing tonight. I love the woods after dark.”

“Maybe he’s over at the inn.”

“He said he had to check in with his office. I hope nothing’s wrong.” She paused. “You don’t think he had to go home, do you?”

“Without telling you? I don’t think he’d do that.”

“But what if there was an emergency? He could have tried calling me at home and I wasn’t there.”

“Then he would have called here. Or stopped before he left town. Don’t worry, Tennie, he’s not going to disappear.”

The bell above the door rang and she smiled. “That’s probably him. I’m just going to drop these at the post office and then I’m going. I promise I’ll finish all this up next week.”

“We’re not exactly going crazy with customers these days,” her grandfather said. “Maybe you should think about taking a week or two off. A trip to Chicago might be nice. There’s a new impressionist exhibit at the Art Institute.”

“I was going to drive into Green Bay. I’m thinking about enrolling in some classes this summer.”

“I think that’s a fine idea, Tennie. They’ve been trying to get me to come in and teach a class in acrylics. We could drive in together.”

She gave her grandfather a quick kiss, then hurried out into the showroom, anxious to see Alex. But when she walked through the door, it was Randy who was waiting for her. Tenley stopped short. “What are you doing here?”

He gave her a sheepish shrug. “I came to apologize for the other night.”

“You don’t need to apologize.”

“I do,” Randy said. “And I’m sorry for being such a pest. But I’ve loved you for as long as I can remember. I’ve never said that to you and right now, I’m pretty sure it won’t make any difference, but I had to say it.”

“I’m sorry,” Tenley said, shaking her head. “I don’t feel the same way.”

“And you may hate me for this, but I don’t care.” He held out a manila envelope. When she refused to take it, he set it on a nearby table. “I think you should know about this guy from Chicago. I did a little research on the Internet and he’s not everything you think he is.”

“Take it back,” Tenley demanded, a defensive edge in her voice. “I don’t need to see it.” Cursing softly, she crossed the room and picked up the envelope, then shoved it at Randy. But he refused to touch it. Tenley ripped it in half and then in half again. “Go,” she ordered. “Before I punch you in the nose again.”

Randy slipped out the door and Tenley glanced down at the scraps in her hands. Her fingers were trembling and she wanted to scream. What right did he have to interfere in her life? People in this town spent too much time worrying about others. They ought to spend more time worrying about their own lives.

“Wasn’t that Alex?”