When Lightning Strikes (Whiskey Creek #1)(47)
Author: Brenda Novak

This was clearly a deflection. But Simon allowed it. For the moment. “Okay, let’s talk about Sophia.” He buckled his own belt. “Why did you refuse her invitation to dinner?”

“I didn’t refuse it. I said I’d call.”

He started the car. “Will you?”

“I don’t know.”

“Why?” he asked as he shifted into Reverse.

She blew out a sigh. “I’m having a hard time forgiving her.”

“For?”

Facing the window as he backed out of the parking space, she waved at Ted, who was climbing into his SUV. “A lot of reasons.”

“We’re here for three months. I think you’ve got time to explain.”

“It’s old gossip,” she said as if it didn’t matter, but obviously it did, or she wouldn’t be holding a grudge.

They reached the exit, where he waited for an opening in traffic. “Everyone else knows, right?”

“Of course. There are no secrets in Whiskey Creek.”

“Then you might as well fill me in.”

“Fine.” She turned off the radio. “Back when we were in high school, her father was the mayor. She was an only child and very spoiled. She was also the most popular girl in school and dated Scott Harris, the best basketball player Eureka High has ever seen.” Her voice softened. “Scott was Joe’s best friend. And he was like another brother to me.”

Simon merged onto Main Street: Speed Limit 25. Just as well he hadn’t brought the Ferrari. “This story doesn’t feel like it’s going in a good direction.”

“No. He lost his life in a drunk-driving accident, and most people here blame Sophia.”

He winced. “Including you.”

“Maybe. To a point,” she said, obviously not wanting to commit herself. “It’s hard not to blame her.”

A bicyclist swerved around the corner. Simon swung wide to make room. “What happened?”

“He was expecting her to join him at a party one night, but she didn’t come. When someone mentioned that she’d been seen with another guy earlier in the day, he took off to find her, even though he was far too drunk to get behind the wheel.”

“No one tried to stop him?”

“Of course. He pretended to change his mind, then slipped out when the rest of us relaxed and stopped paying attention.”

Simon could guess what happened next. “He crashed?”

“Wound up in a ditch. It was too late by the time the paramedics arrived.”

“I’m sorry.”

She seemed lost in the memory. “He would’ve made a wonderful husband and father, had he been given the chance.”

“Was she with someone else?” he asked as they came to a red light. He couldn’t help wondering.

“She claims she wasn’t and no one’s stepped up to say, ‘I’m the other guy.’ There have been rumors, though.”

“Of course. It’s a small town. But blaming her for his drinking and driving is like blaming Bella for my bad behavior. Last I checked I don’t get to do that.”

She studied him. “You haven’t even tried.”

Because it felt too much like cheating. He had his faults but blaming others for his actions wasn’t one of them.

“Come to think of it, you should be commended for that,” she added.

Surprised by her concession, he glanced over to make sure she was serious. When he saw that she was, he shrugged. “So I have one redeeming feature.”

Her lips curved into a smile. “You’ve got a few others.”

A dose of sexual awareness warmed his blood. “Feel free to elaborate,” he said, tempting her to flirt a little more, but she backed off.

“I think you know what they are.”

The light turned green. “If you’re talking about my looks, I’m not particularly flattered. I had no control over the face I was given.”

“You’ve worked hard for that body.”

“All part of the job. But I’m glad you noticed.”

She scowled. “I’ve also noticed how easy it is for you to light up a room, how fast you neutralized all the people who should’ve been defensive of me. They fell for your charm almost immediately.”

He got stuck behind someone in an SUV who was waiting for a parking spot on the street. “Really? Because Callie seemed completely immune.”

“She’ll come around.”

Maybe. Maybe not. She’d seemed pretty unhappy. “What was that bit about Cheyenne and her mother?”

“Anita’s a piece of work. You wouldn’t believe what Cheyenne has been through. When she and her sister were little, her mother dragged them from one town to the next. They lived out of cars or in cheap motels. She didn’t even go to school until she moved here, and by then she was fourteen!”

The people who owned the Jetta in the parking space the SUV wanted began the process of loading up, but they had a baby and a toddler to strap in, and a stroller to contend with. “How did she fare?”

“Not as badly as you’d think. She’d taught herself a lot by then, is naturally very smart. But it took most of high school for her to catch up. And, of course, she didn’t get the chance to go to college, like the rest of us.”

“Her name’s unusual.”

“She thinks she was named after Cheyenne, Wyoming.”

“One of the cities they passed through.”

“You guessed it. Who knows where she’d be right now if Anita hadn’t gotten sick? That’s the only reason they settled down.”

“A haunted B and B, someone who didn’t start school until the age of fourteen, a woman blamed for the death of a local sports hero… You have an interesting group of friends.”

“And everyone knows too much about everyone else, like I told you before.”

“I guess that’s the downside of living in such a small place,” he said. “No one can forget. No one can forgive.”

“Publicity has made the whole world that small for you.”

That was one of his problems. The other was that he didn’t seem to be the best judge of character. Had he been able to detect the deep reservoir of insecurity that lurked beneath Bella’s beautiful face he would’ve had some inkling of what he was getting himself into. But he’d been oblivious. Or maybe Bella was right—and he’d somehow created her insecurity. To him, it seemed as if he’d tried everything to convince her he loved her. He had loved her, more than he’d ever loved anyone—other than Ty. She just couldn’t believe it for any length of time, had to make him prove it over and over and over.