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“Not that I’ve ever seen, but I’m sure there are. Wherever there is garbage, there are rats,” Grace said knowledgeably. “Anyway, one day some twenty or so years ago, Earl came into William’s grocery store, and William actually saw him remove two brown mice from his coat and place them in the produce department.”
“You’re kidding,” Angelica said, her mouth hanging open in disgust.
Grace shook her head.
“Really? Did Mr. Everett confront him?” Tricia asked.
“Yes, but Earl swore William was lying, and you know that just isn’t possible. William is incapable of even stretching the truth, let alone lying. But Earl swore his i
“Did he call the police to report Earl?” Tricia asked.
“That’s not William’s way.”
“Did he ever get his revenge?” Angelica asked.
Grace’s lips quirked into a smile. “In a way. In those days William was a member of the Stoneham Businessman’s Association, the foreru
“Mr. Everett blackballed him?” Tricia asked, surprised.
“That I don’t know. I only know that Earl was not welcomed into the association.”
“I know Earl’s rebuffed every invitation we’ve made to invite him to be a member of the Chamber,” Angelica said.
“He knows that some people in the village have long memories,” Grace said. “I don’t think he wants to take the chance of someone bringing up his past indiscretions.”
“You mean he pulled that stunt on more than just poor Mr. Everett?” Angelica asked, concerned.
Grace nodded.
“I will definitely take him off our to-be-contacted list.”
They heard a horn outside go toot-toot! “That will be William. I don’t want to keep him waiting,” Grace said, and gathered her purse and sweater. Angelica got up and let her leave the booth, and Tricia rose, too.
“I’m sorry we had to see each other on such a sad occasion, but it’s always nice to spend time with both of you.”
Tricia leaned forward and gave Grace a quick peck on the cheek. “See you soon.”
She and Angelica watched their friend leave before taking their seats again.
“Mr. Everett said you were speaking with Christopher earlier,” Angelica said.
Tricia pursed her lips and nodded.
“What’s he want now?” Angelica asked.
“To talk. I told him I’d do that as soon as Grace and Mr. Everett left.”
“Then I guess I’d better go.”
“I don’t mean to chase you away.”
“I have a million e-mails I can attend to before you and I go on flower patrol once again. And it’ll give me time to change, too.”
Tricia looked at her watch. It was barely nine o’clock. “All right. I’ll see you about eleven.”
“Eleven it is,” Angelica said, and stood. She hesitated. “Here he comes. You’ll have to tell all later, and I want to know more about Toni Be
“Don’t worry. I’ll fill you in on all the details.”
“See you later,” Angelica said, and stepped over to the bar to speak to Michele. Christopher wasted no time slipping into the other side of the booth.
“Hi. Can I buy you a drink?”
Tricia looked at her empty glass, but decided not to encourage him. “No, thank you. So, what did you want to talk about?”
“Our relationship.”
“We don’t have one,” she reminded him.
“But we could again.”
Tricia frowned. “Fu
“I was in a bad place back then.”
“And I acknowledged that—time and again. But still, you didn’t give much consideration for my feelings. What I wanted or felt meant nothing to you.”
“I’m sorry. I couldn’t see beyond my own pain.”
His pain? He’d never uttered such descriptive verbiage in the past. Had he been talking to a shrink?
“You hurt me,” Tricia said. She needed to be blunt if she was finally going to get her point across. “And saying you’re now sorry doesn’t do anything to change the past. Fool me once, shame on you. I’m not about to give you—or anyone else,” she said, thinking of Chief Baker, “the opportunity to fool me again.”
Christopher’s frown deepened, and he shook his head in disapproval. “My, but you’ve become cynical.”
Oh, how she wanted to unleash her ire at him, but she’d been brought up to keep those kinds of feelings suppressed. The Miles family had been so good at keeping secrets and feelings from interfering with life. And honestly, if Christopher didn’t now understand how much he’d hurt her with his past actions, he never would.
Tricia wished she’d taken him up on his offer of a drink, for she felt like she needed something to fortify herself. Still, she charged ahead. “You divorced me.”
“And you didn’t contest it,” Christopher accused.
“Because you were adamant about not going to counseling. You had your mind set to shed me from your life. Well, you don’t get to have that life back just because you now find it inconvenient.”
“Inconvenient?” he repeated in disbelief.
“Yes. If I didn’t do the work myself, I had to hire someone who would. We both had careers, but mine took a backseat, and I had to make sure that our house was clean, our laundry was done, our bills were paid, and everything else that goes with ru
“You never cooked,” he accused.
“And you preferred to go out to eat fat-laden steaks and drink too much.”
“You always paint me as the bad guy.”
“You left me,” Tricia repeated succinctly.
“But not for another woman.”
“And that’s supposed to make me feel better?”
“Yes!”
Tricia looked away and sighed. “Which proves my point. You have no clue who I am or what I need. And why in God’s name would you think I’d take you back?”
“Because you love me.”
Those four words hit like a blow below the belt. “Sorry, pal, but that’s no longer enough.”
“What do I have to do to regain your trust?”
Tricia looked into her ex-husband’s beautiful green eyes, and a pang of regret shadowed her heart. “Erase the past. But you can’t do that. Nobody can.”
“If I could erase the past, I would. All I can do now is apologize for my arrogance.”
“And I accept that apology. But that doesn’t mean I can forget.”
“You make me sound like a monster.”
“You’re not a monster, but you’re no saint, either. Believe it or not, I’ve made a life without you. It was difficult at first, and for a time it was lonely, but all in all, it’s been satisfying.”
“Are you content to be just satisfied when there’s so much more to life?”
She answered honestly. “For now, yes.”
Christopher looked down at his hands, folded on the table before him. “I’m sorry you feel that way. You’ll never know just how sorry. Can we at least be friends?”
“We are,” Tricia said truthfully. Just not destined to ever be close friends, and especially not friends with benefits.
“Are you and Angelica going to be replacing the flowers once again tonight?” Christopher asked
“Yes. We’re meeting at eleven.”
“What are you going to do until then?”
“Go home, change my clothes, spend some time with my cat.”
“Our cat.”
“She doesn’t belong to you anymore.”
“Miss Marple doesn’t know that.”
“Well, I do.”
Tricia scooted across the booth and got up. “Well, it has not been fun, but good night.”
“Wait. Can I walk you home?”
For a moment, Tricia remembered the feeling of being watched the night before but decided she must have been mistaken, since the figure in black had shown up after she’d gone inside the Chamber building. “No, thank you. It’s only two blocks. I’ll be fine.”
He gri