Married. Mated in the way people did, joined by a ceremony that was seldom truly for life. Peter had said something to Alexandra about being divorced from the woman he had married.
And that he wanted Alexandra back.
Kieran’s mouth twitched. “She told me it was over a long time ago.”
Peter glanced away. “Did she? I’m surprised she’d confide that to… someone who doesn’t know her intimately. It’s true, we had a misunderstanding and went our separate ways. For a while.”
But not forever. Peter didn’t need to speak the words. Kieran swiveled around on the stool. “I know Alexandra very well,” he said. “We’re friends.”
“Friends,” Peter echoed. He took a shallow sip of hi drink. “I am glad she’s had a friend here. This isn’t ordinarily the kind of place where she’d find people who… share her background. Are you from this area originally Kieran?”
Kieran stared into his empty glass. “I’m from many places.”
“Alex’s family was one of the most well respected in San Francisco. Money, influence, impeccable style.” Pete looked around the bar. “Strange to think she’d ever want to settle in a place like this.” But when he looked back at Kieran, it was as if his words were not about places buts people.
Kieran straightened on his stool. “We knew each other as children. Here in Minnesota.”
“Really. She never mentioned you.” Peter touched his glass to his lips and put it down again. “But I do remember that she came here every summer as a child. Until the accident. And then her grandfather died—”
“The accident,” Kieran interrupted. “What happened to her?”
Peter stroked the corner of his lip. “It should be obvious.” He paused. “Didn’t she tell you?”
There was that faint edge of mockery to Peter’s question, at odds with the subject of Alexandra’s suffering. Kieran set his jaw and gripped his glass more tightly.
But Peter read his silence easily enough. “I’m not surprised she didn’t talk about it. She doesn’t reveal herself to many people.”
Anger eddied through Kieran’s growing numbness. “I know that she and her father were estranged.”
“Yes. A very sad and unfortunate thing. I tried at the time to bring them back together, but—” He shrugged with an air of regret. “Alex is very much like her father was. Stubborn and passionate.”
He gave the last word a wealth of innuendo that hinted at personal knowledge. Very personal knowledge. Kieran pushed his empty glass aside and swung to face Peter.
“What do you want?”
Peter signaled to the bartender, who replaced Kieran’s empty glass with a full one. “I want what’s best for Alex. I always have. I know she needs to have a connection to what’s she’s lost. That’s why I’m here.” He rested his hand on Kieran’s shoulder. “That’s why I wanted to talk to you, Kieran. If you’re her friend, you want to help her, right?”
With an effort Kieran stopped himself from throwing off Peter’s hand. “Yes.”
Peter slapped his shoulder. “Good. Believe me, I know what Alex needs.” He grew serious. “And right now what she needs is privacy. Time to herself. She’s always been that way when things get rough.”
Kieran drained his glass and set it down with careful deliberation. “And?”
“To be blunt…” Peter leaned back on his stool. “To be blunt, I think you should move out for a while, give her some space. I’m sure a resourceful fellow such as yourself can find somewhere else to stay. As it is, with you living in such close quarters…”
“You said you wanted to see her yourself,” Kieran said softly.
“But I’m not intruding on her space, am I? I want Alex free to work through her feelings, make her own choices. I’m sure when she has her privacy again, without feeling… obligated to deal with a guest, she’ll be able to get through this.”
Kieran stared at Peter through blurred vision. Space. He understood that need. He hated enclosed places. Was Alexandra the same? Was he making things worse for her by burdening her with obligations she had never wanted? Offering comfort she wouldn’t accept?
His eyelids were heavy, his thoughts becoming as sluggish as ice breaking up on a river. Even Peter’s scent was dulled, but Kieran distrusted it. Distrusted and disliked everything about Peter Schaeffer that made him fully human and certain of what he was. “She doesn’t… want to see you,” he said at last.