blink at him a couple of times to get her bearings.
“Tyler? Tyler McBride? Is it really you? I’m sorry I’m gawking.
You look so very different, but it’s still you. Actually, to be perfectly
honest about this, you’re very sexy.”
He gave her a huge grin and gripped her hands between his.
“Becca Matlock, it’s good to see you. I came over to see my new
neighbor, never dreaming it could be you. Is Powell your married
name? I can’t imagine why you’re here of all places, the end of the
world. But whatever. Welcome to Riptide.”
Chapter 4
She laughed and squeezed his hands and said, “Goodness, you’re
not a nerd anymore. Listen,Tyler, it’s because of you that I’m here.
I would have called you. I just haven’t gotten to it yet. Can I really
be so lucky to have you for a neighbor?”
He gave her a very nice smile and just stood there, waiting. Had
he had braces? She couldn’t remember. It didn’t matter, he had
gorgeous teeth now. What a difference. Incredible.
“Oh, yes, everyone’s a neighbor in Riptide, but yes, I live just
one street over, on Gum Shoe Lane.”
She let go of his hands although she didn’t want to, and stepped
back. “Do come in. Everything, including the furnishings, is ancient,
but there aren’t any springs sticking up in the sofa, and it’s
fairly comfortable. Mrs. Ryan sent an army of teenagers here to
clean the place. They did a pretty decent job. Come in,Tyler, come
in.”
She managed to make two cups of tea on the ancient stove while Tyler sat at the kitchen table watching her. “What do you mean
you came here because of me?”
She dipped a tea bag in and out of the cups of hot water. “I remembered
your talking about your hometown, Riptide. You called
it your haven.” She paused a moment and stared down into her
teacup. “I’ll never forget your saying that Riptide was in the boondocks,
near nothing at all, so private you nearly forgot that you
Were even here. Just out on the edge of the world, nearly falling
into the ocean, and nobody knew where it was, or cared. You also
said that Riptide was the place where the sun first rose in the U.S.
You said for those moments, the sky was an orange ball and the water
was a cauldron of fire.”
“I said that? I didn’t know I was such a poet.”
“That’s nearly word for word, and, as I told you, that’s why I
came. Goodness, I can’t get over how you’ve changed,Tyler.”
“Everyone changes, Becca. Even you. You’re prettier now than
you were back in college.” He frowned a moment, as if trying to remember.
“Your hair’s darker and I don’t remember you having
brown eyes or wearing glasses, but otherwise, I’d know you any-where.”Well
damn, she thought, that wasn’t good. She pushed the
glasses higher on her nose.
He accepted the cup of tea, not speaking until she sat down at
the table across from him. Then he smiled at her and said, “Why do
you need a haven?”
What to tell him?
That the governor had been shot in the neck because of her?
No, no, she couldn’t feel responsible. That madman shot the governor.
She stalled.
He backed off and said, “You went to New York, didn’t you? You
were a writer, I remember. What were you doing in New York?”
“I was writing speeches,” she said easily, “for bigwigs in various
companies. I can’t believe you remember that I went to New
York.”
“I remember nearly everything about people I like. Why do you
need a haven? No, wait, if it isn’t any of my business, forget it. It’s
just that I’m worried about you.”
She wasn’t a very good liar, but she had to try. “No, it’s okay. I’m
getting away from a very bad relationship.”
“Your husband?”
No choice. “Yes, my husband. He’s very possessive. I wanted out
and he didn’t want to let me go. I thought of Riptide and what
you’d said.” She didn’t want to tell him about her mother dying. To
mix that with a lie was just too much. She managed to shrug and