“It probably is because he’s a pervert. We need to find out which woman he was paying off.”
“Because you think she might’ve killed off Roy?”
“She might at least have some insight for us. Roy might’ve been worth more dead than alive to Vera. Maybe she killed him off because of this.”
Alice’s gaze brightened. “I hadn’t considered that. I’ll ask around and see if I can figure out who it was.”
I nodded and stood, casting a look back at Bobby, who had passed out. “Should we just leave him here?”
“He’ll be fine.” Alice offered up a haphazard wave. “From what I’ve heard, this is a regular occurrence. He’ll sleep it off for a bit and then go home.”
“Yeah, but ... he’s sleeping with his head against a tree.”
“So? Maybe he’ll wake up with a sore back and rethink his decisions. If not, it’s still not our fault. He decided to get drunk before it even turned dark.”
She had a point. “Speaking of drinking ... .” I cast my eyes back to the growing crowd. “Do you want to stay? I know you weren’t keen on it before and I have my information now.” My eyes scanned for Hunter. I let out a breath when I realized he was still present. Monica was with him, but there was always a chance I might get to talk with him when she was distracted.
“We can stay,” Alice said, pursing her lips. “There’s no sense running back now.”
I was instantly suspicious. “You want to see if you can land Tristan, don’t you?”
She was suddenly the picture of innocence. “I have no interest in dating him.”
“That’s not what I said. You just want to see if you can land him.”
Her expression turned mischievous. “I might want to land him,” she conceded after a beat. “He seems interested in you, though.”
What she wasn’t saying was that she wanted to land him specifically because his interest was directed at me. It was a game to her. It always had been. I didn’t care. If she could distract him for the rest of the night, I’d be more than happy to declare her winner of this particular battle.
“Let’s get another beer,” I suggested. “It’s not as bad as I remember.”
“Oh, it’s awful. But it doesn’t matter. You’ll drink anything as long as you can stare at Hunter.”
I shot her a dirty look. “I don’t care about Hunter. You need to let that go.”
She didn’t bother to hide her eye roll. “If you say so.”
HANGING OUT WITH EVERYONE after we’d gathered the information turned out to be a good idea. I saw so many faces that I’d forgotten about in the years since I’d left Shadow Hills that I had a great time catching up. I was having so much fun that I almost forgot I wanted to pay special attention to the way Hunter and Monica interacted — just in case there was a vibe they might be trying to hide. And then I ran into Hunter by the keg.
“Hey.” My cheeks were flushed from laughing when I bumped into him, my empty cup clutched in hand. “Are you having fun?”
He looked me up and down a moment and then nodded. “Sure. I’m here at least once a month. I don’t think it’s quite as novel for me.”
“I’ve seen so many people.”
“I’ve noticed. You’ve been a social butterfly.”
“Cassandra Dean is over there. She married Byron Presley and they have five kids already. Five kids and she’s twenty-eight.” I was still doing the math. “She says she’s gone three years without a cocktail because she’s been pregnant so much. I can’t imagine that.”
Hunter cracked a smile. “That does seem like cruel and unusual punishment, huh?”
“The thought of kids freaks me out.” I had no idea why I admitted it. I was a little tipsy, which wouldn’t end up going over well with Grandpa. I was going to have to start limiting my alcohol intake now that I was in a place where the only fun people had was getting together in a field to drink. That could get dangerous fast if I wasn’t careful.
“You don’t want kids?” Hunter’s eyes were probing as he scanned my face.
I shrugged, unsure how I actually felt about the question. “Shouldn’t I be able to take care of myself before I become responsible for another human being? I mean ... I’m living in the apartment above the restaurant. I can’t even afford the full rent right now.”
Hunter’s eyes flooded with sympathy. “You’ll get back on your feet.”
I often wondered if that were true. “I hope so. I’m not sure how much more of this I can take.”
“What do you mean?”
“All of ... this.” I gestured toward the crowd. The sun had set two hours before and it was dark except for the fire and several lanterns. “Guess what everyone wanted to know when they came up to me.”
“Why you were back,” Hunter answered. “You can’t fault them for that, Stormy. When you left, it was a big deal because almost nobody gets out of here. Then you were on television, for crying out loud, and to everyone stuck in this town that meant you were famous.”
I scowled. “I wish people would stop bringing that up. It’s the worst thing that ever happened to me.”
My response elicited a genuine smile. It was still heart-shatteringly charming, and I hadn’t seen nearly enough of it since I’d been back. “I liked the interview.”
“You watched it?” I was surprised. That would’ve been four years after we’d broken up. It couldn’t have been easy for him.
“Like I would’ve missed that.” He winked and I felt a small jolt of energy rush through me. “Everyone in town was talking about it. Your grandfather put up a sign above the coffee counter alerting everyone.”
“He did?” Tears pricked the back of my eyes. “I can’t believe he did that.”
“Yeah, well, he did. He was so proud. He told everyone who entered the restaurant that they had to buy your book. He even offered deals for people who showed him a copy of your book.”
“I didn’t know.”
“That’s because you never came back during that time.” His tone turned accusatory. “It was as if you forgot about everyone in Shadow Hills.”
“It wasn’t that,” I countered quickly. “It was just ... everyone wanted a piece of me during that time. Everyone thought I had something to give. I had to travel all over the United States and sign books at libraries. I was on the road every single day that year. I didn’t even have an apartment.”
“You didn’t?” He looked flabbergasted. “But where was all your stuff?”
“I don’t have any stuff,” I said. “I have ... nothing. Everything I own can fit in a suitcase.”
“That doesn’t seem right.”
I shrugged. “It is what it is.”
“It makes me sad.”
He wasn’t the only one. “I let things get out of control back then. I don’t know why, but I thought it was what I was supposed to want and I went with it. And when it came time to write my second book, I did what I thought I was supposed to do. I figured that would guarantee success. But it didn’t.