“This is Charlotte’s uncle, Noah Aylett.” Delaney gestured between them. “Mr. Aylett, Heather Brown.”
He stood and extended his hand. “Nice to meet you, Heather.”
“Likewise.”
“Are you from Driftwood originally?”
“Baltimore, actually. I moved here this year.”
“Why Driftwood?”
She looked around, her gaze taking in the pretty park and the charming downtown area. “I needed a change. The city wasn’t…good for me.”
He nodded as if that made perfect sense. “It’s a nice community.” He turned to Delaney. “I’ll sit at that picnic table.” He nodded to the closest one, maybe thirty feet from the edge of the play area, where he could work and keep an eye on the crowd.
“We’ll let you know if we need anything.”
He walked away, and Heather took his seat on the bench.
“What’s up with him?” her friend asked, voice low as if he might hear.
“I was in a car accident a couple days ago, so he came in case I needed help.”
“Oh, no. What happened?”
“I had some trouble with my brakes and ended up hitting a tree.” Delaney didn’t want to go into the details. “I’m fine, just a little bruised. Speaking of, I thought I might have to cancel, but I didn’t have your number.”
They traded contact information. When Delaney was finished tapping Heather’s number into her phone, she looked up to see her friend watching Mr. Aylett, who’d opened his laptop but was looking around.
“Kindandhandsome,” Heather said. “Not a bad combo.”
He was both, but Delaney didn’t want to talk about that, either. “How about you? Dating anyone?”
Her friend’s cheeks pinked. “I have been seeing this guy. He’s so sweet.”
Happy to have the conversation off of herself, Delaney leaned in and matched Heather’s lowered volume. “Tell me about him.”
“He’s so handsome and just…” She sighed, her eyes taking on a dreamy quality that reminded Delaney of childhood conversations with her sisters. “He’s older than I am, but I don’t care about that. I just care that he’s kind and generous, and really sees me, you know? Like…I’ve told him about all my mistakes, and he doesn’t care. None of that matters to him.”
Delaney didn’t know what mistakes Heather was referring to, and her friend didn’t explain. “Why are we whispering?”
Heather’s gaze darted around the park as if spies lurked everywhere. “He’s about to be single, but he’s not…technically.”
“He’s married?” Her heart sank. Her friend had fallen for the oldest trick in the book.
“It’s not what you think. He really loves me, and he’s going to leave his wife soon. Before the end of the year, he said. And then we’re going to get married.”
“I see. He lives here, in town?”
“Virginia City. But we usually meet outside of Norfolk, where I live. Omigosh, Delaney, he’s paying for my apartment. That’s how I know he really loves me. It’s so pretty. I can see the water from the balcony, and the beach is right there. I can walk all the way down to this pretty golf course, where the grass is so green it almost looks fake.” Her eyes were wide as if she’d never seen such a thing. “He says we can live in that apartment full-time after he leaves his wife. It’s little, but I don’t care.”
As Heather spoke, her accent became more defined, even a little…twangy.
“I can’t wait until we can go out in public together, you know?” Heather said. “Like a real couple?”
“Yeah, I’m…sure.”
“I know what you’re thinking.” Heather’s expression darkened, and her voice turned hard. “It’s not like… You don’t know him.”
