I realize tears are streaming down my face when I blink and sense the wetness on my cheeks. I instinctively duck my head, averting my gaze. “I’m fine. I’m blubbering. Sorry. Don’t mind me.”
“No need to apologize. Sometimes you need a good cry.”
I chance a look at the woman; her kind voice has some authority to it. I blink. It’s Rose Kasper. Anton Bates’s girlfriend, and an all-around queen, if even half of what the news articles about her say is true. She’s around my age, maybe a couple years older, with wavy brown hair and a warm smile. Her eyes are searching, and they flare ever so slightly when she registers who I am.
“Lucy Dupree?” she says, her voice low.
I flinch. “Guilty.”
“What are you doing here?” She sounds curious, but not out for blood. Something in her soothing, even tone has my defenses falling. I find myself wailing out the entire story for her in the bean aisle.
“I’m trying to buy ingredients to make chili so I don’t let down TJ Wilson’s grandparents at their cook-off tonight,” I say with a sob. “I have no idea how to do this. Any of this. And I hate kidney beans.”
“TJ?” she says, shock coloring her tone as she zones in on that little detail.
I nod, blinking away tears and staring at the put-together woman who is bearing witness to my breakdown.
“You’re her, aren’t you?” Rose crosses her arms. She smiles at me, and her eyes twinkle with delight. “You’re the one he was with at the gala.”
I open my mouth to deny it, but then I close it again. There’s no use trying to backtrack now. I nod, my eyes welling with traitorous tears. “Please don’t make a big deal out of this,” I whisper.
She tips her head kindly. “Oh, honey. I’m on your side here.”
My shoulders slump with relief. “Thank you.”
She smiles. “Of course. I’m the one who told TJ to go after you at the end of the gala. We saw you leaving, and he obviously felt like there was some unfinished business between you two. Sometimes a man needs a nudge, so I shoved him in your direction.”
“Wait.” I frown. “TJ came after me?”
“He tried. Then he got a message from his grandpa saying his grandma was in trouble or something.”
My heart thuds painfully as my adrenaline spikes. “She’s okay, though, right? I saw her on Sunday at TJ’s house.”
Rose’s eyebrows fly up. “You were at TJ’s house? Interesting,” she hums. “Very interesting.” Before I can say anything, she goes on. “Anyway, yes, he was going to follow you out of the stadium. He wanted to talk to you some more, I think.”
I shake my head, trying to sift through this new information. I figured the social media call to find his Cinderella was a publicity ploy, nothing more. I didn’t realize he actually tried to prolong our evening. That maybe he actually wanted more time with me.
Not the real me.
The thought stalls my racing heart and brings me back to reality. TJ wanted more time with the bold, carefree woman behind the mask ... but she’s not really who I am.
“Well, he got his time. I came to the Cinderella call, and he brought me to his house to have dinner. I told him I couldn’t date him. We’re not compatible that way,” I explain.
Rose nods slowly. “But you met his grandparents … and you’re going to their”—her eyes dart to my cart and then to the shelves of canned vegetables—“chili cook-off party?”
I twist my lips to the side. “TJ was so nice, and so were his grandparents, and we all decided to be friends, and it sort of snowballed from there. I told them I’d think about going, and now here I am, buying ingredients to make my dad’s chili, so I guess I’m really doing this, even though it’sa horrible idea.”
Why do I keep spilling my guts to Rose?
“I’m sorry. I’m blabbing. That happens when I get worked up.” I shove some hair behind my ear.
Rose smiles. “You’re good. For the record, I don’t think going to TJ’s grandparents’ chili cook-off is a bad idea at all. They’re great, and, for the record, TJ’s one of the good ones.”
I consider her, feeling a swell of relief to have my assessment of TJ as a decent human confirmed by someone who obviously knows him.
“My sisters and I all live in Cashmere Cove, if you want to get together,” Rose continues.
My pulse kicks up again. “That’s so kind.” In another life, I’d jump at the chance to hang out with someone as cool as Rose. “I’m trying to keep my identity under wraps, though …” I trail off with a shrug.
