The sound of her name in a tone that made her feel like she was fifteen years old and about to be knocked down made her close her eyes and gather herself before opening them and putting a smile on her face. Fae looked beautiful in a white sundress, the thin straps showing off her hard-earned figure.
"Fae," she said brightly. It was forced and did not match the dread inside of her. "You made it!"
"Well, there's nothing to do here. And you won't make time for me so what choice do I have?" Her usually pinched look turned scrutinizing as she looked over Tilly. "You still haven't stopped dying your hair juvenile colors."
"I've had green in my hair since you got here."
"And I had a lot on my mind and a lot to take in so now I'm pointing it out. You're nearly forty, and looking it, the odd color only dramatizes that age. Mom would be disappointed."
"Well, I do like to stick to tradition. It is the Nguyen way," Tilly quipped with a smile that was starting to hurt.
"The Nguyen way is to conduct yourself in a manner fitting the name, Tilly. Which you have never quite grasped."
Tilly felt a wall of anger hit her right side and seep into her. She barely kept herself from glancing at the chief, but she could pick out his emotions in colors of dark red and grey, could feel their ice. Which was interesting.
"As much fun as this public dressing down is," Tilly said between clenched teeth. "Is there something I can help you with?"
"Yeah. Point me to a booth that won't make me look bloated. And a bookstore. Your library at the motel only has outdated fiction."
Deep breath in. "There is a power bowl and salad tent on the main strip. Green tent. Can't miss the cheerful owners. And Bookstores are closed, as is the library."
"Thank you," she said pointedly. Then her look turned over and up to where Tilly's booth partner stood silently. A feline smile crooked her mouth as her eyes dragged down and back up. "Well, you're bound to sell a lot of sparklers." She leaned closer to Tilly and cupped her mouth in a faux whisper that he could hear, "Too bad you're not like the main women in your favorite novels. He would be cast as the lead."
"That's not," she waved a hand at a curious chief, then rolled her eyes. "This is our chief of police. Theodore Landry. Chief Theodore," she tried out and shook her head. "Landry. Chief Landry?" She finally turned to him. "What do you like to be called?"
There was a glint in his dark eyes that said something to her, something intimate and tilting, but she couldn't quite grasp it before he turned, and it was gone as he looked at her sister holding out his strong hand. It gulfed her sister's slim one as she took it smiling up at him.
"Chief Landry. Though Tilly calls me Theo. I'd like to think I'd be one of the dark, handsome vampires in one of her books." Tilly's eyes shot wide. His joke, not a joke unbeknownst to her sister, and the familiarity with which he spoke her name felt like a caress. It started at her shoulders in a whisper and trailed down both arms in a frisure that made her bite her lip. What was he doing?
Fae's eyes narrowed slightly before she pulled her hand back. "It's nice that you're friendly with the townspeople. Speaks of a good leader."
"I'm not," he said simply. "I'm very standoffish." Tilly's eyebrows rose at his self-described characterization. "But Tilly pulls out a," he paused and looked down at her in a moment of heat, his tongue just barely touching the tip of his tooth before he looked back at Fae and finished, "friendlier side."
Tilly's mouth was open but then she snapped it shut as her sister's eyes turned shrewd as they slid to her. Finished with not getting what she intended, Tilly's embarrassment, she was bored.
"Call me later. I shouldn't be abandoned by family right now." And then she was gone. Walking in her pert way, leaving behind her signature unkindness.
It was loud, what was left behind. That was true about both kindness and unkindness; they left either music or the echo that would multiply inner turmoil.
"So, that's my sister."
He didn't respond with words, but his look said what he thought of her.
"So, I hope you know I'm going to call you Theo now."
"I was hoping."
She hid her smile by turning and busying her hands straightening the sparklers.
She hadn't answered him about dinner. It hung there between them, but to his credit, he didn't push it.
"How is the inn?" he asked during a lull.
"Oh, it's good. I mean, it's a lot to learn. I've never run an inn before. I," she stopped her confession from pouring out of her mouth, and before he could pull it from her, a new crowd of people came with their tickets ready.
"Oh, hey Freida," Tilly said cheerfully.
The night manager of The Crescent Inn still hadn't warmed to her. She gave Tilly a tight smile and handed the chief her ticketswith a friendly nod. The woman smiled at him and wouldn't give her so much as a fake smile.
