“Miss Myers, actually,” she corrected. “Sadly, the ceremony was cut short, so she’s still Myers. Miss Myers.”
This time, Darius looked her way. He didn’t smile but did step back to open one of the doors even more wide.
“Even more of a reason to get going.” He motioned for Eve to go through the door. She gladly accepted the directive.
“I’ll be going now, Maria. Let me know if anything else happens, okay?”
Maria wasn’t used to being brushed off, and normally Eve would have been more polite with it, but given the circumstances, she assumed the faux pas would be overlooked.
Darius, however, addressed Maria’s presence the second they were in his truck.
“I don’t like her,” he said, grabbing at his seat belt. Eve followed suit but added in a snort.
“If you showed her your bank statements, she wouldn’t like you either.”
Darius made a sound of mock pain.
“Way to leg-sweep me there, Eve.”
Eve didn’t scramble for any kind of apology.
“Scott Keys might berichrich, but Maria is married to his best friend Toby. And Toby? Already had six figures in his bank account before he exited the womb.”
Not that Maria was much different. While she wasn’t the stereotypical trust-fund baby, her mother had married a business tycoon in Texas. As far as Eve knew, neither woman had wanted for a thing after that.
Darius started the engine and had them aimed out of the parking lot, all while shifting expressions. His obvious distaste for Maria’s attitude smoothed a frown into a neutral middle expression.
“If you’re not a fan either, why was she one of your bridesmaids? Or, I guess,maid of honor.”
That surprised Eve.
“I guess you’re still good at the details,” she said. “I didn’t think there was time to look around before you and the sheriff shut everything down.”
In fact, other than a quick look between Eve and Darius while they were on opposite sides of the aisle, Darius hadn’t met her gaze again until they were each pulled out of the offices to talk.
“Just because I was stopping your wedding didn’t mean I wasn’t paying attention.”
His tone was as matter-as-fact as they came. It bothered Eve.
Part of her had expected him to show up, part of her knew it had been a ridiculous request. Regardless, shouldn’t he have been asking more questions?
Even without poor Gary’s death, she would have expected more than inquires about Maria Sanderson.
But who was she to nitpick?
“When Scott realized I wasn’t planning on having any bridesmaids, he thought it would be a good to ask Maria since she loves big, social events. Janice and Renee, the bridesmaids, are from the foundation.”
“The foundation? You mean the Keys Foundation?”
Eve nodded.
“So you work with them, then.”
“Yes. Coworkers.”
They were driving across Main Street. Eve didn’t take in the scenery. She knew Seven Roads had changed; she didn’t need to know how much. What she had to do next was too important for her to worry about the outside world.
Even when it came to Darius.
