“So…” Lydia said, poking at a sodden cardboard box nearby. “When you got to Charlie’s this morning, what was everyone wearing?”
Lizzy blinked up at her. “What?”
“Like, was Jane in her clothes, or did it look like she borrowed Charlie’s?”
“Why does that matter?”
“Because I’m trying to figure out if they slept together or, like,slepttogether.” Lydia waggled her eyebrows.
“Why don’t you ask her,” Mary said bluntly.
“I did, but she’s not giving me anything, so I need some clues. Was she wearing his T-shirt? Maybe a robe?”
Huh. Lizzy hadn’t thought to look at anyone’s clothing when she strolled up from the beach unannounced. In fact, she couldn’t even remember what anyone had been wearing.
Well, that wasn’t completely true. She remembered what Will Darcy was wearing. Black sweatpants that hung low on his hips, a gray T-shirt that was just on the right side of tight. His blond hair had been a mess, sticking out in every direction as he sipped his coffee, watching her walk toward him on the beach, like he was expecting her.
Lizzy shook her head, jostling the thought away. Maybe that urban runoff from this morning was affecting her brain.
“I think we have bigger things to worry about right now, Lydia,” she said, leaning down to fish a submerged bag of walnuts from the floor.
“I don’t know. Jane finally getting laid seems like a pretty big thing.”
“And so is the industrial-sized fridge that’s been without power for twelve hours.” Lizzy handed her an empty trash bag. “You two go in there and start throwing stuff out. I need to go upstairs to the fuse box and turn off the main.”
Lydia rolled her eyes. “Why would you turn off the power if we already don’t have power?”
“Because I don’t want to die in a pool of standing water when it finally comes back on.”
Lydia huffed but didn’t argue.
The bakery was dark when Lizzy emerged from the basement. She had propped open the front door earlier with the hopes of airing out the stale smell and bringing in some sunshine, but the plywood was still nailed up over the windows and clouds still lingered in the sky, so the room was filled with an eerie half-light. It sent shadows across the room, and Lizzy was so busy ignoring them that she almost missed the tall man standing in the doorway.
“Hello.”
Lizzy jumped and let out a strangled shout. The man stilled, then took a step forward, his head of dark hair suddenly visible.
“You okay?”
Lord Magnus. Her stomach did an odd flop, but she ignored it, ready to offer a reply. Before she could open her mouth, though, Lydia and Mary appeared behind her.
“What’s wrong with… oh.” Lydia’s tone changed the minute she saw Tristan. “Hello there.”
The man’s smile broadened a bit. “Hi.”
“I’m Lydia,” she said, somehow making her name sound suggestive.
Tristan walked forward, offering her his hand. “Tristan Cole.”
Lydia took it, smiling wide.
Then he extended his hand to Mary. She didn’t move, only stared at him from over Lizzy’s shoulder. “I know who you are.”
He nodded, unfazed.
“Tristan… what are you doing here?” Lizzy asked. Why was her voice so high?
“I drove out this morning. Hank wants us to check on Gretna Island. If there’s any storm damage, we could use it to help get ourpermits for HamptonFest through,” he replied. “And since I was in the neighborhood, I thought I’d see how you weathered everything.”
