Page 126 of Ly to Me

“New?”

She laughed. “Excuse me, I just meant wife. Not meanin’ in the sense that he had one before. Hell, no one thought he’d ever settle down. My niece was tellin’ me how pretty you are.” Shestopped talking and reached for a mug, then started pouring fresh coffee into it. “Now, then—sugar? Cream?”

“Both. Lots. Thank you, again.” I started fiddling with my hair, trying to tie it up, then giving up, then trying again.

“You are his wife, right?”

I nodded, trying to ignore my nerves. “Yes, ma’am.”

She hummed. “My niece was right about you.” The woman’s eyes wandered over my dress as she added cream and sugar to a mug. “Said you also had a mouth on you, though you seem nothin’ but kind to me.”

I flashed a smile, and for the first time in a long time toward a stranger, it felt…genuine. I liked her. She passed me the mug, and I took a few sips, not caring that it was too hot to taste.

“You do look a little familiar,” the woman said.

“I get that a lot,” I replied, trying my best to not look back at her, hoping she’d drop it.

She didn’t.

“A girl from a long time ago used to have that same look about her.” She squinted, then shook her head. “Oh, how rude of me, inspecting you like that without even tellin’ you my name. I’m Nadine, Aubrey’s auntie.”

I almost spit my coffee out, then decided it was best kept in and pushed the hot liquid down my throat. “Nice to meet you, Nadine. How is Aubrey doing?”

Nadine shrugged. “That girl—the porch light’s on, but no one's home. Ya know? I swear, it’s a good thing that Jamie has an interest in her.”

I grinned against my cup, having successfully skirted giving her my name. “That is a good thing.”

The glass door to the store rattled open, a sharp pinging noise following. I turned right as golden, slicked-back hair flashed in my periphery. “Nadine, you in ‘ere? Got your pack—” Jamiestopped in his tracks, his posture turning rigid. “Lyra. Good mornin’.”

There goes my name. Great.

“Mornin’,” I replied from behind my mug, tipping it up to him in mock cheers, though he didn't deserve even that much from me with the crap he pulled at our house. “Nadine was just tellin’ me how cute you and Aubrey are together, ain’t that right, Nadine?”

“More like how completely airheaded that poor girl is, bless her heart,” Nadine quipped.

Ireallyliked this woman.

Jamie’s jaw worked. “Lyra, I have somethin’ in my truck for Carver. You mind helpin’ me?”

I swallowed thickly at the way he was regarding me. “Let the girl get what she came here for, I—oh my word!” I put my hand on Nadine’s shoulder, thinking she was about to have a heart attack or episode of some kind. “Lyra Thomas? Chet’s girl?”

Warmth leeched from my skin, a cold sweat taking its place. Jamie’s head cocked as I pointed to a rack. “Came here for jeans. Thank you so much for the coffee, I—”

“Well, wait just a minute. How is he holdin’ up?”

“Fine. He’s just fine.”

“Chet Walker?” Jamie asked, rubbing his jawline. “Ain’t he in hospice?” He slid his hands in his pockets. “That don’t sound so fine to me.”

“He’s fine,” I repeated. “Just fine.”

“Right,” Jamie said as he tipped his chin toward the door. “I’ll be outside waitin’ for you to grab the stuff for Carver. I’m sure he’d appreciate having it back.” He slipped out the door, watching me through the glass like a hawk.

“So, jeans. Size two? Four?” Nadine approached me slowly before placing her hand at the small of my back, guiding me toward the women’s section.

“Two,” I croaked.

Nadine lowered her voice. “Sorry about him. He’s a good man for Aubrey, but a cocksucker to most. If it weren’t for needing my husband’s meds, I’d tell him to go piss off.”