Part 19 (2/2)
”Now that you've got your tendency to drive on the wrong side of the road straightened out, you're doing just fine.”
”I don't-I don't have a license.”
”I'm good friends with most of the cops around here. Don't worry about it.”
”I'm not worried. I'm terrified!”
”We're both still alive, so that should count for something.”
Somehow she made it into town and managed to pull into a large s.p.a.ce next to the diner. She turned off the ignition and leaned back against the seat in relief.
Torie grinned. ”Proud of yourself?”
Emma scowled at her.
”Come on, admit it. You've done something you didn't think you could do.”
Now that her heart rate was beginning to return to normal, maybe she did feel a little proud. Being unable to drive limited her life in so many ways. Not that she could drive now. ”I'll admit I'm happy we're still alive,” she said begrudgingly.
Torie laughed. ”Come on. I'll buy you coffee to celebrate.”
Inside Jimmy's Diner a model train chugged along a track that ran just below the ceiling. Chrome chairs sat around tables covered in black-and-white-checked oilcloth, and two ceiling fans spun overhead. A blackboard near the entrance listed the day's lunch special: chicken-fried pork chops, stewed okra, along with a carrot and ”raisen” salad. Emma was uncomfortable with the idea of a young child coming in and seeing that, so she requested a piece of chalk from the woman at the register and corrected the spelling.
Torie hooted and hugged her.
They sat at a table that held A-1 Steak Sauce and Tabasco, along with the more usual condiments. On the wall next to them hung a painting of a rooster and a red lantern. As the model train pa.s.sed over their heads, she saw that each car was painted with the sign of a local business.
While Torie sipped the coffee the waitress brought and Emma waited for her tea, she thought back to her conversation with Beddington. Why hadn't the burly man told him everything he'd seen? What kind of incompetent spy had Hugh hired?
”Good morning, ladies.”
Dexter O'Conner approached the table. This morning he wore a yellow oxford s.h.i.+rt instead of blue. He looked pleasantly rumpled, a bit distracted, and rather adorable. She smiled at him. ”h.e.l.lo, Dexter.”
”Emma. Victoria.”
”That's Lady Emma to you,” Torie snapped.
He lifted an eyebrow at her. ”I see your att.i.tude hasn't changed. You might as well go ahead and order your wedding dress.”
Emma expected Torie to leap all over that, but instead, she seemed to make an effort to pull herself together. She even managed to give Dexter a rather stiff smile. ”I don't think that'll be necessary. If it's all right with Lady Emma, you can join us.”
”Of course it's all right with me.”
Dexter smiled and took a seat at the end of the table.
”You're not working today?” Torie said with forced politeness.
”I'm on my way. I've been staying late every night for weeks, and I decided to take some time off. What about you two?”
”I gave Lady Emma a driving lesson.”
”You don't drive?” Dexter asked.
”She does now,” Torie replied.
”Only a very charitable person would describe what I was doing as driving.” Emma gave Dexter a lighthearted description of what had happened on the road, but instead of laughing, he encouraged her. Once again, she thought how nice he was, and, at the same time, she began to wonder if a match between Torie and Dexter was quite as outlandish as everyone seemed to think. They were both intelligent, attractive people, and each of them had something the other needed. Dexter's stability could easily turn to stodginess as he grew older. And Torie seemed to need an anchor in her life.
The conversation drifted to other topics, and gradually some of Torie's stiffness eased, until Emma began to believe she might even be enjoying Dexter's company. That changed when Emma made the mistake of mentioning that Torie had stopped smoking.
Torie glowered, then stuck her finger in Dexter's chest. ”I've been planning to quit for months. It has nothing to do with you! Got it?”
He regarded her steadily. ”I certainly do.” Ignoring the French-manicured fingernail implanted in his s.h.i.+rt-front, he turned to Emma and asked about her plans for the day.
With one eye on Torie, Emma told him she'd hoped to go to Austin. ”I wanted to spend a few hours at the University of Texas library, but Kenny seems to have disappeared.”
”I'll be happy to take you,” he said.
”Don't you have to work?”
”Our main office is in Austin, and there are some people I need to see. I can do that while you're at the library.”
”Are you certain about this?”
”I wouldn't have offered if I hadn't wanted to.”
”Well, then, I'd quite love to. You don't mind, do you, Torie?”
Torie frowned. ”Why should I?”
Torie was obviously displeased, and Emma hesitated. Then she remembered her driving lesson and decided she wasn't the only person who needed to look the devil in the eye. It might be good for Kenny's sister to discover that not every woman found Dexter unappealing. ”Excellent, then. I have my notebook in my purse, so I'm ready to go.” She thanked Torie for the driving lesson, then let Dexter lead her from the diner.
Torie scowled as she watched the door close behind them. Fine! Fine! She hoped the two of them bored each other to death. She hoped the two of them bored each other to death.
Through the plate-gla.s.s window, she caught sight of Ted Beaudine. He walked up to Dexter and Emma, and they all chatted for a few minutes. The next thing she knew, Ted was climbing into Dex's Audi, too, and all three of them were heading off to Austin. Without her.
”You want more coffee, Torie?” Mary Kate Pling called over from the counter.
”Uh, no. No, thanks.” She leaned back in her chair and thought about how much she liked Lady Emma. Still, n.o.body would ever call her drop-dead gorgeous. So how had it happened that she had just managed to drive off with Dex and Ted, while Torie Traveler, unanimously regarded to be the most beautiful girl in town, had been left behind?
She scowled, gazed down into her empty mug, and chalked her bad mood up to nicotine withdrawal.
Kenny was furious. ”What do you mean mean, Emma went off to Austin with Dex?”
Torie climbed out of his pool and wrapped a towel around the three sc.r.a.ps of amethyst nylon that were pa.s.sing for her bathing suit. ”Ted went along, too.”
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