“His name is Stephen,” Lexi said quickly.
“Meow.” Andrew swiped his hand at her like a cat. “Claiming him already?”
The last time Lexi had claimed someone, unbeknownst to her, he was already married. The humiliating act at least allowed Lexi to refocus on her career. So the only thing she owed Ernest Laing was a thank-you. The heir to the Laing Diamonds had filled her head with lies and her heart with betrayal.
“Those were some pretty flowers he bought you,” said Chantal, dragging Lexi out of her stupor.
“They’re Dancing Lady orchids,” Lexi informed them, “and he was being nice.”
“Interesting.” Andrew hummed.
“You’re reading too much into this.” Lexi wiped her hands on the back of her jeans. “Like I said, he was being nice.”
Andrew reached across the bar of the kitchen and tapped the covered dish. “So you’re returning the favor by being nice?”
“Of course,” Lexi said perkily. She refused to let him have one up on her. If Stephen wanted to pretend to be kind, after what he did with the lot next door, he had another think coming. What was the saying? Kill them with kindness? “I thought I’d drop this off before I headed into the shop.”
“I thought the lights weren’t on in his place,” said Chantal.
“Oh?”
“Yeah,” said Andrew. “When I asked Philly if she was coming in for practice today, she told me no ’cause her uncle Nate had an appointment out of town.”
The two assistants bumped their shoulders together when Nate’s name was spoken, and Lexi rolled her eyes and inwardly admitted the handsomeness of the Reyes men. She did wonder how Stephen would handle the pageant world if he was not prepared to bring Philly in for any practice. If he didn’t freak out over the way some of the pageant moms treated their kids, he might over the way they’d devour him.
A lightbulb went off in Lexi’s head. She wondered how he’d handle the pageant in Savannah. In a way, she feared for his sanity. And did Andrew say Nate went out of town today? Curiosity filled Lexi’s veins.
“Perhaps I’ll swing by their house this afternoon and drop this off.”
Andrew’s eyes widened. His elbow nudged Chantal in the ribs. “They live out where your friend Rosalind used to be.”
“You know this how?”
“Kimber told us,” said Chantal.
“Well, I’ll just shoot over there and drop this off.”
* * *
Today, Lexi felt nostalgic. She left her boutique and went east, which would take her by her childhood home—if she still had the right to call it that.
David and Mary Pendergrass enjoyed being pillars of the community without actually living there. A tree-lined canopy road led the way toward the neighborhood of plantation-style homes. Already aware of her speed, slowing down for deer, Lexi brought her Cadillac to a crawl as she passed high gates covered by the low-hanging limbs of peach trees. Ripe peaches dangled off, ready for picking. Lexi resisted and sat in the car.
From this distance, three large columns blocked her view into the oversize dark gray framed windows of the living room and the formal dining room. The balcony doors were open and the long white chiffon curtains billowed in the wind. The picturesque house had stolen her heart but also her childhood. This was her parents’ home. She hadn’t stepped foot inside since she came home from college. They’d made their displeasure known when she decided to go to a state school by cutting off her funds. They scowled when she dropped out of pageants to model. So when the scandal with Ernest had broken out, her parents looked right through her when she bumped into them in town. Now with Grits and Glam Gowns making headlines, she hoped they might find it in their hearts to be proud of her.
Thirty minutes later Lexi
pulled her gold Cadillac into the driveway of the Reyes home. A small pink bike with training wheels lay on its side in front of the white garage. The girls lived in a split-level brick home with black shutters on all the white-framed windows. Black security bars covered the top-floor windows. The manicured bushes under the bay window bloomed with fragrant white gardenias.
The bottoms of Lexi’s jeweled flip-flops flapped against the pebble-lined walkway to the front door. Frosted panels on either side of the door gave an obscured view of the chaos inside the home. Pink clothes were sprinkled along the beige-colored carpet on the stairs. Roller skates at the bottom of the steps were an accident waiting to happen. A high-pitched ding sounded off in the house as she rang the bell.
Lexi balanced the covered dish on her hip and leaned forward. Nate’s SUV was nowhere in sight. For the life of her she could not recall what Stephen drove, but he probably parked in the garage. Ringing the bell again, Lexi turned around to observe the rest of the neighborhood. She tucked a stray blond hair behind her ear, conscious of how much anyone might know of her past.
Once again, Lexi rang the doorbell, her long manicured fingernail accidentally pressing the button twice. In a matter of seconds, heavy-sounding footsteps rushed to the door and in one swift swoop the door yanked open. Startled, Lexi took a step backward. As she balanced herself to keep from slipping off the step, she gasped at the sight of a shirtless Stephen Reyes. His solid torso, muscular chest and sculpted bare arms filled the door frame. A set of washboard abs dipped into a V shape, pointing toward the waistband of a pair of black-and-gray swim trunks. Her eyes fixated on the white ties holding the trunks up.
No doubt of the perfect score in her mental score card.
Unable to move, hell, unable to breathe, Lexi stood frozen for a few seconds before Stephen cleared his throat to speak first. “Lexi, what a pleasant surprise.”