Yesterday had been brutal. After interviews with the mayor, a few former teachers, and then one-on-one's with the biography host where she asked Riley probing questions about her childhood, teen years and home town, Riley had had enough and needed a break. They'd dragged her all over town so they could get shots of her in front of all the major places in her life from the playground to one of her foster parents' homes to the high school.
Ugh. Nightmarish. Joann had had to kick her once when she rolled her eyes, but really? Maybe no one would be interested enough in her life so far to even watch.
If she was lucky.
She told them no interviews today. She told Joann she needed some free time before the concert tonight, so she made up some flimsy excuse about heading into town to reconnect with her roots, to gain some fresh perspective so she could give some good interviews to the bio team. Joann thought that was an awesome idea.
Ha. Fooled her.
There were no roots to connect with, no people she'd stayed in touch with, and not a single person was interested in seeing her. Correction--they might be interested in hanging with her if there was a camera crew nearby, but no one would want to sit and talk to her.
She had no friends here.
She climbed into old, worn jeans, her boots and a warm coat, and put on a hat because damn it was cold outside. When she parked one of the rental cars on Central and got out, she peered up at the gray skies. Dismal clouds gathered and hung low, threatening bad weather later and obliterating whatever sun might have warmed the day.
Wind was coming in from the north.
Snow was coming.
When was the last time she got to sit outside and judge the upcoming weather? When she was home in Nashville she was secluded inside from the prying eyes of the paparazzi so she habitually stayed indoors. She might go out back once in a while early in the morning, but mostly when she got a chance to go home she slept, exhausted from being on the road. So she missed a lot of mornings. And when she was done sleeping, she buried herself in her work at the studio.
Despite the bitter cold today, it felt good to be outside, to be breathing actual air, to be able to lift her head and study the shifting clouds and think about coming storms. She remembered hanging out with Ethan and Amanda and her other friends, trying to guess when the first winter snow would hit.
Soon, it looked like. Judging from the cheerful expressions of everyone out on the street, they seemed to be happy about it. Then again, maybe they were always happy. She had no idea. She no longer knew these people. She dragged the cap over her ears and slunk into her coat. She'd braided her hair today and worn no makeup. They'd expect Riley the star, not Riley the schlub.
No one would notice her.
"Morning, Riley. Nice to see you out and about today."
She stopped dead in her tracks and turned, her gaze following the heavyset woman with short black hair who'd just greeted her. Who the hell was that?
"Mornin', Miss Riley. Can I direct you somewhere?"
She pivoted and faced a tall, lanky man in his forties or early fifties. He looked familiar. Who was he? She tried to place him.
He had a friendly smile. "You probably don't remember me. I'm Trevor Troutman. My wife, Karen, and I lived next door to the Landaus, one of your sets of foster parents."
That's how she knew him. "Oh, right. Nice to see you again, Mr. Troutman."
"You lookin' for some place in particular?"
"No, sir. Just out for a walk."
"Good for you. Maybe gonna snow today, so enjoy the nice weather while we have it."
"Yes, sir. I'll do that."
"My Karen, she likes your music an awful lot. So do I, as a matter of fact. We'll be coming to your concert this evening." He looked up at the sky. "Weather permitting, of course."
If she was lucky there'd be a blizzard and she could hide at the bed and breakfast tonight. "Of course. Thank you. I'll see you tonight."
So much for trying to hide out unnoticed. She should have known better. Trevor moved on, so Riley did, too.
Other than a new coat of paint or maybe a different awning, there hadn't been too many changes on Central. It was exactly the same as it had been when she'd left. She browsed the store windows, checking out the fashion that had changed at the clothing stores. Thank God for that. At least they kept up with some trends. She smiled at the red and white striped awning of Clusters Candy Store.
Wow. It had been years since she'd thought about Clusters.
Unable to resist going inside, she hoped to see the smiling face of Paul Hazelton working the counter, his thick mane of white hair perfectly coiffed under the red and white hat he always wore.
Instead, a texting-on-her-phone, gum-popping teenager didn't even notice Riley had come in, despite the bell ringing over the door.
Huh. Riley stepped up to the counter, her sweet tooth sparking to life at the colorful candies and chocolates beneath the glass counter.
Gum popping continued. Buttons were being pushed, both behind and in front of the counter. Deciding what she wanted, Riley looked up at the girl, who had a pile of strawberryish purplish hair pulled up in a twist on top of her head. No cute red and white hat.
Riley continued to wait, hoping she'd be noticed. She wasn't.
Finally, she cleared her throat and the girl sighed as if Riley was the worst inconvenience ever. "Can I help you?"
Good God. Riley could see the color of the girl's gum. She wanted to tell her to close her mouth.
When had Riley gotten old?
"Where's Mr. Hazelton?"
"Who?"
"Paul Hazelton."
"Oh. The old guy?"
Riley supposed bopping the girl in the nose would be uncalled for. "Yes. The man who owns the store."
"He died two years ago. His wife sold the store to Ray Morrow, who happens to be my dad," she said in a snooty, I'm-the-owner's-daughter tone of voice.
"Paul Hazelton is dead?" Riley's stomach pitched. "Oh, poor Pattie. What's she doing now?"
The girl gave a shrug. "Last I heard she's in Florida with one of her kids. So do you want some candy?"
Riley forced back tears. Mr. Hazelton had always had a smile for her when she came into the store. He told jokes. Bad, corny jokes, but he'd always made her laugh. The candy store had been one of her best memories of this town, and now this smartass teenager didn't give a damn about whether kids were happy when they left the store or not.
"So do you want candy or not?"
She sniffled and nodded, gave the girl her order and walked out, swiping tears out of her eyes as she made an abrupt turn and smacked right into an unmoving brick wall chest, dropping her bag of candy.
Dammit.
She squatted to the ground to pick up the scattered candy.
"You always were a sucker for gum drops and licorice."
Her gaze shot up and there was Ethan, warm eyes considering her. Wa
sn't this just perfect?
She lifted her gaze to his. "Paul Hazelton died, some snotty teenager who doesn't give a damn works in there now, and I dropped my candy."
Tears filled her eyes. She wasn't weak, she didn't cry. She scrambled to pick up the pieces, both literally and figuratively.
"Let me help."
She shooed his hands away. "I've got it. I'm just clumsy."
He was smiling at her, his sexy, sensual smile that had always made her feel all gooey inside. The smile that probably made Amanda feel all gooey inside now.
If he was even still with Amanda. She had no idea who Zoey's mother was. His little girl looked just like him. Dark hair, whiskey-colored eyes, a dimple on the left side of the cheek. She'd noticed Zoey's dimple, too. It was so cute.
"Riley?"
"No, I'm fine. Sorry. I was distracted."
"I'll go inside and replace your candy."
"Don't. I don't need it anyway."
He laughed at that and was already up and in the shop before she could object. She followed him inside.
"You back for more already?" the girl asked.
"She's a candy fiend," Ethan said. "Always was."
"Har har."
"Actually, she dropped her bag outside, Tiff, so replace whatever it was she had, and add two bricks of rocky road and a quarter pound of Now and Laters for me."
Despite not wanting to be in here--again--she couldn't help but smile at Ethan's selection. "I see your candy choices haven't changed, either."
"I need the energy for work."
"Yeah? What work is that?"
"Wyatt, Brody and I own the construction company now that Dad is retired."
"That must keep you busy."
"Very."
She took the bag from gum-chewing girl. Ethan paid. "I can pay for my own candy."
He slanted her a look. "And I can afford a couple bucks for it."
They walked outside. "Thank you."
"You're welcome."
Ethan started walking, so Riley went with him. "So...you working in town today?"
"Yeah, over there." He pointed across town where a steel frame could be seen. "New performing arts center. Gotta have culture here. If you'd waited a year you could be putting on your concert there."
"Oh. I guess I'll have to suck it up at the high school gym."
He reached into the bag and pulled out a handful of candy. "I imagine that's one hell of a step down for you."
No way was she taking the bait. Time to turn the tables.
"Where's Zoey today?"