“Grazie.” Beaming at her guest’s approval, Maria brought Grace’s second suitcase into the room, setting it near the dresser. “I’m glad you like it. I’m sure, from Sly’s reaction—that was the handsome man you met at the door, my Sly—I’m sure you realize that it’s not so often we get visitors. It’s so nice to have a guest for Ophelia again.”
“And I’m grateful you had a vacancy for me,” admitted Grace. It didn’t matter that Hamlet was such a small town—she’d spent half her drive worried about Tommy being right behind her, and the other half terrified that she’d get to Ophelia only to be turned away. “You came so highly recommended, I was worried you’d be full.”
“Oh?” Dainty eyebrows crept up, hiding underneath the fringe of bangs. “If you don’t mind me asking, recommended by who?”
That was right. The whole don’t tell anyone about Lucas thing that Tessa told her that morning. Whoops.
Since she also wasn’t supposed to go blabbing about how Lucas and Tessa De Angelis went off and eloped after he moved away from Hamlet, Grace wasn’t too sure what she should tell Maria. In this case, she went with the better of two evils. If she admitted it was Tessa, Maria would know for certain that there was more to it than that.
“Um, well, your brother, actually.”
Maria blinked. Twice. “My brother?”
“Yeah.”’
“Lucas?”
Grace nodded.
“Lucas De Angelis? And you’re sure?”
When she climbed out of her car and went to retrieve her luggage, Grace snagged Lucas’s instructions off of the passenger seat and shoved them in the front pocket of the smaller case. As Maria goggled at her, she reached into the pocket and grabbed them.
She held them out to Maria. “Here. These are the instructions he gave me to find you.”
“Well, yeah… Okay. It’s definitely a surprise, but I know my brother’s handwriting as well as my own. I just… it’s definitely a surprise. Whoa.” Maria ran her gaze over the sheet of paper in her other hand. A small grin tugged at her lips, but all she said was, “Anything you want to ask me?”
Feeling uncomfortable under the weight of Maria’s curious stare, Grace shook her head.
“Anything I should know?” Maria asked.
Good question.
It was the first lesson in Being Stalked 101. Whenever moving somewhere new, she was supposed to warn her new neighbors and acquaintances about Tommy: what car he drove, what he looked like, how high the likelihood was that he would follow her here.
Black Jaguar.
I used to think he was gorgeous.
Way, way too high.
Supposed to. She learned the hard way that it didn’t matter who she confided in, or who she warned. No one could help her. Anyone who tried only ended up getting hurt.
Tommy didn’t like it when anyone interfered.
Bad enough that she had to worry about what would happen if Tommy learned that Tessa and Lucas De Angelis had told her about Hamlet. Now that she had made it to Ophelia, she wanted to believe that he was a memory.
That he couldn’t hurt her, or anyone else.
He wouldn’t.
She had to believe that.
“No,” Grace lied.
Maria nodded. “Well, then. Like I told my Sylvester, breakfast will be at eight tomorrow. Now, the locks will engage at nine, so—”
“Locks? What locks?”