Lexie grinned. “Want to get rid of me?”
“Yes,” Toby said.
Laughing, Lexie left the room and they heard the front door close behind her.
“Sorry for that,” Toby said. “Would you like to sit down?” The kitchen was a long galley type but on one wall a part of the counter had a couple of stools.
“I apologize if Jared and I were …” Alix didn’t know what to say. “He’s the only person I know on Nantucket and we’ve spent most of the time I’ve been here together. Well, not together-together, but …”
“You know how to zest citrus?” Toby asked.
“I’m not as good a cook as Jared said I was, but I can do that.”
Toby nodded to a bowl full of lemons, limes, and oranges. “I need a quarter cup of each one.” She held out the little multi-holed zester.
Alix was glad to get away from the topic of her and Jared.
“What do you think of Nantucket?” Toby asked.
“So far, it’s great.” Alix began to tell of her impressions. The word “beauty” was second only to the word “Jared.” What Alix saw was beautiful. All her other senses were covered by Jared. What he said, did, thought, were all part of Alix’s talk.
“Are you still going out with Wes tomorrow?” Toby asked.
“Why wouldn’t I?” Alix asked.
“I thought maybe you and Jared were becoming …” Toby trailed off. She knew about Ken’s hands-off order to Jared, but she wanted to know if they were overcoming that restriction.
“Oh,” Alix said. “You think Jared and I are on our way to being a couple. We’re not. I hope we’re friends, but we’re certainly work colleagues who are becoming friends.”
Toby looked at Alix in disbelief.
“No, really,” Alix said. “I think he and I gave the wrong impression.”
“But you’ve been spending so much time together. The whole island is asking what’s going on.”
“That’s not good,” Alix said. “Jared and I just work together. That’s all.”
“And the sandwiches?”
“What do you mean?” Alix asked.
“Switching food that each of you likes.”
“We’ve been working on plans, so we eat together and we’ve learned about each other.”
“But …?” Toby’s eyes were wide.
“Okay, I’ll be honest. At first I was interested in him in that way.” Her poem came to mind. “But he clearly let me know that nothing like that was going to happen. I admit that it hurt at first, but I’m okay now. And between you and me, I’m looking forward to going out with Wes. I could stand a little touchy-feely action. I’d like to remember that I’m a girl.” Alix took a breath, hoping her lie sounded convincing. She did not want to go on a date with another man. “Could we talk about something besides me?”
“Of course,” Toby said. “I didn’t mean to pry. It’s just that we’ve never seen Jared so interested in anyone before.”
Alix had no idea what to reply to that, so she changed the subject. “I told my friend Izzy that I’d help her set up her wedding here on Nantucket, but I don’t know where to begin. Jared said you would know what to do.”
Toby understood that Alix was politely asking her to back off. “Do you have a date set for the wedding?”
“I did, but I’m sure it’s going to change.” Alix didn’t explain why. For right now she wanted to keep Izzy’s pregnancy private. With a bit of a jolt she realized that “private” now seemed to include Jared.
Toby continued. “The first thing you need to do after you have the date is to get the colors your bride wants. Everything revolves around her colors. If she wants any special flowers I’ll need to know well in advance so we can get them flown in.”