Was it possible that he’d changed so much in the years since she’d last seen him? She didn’t think so. The Sean she remembered had been so wrapped up in his ego he’d been oblivious to the feelings of the people around him. If she still looked like the frumpy girl he’d once known, would he be so interested now?
Doubtful.
“I don’t know if we were ever friends.” She leaned forward on her elbows and met his eyes with her own. “Classmates. Acquaintances, maybe, but not really friends.”
He looked uncomfortable. He shifted in his seat and looked away. She wondered if the memory of their last encounter—when she’d grudgingly gone to the campus newspaper office to ask Sean for a job recommendation—was as heavy in his mind now as it was in her own.
The waitress chose that moment to arrive with their food. After the woman left with a promise to check back in a few minutes, Sean raked a hand through his hair. “Look, Andi, I need to apologize for what I said to you that day. I’ve thought about it a lot over the years, and I know I should have chosen my words more carefully. I know it’s a poor excuse, but I was having a bad day. I’d just been dumped by my girlfriend, my car had broken down that morning and I guess I ended up taking all my frustration out on you.” He swore. “You knew me, Andi. I wasn’t very mature back in those days. I admit it.”
A bad day?
He’d crushed her with his words and never once tried to apologize afterward—well, until now—because he’d been having a bad day?
What a total scumbag!
She didn’t want to give him the satisfaction of knowing how deeply the wound had reached. She forced a polite smile and waved the topic away with a gesture of her hand. Hearing him finally apologize, whether it was sincere or not, was more than she’d ever expected. “Look, it was a long time ago. I dealt with it. It’s done. Besides, I’ve had a lot worse happen to me since.”
“I know it sounds cliché but I really was trying to help prepare you. You were so damn soft and innocent. You’d never interned at a big paper like that before. I had. I was scared they’d eat you alive.” His chest heaved beneath a heavy sigh. “It’s no excuse. Some of the things I said to you were unforgivable.”
No kidding.
She felt the sting of tears and blinked to keep them at bay. How could one person have such power over her after so many years? How could she
let
him? “I’d rather not talk about this.”
“Okay, but I want to make something clear.” His eyes were serious as he leaned closer. “I considered you a friend then, and I still do, for what it’s worth. You’re a hell of a reporter, Andi, and I’m proud of you for it.”
As much as she loathed admitting it, she welcomed the praise. She’d been complimented by sources and readers and some of the most hardened editors alive, but for some reason, no one’s words had made her heart do a happy flip quite the way his had.
She eyed him.
Was
it possible Sean had changed so much in the past ten years? She had, so it stood to reason he could’ve done the same. For the better.
Maybe
.
“Now that we’ve got that out of the way, let’s move on to another touchy subject, shall we?” Taking a bite of his cheeseburger, he nodded toward the door. “As soon as certain people find out why you’re in town, they’re going to try to cause trouble for you.”
She felt herself relax. Now, this was a subject she could deal with. “Quite frankly, I wouldn’t know how to react if they didn’t.” She took a bite of her own chicken salad sandwich. It was delicious. She took a moment to savor the flavor. “Just out of curiosity, who, exactly, should I be on the lookout for?”
He gave her a quick rundown of what she quickly dubbed the werewolf-haters club—the Chamber of Commerce president, Kristy’s husband and a few notable business owners.
“What about the mayor?”
Sean smiled. “Believe it or not, he’s one of the werewolf’s biggest supporters. He encourages businesses to take advantage of such unique folklore—sell werewolf items, pretend the legend is real, that kind of thing. If he has his way, Woodbine will become the American version of Loch Ness and draw curious visitors from all over.”
“Charming. Just what I would plan my vacation around—the chance to get torn to shreds by a man-eating creature.” Andrea thought about other residents she might have trouble with. “What about the police around here?”
“Most of the guys on the force are cool with it. A few think they might have seen the creature themselves. The rest just get a kick out of it.”
She glanced around. The other people in the shop had resumed their conversations and weren’t paying her or Sean the least bit of attention anymore.
“So what do you make of the so-called werewolf? Really?”
“Honestly, I have no idea what it could be.”
“Don’t you think if this was a werewolf—oh I don’t know—there would be
victims?
” She’d checked, and there had been no reported deaths or injuries due to unexplained animal attacks in the county in more than ten years.
“Well, we do have an unusual amount of livestock disappearances.”
She leaned forward again. “You know what I think? I think there’s a perfectly logical explanation to all of this.” She met his eyes. Eyes that drew her in and begged her to forget all of the bad history between them. She swallowed. “It’s all just a hoax.”
He looked amused. “Okay. Why?”
“Last night I found seven websites devoted to this so-called werewolf. They all had forums where various anonymous people posted their own sightings. Remember
The Blair Witch Project
?”
“Sure.”
“Producers used the internet to market the movie. People saw the website and thought the movie was a real documentary. That’s why it made so much money. This could be the same type of thing. Some nerdy little computer geek decides to create an elaborate hoax on the internet and see who falls for it.”
“What about all of the eyewitnesses here in town who’ve come forward? I can verify there are some credible people in the bunch. A doctor, schoolteachers, a youth pastor…”
She caught herself studying the way his mouth moved when he talked and shook herself.
Focus.
Luckily, she only had to give his idea a second’s thought. “You said your first story was around Halloween. Fine. What if some teenager gets a werewolf costume, goes out to this road where he knows some of his friends will be driving by later? He hangs around until they see him. Bam.” She slapped one hand against the table. “First sighting. Some more kids hear about it. Sounds pretty neat. They want attention. They claim they saw it too. Before you know it, people are talking. Sightings snowball. There’s your hoax.”
“I don’t buy it.” Sean shook his head. “Too many people with too much to lose have come forward about this thing. You don’t know these people. I do.”
All right. She would grant him that point. But if he thought he could convince her there really was some kind of monster running around these cornfields, he was delusional.
She reached into her bag for the photograph that had prompted her visit to Woodbine in the first place. “Ever seen this?” She slid it across the table.
He looked surprised. “Can’t say that I have. Where did it come from?”
“That’s something I’ve got to find out while I’m here. Any ideas?”
His fingers brushed hers when he reached for the photo. The touch sparked off a flutter of energetic butterflies in her stomach. She jerked her hand away and balled it into a fist in her lap. Sean’s hand flexed—had he felt it too?—and he pulled away, leaving the photo where it lay between them.
“No, but I’ll give it some thought.” Sean pushed his plate toward her. “Want the rest of these chips?”
She shook her head and took a bite of her fruit salad, distracted by the unwanted emotion and attraction this man aroused in her. She geared her thoughts back to the topic at hand.
“I suppose I’ll pay the mayor a visit tomorrow. Get his take on things.”
Sean chuckled and popped a chip into his mouth. “Yeah, well, that may not be necessary. If I know our mayor, he’s already out searching the town for you. Did I mention he loves to talk about the werewolf? He’s probably giddy at the idea of more national publicity.”
“I thought you were kidding.”
“Sorry, Sunshine.”
“Would you
please
stop calling me that?”
“Why? I think it’s kind of cute.” He grinned. “Besides, you don’t like for me to call you Andi anymore.”
“Because my name is Andrea.”
He made a face. “Andrea just sounds so…uptight, don’t you think?”
She glared at him, but it was hard to do. His teasing was like kryptonite to her control. She wanted to smile but didn’t want
him
to know how much she was enjoying his company. She crossed her arms. “Fine. I’ll come up with an equally annoying nickname for you and see how you like it.”
“Cool. I always wanted a nickname. Give it your best shot.”
She studied him carefully, trying to think of something suitable yet irritating. “I’m afraid I’m too much of a lady to say the first one that comes to mind. I try not to use profanity unless I can’t help it.”
He laughed, and she felt one side of her mouth tug upward. “That hurts.” His gaze was warm and interested as it met hers across the table.
She shook her head and picked at her meal.
Focus on work
.
“I need to also talk to as many people as I can who
don’t
believe in this animal.” Andrea outlined her workload in her mind. “Winslow? Think he’ll talk to me? The wife believes but the husband doesn’t. Now, that’s a great lead.”
“Hard to say if he’ll talk or not. The president of the Chamber of Commerce will talk though. I’ll show you where the Chamber office is. They love to try and debunk the myth every chance they get.”
She thought about the people she’d interviewed so far. They all seemed credible enough, but you never could tell until you did a little digging.
“Tell me about Reed.” She liked the teen. He reminded her a little of herself when she was that age. Her gut said he hadn’t been lying when he’d described his encounter, but since things had soured with Brandon, she’d been wary of trusting her instincts.
“I don’t normally gossip, but I’m proud of the kid,” Sean admitted. “His dad was a real jackass. When Reed’s little sister was diagnosed with leukemia, the guy just split. The family’s had a hard time ever since, especially financially. That’s why I gave Reed a job, so he can help his mom out. He’s got real talent too.”
“The sister—is she okay?”
Sean nodded. “She’s in remission now. I think it would have killed Reed to lose her. He’s pretty close to both of his younger sisters.”
Andrea nodded, thinking of Nick, the brother she had lost to a drunk driver when she’d been about Reed’s age, and Lisa.
Poor, poor Lisa.
“It’s always hard to lose someone you’re close to.”
Sean stared at her. “Yes, it is.”
She couldn’t meet his eyes, so she concentrated on her sandwich instead.
“You know, Andi, I was thinking maybe you and I could—”
“Good afternoon, there, young lady. Sean, how are you doing, son?” Andrea glanced up to see a well-dressed, stocky man with a hand clamped on to Sean’s shoulder.
“Mayor Bradley.” Sean looked at Andrea with a hint of a smile as if to say “Didn’t I tell you?” He seemed to tense up beneath the man’s hand. Still, he was polite. “What did you think of our boys in Friday night’s game?”
The mayor returned Sean’s volley, which lengthened into a discussion about the high school’s quarterback, but his eyes never left Andrea. He watched her with an anticipation she’d seen on wild animals in a National Geographic Channel special. Andrea waited until they were done chitchatting to stand up and offer a hand in greeting. “Andrea Lockhart, the
Naked Truth
.”
“Denton Bradley.” The mayor gripped her hand a little too firmly. “Welcome to our small town, Miss Lockhart. Pleased to have you.”
“Thank you. Would you like to join us?”
“Love to, thanks.” He pulled a chair to the table, between the two of them.
For the next thirty minutes, Bradley monopolized the conversation, directing most of his comments to Andrea as if Sean weren’t present. Every now and then Andrea would ask a question, but mostly the older man talked without encouragement. She took a swallow of her water and tried not to look at the mayor invading her space like a bad odor. Every time she did look at him, he was staring at her—grinning like a fool.
Really, he wasn’t that different from any of the big-time politicians she’d dealt with previously. Good-looking, well groomed…a bit smarmy. She judged him to be in his late fifties, and he told her he was a lawyer.
The mayor snapped his fingers and pushed the meal he’d ordered aside. “Oh, that reminds me. You should bring her to the next council meeting, Sean. We’ve got a proposal on the agenda to start hosting a Woodbine Werewolf Parade every Halloween. Great idea, don’t ya think?”
“Mmmm.”
“Great.” The mayor finally stood. “Well, I had better let you two be. Duty calls. Listen, Miss Lockhart, if you need anything don’t hesitate to call my office, you hear?”
“Thank you.” Sean hadn’t been kidding with the crack about the mayor’s plans for Woodbine becoming a “Werewolf Mecca.”
“Told you.” Sean grinned as the mayor walked away.
“I see what you mean.” She watched Mayor Bradley head toward the cashier. A man appeared out of nowhere, grabbed the mayor by the lapels and began shouting.
“Shit!” Sean was on his feet. Andrea followed, squeezing through the crowd.
“I don’t ever want to hear you spew that ridiculous nonsense to another reporter, or else. Do you understand me?” The stranger was shaking the mayor like a rag doll.
Sean stepped between the men. “Calm down, Winslow. You don’t want to make a big scene in public, not with the election coming up.”
Winslow? This guy must be Kristy’s husband—the one running for council.
“Calm down,” the mayor protested, struggling against the taller man’s grip. “It’s good for the town. Draws people in. It’s good business, you know that.”