o this is your friend, huh?” Lexie asked.

She gestured discreetly to the holding cell. Although Lexie had lived in Boone Creek all her life, she’d never had the privilege of visiting the county jail—until today.

Jeremy nodded. “He’s not normally like this,” he whispered back.

Earlier in the morning, they had packed their belongings and closed up the beach cottage, each reluctant to leave it behind. But when they drove off the ferry in Swan Quarter, Jeremy’s cell phone picked up enough signal strength to retrieve his messages. Nate had left four of them about the upcoming meeting; Alvin, on the other hand, had left a frantic one saying that he’d been arrested.

Lexie had dropped Jeremy off at his car, and he’d followed her back to Boone Creek, worried about Alvin, but worried about Lexie as well. Lexie’s disconcerting mood, which had started in the predawn darkness, had continued for the next few hours. Though she hadn’t pulled away when he slipped his arm around her on the ferry, she’d been quiet, gazing at the waters of the Pamlico Sound. When she smiled, it was only a flicker, and when he took her hand, she didn’t squeeze his. Nor would she talk about what she’d said to him earlier; strangely, she spoke instead about the numerous shipwrecks off the coast, and when he did try to steer the conversation toward more serious issues, she either changed the subject or didn’t answer at all.

Meanwhile, Alvin was languishing in the county jail, looking—to Lexie’s eyes, at least—like he belonged there. Dressed in a black Metallica T-shirt, leather pants and jacket, and a studded wristband, Alvin was staring at them with wild eyes, his face flushed. “I mean, what the hell kind of a cracker town is this? Does anything normal ever happen here?” He’d been going on in this vein from the moment Lexie and Jeremy arrived, and his knuckles were white as he squeezed the iron bars. “Now, can you please get me out of here?”

Behind them, Rodney stood scowling, his arms crossed, ignoring Alvin as he had been for the last eight hours. The guy whined way too much, and besides, Rodney was far more interested in Jeremy and Lexie. According to Jed, Jeremy hadn’t come back to his room last night, and Lexie hadn’t been at home, either. It could have been a coincidence, but he strongly doubted that, which meant they’d most likely spent the night together. Which wasn’t good at all.

“I’m sure we’ll figure something out,” Jeremy said, not wanting to rile Rodney any further. He’d seemed downright angry when Jeremy and Lexie showed up. “Tell me what happened.”

“What happened?” Alvin repeated, his voice rising. His eyes took on a crazed look. “You want to know what happened? I’ll tell you what happened! This whole place is nuts, that’s what happened! First, I get lost trying to find this stupid town. I mean, I’m driving down the highway, pass a couple of gas stations, and keep going, right? Since there doesn’t seem to be a town? And the next thing you know, I’m lost in the middle of a swamp for hours. I don’t find the town until almost nine o’clock. And then you’d think someone could give me directions to Greenleaf, right? I mean, how hard could it be? Small town, the only place to stay?

Well, I get lost again! And that’s after some guy at the gas station

talks my ear off for half an hour—”

“Tully,” Jeremy said, nodding.

“What?”

“The guy you talked to.”

“Yeah, whatever . . . so I finally get to Greenleaf, right? And the gigantic hairy guy there isn’t exactly friendly and sort of gives me the evil eye, hands me your note, and sticks me in this room with all these dead animals—”

“All the rooms are like that.”

“Whatever!” Alvin grunted. “And, of course, you’re not even around—”

“Sorry about that.”

“Would you let me finish?” Alvin hollered. “So, okay, I got your note and follow your directions to the cemetery, right? And I get there just in time to see the lights, and it’s fantastic, you know. Like for the first time in hours, I’m not pissed, right? So I head down to this place called Lookilu for a nightcap, which seems to be the only place in town open at that hour. And there’s only a couple of people in the whole place, so I get to talking to this gal named Rachel. And it’s going great. We’re really hitting it off, and then this guy walks in, looking like he just swallowed a porcupine . . .” He nodded toward Rodney. Rodney smiled without showing his teeth.

“So, anyway, a little while later, I go out to my car, and the next thing I know this guy is tapping on my window with his flashlight and asking me to step out of the car. So I ask why, and he tells me again to get out. And then he starts asking me how much I’ve had to drink and that maybe I shouldn’t be driving. So I tell him I’m fine and that I’m here working with you, and the next thing I know I’m locked up for the night! Now, get me out of here!”

Lexie looked over her shoulder. “Is that what happened, Rodney?”

Rodney cleared his throat. “To a point. But he forgot the part where he called me a big dumb Barney Fife and said that he’d have me brought up on charges for harassment if I didn’t let him go. He seemed so irrational that I thought he might be on drugs or get violent, so I brought him in for his own safety. Oh, and he called me a stupid musclehead, too.”

“You were harassing me! I didn’t do anything!”

“You were drinking and driving.”

“Two beers! I had two beers!” Alvin was looking maniacal again. “Check with the bartender! He’ll tell you!”

“I already did,” Rodney said, “and he told me you had seven drinks.”

“He’s lying!” Alvin shouted, his eyes swiveling to Jeremy. He looked through the bars, his face panicked between his hands. “I had two drinks! I swear, Jeremy! I would never drive if I had too much. I swear on my mother’s Bible!”

Jeremy and Lexie looked over at Rodney. He shrugged. “I was just doing my job. “

“Your job! Your job!” Alvin shouted. “Arresting innocent people! This is America and you can’t do that here! And this isn’t ending! When I get through with you, you won’t even be able to work security at Wal-Mart! Do you hear me, Barney! Wal-Mart!”

It was clear that the two of them had been going on like this most of the night.

“Let me talk to Rodney,” Lexie finally whispered.

When she left with the deputy, Alvin fell silent.

“We’ll get you out of here,” Jeremy reassured him.

“I don’t belong in here in the first place!”

“I know that. But you’re not helping yourself.”

“He’s harassing me!”

“I know that. But let Lexie handle it. She’ll take care of it.”

Out in the hallway, Lexie looked up at Rodney. “What’s really going on?” she asked.

Rodney wouldn’t meet her eyes; instead, he continued to look in the direction of the holding cell.

“Where were you last night?” he asked.

She crossed her arms. “I was at the cottage at the beach.”

“With him?”

Lexie hesitated, wondering about the best way to answer. “I didn’t go with him, if that’s what you’re asking.”

Rodney nodded, knowing she hadn’t answered completely, but suddenly realizing he didn’t want to know any more.

“Why did you arrest him? Honestly.”

“I wasn’t planning to. He brought it on himself.”

“Rodney . . .”

He turned around, lowering his head to his chest.

“He was hitting on Rachel, and you know how she can get when she drinks: all flirty and without a speck of common sense. I mean, I know it’s none of my business, but someone has to watch out for her.” He paused. “Anyway, when he was leaving, I went over to talk to this guy to see if he was planning to head over to her place and what kind of guy he was and he starts insulting me. And I wasn’t in the best of moods, anyway . . .”

Lexie knew the reason for that, and when Rodney trailed off, she said nothing. In time, Rodney shook his head, as if he were still trying to justify it to himself. “But the fact is, he was drinking and planning on driving. And that’s illegal.”

“Was he over the legal limit?”

“I don’t know. I never bothered to check.”

“Rodney!” she whispered loudly.

“He made me angry, Lexie. He’s rude and weird-looking and hitting on Rachel and calling me names, then he says he’s working with this guy . . .” He motioned with his head toward Jeremy.

Lexie laid a hand on his shoulder. “Listen to me, okay? You know that you will get in trouble if you keep him in here for no reason. Especially with the mayor. If he finds out what you did to the cameraman—especially after he’s gone through all this trouble to make sure the story turns out okay—he’ll cause trouble for you.” She let that sink in for a moment before going on. “And besides, you and I both know that the sooner you let him out, the sooner the both of them can leave.”

“You really think he’ll leave?”

Lexie looked Rodney in the eye. “His flight is tomorrow.”

For the first time, Rodney held her gaze. “Are you going with him?”

It took a moment for her to answer the question she’d been asking herself all morning. “No,” she whispered. “Boone Creek is my home. And this is where I’m staying.”

Ten minutes later, Alvin was walking out to the parking lot beside Jeremy and Lexie. Rodney was standing in the doorway of the county jail, watching them go.

“Don’t say anything,” Jeremy warned again, keeping hold of Alvin’s arm. “Just keep walking.”

“He’s a hick with a gun and a badge!”

“No, he isn’t,” Lexie said, her voice firm. “He’s a good guy no matter what you might think.”

“He arrested me for no reason!”

“And he also watches out for people who live here.”

They reached the car, and Jeremy motioned for Alvin to get in the backseat.

“This isn’t the end of this,” Alvin grumbled, crawling in. “I’m calling the D.A. That guy should be fired.”

“The best thing you can do is forget about it,” Lexie said, looking through the open car door at him.

“Forget about it? Are you insane? He was wrong and you know it!”

“Yes, he was. But since no charges were filed, you’ll let it go, anyway.”

“Who are you to tell me what to do?”

“I’m Lexie Darnell,” she said, drawling out her name. “And not only am I a friend of Jeremy’s, but I have to live here with Rodney, and I’m not lying when I say that I feel a lot safer with him around. Everyone in town feels safer because of him. You, on the other hand, are leaving tomorrow, and he’s not going to bother you again.” She smiled. “And c’mon, you have to admit that this will make one heck of a story when you get back to New York.”

He stared at her in disbelief before glancing at Jeremy. “She’s the one?” he asked.

Jeremy nodded.

“She’s pretty,” Alvin commented. “Maybe a little on the pushy side, but pretty.”

“Better yet, she cooks like an Italian.”

“As good as your mom?”

“Maybe better.”

Alvin nodded, silent for a moment. “I take it you think she’s right about dropping this whole thing.”

“I do. She understands this place better than you or me, and she hasn’t led me wrong yet.”

“So she’s smart, too, huh?”

“Very,” Jeremy said.

Alvin broke into a wolfish grin. “I take it you two were together last night.”

Jeremy said nothing.

“She must be really something . . .”

“I’m right here, you guys!” Lexie finally interjected. “You do realize that I can hear everything you’re saying.”

“Sorry,” Jeremy said. “Old habits and all that.”

“Can we go now?” Lexie asked.

Jeremy looked at Alvin, who seemed to be considering his options.

“Sure,” he said with a shrug. “And not only that, I’ll forget any of this ever happened. On one condition.”

“What’s that?” Jeremy asked.

“All this talk about Italian food has made me hungry, and I haven’t eaten since yesterday. Buy me lunch, and not only will I drop the whole thing, but I’ll tell you how the filming came out last night, too.”

Rodney watched them go before heading back inside, tired from lack of sleep. He knew he shouldn’t have arrested the guy, but even so, he didn’t feel too bad about it. All he’d wanted to do was exert a little pressure, and the guy starts running his mouth and acting all uppity . . .

He rubbed the top of his head, not wanting to think about it. It was over now. What wasn’t over was the fact that Lexie and Jeremy had spent the night together. Suspicions were one thing, but proof was another, and he saw the way they were acting this morning. It was different somehow from the way they’d been acting at the party the other night, which meant something had changed between them. Still, he hadn’t been completely certain about them until he heard the tricky way she’d tried to answer without answering. I didn’t go with him, if that’s what you’re asking. No, he’d wanted to say, he hadn’t asked her that. He’d asked if she’d been at the beach with Jeremy last night. But her vague response was enough, and it didn’t take a rocket scientist to figure out what happened.

The realization nearly broke his heart, and he wished again that he understood her better. There’d been times in the past when he thought he was getting closer to knowing what made her tick, but this . . . well, this just proved otherwise, didn’t it? Why on earth would she let it happen again? Why hadn’t she learned from the first traveling stranger who’d passed through town? Didn’t she remember how depressed she’d been afterward? Didn’t she know she was only going to be hurt again?

She had to know those things, he thought, but she must have decided—at least for an evening, anyway—that she didn’t care. It made no sense at all, and Rodney was getting tired of caring about it. He was tired of being hurt by her. Yeah, he still loved her, but he’d given her more than enough time to figure out her own feelings for him. It was time, he thought, for Lexie to make a decision one way or the other.

His anger fading, Alvin paused in the doorway of Herbs when he saw Jed sitting at one of the tables. Jed scowled and crossed his arms as soon as he saw Alvin, Jeremy, and Lexie take their seats at a booth near the front windows.

“Our friendly concierge doesn’t seem too pleased to see us,” Alvin whispered across the table.

Jeremy stole a glance at him. Jed’s eyes became little slits. “Gee, that’s strange. He’s always seemed so friendly before. You must have done something to upset him.”

“I didn’t do anything. I just checked in.”

“Maybe he doesn’t like the way you look.”

“What’s wrong with the way I look?”

Lexie raised her eyebrows as if to say, You’ve got to be kidding.

“I don’t know,” Jeremy pondered out loud. “Maybe he doesn’t like Metallica.”

Alvin glanced at his shirt and shook his head. “Whatever,” he said.

Jeremy winked at Lexie; while she smiled in return, her expression was distant, as if her mind was elsewhere.

“The filming went great last night,” Alvin said, reaching for a menu. “Caught it all from two angles and watched it on playback last night. Amazing stuff. The networks are going to love it. Which reminds me, I’ve got to call Nate. Since he couldn’t reach you, he kept calling me all afternoon instead. I have no idea how you put up with that guy.”

When Lexie looked perplexed, Jeremy leaned toward her. “He’s talking about my agent,” he said.

“Is he coming down, too?”

“No. He’s too busy dreaming up my future career. And besides, he wouldn’t know what to do outside the city. He’s the kind of guy who thinks Central Park should be developed into condos and retail outlets.”

She flashed a quick smile.

“So what’s with you two?” Alvin demanded. “How did you meet?”

When Lexie showed no inclination to answer, Jeremy shifted in his seat.

“She’s a librarian and she’s been helping me research the story,” he said vaguely.

“And you two have been spending quite a bit of time together, huh?”

From the corner of his eye, Jeremy saw Lexie glance away.

“There’s been a lot to research,” he said.

Alvin looked at his friend, sensing that something was off. It seemed almost as if they’d had a lovers’ quarrel and gotten over it but were still licking their wounds. Which was a lot to have happen in a single morning.

“Well . . . good,” he said, deciding to drop it for now. Instead, he looked over the entries as Rachel came sauntering toward the table.

“Hey, Lex, hey, Jeremy,” she said as she approached. “Hey, Alvin.”

Alvin looked up. “Rachel!” he said.

“I thought you told me you were coming in for breakfast,” she said. “I’d just about given up on you.”

“I’m sorry about that,” he said. He glanced at Jeremy and Lexie. “I guess I slept in.”

Reaching into her apron, Rachel pulled out a small pad and retrieved the pencil she kept behind her ear. She dabbed the tip with her tongue. “Now, what can I get y’all?”

Jeremy ordered a sandwich; Alvin asked for the lobster bisque and a sandwich as well. Lexie shook her head. “I’m not that hungry,” she said. “But is Doris around?”

“No, she didn’t come in today. She was tired and decided to take the day off. She worked late last night getting things ready for the weekend.”

Lexie tried to read her expression.

“Really, Lex,” Rachel added, her voice serious. “There’s nothing to worry about. She sounded fine on the phone.”

“Maybe I should go check on her, anyway,” Lexie said. She looked around the table for confirmation before rising. Rachel moved aside to make room.

“Would you like me to come with you?” Jeremy asked.

“No, that’s okay,” she said. “You’ve got work to do, and I’ve got things to do, too. Would you like to meet up at the library later? You wanted to finish looking through the diaries, didn’t you?”

“If that’s okay,” he said, stung by the nonchalance in her tone. He would rather have spent the rest of the afternoon with her.

“How about if I meet you there at four?” she suggested.

“That’s fine,” he said. “But let me know what’s going on, okay?”

“Like Rachel said, I’m sure she’s fine. But I’m going to grab her notebook from the backseat, if that’s okay.”

“Yeah, of course.”

She looked at Alvin. “Nice meeting you, Alvin.”

“You, too.”

A moment later, Lexie was gone and Rachel was on her way back to the kitchen. As soon as they were out of earshot, Alvin leaned across the table.

“Okay, my friend, spill it.”

“What do you mean?”

“You know exactly what I’m talking about. First you fall for her. Then you spend the night together. But when you show up at the jail, you both act like you barely know each other. And just now she makes the first excuse she can to get out of here.”

“Doris is her grandmother,” Jeremy explained, “and Lexie worries about her. She’s not in the best of health.”

“Whatever,” Alvin said, clearly skeptical. “My point is, you’ve been staring at her like a lonely puppy dog, and she’s been doing her best to pretend you aren’t. Did you two have a fight or something?”

“No,” he said. He paused, glancing around the restaurant. At the corner table, he saw three members of the town council, as well as the elderly volunteer from the library. They all waved at him. “Actually, I don’t know what it was. One minute everything was great, and then later . . .”

When he didn’t continue, Alvin leaned back in the booth. “Yeah, well, it wasn’t going to last, anyway.”

“It might have,” Jeremy insisted.

“Oh, yeah? What? Were you planning to move down here to the Twilight Zone? Or is she coming to New York?”

Jeremy folded and refolded his napkin without answering, not wanting to be reminded of the obvious.

In the silence, Alvin raised his eyebrows. “I definitely have to spend more time with this lady,” he said. “I haven’t seen someone get under your skin like this since Maria.”

Jeremy looked up wordlessly, knowing that his friend was right.

Doris was lying propped up in bed, looking over her reading glasses

when Lexie peeked in her bedroom door.

“Doris?” Lexie asked.

“Lexie,” she cried, “what are you doing here? Come in, come in . . .”

Doris set aside the open book in her lap. She was still in her pajamas, and though her skin had a slightly grayish cast, she looked otherwise okay.

Lexie crossed the room. “Rachel said you stayed home today, and I just wanted to check on you.”

“Oh, I’m fine. Just a little off today, that’s all. But I thought you were supposed to be at the beach.”

“I was,” she said, taking a seat on the edge of the bed. “But I had to come back.”

“Oh?”

“Jeremy showed up,” she said.

Doris raised her hands as if in surrender. “Don’t blame me. I didn’t tell him where you were. And I didn’t tell him to go looking for you, either.”

“I know.” Lexie gave Doris’s arm a reassuring squeeze.

“Then how did he know where to find you?”

Lexie brought her hands together in her lap. “I told him the other day about the cottage, and he put two and two together. You can’t believe how surprised I was when I saw him walking up the beach.”

Doris eyed Lexie carefully before sitting up a little straighter. “So . . . you two were at the beach house last night?”

Lexie nodded.

“And?”

Lexie didn’t answer right away, but after a moment, her lips formed a small smile. “I made him your famous tomato sauce.”

“Oh?”

“He was impressed,” she said. Lexie ran her hand through her hair. “I brought your notebook back, by the way. It’s in the living room.”

Doris slipped off her reading glasses and began wiping the lenses with the corner of her sheet. “None of this explains why you’re back, though.”

“Jeremy needed a ride. A friend from New York—a cameraman—came down to film the lights. They’re going to film tonight, too.”

“What’s his friend like?”

Lexie hesitated, thinking about it. “He looks like a cross between a punk rocker and a motorcycle gang member, but other than that . . . he’s okay.”

When she grew silent, Doris reached over and took Lexie’s hand. Squeezing it gently, she studied her granddaughter.

“Do you want to talk about why you’re really here?”

“No,” Lexie answered, tracing the seams of Doris’s quilt with her finger. “Not really. This is something I have to figure out on my own.”

Doris nodded. Lexie always put on a brave front. At times, she knew it was best to say nothing at all.