Page 11 of King of My Heart

“I was actually about to head to my hometown—”

“Where’s that?”

“Nashua, New Hampshire.”

“Continue.”

“I was planning to go home after my months-long trip through Canada—”

She interrupted me again. “Trip? All alone? What about your boyfriend?”

Shit…I needed to come up with more excuses to make sure my story made sense.

I smiled, tilting my head to the side. “Like I said, my boyfriend is very busy at the moment, and I decided to go on a trip by myself because, well, I had the time and money. And my last stop was my hometown, but then I changed my plan when I remembered everything Julian ever told me about his relationship to his father, and since I was close, I decided to come here.” I stopped myself, thinking that giving her every detail wasn’t necessary, but when she kept on staring at me intently, I continued. “So…I did a quick Google search and found out that he lives here.”

That was another lie, and she didn’t seem to know much about the internet because she didn’t argue. She sighed heavily, muttering under her breath, “Damn paparazzi. I told the Sheriff not to let anyone close to his house.”

I was almost positive that there were no pictures of Caspian anywhere online, not from after he retired fromHollywood. And I was also certain that nobody other than a few people—and all of Hilton Beach—knew he now lived here.

Either way, I was glad she stopped questioning me because the more lies I told, the more I complicated my story. I was bad at remembering the things I said, and it would be pretty damn easy for me to twist my own story and get caught being dishonest about why I was here—and how I ended up in this situation in the first place.

Theresa got up and grabbed her empty mug. She studied me once more, then said, “Be brave.”

Brave?

“He’s rarely in a good mood.”

That’s good to know.

“I just hope he won’t slam the door in my face. I still have to try.”

She laughed. This time, it was a real laugh.

She was laughing at me.

Thanks, Theresa.

Her eyes met mine again. “He’s a complicated man. Private, stubborn, and not exactly warm. But he’s not heartless.”

That didn’t come as a surprise.

“I know. I can sense that he’s not heartless,” I told her with a tight smile.

She nodded once, clearly wanting to leave, but she couldn’t just yet. She wanted to keep telling me about Caspian.

“He’s done a lot for this village. Even if he doesn’t advertise it, we owe a lot to him. He’s not a bad man. He’s just…not an easy one.”

I absorbed her words in silence. They didn’t erase my doubts but added another layer to the picture I was trying to piece together of who he was.

“Well, I guess I’ll find out for myself,” I said, my voice quiet but steady.

Theresa nodded, a hint of a smile tugging at the corner of her mouth. “That you will. Just…don’t take it personally if he’s a bit rough.”

“Noted.”

After setting her mug on the counter, she left the bakery and said bye to the barista.

I stepped out about fifteen minutes later, and I stopped for a moment to feel the warm sun shining on my face.

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