Page 9 of Crumbling Truth
Oakville was the next town over, even tinier than Spruce Hill. They were our biggest rivals in high school soccer, but that was about the extent of my knowledge of the place. I was still trying to regain my equilibrium after all those stupid assumptions crashed down around my ears.
“So you know her?” I pressed.
“It’s Spruce Hill, man. Of course I know her. She was Sof’s college roommate, actually, and I think they had a lot of classes together. They used to hang out all the time, but Esther got married after graduation and they kind of lost touch.”
“Who did she marry?” I asked.
Oliver’s tone soured. “Steve Pautler.”
The name was vaguely familiar, but I couldn’t quite place it. “I don’t remember him. Did we go to school with the guy?”
“Nah, he was much older than us. Jesus, probably fifteen years older than Esther. Some kind of real estate developer. Do you remember when the old Randy’s Hardware building was knocked down? I think we were juniors.”
“Yeah, vaguely. There were protests, right?”
Oliver huffed a laugh. “Tons of them. My mom called Steve a snake oil salesman once and believe me, it fit. Smarmy bastard talked the town council into accepting his development plan—or greased the right palms. You can thank him for the shiny new condos around the corner, too.”
Memories started coming back to me, but my brain caught on something else Ollie had said. “Esther married a man fifteen years older than her?”
“Yup. Look, you know I’m not one to gossip,” Ollie said, lowering his voice, “but the dude was sketchy as hell. He could turn on the charm when he wanted to, but there was always something creepy about him. Sofia didn’t even think Esther liked the guy, then suddenly they were engaged. She called me a couple times crying because she was worried about Steve cutting Esther off from her friends.”
I felt a stirring of sadness for her, but I forced myself to remember the bastard was dead and no longer posed a threat. Still, my fist clenched against my thigh. “You think he was abusing her?”
“It’s possible, but Sof didn’t think so. Your mom was pretty protective of Esther. She probably would’ve castrated him with a protractor if she had proof he was hurting her. After Steve died, Sofia’s been in touch with her a little more. I think she’s been trying to get Esther to go out with a group of them.”
“That’s good,” I said, but Oliver made a scoffing sound.
“Esther shoots her down every time, but gently, I guess. Sof’s not offended, just more determined than ever to get Esther back out in the world. She’s even more of a recluse now that she’s in your parents’ guest house than when she was married, according to my sister.”
“Hmm.” I stared into my empty glass.
“Don’t do it,” Ollie warned.
I scowled at the phone. “Don’t do what?”
“Don’t make it your personal crusade to rescue her.”
“I’m not on a crusade, Oliver,” I ground out.
“She’s no damsel in distress and from what I hear, she happily grinds potential suitors under her heel. God knows why your mama didn’t warn you herself, but all Esther wants is to be left alone, bro.”
“I’m not an idiot. And I’m leaving in two months, anyway.” I frowned. “How did Steve die? Even with the age difference, he couldn’t have been that old.”
“And that, my friend, is the million dollar question. Nobody knows.”
Chapter Four
Esther
TheweatherinSpruceHill was too fickle to rely on steady business all year around, so winter’s impending arrival heralded my slow season for the truck. Fortunately, the little town loved to host community celebrations, so I’d have the two events I mentioned to Theo before settling down to supply allergy-friendly baked goods for individual orders and a couple local restaurants to get me through the winter.
Two days had passed since our dinner together and I hadn’t run into him again, though Imighthave creepily watched through a crack in the curtains as he replaced the railing on his parents’ deck the day before.
In battered jeans and a red flannel shirt, he looked like the world’s hottest handyman. It was almost enough to make me regret my decision to avoid romance for the foreseeable future.
Maybe I’d been alone for too long. That was the only logical explanation for this interest in Theo Silver. No matter how enthusiastically his mother talked him up, he was leaving townagain when his parents came back. My life definitely didnotneed that kind of complication.
My husband had died nearly four years ago and, while I couldn’t claim to mourn him, I still had no desire to throw myself back into the hell of dating. In fact, that was why I’d taken Anita up on her offer of renting the guest house only a few months after his death, to give myself some space from well-meaning friends and neighbors who thought I just needed a little nudge back into the world.
