“They say success is the best revenge,” Annie said with satisfaction.
“Savannah made mistakes, but she took responsibility, paid the price and moved on with her life.”
“Sounds like a good example to follow,” Annie murmured, and Trent wondered if she was thinking of her own circumstances.
He muttered, “Yeah. I guess it is.” Now if only he could figure out a way to move on with his own life.
After a few moments, Annie said, “Well, I can see there have been some juicy tidbits for the gossips to enjoy about your uncles’ families, but your branch of the McBride clan seems perfectly respectable.”
“For the most part,” he agreed. “My older sister, Tara, was a model teenager, never caused a whisper while she was growing up. Of course, she’s only a few months younger than Savannah, so most of the attention was focused away from Tara then. She went on to college and law school at Harvard, then joined a prestigious firm in Atlanta. Her only brush with scandal was a few years ago when she refused to sign off on a questionable deal her partners were pushing and she got fired. A few weeks later, she became involved with a P.I. who put her in the middle of an insurance-fraud investigation that almost got her killed. The case was safely resolved and Tara married her P.I. and started her own small law firm, so everything turned out okay.”
“Your brother, Trevor, certainly seems an exemplary citizen.”
“Trevor’s another overachiever, like Tara. He worked for the State Department in Washington, D.C., for a few years after law school. He moved back here after his first wife, the mother of his two children, was killed in a car accident. There actually was a scandal of some sort connected with Melanie’s death—I’ve always suspected she was somewhere she shouldn’t have been, maybe with someone she shouldn’t have been with—but Trevor doesn’t talk about it. He and Jamie caused some talk when they hooked up—before she moved back to town, she was an offbeat New York actress—but they certainly put most of the talk to rest by the quiet life they’ve led since they married.”
“So now the gossips are focused on you.”
Which, Trent acknowledged, was the point of this entire conversation, the reason he’d told her so much about his family. He thought she should know just what being seen with him would entail—just in case they spent any more time together in public after tonight. “Yes. Because everyone else in the family is quietly settled down, the gossips have no one to focus on but me. I can’t imagine what they find so interesting, though.”
“Can’t you?” she asked softly, her tone sounding rueful.
Stopped at a red light only a few blocks from the movie theater, he turned his head to look at her. “You know something I don’t?”
“Nothing I want to share with you at the moment.”
“Annie—”
“The light’s green.”
Frowning, he pressed the accelerator. Maybe it would be best if he didn’t pursue that particular line any further. He had talked enough about himself for one evening—and there were some things he was probably better off not knowing.
ALL DURING the movie, Annie thought about the things Trent had told her about his family. Her thoughts were so focused on the McBride family history that she hardly paid attention to the story unfolding on the screen.
It amused her that he couldn’t imagine why the local gossips were so intrigued by him. Former heart-throb jet jockey turned mysterious hermit—of course they were fascinated. And she had to admit she could see why they found it interesting that he’d been seen with her. She was the newcomer in town, probably a bit mysterious to them in her own right, since she’d been deliberately reticent about her own background. In a town where everybody knew everything about everyone, it had to be frustrating that nobody knew anything about her.
She hadn’t intended to cause any waves in Honoria. But then, she hadn’t expected to meet Trent McBride.
She glanced sideways in the darkened theater, studying his face in the faint illumination of the flickering movie screen. Fascinating? Most definitely. No wonder people talked…
He shifted his shoulders, accidentally brushing against her. A jolt of awareness shot through her, causing her to swallow hard. Her mind was suddenly filled with images of being alone with him in another darkened room—her bedroom. This was no way, she told herself sternly, to think about a friend. But sometimes, she thought as his shoulder brushed hers again, she just couldn’t help herself.
They stopped for burgers after the movie, not lingering long over the simple meal, and their conversation centered primarily around the movie. Annie was glad she had paid enough attention to be able to discuss the plot with some measure of intelligence.
During the drive home, they talked about her house and the plans she had for it. She doubted that Trent was reall
y all that interested in colors and patterns, but he made positive noises while she talked. She watched his profile, noting the way he compensated for his slight vision loss by keeping his attention focused intently on his driving. He moved his head from side to side to monitor everything around him, his eyes sharp behind his glasses, and she doubted that very much escaped his notice. She felt completely safe.
He was such a beautiful man, she thought with a silent sigh. Those beautiful, long-lashed blue eyes. That perfect nose. His firm mouth and chiseled bone structure. Her fingers itched to play in his thick blond hair. Just looking at him made her skin tingle. She remembered how embarrassed he had been when she’d called him pretty. But he was.
“You’re staring at me,” he said, interrupting her appreciative appraisal.
Trent didn’t need peripheral vision, she thought ironically. When it came to her, he seemed to have developed a sixth sense. “I was just watching you drive.”
“Do I make you nervous?”
“Not at all.”
“If you’re worried about my vision, don’t be. I’ve passed all the tests. I’m restricted to wearing corrective lenses, of course, but other than that, there’s no problem. I just can’t pass flight tests.”