“I’m surprised how quickly they’ve picked up the music.” Audra stirred cream and sweetener into the hot, dark beverage. She closed her eyes in pleasure as she took the first sip.
She opened her eyes and let her gaze drift across the room. It was just after one o’clock, but the lunch crowd was thick with residents, as well as tourists in for the activities leading up to Founders Day.
Doreen leaned a hip against the counter opposite Audra. “Vaughn is a great band conductor. Probably the best the university’s ever known. He holds vigorous band tryouts to make sure he gets only the best musicians.”
“I’m looking forward to the town’s reaction to the band’s performance. They’re terrific. On the other hand, my singing’s nothing to write home about.” Audra grimaced.
Doreen laughed. “You’re too hard on yourself. I’ve heard great things about your voice.”
“I guess you’ll judge for yourself next Saturday.” Her heart grew heavy. “I can’t believe tomorrow’s August first. This summer’s flown by.”
“How’s Jack?” There was a strange tone in Doreen’s question.
Audra was thrown by the swift topic change. “He’s fine. Why?”
Doreen glanced behind Audra. “His ex-wife has arrived. And don’t look now, but she’s headed your way.”
Moments later, a voice spoke behind her. “You’re Audra Lane.”
Audra looked up. Why did people think they had to tell her who she was, as though she didn’t know?
The woman who’d spoken to her was beautiful: tall, well-dressed, and exuding a mesmerizing confidence. Her fresh-from-the-salon hair flirted with her shoulders. Her photogenic ginger brown features glowed under expertly applied makeup.
Audra’s gaze fell to the stranger’s pregnant belly. “You must be Kerry Green.” This is Jack’s ex-wife? Beside this beautiful princess, Audra felt like a troll.
Doreen tapped Audra’s hand. “I’ll be in the kitchen.” Her warm brown eyes finished the thought—Call if you need me—before she disappeared through the kitchen door.
Kerry maneuvered onto the bar stool beside Audra. Her movements were surprisingly graceful despite her advanced pregnancy. “I could pretend to be surprised that you know who I am, and you could pretend you’d just made a lucky guess, but we both know the truth.”
“I wasn’t going to pretend. Jack told me you were pregnant.” Audra considered the state representative’s wife. She’d obviously sought her out. What did she want?
“I’ve heard a lot about you. People are saying you’re the one who finally got Jack to climb out of Harmony Cabins and return to Trinity Falls.” Kerry’s smile was bright, but her brown eyes were watchful.
Audra sipped her coffee. “What is it that you want?”
Kerry’s expression dimmed. “I want to thank you for helping Jack.”
“Listen, Kerry, I work in a very competitive industry. I can sense when someone’s trying to pull a game on me.” At least she used to be able to tell. Somehow Wendell had slipped under her radar.
Kerry’s smile disappeared. She shifted on her seat, settling more comfortably against the back of the bar stool. “I heard you write songs.” She made it sound like a hobby.
Audra channeled Jack, adopting his favorite response: silence.
Kerry continued. “I tried to speak with Jack yesterday. I know he’s angry with me for not being with him and Zoey at the end.”
“You mean when your daughter died.” She wouldn’t allow Kerry to hide behind euphemisms to minimize or escape her actions.
Kerry flinched. “I know what you’re thinking, but I did the best I could.”
“Personally, I think you could have done better.”
“Zoey was our adopted daughter.”
Zoey was adopted? Audra had had no idea. Jack had never revealed by word or inflection that Zoey wasn’t his biological daughter.
Michelle Mosely, one of the high-school students who worked part-time at Books & Bakery, emerged from the kitchen. Audra used the distraction to recover from her surprise. The young woman grabbed the coffeepot and refilled Audra’s mug.
“Thank you.” Audra glanced at Michelle’s asymmetrically styled purple hair. Last week, it had been blue. “The fact Zoey wasn’t biologically his doesn’t matter to Jack. He couldn’t have loved her more.” And Audra loved him even more because of that.