I stopped my own cart and turned toward her, smiling slightly. "Hi," I said, tilting my head.
"Hi." She smiled warmly. "I know you don't know me. My name is Amanda Wright. Don't be weirded out about me knowing your name. I'm in a pinochle group with Anne." She smiled again, laughing softly.
"Oh! Okay," I said. "I live right next door to Anne."
She nodded. "I know. She told us about you during our game last week. And when I saw you today, I figured you had to be the Bree that Anne had described."
I nodded. "Well, it's so nice to meet one of Anne's friends. She's been so nice to me."
"Yes, she's lovely." She paused for a minute. "I hope you don't think this is forward, but… she mentioned that you were visiting Archer." She looked at me curiously.
Things had changed just a bit from the last time I'd chatted with Anne, but there was no way I was getting into that, so I just answered, "Yes."
She smiled and let out a breath. "I was his mother, Alyssa's, best friend," she said.
I sucked in a surprised breath. "You knew his mother?"
She nodded. "Yes, and I've always felt… so badly that I didn't do more for Archer when Alyssa died." She shook her head sadly. "I tried to go out there a couple times, but there were all these crazy signs up on that fence, warning about bombs and traps and… I just… I chickened out, I suppose." She looked thoughtful. "Then I heard around town that Archer had sustained some mental damage in that accident, and I just thought maybe his family was more capable of taking care of him and dealing with his situation." She pursed her lips. "Explaining it out loud makes me realize how weak I sound."
"Mrs. Wright–" I started.
"Please, call me Amanda."
I nodded. "Okay, Amanda, if you don't mind me being nosy, do you know what happened to cause the accident that day? Archer won't talk about it, and, well…" I wasn't sure how to finish that sentence, my words fading into nothing.
Amanda put her hand on my arm. "You care about him," she said, smiling. It looked like there were tears in her eyes.
I nodded. "I do." And in that moment, I realized that no matter what happened between me and Archer, I cared about him deeply, and I still wanted to help him live a life that included more than just him and some dogs and a slew of stone mason projects year after year.
Amanda stared off past my shoulder for a couple seconds, thinking, and then she said. "All I know about the accident itself are the few details that were in the paper. Of course those came from an out of town reporter–we don't have a paper here in Pelion. Other than that, people just don't talk about it. If you ask me, it's because of Victoria Hale–everyone is intimidated by her. She holds the power to get rid of jobs, close businesses, and she's done it when someone's butted heads with her, so there's reason for all of us to be concerned. And I'll tell you what, to my mind, whatever did happen the day of the accident, it started with Victoria Hale. She's never had any qualms about messing with people's lives to further her own agenda."
I sucked in a breath. "Victoria Hale?" I asked. "She came in the diner where I work last week to warn me away from him!"
She nodded, looking as if she was deciding something. "I've never talked to anyone about this, but Tori Hale was always sick with jealousy of Alyssa. Always trying to manipulate people to get what she wanted. And in the case of Alyssa, she was successful more often than not." She shook her head sadly. "Alyssa always had a damn guilt complex about something–never felt worthy of anything or anyone. She grew up in an orphanage, didn't have a person on earth until she came here to Pelion…" Her voice faded away as she recalled the past. "Sweetest girl you'd ever meet, not a mean bone in her entire body, and those Hale boys fell hard for her." She smiled a small smile.
"Anne told me she picked Marcus Hale." I smiled.
But Amanda frowned and shook her head. "No, not picked–was set up. We went to a party the night Alyssa got pregnant. Victoria was there–I'd never be able to prove it, but I know she spiked Alyssa's drink with something and that Marcus took advantage of her. His way of staking claim to her and getting one up on his brother, Connor, who it was becoming obvious, was the one Alyssa loved. Of course, Marcus didn't anticipate her getting pregnant, but that's what happened. They got married three months later. Alyssa was heartbroken and so was Connor. And of course, Alyssa blamed herself and figured her punishment was being married to a man she didn't love. She made a lot of poor choices, but mainly because she just didn't think enough of herself."
She looked thoughtful again for a second. "I've always said that Tori Hale's special gift is being able to manipulate others to do her bidding. Her hands are always clean somehow, and yet she's always the man behind the curtain so to speak."
She shook her head sadly again, almost looking like she might tear up, but then seemed to snap back to the present, putting her hand on her chest and laughing softly. "Oh goodness, look at me gossiping about the past, standing here in the grocery store parking lot while your things are probably melting! Please forgive me. I really just wanted to introduce myself, and ask if maybe you'd say hi to Archer for me and let him know that his mama was real special to me."
I nodded at Amanda, sadness sweeping through me at the information she'd given me about Archer's mom and dad.
Amanda went on, "I own a clothing boutique in town–Mandy's." She smiled. "Creative right? You come in and visit me sometime and I'll give you a friend discount."
I smiled at her. "That's awfully nice of you, thank you, I will."
"Good. It was lovely meeting you, Bree."
"You too," I said as she walked away.
I unpacked the bags of groceries and then got in my car, sitting there in the parking lot thinking about a sweet girl who came to a new town, and the brothers who loved her–and how the one she didn't love manipulated her into choosing him, and how it had all ended in tragedy. And I thought about the little boy that sweet girl had left behind, and how my heart ached for what we might never have again.
I spent the next couple of days working and then holed up in my cottage, reading mostly, trying to make the time pass more quickly. I hurt. I missed him. And strangely, I wanted to comfort him. I didn't know exactly what had happened at that club, other than that Archer had gone to some back room with one of the strippers and had sex with her–which I didn't even realize was on the strip club menu, but what did I know? But what I did know was that Archer wasn't happy about it. So why had he done it? I tried to put myself in his shoes, tried to understand what it must have been like for him to be in a strip club of all places. But thinking about it too much just made it hurt more.
On Friday as I was getting off of work, I saw Travis across the street in his civilian clothes, and as I squinted into the sunshine, watching him chat casually with an older man, rage filled me. He had been there–he had taken Archer to a strip club. He had planned it.
Without thinking, I stormed across the street, a car horn blaring at me. Travis looked over and started to smile, but saw the look on my face and went serious, turning to the older man and saying something before heading to meet me where I was heading toward him on the sidewalk.
As soon as I reached him, I slapped him hard across his face, the sound reverberating through the mild fall air. He closed his eyes and put his hand up to his cheek, rotating his jaw slowly.
"What in the hell was that for?" he hissed.
I got right up in his face. "You're a mean, selfish asshole, Travis Hale. What in the hell were you thinking taking Archer to a strip club? I thought I could trust you to take care of him!"