“Kaitlin and I… we’ve called off the wedding.”
This was news to me, and I suspect Eve didn’t know it either. Not yet, anyway. If she did, I would have heard all about it. I thought through the implications. “You called off your wedding because you’re seeing Eve?”
“Kaitlin and I called off the wedding because we don’t want to get married. We should have realized it before, but, well…” His shrug spoke volumes. So did the level look he aimed my way. “You know how it is, Annie. Sometimes these relationship things, they get out of hand. Then things just don’t work out.”
At least he didn’t say Peter’s name. Then again, Tyler was more subtle than that. Just so he knew that I knew it, I looked at him as carefully as he was studying me. “Are you going to ask Eve to marry you again?”
He didn’t answer right away. I would have felt better if he did. Yes or no, get it over with and let me deal. Don’t leave me wondering-and worrying. He knew it drove me crazy. Which was exactly why he was doing it, and why he sat back and stretched out his long legs. “Me and Eve, we’re not anywhere near that stage in our relationship.”
“Which means you’re going to string her along for a while before you break her heart again.”
“You think?” He stood, and suddenly my small office felt even smaller.
Like a best friend would let something like a little unspoken coercion stop her?
I raised my chin and, though I was tempted to take a step back, I stood my ground. “I can’t stand by and watch you hurt Eve again,” I told Tyler.
“Admirable.” The expression that sped across his face might have been mistaken for a smile by someone who didn’t know him. “But I have no intention of hurting Eve.”
“Yeah, I remember. Just like last time. Let’s see…” I pretended to think about it, but let’s face it, I didn’t really have to. Just like a best friend stands up for her best friend, a best friend never forgets. “That time when you didn’t hurt her, that’s when you made her feel inferior, right? You said she wasn’t smart. And that she wasn’t career-minded so she couldn’t possibly understand how important your job is to you. You told her that she wasn’t successful enough to satisfy your perverse need to have a woman on your arm who can impress your friends by more than just her looks. You were cruel to her, Tyler. You hurt her. Bad.”
“I know.” Something very much like regret softened his expression, but I wasn’t about to be fooled. Remember, I said I’d known Tyler a long time. “I’ve told Eve I was wrong,” he said. “I’ve told her I’m sorry.”
A better woman would have taken the comment at face value, and maybe even softened a little. I wasn’t about to let Tyler off the hook so easily.
Even though there wasn’t much room to move, I took a step forward, just so he’d know I wasn’t going to fold like an origami stork. “So that apology of yours… you telling Eve you’re sorry… that’s supposed to make everything all better?”
“No. But it’s supposed to start to make everything better.”
I had another opportunity to be charitable. I chose not to take it.
“So Eve is just supposed to forgive and forget, that’s what you’re telling me?” The very notion offended me so deeply, I nearly choked on my words. “You can’t just break a woman’s heart into a couple million pieces and then show up again and expect her to pretend it never happened. You hurt her too deeply. You disappointed her. She trusted you. She depended on you. She thought you’d be there for her and-”
“We’re talking about me and Eve, Annie. Not about you and Peter. What he did to you, don’t take that out on me.”
Tyler ’s words hit like a slap, and I found myself staring at him, wishing I could find a way to tell him he was wrong, and knowing it was impossible. See, for the first time in his hard-nosed, strong-armed, one-upmanship life, Tyler Cooper was absolutely, one hundred percent right.
“I’m sorry.” OK, so it wasn’t the most eloquent way to let him know, but it was sincere, and, for all his faults, I think Tyler appreciates sincerity. My laugh was both embarrassed and uneasy. “I guess that’s what some shrink would call transference. You’re hanging around. Peter’s hanging around. And I’m just sort of taking what I feel about him and piling it onto you.” I took a step away from Tyler, a symbolic way of letting him know that if he was genuine, I was willing to back off. “What Eve and you do, it’s none of my business.”
Like I said, he’s subtle. At least he didn’t come right out and call me an idiot. Instead, he rolled his eyes. “Of course it’s your business. You and Eve are best friends. But Annie…” Tyler reached for my hand and gave it a squeeze. Just as quickly, he knew he’d gone too far in exposing his softer side and he dropped my hand like a hot potato. “I don’t know if we’ll work it out,” he told me. “But I do know I’m going to try. It would be easier if I didn’t find you gunning for me around every corner.”
“It’s that obvious, huh?” I tried for a smile.
So did Tyler. “Look, if you see me stepping out of line… well, I guess if you see me stepping out of line, I can be pretty sure you’ll call me on it.”
“I will.” My nod reinforced my answer. “And if you see me sticking my nose where it doesn’t belong-”
“I’ll tell you that, too. And you won’t listen.”
I might have taken offense if Tyler didn’t grin.
And if it wasn’t true.
“Speaking of that…” We weren’t, but this seemed as good a time as any to talk to Tyler about what I wanted to talk to him about in the first place. When I sat down near my desk, he took the guest chair. “What are we going to do about Norman?”
Tyler scrubbed his hands over his face. “Wish I knew,” he said, and I realized that, like Tyler, I appreciated the truth. Even when I didn’t want to hear it. “Seems like all we can do is wait for the killer to come after him again.”
A shiver snaked up my back. Telling Norman he could start leading a normal life again, then hanging him out to dry, didn’t seem like a kindness. “There’s got to be a better way. A way to bring the guy out in the open and still maintain some control,” I said. “You know, a way for Norman to expose himself-you know what I mean,” I added when I saw a smirk on Tyler ’s face. “A way for him to come out in public and for you to be there to make sure he’s all right.”
“You mean like using him as a decoy.”
It wasn’t what I meant when I said it, but now that Tyler mentioned it…
My computer was on so I clicked on the Internet and from there to the information about the food show where Norman-or at least his alter ego, Jacques Lavoie-was supposed to do a cooking demonstration.
“It’s tomorrow,” I said, pointing to the screen so Tyler knew what I was talking about. “I’ll bet Norman hasn’t officially canceled. I’m sure he forgot all about it. What if he did it, Tyler? What if he went to the food show and did that cooking demonstration? There probably wouldn’t be an immediate threat. I mean, the guy wants to talk to Norman, right? Not kill him. If it really is this O’Hara fellow, he wants to find out what happened to the money from the bank robbery, and he wants the money back. He wouldn’t risk hurting Norman before he can find out what’s going on. And you, you could be there-”
“For protection.” Tyler ’s gaze was steely. “It might work. Could you convince him?”
I wasn’t sure. Until I thought that a man who rebottles dishwashing soap and sells it as a miracle cleaner… well, deep down inside, a man like that has to have a lot of nerve.
THE RONALD REAGAN BUILDING AND INTERNATIONAL
Trade Center has an amphitheater that seats six hundred and twenty-five. A half hour before Jacques Lavoie was set to step out onstage and demonstrate an array of French foods and cooking techniques, the place was just about packed.