Page 82 of More Than Words
I offered her a soft smile, because I didn’t trust myself to speak without crying, and looked away.
Mercifully, most of the ladies trailed out of the shop without trying to engage me in further conversation.A small part of me hoped that I wasn’t putting out unfriendly and unwelcoming vibes, but a larger part of me couldn’t be bothered to care.
It was all I could do not to burst into tears of anger, as my emotions battled inside me.What I really needed was to lock the door and escape upstairs to my bed.
“That was a lovely discussion, dear.”
I braced myself before I turned around and frantically scanned my brain for a way out of the discussion I knew was coming next.
“Tilley.”I turned around with a very fake smile on my face to see our town busybody, bundled up in her winter coat with a massive hand-knit scarf wrapped around her neck.I’d managed to avoid eye contact with her for most of the evening, but now I was cornered.
Her eyes twinkled.I knew exactly what she wanted to talk about.
“I’m glad you enjoyed it, Tilley,” I said.“I was just locking up.”
“Oh, I won’t keep you.”
Yet, that’s exactly what she was about to do.Normally, I didn’t mind spending a few minutes talking to Tilley Beckett.After all, she was a sweet old lady, and besides the fact that anything you told her would spread like a wildfire in the wind within seconds, she was generally quite harmless.
“I thought your insights on the romance in the book were quite…insightful.”
I tried not to groan.
“Almost as if you have some personal experience in the matter.”
She blinked her lashes and winked at me.
Before I could deny it, or set her straight because the gossip mill clearly hadn’t made its rounds yet about the most recent status of my relationship with Ethan, she opened her mouth again.
“Aren’t the Lyons having their family dinner tonight?”
It never ceased to amaze me the information this woman had at her fingertips.
I shrugged.
“Shouldn’t you be there, dear?”
No.I shouldn’t.Family dinners were forfamily.And Ethan made it very clear by his actions that I wasn’t considered that way.Not at all.
Not that I was about to tell Tilley any of that.“We’re just neighbors, Tilley.”
“Now, now.”She cut me off.“Everyone knows you and that handsome brewmaster next door are the latest hot thing.The two of you have created quite a buzz around town.”
I forced myself to keep my face expressionless.
“From what I hear, he’s quite smitten with you.”
The fact that news of our breakup hadn’t traveled to Tilley yet surprised me, but it only meant that Ethan hadn’t said anything to anyone, because I knew I hadn’t.Not even to Lauren.It was too painful to admit that I’d gotten it wrong with Ethan.
I forced a humorless laugh.“I’m not sure what people think, Tilley.But whatever it is, they’re wrong.Ethan and I?—”
“Oh.”She tilted her head and narrowed her eyes.
Shit.
I realized too late that I should have just kept my mouth shut.
Tilley tapped one finger against her lips.“I see…”
