Loretta helped herself to another chip. “Julius, did you check out the goats?”
“Almost. I pretended I was going to buy one.”
“And they bought that?”
“No.” His tone was matter-of-fact. “The O’Dunns and their allies were about to get out the hot tar and pitchforks, so I made my exit. They’re little goats, by the way. Nigerian Dwarf goats.”
Loretta felt laughter bubbling up despite how mad she was. “Have you ever seen a goat in real life?”
“The zoo.” He sat back, looking at ease, comfortable in his own skin. “Then there are the herbs for the soaps. The nineteenth-century library. The town common with its Civil War statue. The country store.”
“It sounds idyllic.”
“It’s pretty,” Hartley said, making it sound like a concession.
“Dylan says not to be fooled,” Loretta said. “Despite any evidence to the contrary, time hasn’t stopped in Knights Bridge.”
“Time never stops, does it?”
Loretta heard a note of wistfulness in Julius’s voice, or thought she did. Maybe she was projecting. Maybe that was why she hadn’t figured out what was going on with him to begin with. She’d wanted him to be someone he wasn’t because she herself was coming to terms with the changes in her life. She’d been Dylan’s attorney and business manager for a long time. She’d loved his father, even if for a short time.
“I’ll have to see Knights Bridge myself soon,” she said, digging into the fresh salsa. “Dylan and Olivia have invited me to their wedding.”
“It’s at Christmas, you know.”
She nodded. “So I get to go there when it’s freezing. I’ll have to find myself a cute country inn with a fireplace, flowered wallpaper and a decent liquor cabinet.”
Their waiter whipped together their guacamole and set it on the table with fresh, warm chips. Julius helped himself. Their table was pleasant, shaded by potted trees. Deep pink bougainvillea cascaded over a wall.
Finally he said, “Dylan and Noah are decent guys.”
“Yes, I know.”
“They’re independent. Defiant, even. They do things their own way.”
“What’s Phoebe O’Dunn like?” Loretta asked.
“From what I saw and heard, she’s smart, positive, encouraging and genuinely nice.”
“And?”
“And protective of her family. She looks out for them.”
“Who looks out for her?”
“She’d say they look out for each other. Maybe they do, but she’s stuck there.”
“Maybe your idea of ‘stuck’ is her idea of fulfilling herself.”
“That was before Noah Kendrick spotted her at that masquerade ball. Getting involved with a billionaire…” Julius shrugged. “Easier to fall for one of the local firefighters but she hasn’t. She’ll sacrifice herself if she thinks her family needs her. She’s done it before.”
Before Loretta could ask more questions, Noah arrived and joined them at their table. He was centered, focused and clearly on a mission. He was a man, she knew, who did best when he had a purpose, a result he was going after. Aimlessness didn’t suit him.
Julius picked up his beer, took another deliberate sip. “How’s Sleepy Hollow and your librarian? Same as ever?”
Noah leveled a cool gaze on him. “Phoebe is getting ready for the vintage fashion show at the library. You know about that, right, Julius?”
“I saw something about it when I was in Knights Bridge.”
“You knew about the fashion show before you arrived there. It’s what prompted you to check me out in the first place.”
Loretta frowned and noticed that Julius had gone silent. She glanced at Noah, but his gaze was fixed on the older man across from him.
Noah reached for his water glass. “It was logical to assume that I was the one who brought you to Knights Bridge, but it’s not that simple.” He sat back, as in control as Loretta had ever seen him. “You knew that Dylan and his work with NAK, his friendship with me, could bring scrutiny to Knights Bridge. Could change things there. You figured out Phoebe must have discovered the hidden room where your client sewed and designed dresses as a young woman.”
Loretta held on tight to her margarita. Olivia and Dylan had told her about the hidden sewing room in the Knights Bridge library attic. She’d figured that sort of thing happened in small-town New England. She’d liked the idea of the Hollywood-inspired dresses. She hadn’t considered—not even for a split-second—that they had anything to do with Julius Hartley.
“That hidden room,” Noah said, “is why you checked me out here in San Diego and why you followed me to Boston. It’s why you went to Knights Bridge. You weren’t just checking on me there. You were checking on the O’Dunns. Specifically, on Phoebe.”
“It didn’t take long. She’s what we call an open book.” Hartley smiled, added, “No pun intended.”