Susanna Carr – Let Them Talk (страница 3)

“I think my mom and sisters worked behind the scenes to get me invited. They’re regretting it now. I’m the only Dawson woman in the family tree who’s been blacklisted from the reading circle,” Laura proudly added.

“Well, now it’s not the only book club in town,” Isabel said. “There’s the Seedling Women’s Reading Circle and the Blacklist Book Club.”

“The Blacklist Book Club?” This was the first Sydney had heard of a name for their impromptu reading group. “Is it because we read blacklisted books like The Secret Diary, or because we were blacklisted from the book club?”

“Both,” Isabel said with a smile.

“Perfect! I get to choose next month’s book,” Laura said. “And, oh—” she rubbed her hands together and gave a wicked laugh “—it’s going to rock your world.”

“What about The Secret Diary?” Isabel asked. “Didn’t that rock your world?”

“I love it, and you know why, Isabel?” Laura rested her elbows on the table and leaned forward. “You had the guts to recommend the book to the Seedling Reading Circle and you got kicked out because of it. That is the only reason I joined the Blacklist Book Club and read this book from cover to cover.”

“It’s the reading circle’s loss,” Isabel said defiantly, as if the book hadn’t caused her trouble with her job or her good-girl reputation. “I love this diary. It changed my life.”

“In what way?” Sydney asked. She had noticed a few subtle changes in the librarian recently. Isabel had always been the epitome of elegance and grace. She often wore tailored clothes in quiet colors, but these days she no longer wore cardigans and scarves to cover up her curves. In fact, she had also started choosing bolder colors and her shoes were downright sexy. “Wait a second. Are you saying it inspired you?”

Isabel blushed and nodded.

Laura gasped. “You reenacted a scene, didn’t you? The staircase one, I bet.”

“I’m not telling you,” Isabel said as her blush deepened. “And lower your voice. We’re in the library.”

“Who were you with?” Laura whispered fiercely. “I want details.”

“I already said too much.”

“This book really changed your life?” Sydney bit her lip with worry. She was trying to disprove the book, to show that the affair between Hazel and Ernest was fictional and no forbidden love could be that beautiful and life affirming. Hers certainly hadn’t been. But Sydney had never thought about the consequences of successfully proving that the diary could be fictional. Would Isabel retreat back into her shell? “How would you feel if you found out this diary is really a work of fiction?”

Isabel looked away as she considered the question. “Disappointed,” she said. “Disappointed and betrayed. But I really do believe this happened. Hazel and Ernest are very real to me. What do you think, Laura?”

“I believe Hazel and Ernest were real people, but did all those things happen to them? I don’t know. It could be...what’s it called? Artistic license. If Hazel didn’t do all this, she definitely fantasized about Ernest. Ernest may have been her muse more than her lover.”

Muse. The writer had probably had a muse. Someone she knew but couldn’t touch. Sydney understood what that felt like. She glanced over to where Matthew stood on the other side of the room. How many times had she imagined unbuttoning Matthew’s shirt? She shivered as she daydreamed about dragging his clothes off and revealing his muscular body.

“No, this happened. I’m sure of it,” Isabel argued. “She wouldn’t have risked everything by writing down her fantasies.”

“Sure, she would,” Laura shot back, “if it was the only way she could explore the things she wanted to do.”

Sydney pulled her gaze away from Matthew, her pulse skipping a beat. Maybe she had approached this diary challenge the wrong way.

She sat up straight. Instead of making up Victorian-era characters she didn’t understand and couldn’t imagine, she should write down all the things she had dreamed of doing to Matthew Stone. She bit her lip as fragments of several fantasies crowded her mind.

“We’ll discuss this later.” Isabel glanced at her watch. “Come on, Laura. We need to get back to work.”

Work. Sydney flipped open her notebook and grabbed her pen. This idea could work. But she didn’t dare use Matthew’s real name. She couldn’t have it get around town that she had the hots for the mayor. She would be accused of showing favoritism to a man she had to report about in the paper.

“Already?” Laura slumped in her chair and groaned. “When will this community service end?”

“You only have a few more hundred hours left,” Isabel said in an encouraging tone. “They’ll go by fast, I promise.”

Laura reluctantly stood and followed Isabel to the shelving carts. “All this for damaging my ex-boyfriend’s stuff when I threw it out my window.”

“See you later, Sydney,” Isabel said. Sydney gave an absent wave as she wrote. In her mind, the buttons on Matthew’s shirt were flying off.

* * *

AS DORIS BROWN interrupted her tirade to greet one of her friends, Matthew glanced over her head and saw that Sydney was still at the table. Her writer’s block was clearly gone as she was writing furiously.

He liked watching her work because she put her whole body into it. Sydney would tuck her tongue in the corner of her mouth if she was thinking about something. She’d flip, twist and push her curly brown hair. If she wasn’t muttering to herself or gesturing with her hands, her eyes would widen and narrow as she worked out an idea.

And then there was what she did with her pen. She’d tap and rub it against her lips. Bite down on it, draw it into her mouth or nibble on it. He knew she didn’t mean anything suggestive by her actions, but he still found her incredibly distracting.

At first he had considered pursuing her but she was a sophisticated woman who wouldn’t be interested in a guy like him. He hadn’t traveled the world; he didn’t wear designer brands. A fling, a one-night stand, was all he could hope for.

But even as the attraction grew stronger, he’d held back, knowing that one night would not be enough for him. And he couldn’t afford to have a wild, passionate affair while he was the mayor of this conservative town.

So it was a good thing he hadn’t asked her out. It was. Definitely.

“Thanks for taking the time to talk to me, Matty,” Miss Doris said. She gave him a kindly pat on his arm. Matthew was sure she would have ruffled his hair if she could reach that high. “Now you can go flirt with that pretty reporter.”

He looked at Sydney again. Her head was down and she was mouthing the words she’d written on her notebook. She pulled her hair into a messy ponytail as if she was getting down to business. “My charm doesn’t work on her.”

“Your charm works on every female in town,” Miss Doris said with a cluck of her tongue. “You know, when you were appointed the interim mayor, I thought the townspeople had lost their minds.”

“Yes, you’ve made that clear.”

“Can you blame me? We had just lost a mayor who ignored his duties while having an extramarital affair with his secretary. And then he runs off with her before his term is over.”

Matthew nodded and wondered when people would stop talking about the former mayor, who had run away with his secretary six months ago.

“And then the town has to follow the line of succession and appoint the council member who acts as deputy mayor. And it happens to be you, the most eligible bachelor. It seemed to me we had stepped out of the skillet and into the fire.” Miss Doris lowered her glasses and gave him a stern look. “Is it true that you dated all of the Reed sisters?”

“Not at the same time,” he insisted. That was the problem with living in a small town. He’d dated half the women and was related to the other half. “And that happened years ago. I shouldn’t be held accountable for who I dated in high school.”

“But you will be held responsible for who you keep company with these days,” the older woman warned. “Rumor has it that you’re not dating anyone.”

“That’s true.” Considering his reputation and his predecessor’s actions, Matthew knew he had to be on his best behavior. He could not give his opponents any ammunition against him, especially since he planned to run for mayor in the next election. He hadn’t thought his love life would be an issue until he met Sydney at her first town hall meeting.

“No one believes it,” Miss Doris declared. “The women in my book club say you’re dating someone in secret. We’ve taken bets.”

Matthew wasn’t surprised. The people in Seedling took bets on everything from the first frost to whether a pregnant woman would have a boy or a girl. “Who’s in the lead as my secret lover?”

“Isabel Bennett.”

“Izzy? The librarian?” He had known her since kindergarten. They’d gone on one date when they were teenagers and they hadn’t even held hands much less shared a kiss.

“She’s showing a little more spirit and a lot more skin lately. It has to be a man.”

“It’s not me,” Matthew said. “I recommend you change your bet or you’re going to lose your money.”

“You’re telling me you’re not interested in any of the women in Seedling?” Miss Doris watched him closely. She gave a cackle when he tried to keep his expression blank. “Oh, you are. She must be off-limits if you’re not already dating her.”