"Yeah, I do," he agreed. "Why would anybody want to tear this down?"
"Exactly," she said enthusiastically. "Years ago, this is where everyone did their shopping and their socializing. I want it to be like that again."
"Sprucing up the stores won’t be enough," he said. "There’s got to be something inside to draw the people in."
"The president of the college is considering moving the bookstore into the corner building on your right. It’s more than big enough, and they’re running out of room on campus. The kids would have to come into the square to get their books."
"That will help."
"Yes," she agreed. "And they can walk. The campus is only a couple of blocks away. Let’s go," she urged. "I want you to see my store."
Her enthusiasm made him smile. He parked in the center block, near the jewelry store. He put his arm around her as they walked along the street.
She couldn’t show off her store after all. The first coat of polyurethane had just been applied to the floor. Since the windows were coated, Nick couldn’t even look through to see the lovely marble countertop. He would have to wait at least four days until the second and third coats had been applied and dried.
They backtracked to Russell’s Jewelry Store. Nick impressed the socks off of Miriam Russell when he picked out a two-carat diamond ring-the biggest in the store. Laurant didn’t want that one though. She liked the one-and-a-half-carat, marquise diamond. Since it didn’t need to be sized-it fit her finger perfectly-Nick said it was meant to be.
She held out her hand, waving her fingers so the light would catch the sparkle in the diamond, ooh-ing and ah-ing like a woman in love. She worried she might be overdoing it a bit, but Miriam seemed to be buying the act. Her hands were clasped together, and she was beaming with satisfaction.
When Nick handed Miriam his American Express card to pay for the purchase, her expression sobered. She asked Laurant if she could have a word in private before she ran the charge. She led Laurant to the back of the store while Nick waited at the counter. He didn’t know what they were discussing, but whatever the topic was, it embarrassed Laurant. Her face turned pink, and she kept shaking her head.
A few minutes later, after Nick signed the purchase slip, he picked up the ring, put it on Laurant’s finger again, and then leaned down and kissed her. It was a gentle, undemanding kiss that left her thoroughly shaken. He had to nudge her away from the counter.
As they were leaving the store, Miriam called out, "Remember what I said, Lauren. I’ll keep my fingers crossed for you."
Clearly mortified, Laurant hurried away. Nick caught up with her. "What was that all about?"
"Nothing important."
"She’s gonna keep her fingers crossed for you?"
"It’s nothing, really."
"Come on, Laurant. Tell me."
She stopped trying to outrun him. "Fine, I’ll tell you. That little conference we had in the store was all about Russell’s return policy. She thinks I’m going to botch this one up. Those were her words, not mine. You do realize, don’t you, that when this is over and you’ve gone away, they’re all going to think I screwed up again. This isn’t funny, Nick, so you can stop grinning."
He wasn’t at all sympathetic. Laughing, he said, "You’ve got a real strange reputation here, don’t you? Exactly what is it you do to the men who try to get close to you?"
"Nothing," she cried out. "I don’t do anything. I’m just… discriminating. There’s a small group of women in town who have nothing better to do than gossip, and if one of them happens to see me talking to an available man, she assumes all sorts of things that aren’t true. Before I know what’s happened, that nosy editor, Lorna Hamburg, is printing it in the local paper. It’s ridiculous," she added. "When I’m not seen socializing with the same man, everyone assumes I’ve gone and botched it again."
"She actually prints stuff like that in the paper?"
"She runs the society page," she explained. "It’s all gossip and rubbish. There isn’t a whole lot going on here, and so she…"
"Embellishes?"
"Oh, God, speaking of the devil," she whispered. "Let’s get out of here. Move it, Nick. She’s spotted us."
Lorna Hamburg caught sight of them a block away and came running. Long, curly, platinum hair dwarfed her already small features, and huge pendulum earrings dangled from her lobes and flapped madly to and fro with each step. She carried a leopard print canvas bag the size of a suitcase looped over her left shoulder, and as she ran, she tilted to that side, like a drunk who couldn’t walk a straight line.
She was sprinting now to intercept them, her fuchsia-colored, four-inch heels clipping along the sidewalk. The sound was like teeth chattering.
"Man, can she move," he remarked.
As she bore down on them, Nick couldn’t help but notice her eyebrows, or rather the lack thereof. Lorna had plucked hers out and used a pencil to draw a straight line above her deep-set eyes.
Thanks to Nick’s lack of cooperation in running for cover, Laurant was stuck.
"I thought FBI agents were supposed to be fast," she muttered as she patiently waited to introduce him to the woman she secretly called Gazette Gorilla.
"Keep the goal in mind. This is a golden opportunity. Now stop frowning and look like you love me."
Nick was disgustingly charming, and that only encouraged Lorna to be pushier than ever. She demanded an on-the-spot interview Whipping her eight-by-ten notebook out of her bag, she wanted to know all the details of how the two of them had met.
Within fifteen seconds, Nick knew two things about the woman. One, she detested Laurant, and two, she wanted him. It wasn’t an arrogant assumption. Nor was it a shrewd observation. Hell, the way she was looking at him while she repeatedly moistened her lips with her tongue darting in and out made it real apparent. Disgustingly so.
The knot in Laurant’s stomach twisted tighter and tighter as Lorna’s questions became more and more personal, but she didn’t reach her unraveling point until Lorna asked if she and Nick were already living as man and wife.
"That’s none of your damned business, Lorna."
Nick squeezed her shoulder and then said, "Honey, show Lorna your engagement ring."
Laurant was still fuming as she lifted her hand and waved it in front of Lorna’s face.
"That must have cost a fortune. Everyone in town knows you work for the FBI," she said then. "Why, I must have gotten six phone calls about you already. It’s true," she added when he looked skeptical. "It’s the gun, you see. People wondered about it. They’re much too polite to ask you, of course."
"So they whisper behind his back," Laurant interjected.
Lorna ignored her. "FBI agents don’t make much money, do they?"
"Are you asking me if I can afford the ring?" Nick wondered.
"I wasn’t going to be that forward."
Nick squeezed Laurant’s hand. "I live a comfortable life. Family trust," he added.
"Then you’re rich?"
"For heaven’s sake, Lorna. It’s none of your-"
Nick placed his other hand on Laurant’s shoulder and said sweetly, "Now, darling, don’t get all bent out of shape. Lorna’s just curious."
"Yes," she agreed. "Curious. Where are you from, Nick? You don’t mind if I call you Nick, do you?"
"No, of course not. I live in Boston. I was raised on Nathan’s Bay."
"Will you be taking Laurant to Boston after you’re married?"
"No. We’re going to be living here. I’ll be doing a lot of traveling, but I can be based anywhere, and Laurant loves this town. It’s growing on me too."
"But Laurant won’t have to work after you’re married, will she?"
"I’m not selling the store, Lorna, so give it up," Laurant snapped.
"You’re holding up progress, Laura."
"Tough." It wasn’t a great comeback, but it was the best she could do on the spur of the moment. "And I happen to want to work."