Page 76 of The Do-Over
THEA
“Okay,” Thea murmured in Rob’s ear. “You look great. Just take it easy. People are going to start coming over to us soon, but all you have to do is accept their congratulations.”
“And if anyone says anything I don’t know the answer to—”
Thea nodded. “I’ll run interference on those questions. You’re going to be fine.”
“I really can’t thank you enough for being here,” he said. “I know this must be awkward for you.”
“It’s not so bad.” Actually, it was a little bit of a nightmare. Thea couldn’t help feeling that everyone in town must remember the fact that she and Rob had dated almost twenty years ago, and that they would all be talking about the fact that the two of them were here together today. But that was almost certainly ridiculous. Rob was a local darling. No one was interested in who his high school girlfriend had been, and Thea certainly hadn’t mentioned it in years. No one would remember.
“Here’s the mayor,” she said, turning Rob toward Mayor Belby.
“Am I supposed to know him?”
“You’ve probably spoken on the phone. Let’s see how he greets you.”
Mayor Belby bustled over. “Dr. Honeycutt,” he said. “I recognize you from the pictures, of course. I’m “Tom Belby.”
So they didn’t know each other in person. Thea actually felt Rob relax a little. “Good to meet you, sir,” he said. “Thank you for putting all this together.”
Thea was impressed. Even while covering for memory loss, he was a charmer.
“Oh, the pleasure’s entirely ours,” Mayor Belby said. “You don’t know how much it means to our little town of Deer Ridge to be able to claim you as our native son.”
“I’m honored,” Rob said, smiling.
“May I introduce you to some people?” Mayor Belby asked.
“Why don’t I come find you in a little while?” Rob deflected smoothly. “I think I see an old friend.”
“Oh, of course,” the mayor said. “Make your rounds. We’ll catch up in a few hours.”
Rob nodded graciously, then turned away, guiding Thea along with him.
“Do you really see an old friend?” she asked.
He laughed. “Well, I see you.”
“Oh.” She grinned.
“Yeah, I fudged the truth. I couldn’t stand to have him introducing me around like some kind of prize animal at the fair.”
Thea laughed. “He definitely wanted to show you off.”
“Is it always like that?”
“That was nothing.”
“Damn.”
“Honestly, I’ve been operating on the assumption that you were really arrogant,” she admitted. “I haven’t spoken to you in so long, and whenever I’ve heard anyone else talk about you, it was to rhapsodize about how wonderful you are. I guess I just internalized the idea that you thought a lot of yourself.”
“Maybe I am arrogant,” he said. “How would we know?”
“You’re not acting arrogant.”
“Maybe I’ve forgotten that I think I’m the greatest. Maybe when my memories come back, my arrogance will come back too.”
