All the World (2 page)

Chapter Two: The Local Characters

              The Windsor Bar reminded Lexie of the rural pubs she had visited during her studies in England junior year. Everything was made from wood and the mock fireplace added to the rustic atmosphere. It was the only bar in town so it was very crowded. Where else could people go for a drink on Friday night?

              “I thought you’d never get here!” a loud and rather arrogant voice shouted. “Johnny wants me to work the bar so he can go drink…as usual. I swear I should own the place.”

              There was a man’s angry shout from a room behind the bar.

              Flora laughed as she led Lexie over to a tall woman with glossy, red curls and striking green eyes. She wore black pants and a teal halter-top showing off her tiny waist. She offered beers to Flora and Lexie with a smile.

              “Lexie, this is Bryony Arden.”  Flora was quick with the introductions. “Bryony, meet Lexie Stanley.”

              “Welcome to Vernon Hills,” Bryony said, forcing a shot glass filled with tequila into Lexie’s hand. “Flora has told us so much about you. So, you studied Psychology. That will come in handy living here, especially when our mutual friend is having boyfriend issues. I don’t know why she thinks she needs him in the first place.”

              Lexie fought to hold back a cough as the tequila burned down her throat. She was surprised at Bryony’s blunt, slightly sneering, comment. She’d been warned that Bryony spoke her mind without thinking. Lexie actually agreed with her comment about Flora and Nickolas, but she didn’t think announcing it at the bar was the best idea.

              “I don’t want your advice! Your love life is a disaster,” Flora snipped after recovering from her shot. “Your constant fights with Ben before
The Merchant of Venice
are proof of that. I’m surprised Pierre didn’t throw you out.”

              Bryony shrugged. “If I hadn’t been Portia, Pierre would have. But I don’t miss Ben. I mean, the sex was great, but our arguments got really bad. Anyway, my life won’t be defined by a man.”

              “My life isn’t defined by anyone but me!” Flora shot back. “You know, not everyone in this town agrees with your feminist comments.”

              “So? I don’t care what people think. In fact, Kaitlin Shrewsbury told me she agrees. She went to a rally in Washington her second week of college. Her dad should be happy. He has that stupid rule about his daughters not dating until they’re out of his house. She doesn’t appear interested in dating.”

              Flora shook her head. “He’s not happy because you are also putting rebellious ideas in Blanche’s head too, and she’s just a high school junior.”

              Bryony frowned. “You mean that sweet girl that half the boys want to date? Well, good for her.”

              Lexie was about to change the subject when the door opened to admit four men. She recognized the pale blond as Nickolas Lindegaard. He was talking to a tall, dark-eyed brunette. Two awkward men followed them.

              “Well, the two great travelers have returned!” a man with a red face and enough fat to rival a walrus announced, stumbling from behind the bar. “Ah, Nickolas and Braedon, welcome home! Who’s that behind you? Oh, Sig and Gilbert. I haven’t seen you two in long time. Bryony, why are you just standing there? Get the men some drinks!”

              Bryony rolled her eyes. “That’s your job tonight, Johnny. 
I’m
not working right now.”

              The man looked at Lexie with curiosity and suggestively asked, “Who is your lovely friend?”

              Bryony gave him a sharp glare and demanded drinks.

              “Poor Bryony, she pretty much runs the bar. That fat man is Johnny Flesh, and he owns it,” whispered Flora. “He spends half his time drunk and the other half sleeping with as many women as possible. He tried to seduce Bryony, and that backfired. She opened a keg of beer on him. It was so funny!  There are rumors that he had an affair with the mayor’s wife. It’s a mystery what women see in Johnny.”

              “It’s been a long time, Lexie. How are you?”

              Lexie turned to see Nickolas offering his hand. His grey eyes were dull and the lack of color in his cheeks gave him a sickly look. She wondered if he was still recovering from jetlag.

              Lexie shook Nickolas’s clammy hand. “I’m fine—excited to have a new home and job. Tell your stepdad that I am very grateful for the job. I heard you went to Denmark. How was it? I didn’t make it there when I was abroad.”

              Nickolas took a seat, slung an arm around Flora, and replied, “It was a decent vacation. The lack of contact with my parents cleared my mind immensely. I plan to go back. Braedon and I didn’t make it to Spain. We spent too much time in Italy, especially Rome. But we did make it to Venice like Flora asked.”

              Lexie raised her eyebrows at Flora.
So he didn’t go alone. I bet his parents paid for his friend. He had no excuse not to take Flora.

              Nickolas seemed to think Lexie’s questioning look had something to do with him failing to introduce his friend. “This is Braedon Horaz. We’ve known each other for years.”

              Lexie nodded cordially. Flora had mentioned Braedon Horaz from time to time, and Nickolas had taken her to on a trip to visit him. Lexie had never met the man.

              “Since we were four, actually. We kept in touch during college even though our schools were across the country from each other. I had some philosophy classes similar to those Nickolas took,” Braedon explained. His eyes were gentle and wise.

              Lexie smiled and pushed her brown hair away from her face. “Did you spend hours reading philosophy books and writing a thesis questioning the concepts of reality? That’s an odd way to bond. Why didn’t I see you on campus?”

              Braedon sat down beside Lexie, his dark eyes fixed on her face. Lexie hoped the bar was dim enough to hide the blush creeping onto her cheeks. Braedon ordered two beers since Johnny never brought the first ones and offered one to Lexie. The two awkward men nodded politely at Lexie before taking seats at the other end of the bar. They shot periodic looks at Nickolas from a distance. Lexie wondered if they were acquaintances of his or had just entered the bar after him.

              “I went to school in California and spent one year in Scotland. I studied Accounting. Philosophy was my minor. It was just something to do for fun.”

              “You have an interesting definition of fun.”

              “Haven’t you ever done something for Flora just to be a loyal friend?” he asked. “Nickolas asked me to take the classes so we could chat about them on the phone. The ones I took were interesting, but the ones needed for a major didn’t seem enjoyable.”

              Lexie picked at the beer bottle’s label. “I guess you could say moving here is being loyal to Flora.” Lexie watched as Nickolas and Flora exchanged some quiet words before wandering off to a secluded corner, ignoring the looks they were receiving from the two men at the bar. “Speaking of loyalty, what do you think about Nickolas and Flora? What’s your take on their relationship?”

              Braedon thought for a moment; the silence was awkward. “It really depends. Sometimes it works. Sometimes it doesn’t. Sometimes I wish he would just figure out what he wants.”

              “Nickolas is so indecisive.” Lexie glanced towards the corner. Already Nickolas had made some comment that troubled Flora.
And I hate that about him!

              “I think he and Flora can make it work if they want. Nickolas is having a rough time with his mom’s remarriage. I mean, how would you feel if you found out your mom and uncle had been having an affair since you were four?”

              Lexie would have loved to continue the conversation, but a sudden outburst from Bryony brought Flora and Nickolas back to the bar. She exchanged a curious look with Braedon before turning her attention to the loud redhead.

              “There is plenty of land for that bastard to build his lab! Cesare Garland doesn’t need to tear down the theatre! With the money he promised to give Pierre to build a new one, the stupid corporation could’ve bought half the town! He’s just doing it to be an ass!”

              “If Pierre wouldn’t do so many depressing plays, I bet everything would be just fine,” Johnny Flesh said drunkenly as he stumbled off to serve another customer. “A play about the two-faced town council would be a hit.”

              His laughter echoed across the bar.

              “How is that even funny?” Bryony rolled her eyes. “He’s such an idiot.”

              “I doubt Cesare has even been to the theatre. There’s nothing for him to be an ass about,” Nickolas argued as he tightened his grip on Flora’s arm.

              “He had to get the approval of the mayor and town council members. The papers read that the decision was unanimous,” Braedon interjected.

              “It wouldn’t surprise me if he bought their support,” chimed in a rich baritone voice.

              A burly man wearing a cowboy hat took a seat next to Nickolas. Flora’s eyes flickered to Bryony whose mouth had grown very thin. Lexie knew that the man must be Ben. The haughty gazes he and Bryony exchanged were amusing and frightening at the same time.

              “I don’t think we asked—”

              “Who’s on the council?” Lexie asked before Bryony could finish her insult.

              “The mayor’s wife Scarlet MacDougal, the previous mayor’s daughters Bella and Donna Leer, Pastor Shrewsbury, and the attorney Harry King,” Braedon answered. “There are more, but those are the big ones.”

              “It wouldn’t be hard to convince them to tear down the theatre,” Nickolas agreed. “Pastor Shrewsbury is always complaining that the theatre puts bad ideas into his daughters’ heads. Harry King is too busy having affairs, divorcing, and remarrying. I think he’s on his sixth wife or something, and the Leer sisters agree with anything the mayor’s wife says since she can blackmail them.”

              “Wait. Blackmail?” Lexie accidently took a drink from Braedon’s bottle.
So, Vernon Hills has dirty politics—interesting…

              “You didn’t tell her?” Bryony’s voice was low. She gestured for Lexie to lean in close. “Bella Leer is the oldest daughter of the former mayor. She was always involved in the community and loved politics. She was tipped to take his place when he died from a heart attack about three years ago.”

              Lexie couldn’t keep from smiling. Bryony sounded like she was reciting a murder mystery. “What, did she poison him?”

              “No, she did a lot worse,” Braedon muttered.

              “Bella needed more money to win the race because the MacDougals are rolling in cash and James MacDougal had a great plan for Vernon Hills. Donna, Bella’s younger sister, went to a rich banker for money. He supported Mayor MacDougal,” Bryony continued.

              “Any normal person would have left the banker alone,” whispered Ben.

              “Shut it, Ben,” Bryony warned. “Rumors say that Bella was so desperate that she tried to seduce the banker’s teenage son.”

              Lexie struggled to swallow a sip of beer. “That...is…so…disgusting. Couldn’t she have just talked to her dad’s supporters? I bet she got zero votes after that.”

              “Bella dropped out. She announced that it was because of money problems.”  Bryony called for a Long Island ice tea and shots for her companions. “The public doesn’t have actual evidence, but Scarlet MacDougal has something that keeps the Leer sisters in line.”

              Nickolas’s voice was low. “I heard that Scarlet has proof of Bella trying to seduce the kid. Someone once said she has pictures and videos.”

              “It sounds like this place has as much drama as Washington,” commented Lexie as she downed another tequila shot with everyone. The alcohol was beginning to fog her head.
No wonder there’s a strong psych ward attached to the hospital in the next town.

              Flora shrugged. “We’re not that bad. Every town has a secret, just like every person.”

              “I bet Vernon Hills has more than one.”

Bryony smiled and was about to divulge another secret of Vernon Hills when boisterous voices from outside drifted into the bar.

              “Where’s Theodore? I thought he’d be here tonight. He had one hell of a day—turning in his science project half finished, and then sideswiping Principal Johnson’s car in the parking lot. He really screwed up today.”

              “He’s probably screwing Giulia Terrace right now,” an arrogant voice shouted with a laugh.

              “Do you really have to announce that to the whole street, Mark? We know they’ve been together for months, but their families don’t! Theodore loves her! What if someone hears you?”

              “And it took him, what, a day to fall in love with Giulia? He was moaning about Rosamunde at lunch the day he fell in
love
,” the haughty voice argued. “Love is misleading. Love is like a will-o-the-wisp. It appears as a light in this dark, cruel world, coaxing a lonely, lost soul to depart from the path of rationality. Love muddies the mind and deprives it of common sense, like a ghostly will-o-the-wisp leading an unsuspecting traveler into the suffocating depths of the marshes. The wanderer believes the luminescence will lead him to safety, but the light slowly fades until it is nothing but a glimmer in the distance. Love is the deceptive gleam of a will-o-the-wisp. Love will glow with promise, then flicker, and recede. Theodore will be caught in a quagmire of Terraces when the light of his will-o-the-wisp dies.”