Midnight Valentine(22)

“It’s cute,” I say, looking around.

Suzanne nudges me with her elbow and grins. “Would I steer you in the wrong direction?”

“The name, though.”

“It’s the nickname of the owner. Someone caught him picking his nose in elementary school, and it stuck.”

I grimace. “Hopefully, he’s abandoned the habit and doesn’t pick his nose in the kitchen.”

“This way, please.” The hostess, holding a pair of menus, gestures for us to follow her.

Suzanne gets a lot of stares as we walk to our table. Even some of the women seem interested in her beauty queen bounce. I admire her self-confidence and have to smile when a guy drops his spoon into his soup as we pass by.

Once we’re seated, we spend a few minutes looking at the menu, then order our drinks and meals from the heavyset waitress who comes by. When she’s gone, Suzanne says, “So. Theo Valentine.”

“The man of the hour.” I munch on nuts from a bowl the waitress left on the table. “Mystery man with a name like a porn star.”

“He’s not all that mysterious.”

I stop munching and stare at her.

“Okay, he’s a little mysterious.”

When I don’t relent with the stare, she sighs and gives up.

“Fine, he’s very mysterious. Now. Before, he was just Theo, local pretty-boy jock set to take over the world. All the girls were in love with him, of course. You don’t get that quality of man meat much in this town.”

I pop another fistful of nuts into my mouth. Around them, I say, “You truly have a way with words, Suzanne.”

She smiles serenely, twirling a lock of dark hair between her fingers. “He was a couple of years behind me at school, but God, did I have a crush on him. I’m a pushover for swagger, and he had it in spades. He went to college in Washington, but came back because he and Colleen were still together and she didn’t want to leave Seaside. They were supposed to get married. You met her at Sunday’s party, do you remember? The schoolteacher with the pretty blue eyes?”

I do remember. Her eyes weren’t the only things that were pretty. She had sleek brown hair and beautiful skin, a figure even voluptuous Suzanne might be jealous of.

“Let me guess. They never got married.”

“Nope.”

“So what happened?”

“Theo’s accident happened. And from the way she tells it, from the moment he woke up in the hospital, he wanted nothing more to do with her. Wouldn’t even look at her. Never spoke to her or anyone else again.”

“Yikes. That’s harsh.”

Suzanne taps her manicured nails on the table. “Yeah, Colleen was devastated. I still don’t think she’s over it. I’ve tried to set her up with every single man from here to Timbuktu, but she always says no. I suspect she’s hoping one day Theo will snap out of his silent funk and take her back.”

“So what’s with his whole not-talking thing? Were his vocal cords crushed or something?”

“Your guess is as good as mine, sweetie. His doctor won’t tell anybody anything, of course, but I know a few of the nurses who were at the hospital when he was brought in the night of the accident and were there during his recovery. They both say the same thing: Theo refused to speak, he refused to answer questions about why he wouldn’t speak, and he went into a rage if pressed about it. Trashed an exam room when a physical therapist got too pushy is the way I hear it. Then of course the doctor wanted to send him to a psychiatrist, but he refused that too. Just checked himself out of the hospital as soon as he could walk again, and that was that.

“Everybody in town felt bad for him, so he kept getting jobs, and after a while, nobody cared anymore that he didn’t talk, because his work wasn’t affected. In fact, it seemed to get even better. And he’s fast. He can tear down a house and completely rebuild it before his competition has even gotten around to putting in bids. Whatever demon is driving him, it has a good work ethic.”

The waitress arrives with our drinks, giving me a moment to think. I sip my iced tea, even more curious now about the mystery man. I’m about to ask Suzanne what kind of accident Theo was in when a deep voice interrupts.

“Well, look who it is. Fancy meeting you here.”

I look up. It’s Craig from Capstone, standing beside our table, smiling down at me.

“Craig! Hi, what a surprise. What are you doing here?”

Suzanne kicks me under the table. I glance sharply at her. She’s gazing up at Craig with big moony eyes and a blinding smile, batting her lashes. She’s pulled back her shoulders so her cleavage is displayed at its most advantageous angle for someone looking down.