“What you’re saying is he doesn’t want you to see me,” Hayden guessed with a biting tone.

“He doesn’t and you can’t blame him for that. But this is my decision. I told him he would have to accept whatever decision I make whether I see you or not. I decided not to.”

“Nothing I can do to change your mind?”

“I’m sorry. No.”

He blew out his breath heavily. “All right. Well . . . I hope he really is the one then.”

Liz hung up the phone after that and sighed. She knew that she had done the right thing. Trust was hard earned once lost, but closure was as easy as shutting the door and being willing to move on.

She felt kind of drained, so she just jotted out a text to Brady letting him know about the article. He would get back to her later when he was out of his committee meeting.

Deciding that she would be better off with some exercise while she waited for Brady, Liz grabbed her racket and drove over to the tennis complex. Easton was just striding into the lobby drenched head to toe in sweat with a doe-eyed high school student when she arrived.

“Liz! I didn’t know you’d be in today. You here for lessons?” he said, waggling his eyebrows up and down.

“Hardly. I’m here to kick your ass,” she said.

“Have you ever beaten me before?”

“First time for everything.”

“But not today, kid.” He winked at her.

“I’m not a kid. I’m older than you. I’m graduating on Sunday.”

“Oh, right! My cousin is graduating too. I’ll be at the ceremony,” he said, placing his racket on the counter and signing out the student he was with.

“Fun! You’ll have to find me.”

“Yes, because it’s easy to locate one person in Kenan Stadium.”

“Whatever. Are we going to play?” Her phone buzzed in her purse and, thinking it might be Brady, she pulled it out. Savannah.

Just saw Hayden on Franklin. Are you meeting him? Did you know Calleigh was with him?

Liz’s mind buzzed. Calleigh, the redhead reporter who had sold them out to the press, and Hayden’s ex-girlfriend. They worked together at the Charlotte Times.

He called me earlier and I told him I wasn’t going to meet him, but he didn’t tell me he was with Calleigh.

Good! Don’t see him. Come have lunch with me. I’m so bored now that I’m done with finals. Just avoid Qdoba.

I’m at tennis. After?

Savannah agreed.

“Did you hear anything I just said?” Easton asked.

“What?” Liz questioned, looking up. “No. Sorry.”

“I haven’t eaten all day. I was about to get lunch. Can we do this later?”

“You want me to play tennis after I’ve eaten? If I vomit on you, it’s your fault.”

“Why don’t we just get lunch together instead?” Easton suggested.

“I guess. Can my friend join us? She was just asking about lunch.”

“Is she hot?” he asked.

Liz rolled her eyes. “Yes.”

“Then definitely.”

Liz shot Savannah a text message and then hopped into Easton’s Jeep. Parking was kind of limited downtown, especially with the graduation crowd already coming in, so they thought it would be better to take one car.

They met Savannah at Mediterranean Deli, as far away from Qdoba as possible on Franklin Street. It boasted the best Greek food in town.

“Liz!” Savannah called when they walked in. She waved at them from a table in the corner.

“Hey. This is my tennis instructor, Easton.”

Savannah looked him up and down as if she were going to have him for dinner. Liz admitted he was hot, especially after working up a sweat on the courts, but she just didn’t really get the appeal. She figured she was a little biased to Brady.

“Nice to meet you,” he said, taking her hand in his and working his charm.

Liz left them to ogle each other and ordered some hummus and a gyro. Easton hopped up to go order the food when Liz returned, and Savannah’s eyes had that same expression every other one of Easton’s students had.

“Okay. Why haven’t I met him before?” Savannah asked as soon as he was gone.

“You were dating someone?” Liz said.

“I dated a couple people. But come on, look at him. Wait, don’t. You’re dating my brother. It makes me look like a bad sister.”

“He’s a good-looking guy. Plus he’s smart, wants to go to law school, become a politician.”

Savannah wrinkled her nose. “You’re losing me. I’ve had enough of law school and politicians.”

“I thought you’d only been into motorcycles, tattoos, and drug dealers,” Liz teased.

“Hey! Forrest was not a drug dealer. He just . . . was on drugs.”

Liz arched an eyebrow. “Sounds like a winner.”

“Why can’t Easton be hot and into something that’s not related to my family?”

“Beggars can’t be choosers.”

“I’m not begging,” Savannah said stubbornly.

“You’re a lot like your brother, you know?”

“Clay or Brady?”

“Both!”

“How insulting.”

Easton returned at that moment and took the seat across from Savannah. They immediately took up a conversation as if they had known each other for years. Easton was an expert conversationalist. Liz had never felt a dull moment while around him. It made sense to her that he would want to be a politician.

They had just dug into their food when Liz’s phone rang again. She glanced down at the screen. Still no Brady.

“I have to take this. It’s Heather,” Liz told them.

Savannah’s brow furrowed. “That’s strange. What does she want?”

“We’re about to find out.” She walked away from the table and found a seat on a bench outside. “Hello?”

“What did I say about staying out of the papers?” Heather asked icily.

“What are you talking about?”

“I said anything that might be suspicious, anything that might show up in the papers, anything that might make Brady look bad went through me,” she all but growled. “I thought we were clear on this. We haven’t had any negative incidents recently.”