Would I be able to control my temper?
The odds of thatweren'tterrific, which was why I'd silently returned to the house and told the mayor where she could find Bryce rather than telling Bryce anything at all.
He hadn't seen me.
Of this, I was nearly certain. But I'd sure as heck seenhim.
God, what a nightmare.
Suddenly the house felt way too hot. Or maybe I'd simply had too much to drink. Either way, if I didn't get some fresh air, likenow, I was in serious danger of losing it.
In a near panic, I yanked open the front door and plunged blindly outside where I nearly collided with a guy on the front porch – a late arrival, obviously.
The guy was tall and lean with spiky red hair. He wasn't smiling, but that was probablymyfault considering that I'd nearly tackled him.
With an effort, I dug deep and summoned up a smile. "Hi. I mean, welcome." My face literally hurt as I kept the smile plastered in place. "So you're here for the tour?"
His expression remained glum. "No. I'm looking for Lexie Sullivan. The name's Mitchell, by the way." He frowned. "ThisisLexie's address, right?"
"Um, yeah. She's not here, but I'm her sister, Harper. MaybeIcan help you with something?"
He grimaced. "I doubtthat."
The guy looked nearly as miserable as I felt, and my heart went out to him. With genuine sympathy, I said, "Oh come on. It can't beallbad."
"Wanna bet?" he said. "My old boss is screwing me over."
"Oh." I hesitated. "Yeah, that sounds pretty frustrating."
"Not just frustrating," he said. "The guy's a monster."
A monster?I knew of only one boss who'd earnedthattitle, and he was living across the street from my aunt's place.
My jaw tightened.Cole Henster.Not only had he practically fired my sister, he'd done something more recently to make her sad.I just knew it.
Now, I was on high alert. Sure, my brain was a little muddled, but I wasn't so far gone that I couldn’t read between the lines. "Lemme guess. You worked at Winterville Chocolates, right?"
"Yeah, with your sister," Mitchell said. "That's why I'm here. I didn't have her number, but I found her address. I wanted to warn her of something."
Warn her?
That sounded ominous.Was she in danger?
I reached out and gripped the guy's arm. "What's going on?"
"It's her old boss," he said. "He's blackballing her."
I felt my eyes go all squinty. "I knew it! So heisgiving her bad references."
"Not just bad," Mitchell said. "Crazy bad."
"Howcrazy bad?"
He let out a bitter laugh. "What, you want an example?"
"Well, itwouldbe helpful."
"Alright, how'sthisfor helpful? She applied to Bluefield Bank. Am I right?"
