If he was innocent of cheating, Lindsey couldn’t really blame him. She tried to picture what Brian’s wife looked like but could not place her. The Loebs weren’t library users as a rule, so she’d only just met Brian when play rehearsals began. If his wife was hanging out at the Blue Anchor, however, Lindsey was sure Mary or Ian could describe her.

“Now, let me be clear,” Robbie said. “When you realize it is not me who is frolicking in the daisies with your wife, I’m going to demand an apology.”

“Pah!” Brian scoffed. “I’m not some stupid female who is going to fall for your charm. When I catch you with my wife, I’m going to—”

“What?” Robbie taunted him. “You’re going to what?”

“Kill you,” Brian hissed.

If he had shouted the words, it would have been less scary, but his quiet assuredness made the hair on Lindsey’s neck stand up. She had no doubt he meant what he said.

7

A crash sounded from backstage, and Lindsey jumped out of the closet to make sure Brian hadn’t done anything so stupid as to harm Robbie.

She saw a door slam at the end of the stage and a curtain swirled nearby. The men appeared to have stormed off, for which she was grateful, given that she didn’t want to face either of them.

Sully was standing near the closet, looking at a piece of set that appeared to have toppled over.

“Oops,” he said.

“Breaking up some tension?” she asked.

He shrugged.

“So,” he said.

“So,” she replied.

They were both quiet. Sully looked like he wanted to say something, but naturally he didn’t. Lindsey refused to be the one who breached the chasm between them. As far as she was concerned, he had done the breaking up, so it was his responsibility to do the making up.

“Did you find what you need?”

“I did.” Awkward would be an understatement for the tension between them. Lindsey gestured to the piece of scenery, “Need a hand?”

“That would be great. Thanks,” he said.

They moved so they were on opposite sides of the canvas framed on the wood. Together they hefted it up and propped it against the wall. Lindsey wiped her hands on her jeans.

“Lindsey, listen,” Sully said.

She glanced at him and felt her chest tighten. Was he finally going to admit that breaking up was a bad idea? What should she do if he did? She wanted to throw herself at him, but figured it would be better to try to keep cool at least a little. It was really hard, though, with his brilliant-blue eyes looking at her as if . . . as if . . . hmm. As if he was about to say something she wasn’t going to like.

“What is it?” she asked.

“You should probably steer clear of Robbie Vine,” he said.