"Yours?"

"Get your own." She sipped her beer. "I feel myself regressing, though. I'm hormonal. Prone to excessive amounts of sarcasm. Plus, my mom wants me to bake cakes with her."

"Did she dust off your Easy Bake Oven after all these years?"

"That was Betsy's. Pretty much everything was Betsy's."

"Ah, an old sibling rivalry rears its ugly head."

Alexis shook her head emphatically, rejecting his interpretation. "No, see, that's wrong. It wasn't a rivalry. We were too different to compete."

"Black sheep syndrome then?"

She shrugged. "Maybe. Probably." Alexis ran a finger thoughtfully around the rim of her glass. "I don't dwell on the dynamics. Anyway, it's the past."

"Really?" Tyler asked, his blue eyes crinkling at the corners. "Because it seems awfully present to me."

Alexis balked. She was used to brushing off her past. Easy to do in London where no one knew her. To her own surprise, she found herself wanting to open up to him. It had been a long time since she had a friend to listen to her. And the whiskey and beer combo certainly helped.

"Have you ever pushed something so far down that you forget you're still carrying the weight of it?" she asked.

"Then you must weigh a ton."

"Gee, thanks."

Tyler gave her a sympathetic smile. "I understand what you mean."

He placed a caring hand over hers and she felt a rush of warmth that she wished she hadn't. She didn't want to feel anything.

"Got any songs about love and loss in your repertoire?" she asked, instinctively moving her hand away.

"One or two," he said, trying not to flinch. "C'mon, Alexis. Unburden yourself. You've got two willing ears right here." And some other willing body parts as well, he was tempted to add.

Slowly, Alexis emptied her glass. "No. I wear my albatross with pride. It goes with everything."

Tyler refused to be deterred. It was enough that she came to see him play, even if he was an excuse to escape her family.

"Pride always comes before a fall," he said. Studying her now, he wondered whether that had already come to pass.

"Mr. Barnes," a man's voice boomed. Tyler broke into a broad grin and stood to shake the man's hand.

Alexis was grateful for the interruption. The conversation had become more personal than she'd intended. She craned her neck to get a better look at the interloper. "Glad you could make it," Tyler said politely. "Alexis, this is Caspian Warwick.

He's one of my regulars, when he's on the island."

"Pleasure to meet you," she said. "Do I detect an accent?"




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