“The town’s provincial,” Tom warned as he opened the door for Kylie and escorted her inside. There was a wave of smoke and the burnt smell of fried food. “You never know what the citizens of Thornfield will say or do. They don’t know what to think about people like us.” Kylie presumed he meant people who dealt in magic.
The pub was crowded, it was the only place to go for a drink, after all. Kylie kept her eyes downcast as she made her way past a group of local men near the dartboard. They then sat at the end of the bar, undisturbed, as Tom always was when he came into town. People avoided him; there were rumors that if you crossed him you’d regret it and even men who didn’t mind a good fight every now and then out in the parking lot had nothing to do with him.
It all seemed fine enough, a cozy dinner for two, unmolested, but when Kylie went to the ladies’ room, a waitress followed and swiftly locked the door behind her. Kylie was so taken aback she lurched forward, not noticing that her locket had become unclasped, her mother’s lovely birthday gift to her, and now fell into a shadowy corner.
“Are you mad?” the waitress, a young woman called Jesse Wilkie, asked. “What are you thinking?” Jesse had gone to school with Tom Lockland, until he’d dropped out. He’d been good-looking and surly, a type Jesse was often attracted to, Lord help her, but she’d known to stay away from Tom. Her grandmother had made her promise never to have anything to do with the Locklands, and under her beloved grandmother’s tutelage, Jesse had learned to have concern for the fate of other young women. She’d seen him hurt one after the other, discarding them with ease. “What are you doing here with Bad Tom?” she asked.
“That’s not a very nice thing to call him.” Kylie felt stung to be upbraided by a stranger.
“Well, he’s not very nice, so there you have it. It’s a name he deserves. You’re from America, and maybe you don’t know about our history here in Essex, but my advice is go home. I’m telling you woman to woman.” Perhaps Jesse had a fondness for foolish girls because she’d been one herself and dated a few fellows who were utter mistakes. Kylie, though tall, seemed girlish in her oversized clothes, with no makeup, her glossy red-tinted hair pulled back in a sloppy ponytail. Still, in Jesse’s opinion, no one was too young to be warned about a man such as Tom. “He’s a miserable character from a miserable family. All they do is cause trouble. It’s black magic. You might not believe in it, but around here it’s a fact. We all know to stay away from it. You wouldn’t catch me walking on the grounds of Lockland Manor. Not for any price.”
“He told me about his family,” Kylie said, surprised to hear how haughty her tone was, as if she’d been the one who’d been insulted. Outsiders tended to band together, and if anything Jesse’s blunt distaste for Tom made Kylie more contrary in her response. It was in her nature to come to the defense of an underdog. “I know they’ve been treated terribly in this town. He wants to restore their standing.”
“Good luck with that, because it’s never going to happen. The Locklands were a bunch of robbers.” When Kylie moved to unlock the door it became clear to Jesse that she was getting nowhere with this girl. “Don’t say I didn’t warn you.”
Kylie went back to the bar. There were two bowls of vegetable stew set out and some rolls and butter. Tom had ordered her a whiskey, but Kylie stuck to water. “I’ve been warned,” she told him. “You’re bad.”
Tom frowned and cursed softly. “People in Thornfield like to provoke me with their moronic opinions. And you wonder why I hate this place.”
People were staring at him and talking among themselves. Kylie overheard a few comments, mostly centering on what a bastard her companion was. Despite the gossip and the veiled insults, Lockland maintained a wary stillness. He repelled some people, but others were wildly attracted to him, drawn to him as though he were a beacon. There was a light inside him, one that flamed and lured Kylie to him. She noticed that the waitress who’d ambushed her was staring and that there were spots of red on her cheeks. Perhaps she was a vengeful ex-girlfriend of Tom’s, for he’d admitted there were many of his past wrong choices in town and because of his failed romantic history, Kylie might hear awful rumors about him.