You might not approve of their lifestyle, but there is no question you don"t want to upset those men."
A brief vision of Jack Barnes entered Ruby"s head. He was dark and handsome, like Adam. He was broader, but Adam would have been broader, too, had he been allowed to reach maturity. Adam would have taken on a man"s build and authority. Sometimes, Ruby got confused and saw Adam when she was looking at Jack Barnes.
Ruby waved off the statement, her big diamond ring catching the light. It shouldn"t shock her that Abigail Moore was trying to get her hooks into the Barnes fellow. She"d heard he was considered quite the up and comer in the business community.
"They have no place in society." They didn"t, Ruby a.s.sured herself. They never attended socials or the charity b.a.l.l.s. They weren"t powerful.
"Only because they don"t want to," Jan replied. "I don"t know how serious they are about Abby Moore, but I wouldn"t want to get between Jack Barnes and something he wanted. I"m asking you to think about Walter before you do anything to hurt that girl. I wouldn"t want Walter"s election to get nasty. I don"t get it. She seems perfectly nice. I had lunch at the cafe with the girls. She was really sweet to them."
Ruby"s eyes narrowed, and she stood up, reaching her full five-foot height. "You took my granddaughters to meet the wh.o.r.e who killed their uncle?" Ruby might not care for the girls, but they carried the Echols name and should not be allowed to sully it.
"Adam was killed in an accident, and it was twenty years ago."
Jan"s mouth firmed, and she crossed her arms stubbornly. "I"m not going to have some twenty-year-old feud hurt Walter"s chances of getting elected. The way you treated that girl was shameful then and ridiculous now, and I won"t do it. I am not going to pretend she doesn"t exist. I intend to ask Ms. Moore if my daughters can meet 107.
their cousin. They won"t have any more, so I think it"s important that they know the family they do have."
The crack of Ruby"s open hand against Jan"s face resounded through the room. Ruby was sixty-eight and knew people considered her physically weak. They didn"t understand the strength that a righteous cause could give her.
Walter flew to his wife"s side, surprising them both. "Are you all right, baby?" Walter hugged his wife to him.
Jan pulled away from him and rubbed her reddened cheek. "I"ve had enough. I never wanted to push this, but I am going to now, Walter. I love you. It"s me or her. I don"t want her influencing my girls anymore."
"You idiot," Ruby sneered at her daughter-in-law, "a boy never leaves his mother."
Walter was quiet for a moment. "I"ve been thinking a lot about that lately, Mother. I"ve been thinking about all the times you held me and lavished your love on me. It didn"t take long to go through those memories since they didn"t exist. Everything you had was reserved for Adam. Every bit of love you had in your heart was for him, not me. No matter how hard I tried, I couldn"t make up for the fact that Adam is dead. I"ll be d.a.m.ned if my girls have to live like that, too.
Only one person has ever loved me for being me. Mother, if you think I would choose you over Jan, you really have lost your d.a.m.n mind."
He looked to his wife. "Pack up the girls. We"ll stay in the motel tonight. I"ll find us a place to live tomorrow."
Ruby watched, stunned that her son would speak to her in such a manner. Didn"t he know his obligations? Hadn"t she spent his whole life making sure he understood what he owed his family?
Walter ignored her. He was too busy looking at his fat wife. "I love you, Jan. I love you. I will always choose you." He finally turned to Ruby. "As for you, Mother, I"ll make certain the housekeeper knows to take care of you."
108.
Her whole world shifted. Ruby steadied herself as her son turned to leave. "I will cut you off, Walter," Ruby threatened. "I will make sure you don"t get a dime."
Walter shook his head. "I"m not the idiot you think I am. I don"t need your money, Mother. I have worked my entire adult life, and I know how to save. Daddy made sure I knew how to take care of myself financially. I have made some very savvy investments. Jan and I will do just fine. You keep your money. I suspect it will be the only thing to keep you warm at night."
With that, he took his wife"s hand and walked up the stairs. Ruby Echols sank to the antique divan that had been in her family for generations.
Adam was leaving, she thought. That was what Adam had said.
"I don"t need your money, Mother," Adam had said. "Abby and I will be just fine."
Adam was leaving her again, and this time he was taking Walter, too. Abigail Moore was the reason she was losing her family. Just tonight Adam had tried to take her to a fancy restaurant.
Ruby picked up the keys to her car. Abby Moore wasn"t going to win this time.
The honky-tonk seemed even louder than before after the quiet intimacy of Sam"s room. Abby immediately spotted her best friend still sitting at the bar. Christa"s left eyebrow was practically in outer s.p.a.ce as Abby walked up to her. It took everything Abby had not to pat her hair or smooth down her dress self-consciously. She wondered if she looked like a woman who had just had mind-blowing s.e.x with two men. Suddenly, with her body still humming from the recent o.r.g.a.s.ms, Abby didn"t care.
"You look like the Cheshire Cat, you know." Christa smiled as she slid a frosty cosmo Abby"s way.
109.
"Do I?" Abby took the drink and sighed. "I can"t ever think why."
The grin on her face just wouldn"t go away.
"Probably for the same reason I need to hose down my desk from this morning"s session," Christa complained good-naturedly.
Abby"s entire face flushed. "I am so sorry about that."
"No, you"re not," Christa replied. "I wouldn"t be. So was it Sam or Jack on the desk?"
Abby gingerly sat down on the barstool, the small b.u.t.t plug still lodged discreetly where Jack said it would do them all the most good.
She leaned over to her best friend and was so happy she had someone to confide in.
"Sam was on the desk. Jack was in the chair."
Christa"s mouth hung open for a moment before she shook her head and laughed. "Girl, I am gonna live through you from now on. I want Facebook updates hourly. I can see it now. Abby Moore...is exhausted from doing her two gorgeous men."
Abby gnawed thoughtfully on her lower lip. "I think I love them, Chris. h.e.l.l, I don"t think, I know I love them. I"m seriously thinking about staying in this two-bit town just so I can be with them."
Christa"s hand went up in victory. "Yes! Another evil plan works.
d.a.m.n, I am good. My brain is wasted on this town. Mike is gonna owe me a week"s worth of dish duty."
"What do you mean?" Abby glanced over to where Jack stood talking to Mike. Sam was just joining them. His blond hair was still slightly damp from the shower. Abby"s insides fluttered when she thought about what he"d done to her in the shower.
Christa looked entirely satisfied with herself. Her jet-black ponytail bobbed as she nodded. "Oh, yeah, it was me. I sold you out. I told Sam to rifle through your little book collection if he wanted to know the way to your heart, which, by the way, is apparently through your..."
"Christa Marie Wade!" Abby said righteously, then ruined it by grinning. "You hush that filthy mouth of yours. I should be angry 110 with you for giving that away. Girlfriends are supposed to keep quiet about their friend"s p.o.r.n."
"Not in this case," Christa argued. "I saw the way you looked at them. Every time either one of them walked in the room you would go all gooey. Sam just followed you around like a puppy, and Jack brooded even worse when you were around. They wouldn"t approach you because they didn"t believe you would be okay with their lifestyle. They thought you would run. Those books let them know you were an open-minded girl. If I hadn"t shown Sam, the three of you would still be all about unrequited love. Instead, the three of you are practically glowing. And you owe it all to the fact that I can"t keep my nose out of other peoples" business. If it keeps my best friend in town, then all my plotting was worth it!"
Sam eased up behind Abby"s barstool. "Oh, Christa, did you confess?" He lifted his hand to let the bartender know he was ready for another beer, and then his hand settled on Abigail"s back.
"I did, indeed." Christa favored Sam with a saucy wink. "It"s my weakness as a super villain. I have an undeniable need for credit. I was thrilled to hear that Abby was thinking of staying."
Sam looked slightly startled at the p.r.o.nouncement. "Thinking?"
"Well, it"s a big decision, Sam." Abby noticed Sam"s handsome face had turned mulishly stubborn, and she was beginning to recognize all the signs of Sam about to tattle on her to Jack. Abby put a hand on his arm. "It"s not like I"m planning on leaving anytime soon. I have to make sure my mom is fully healed, and I have to find a job."
"Why the h.e.l.l do you think you need a job?" Sam practically yelled. Abby looked over, and sure enough, Jack had heard the exchange. His green eyes were filled with suspicious concern.
"Because life requires money, Sam." Abby was not looking forward to the next few minutes. "Did you expect that I"d just hang around in my mom"s trailer for the rest of my life? It"s going to take a h.e.l.l of a lot of money to put my daughter through college."
111.
"You don"t trust us to take care of you?" Sam"s question came out as an outraged yelp. Out of the corner of her eye, Abby confirmed that now Jack was hurrying toward him.
Maybe, she would think later, it had been the vodka that did it.
Perhaps it had been the vodka combined with the happy lethargy vigorous s.e.x had brought about, but whatever it was, Abby heard herself saying the fateful words. "If you want me to trust you to take care of me, maybe you should think about marrying me."
"All right," Jack"s deep voice said from behind her. "Thursday work for you, sweetheart?"
Christa"s eyes were wide, and Abby thought they probably mirrored her own. "Jack, I was just trying to freak out Sam a little. He was being a tad bit overbearing. I wasn"t demanding that you marry me."
"She sure as h.e.l.l was." There was an arrogant grin on Sam"s face.
"She said she wouldn"t be able to trust us if we didn"t marry her."
"Don"t be ridiculous, Samuel. I was joking. Besides, you are overlooking the fact that it"s illegal to be married to two different men at the same time."
Sam shrugged. "We got it all worked out. We"re going to rock-paper-scissors for it."
Jack sighed and shook his head. "No, Abigail. We take this very seriously. I am going to legally marry you. You"ll be Abigail Barnes in the eyes of the law, but we expect you to wear Sam"s ring, too. I expect you to take him as seriously as you do me."
Sam was wearing a dippy grin. She shook her head. "That"s hard sometimes, Jack."
"You"ll muddle through." Jack leaned over to steal a kiss. "I"ll apply for the license tomorrow. It takes three days. We"ll move your mother into the guest house."
Abby"s head whirled. "Wait just a minute, Jack. We"ve only known each other for a month. You can"t just railroad me into marriage."
112.
Jack smiled wistfully. "Would it help if you knew I considered it more like I"m gently herding you into marriage?"
"No." She had to laugh at the picture of Jack and Sam treating her like prized cattle. They did love their cattle. "That doesn"t make it better." She got serious, thinking about what had happened earlier.
"Jack, there"s a lot I don"t think you"ve considered. Marrying me means something in this town and not something good."
Jack shook his head. "It"s too late, Abby. You said you loved us.
You"re not going to be able to wiggle out of it now."
"You belong to us," Sam said implacably.
"And you belong here." Christa looked just as serious as the men.
She reached over and grabbed Abby"s hand. "I"ve missed you. I love you, and I"m tired of being apart. This is the time in our life when we get to go crazy again. This is the time when we get to be who we are, instead of who we thought we should be. I can"t stand the thought of figuring that out without you."
Sam"s hand reached out to wipe away the tears Abby didn"t even know she had. Was she really going to let something that happened twenty years ago cost her all her happiness now? If she did that, then she wasn"t the woman she believed herself to be. If she let them run her out of town, she would be going against everything she"d worked to become. The idea of explaining to her daughter that she now was going to have two stepdads was daunting, but at least she knew her mom was all right with it.
Abby looked at Jack and Sam and grabbed her joy with both hands. "Thursday sounds great, Jack."
The smile that spread across Jack"s face was well worth it. He looked happier than she"d ever seen him, and his masculine beauty took her breath away. Jack leaned in and kissed her lightly, but with the promise of so much more. "I love you, Abby-almost-Barnes."
"I love you, too," Abby said solemnly. Sam was less circ.u.mspect.
He hauled her off the barstool and twirled her around before leaning her back for a wildly pa.s.sionate kiss.
113.
"d.a.m.n, Abby, you made us wait long enough." Sam"s hands cupped her cheek with a tenderness that took her breath away.
"I made you wait a whole month and like three days," Abby pointed out. She couldn"t take her eyes off him.
"Like I said, it was too d.a.m.n long." He smiled over at Jack, but something else seemed to catch his attention. Abby watched as his face went stark white, and he swallowed deeply. His face twisted like he was really trying to think of how to put something to her. "Baby, you know how I explained to you that I don"t always make the best decisions when I am inebriated? Here comes one of those bad decisions. Please save me." He placed her strategically in front of him in a suspiciously shield-like fashion.
"Look what the trash man forgot to pick up." Christa stood up and came to Abby"s side.
Abby was aware that Jack had moved onto her barstool. He looked terribly amused as a bleached blonde slinked into the room, wearing a shirt that barely contained her store-bought b.r.e.a.s.t.s and jeans that someone had spray-painted on. Her hair had been teased to within an inch of its life, and Abby couldn"t tell how old she was under the pound of makeup she was sporting. There was no mistaking the predatory gleam in her eye as she looked around the bar. Her brown eyes were hard, but they widened when she caught sight of her prey cowering behind another woman. It didn"t seem to affect the blonde. She gestured to someone, and yet another peroxide devotee of too little clothing came out of the woodwork.
"Oh, look. She brought a friend," Christa said with a sarcastic grin. "I do believe she did that for you, Jack."
Jack had the good sense to shudder. "I would hide behind Abigail, too, but Sam is taking up all the s.p.a.ce."
The dynamically tacky duo pushed their way across the crowded dance floor, making a beeline for Sam Fleetwood.
"You want to tell me who I"m protecting you from, Sam?" Abby had a guess.
114.
"Melissa Paul." Sam confirmed her suspicion. "She took advantage of me one night while I was drunk out of my mind, and then she had the horrible idea that she was my girlfriend."
"Women get that way when you sleep with them, Sam," Abby murmured.
"Well, they shouldn"t." Sam"s hands tightened on her shoulders.
"I a.s.sure you I didn"t mention it to her. I could have been stone drunk out of my mind, but the words I love you wouldn"t have pa.s.sed my lips. I saved those words for you, baby."
"Uh-huh," Abby muttered with a resigned sigh. She looked back at her cowering future husband. "Does it bother you that you"re currently hiding behind a woman"s skirts?"
Jack laughed, but Sam looked unrepentant. "No, ma"am. You will find I am very flexible when it comes to your skirts. I will attempt to get into them as often as possible, and when the need arises, I will hide behind them shamelessly."
Abby grinned because he was really heartbreakingly gorgeous. He was going to make her life a joy to live. She would never be bored with these two around. Abby couldn"t stop the smile that spread across her face. She was going to marry them.
"Sam," Melissa Paul breathed in a sultry voice. Abby wondered if she got paid by the minute to talk on a s.e.x line. "If I didn"t know better, I would think you"re avoiding me."
"Then you must know something we don"t." Christa sounded sa.s.sy and confronted the blondes with one hand on her waist.
"Because he is definitely trying to avoid you."