Page 26 of Against All Odds

“Lord, love a duck, Dee, grow the fuck up,” Carlscoffed.

Listening to their exchange with half an ear, I handed the whiskey off to Casey, who raised an eyebrow that asked, “You okay?”

I shrugged, silently responding, “Yeah, but shoot me anytime now.”

As Diane shut the hell up, I could hear snippets of conversations as I moved around the tavern.

“...well, she’s certainly moved on fast.”

“You know, from Jack to him? That’s quite the upgrade.”

“Did you hear Alexa’s already furious about it?”

“Oh, you know he’s not going to stay with Sable; between her and Alexa, who do you think a man like him will pick?”

“He’s just getting a little strange.”

“She grew up in Woody Creek. They say she was the town bike.”

From there, it went downhill. All the old nicknames began to pop up. The old and the young who didn’t know what happened to me in high school were finding out from those my age.

I’d just managed to quell the whole Jack leaving me for Molly nonsense when I’d been pitied as the doormat wife who couldn’t hold onto her man. We were still going through the,she’s sleeping with Ben Greyfeather, and that’s why he gave her the Wildflower. And now, I was the town slut, reaching above my station and chasing a man who had no business looking at me twice.

I could guarantee that Heath didn’t have to hear any of this. No one was telling him to keep his pecker zippedup, now, were they? Oh, no, they’d tell him, “Don’t get too serious, okay?” and he would rejoin with, “Of course not; it’s just casual.”

The words stung, no matter how hard I tried to brush them off.

“Hey, you okay?” Casey sidled up to me, her tray of empty glasses balanced on one hand.

I nodded quickly. “I’m fine.”

“Bullshit,” she challenged me, her voice low enough that no one else could hear.

“Whatever.” I sounded like a churlish teenager. “Business is good, isn’t it? Everyone is here to look at me and wonder or not wonder why Heath Falkner is interested in me.”

She gave me a long, knowing look. “He’s interested in you because you’re fantastic.”

I sighed. Casey barely knew me and was already on my side. We, from the wrong side of the tracks, often stuck together.

“You’d think I’d be used to it.” I looked at the drinks order from Table 10 and began to look for the ingredients to put together an Old Fashioned and a Mai Tai. “I’ve been gossiped about my whole life.”It was exhausting!

Casey’s expression softened. “Listen. People are always going to talk. They’re going to spin stories about you no matter what you do. Might as well give them something to talk about.”

I almost smiled at that. “Don’t you think I’ve had enough going on already? Between Jack and Molly,buying the Wildflower, and those private skiing lessons, it’s all shaping up to be the scandal of the century.”

“I’m saying you’re allowed to be happy,” she chimed. “If Heath makes you happy, then screw the rest of them.”

“I barely know the man, Casey.” This was at least true.

Before she could continue the conversation, thankfully, a man at the far end of the bar waved for a refill, and Casey took off.

The night got busier as it went on, and business was good—better than good. Every table was packed, and even the tourists were starting to notice the energy in the room.

I was happy to close the place down after the last call. Casey usually left around seven so she could put Mila to bed and relieve her babysitter, so it was just me…and Ben. Ben found me going through my computer and invoices for the day.

“Long night?” Ben sat on a barstool next to me, angled to the side to face me.

“Yeah.”

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