Page 9 of Tempting Fate
Annie Sparks, soon to be Jenkins, was Mother Teresa. If Raylene’s brother ever hurt his wife, she would personally kill him. The thing was, he wouldn’t. Ever. Logan was as good as Annie, and why these two kind souls had taken her in, Raylene would never know.
“You go first.” She nudged him.
“Nope, age before beauty.” But he took her hand and they walked into the dining room together.
Maybe it was Raylene’s imagination, but she could’ve sworn there was a gasp from someone sitting at one of the banquet tables that had been lined up from one end of the room to the other and draped in mismatched linens. Annie waved to Raylene from across the room, pointing to an empty chair.
To get there, though, Raylene would have to run the gauntlet. Gabe squeezed her hand and led her through the dining room.
“Thank you,” she whispered and sank into her seat between Annie and her brother.
Gabe took the chair across from her. It was as if they’d formed a protective wall around her.
“The tables look great,” Raylene told Annie for the sake of something to say. But the truth was she liked Annie’s quirky style, a combination of thrift store, farmhouse, and shabby chic. She’d grown up in a house where even the candles had to match the china.
“They do, don’t they? Everyone brought stuff, including Emily, who has a treasure trove of tablecloths and dishes.”
“Hello,” Emily said from across the table. Her voice was far from friendly and her smile didn’t quite reach her eyes. “I don’t think we’ve officially met.”
Emily wasn’t originally from Nugget. She was a cookbook author and was now married to Clay McCreedy. Raylene knew that because the McCreedys had been the Rossers’ closest neighbors before her father had been forced to sell the ranch to pay his defense lawyers. Like Ray, Clay was a cattle rancher.
Raylene cleared her throat. “I was happy to hear the news about your daughter.”
“It was our Christmas miracle,” Emily said, and turned to look at the end of the table where a group of children sat.
Raylene didn’t know the whole story, only that Emily’s little girl was abducted years ago and had recently been found living with a dying woman in Idaho. Unsure what was appropriate to discuss at the dinner table, she left the topic alone.
Out of the side of her eye, she saw Gabe watching her. “What?” she whispered.
“Nothing.” He filled her glass with pinot noir. “Pass the potatoes, would you?”
She handed him the huge crockery bowl and tried to ignore the red wine that seemed to be pleading with her to drink it.
“I hear you live in Santa Monica,” Annie’s brother, Chad, said. “I’m thinking of opening a restaurant there.”
The area had more restaurants than one person could eat at in a year. Even more than her old trendy neighborhood in Denver. “Really?”
“Good demographics.” He grabbed a roll and seemed to remember his manners. “You want one?”
“No, thank you.”
The guests who sat directly near her proceeded to make small talk. Raylene noted that most of them were either newcomers or from out of town, while the old timers sat at the other end of the table. Raylene was sure Annie had planned it that way. Another reason to love her soon-to-be sister-in-law.
She got into a lengthy discussion with Annie’s father about rice farming. Although her family’s specialty was livestock, she knew enough to keep up. A few times, she caught Harlee Roberts, owner of theNugget Tribune, staring daggers at her. Harlee was besties with Tawny, so it stood to reason that she hated Raylene’s guts.
She checked the clock on the fireplace mantel. It was only five minutes past the last time she’d looked.
“Relax.” Gabe had switched to her side of the table, grabbing Logan’s chair while her brother and Annie made the rounds, talking with their guests.
“I am.”
“Could’ve fooled me.” He stabbed a piece of steak on her plate with his fork and put it in his mouth. “That was nice, what you said to Emily.”
“I’m not a complete ogre.” When the story hit the news, Raylene had cried. She noted that Emily had gotten up to talk to Donna and asked, “Is the little girl okay?”
“Yeah. I mean it’s been a hard transition, but physically…she’s fine.”
“How did they find her?”
