Page 34 of Tempting Fate
Gabe watched him preen like a peacock and affected his best Billy Crystal impression. “You look marvelous. Ready to do this?”
“Never been more ready in my life.” Logan got the same look on his face that he did while free falling during a HALO parachute jump. Pure adrenaline rush. “Hey, do me a favor and check on Annie.”
“You afraid she’s finally come to her senses?” Gabe mussed Logan’s hair and took the long staircase up to the bridal suite.
His best friend was getting married. Every time he came to the realization it jolted him like an exposed electrical wire. Not the part about sleeping with the same woman for life—if she was the right woman that could be nice. It was the overwhelming responsibility of keeping someone happy. He’d tried before and hadn’t been up to the task. The results had been devastating. Another reason to avoid unhinged women.
“Everyone decent?” Gabe knocked.
“Come in,” Annie called and opened the door.
“Look at you.” Gabe spun her around. The dress, white lace and poufy, was the most conventional thing Annie had ever worn. “Where’s the combat boots?”
“I’m saving them for the honeymoon.”
Gabe grinned, knowing that Logan loved those combat boots.
Raylene came out of the bathroom and he sucked in a breath. She looked like sex in Western wear and he felt his blood travel south. Her blond hair had been curled till ringlets bounced down her back. And her dress was an off-the-shoulder lacy number that showed a good amount of thigh. But what really got him were the white cowboy boots. Dallas Cowboy cheerleader meets a Boot Barn ad.
He held her steady blue gaze, but he didn’t see confidence there—she looked as if she wished she could fade into the carpet.You made your own bed, sweet cheeks. Yet part of him—probably the part between his legs—felt sorry for her. The evening wasn’t going to be easy, and if he were Raylene he would’ve worn a flak jacket under that dress. She’d need it.
Chapter 10
Drew gazed around the Ponderosa while Kristy was in the bathroom. It was only their second time dining in the restaurant. The first had been with Harper. An evening of bowling, then hot fudge sundaes. The place didn’t seem as crowded as usual. Then again, it was late for lunch and early for dinner.
Drew liked the quiet, anyway. In the Bay Area you were hard pressed to find a table at a good restaurant without a reservation, let alone one where the acoustics didn’t make the place sound like a rave. Even though the Ponderosa was the only sit-down restaurant in town, it was fairly decent. Simple food done well, with friendly service.
Before meeting Emily he’d been content to eat frozen dinners and bad takeout. His ex-wife was a cookbook author and a phenomenal chef. Another thing Kristy felt threatened by. These days, it didn’t take much.
When he’d first started seeing her she’d been his rock. The first two years after his daughter’s disappearance had been so bleak that there were days when he didn’t know how he’d go on. Emily had fallen into such deep despair that they barely said two words to each other that didn’t have to do with Hope’s disappearance. They hired private investigators, did media interviews, and followed up on every lead, no matter how preposterous. And at the end of the day, they were so exhausted, so distraught, that there wasn’t any energy left for their marriage. In the third year they divorced, and in one fell swoop, he lost his daughter and his wife, the love of his life.
Then he met Kristy and she made him live again. The pain of losing a child never subsided, but he no longer felt suffocated by grief. He didn’t have to face it every morning by watching Emily, once a vibrant woman, wither away to nothing. With Kristy he laughed, and little by little he healed.
And now their relationship had taken a hit, and he worried that it might not survive.
“Apparently, the place is empty because of the wedding.” Kristy returned to the table and took her seat. She motioned to the street. “It’s at the big Victorian inn…what’s it called again?”
“The Lumber Baron.”
“I heard two women in the restroom talking about it. The reception’s at a farm stand near McCreedy Ranch. That’s different.”
“Sounds interesting…nice.”
“Want to crash?” She was kidding of course, but for a second Drew caught a glimpse of the old Kristy. Just as quickly, her expression drooped, losing its twinkle of mischief.
“Why not? Who would know we weren’t invited?”
“Uh, the bride and groom.”
A waiter came and took their orders. Drew chose a bottle of wine for the table. For a country saloon, it had a rather nice list, including some of their favorite cabernets from the Napa Valley.
“What did the police chief say about your sighting?”
They hadn’t discussed it on the drive over. Kristy had been consumed with a text her paralegal had sent her. And she’d made it perfectly clear she thought he was acting irrationally to have called the police in the first place. The chief hadn’t thought so, though. Either that or he was a good actor.
“He said it was good that I went with my gut.” The wine came and the waiter poured them both a glass. When he left, Drew said, “He took the backpack and the canteen.”
She didn’t say anything, staring off into the distance. “Is Harper staying with us tonight?”
