Page 37 of Tempting Fate
“You did it on purpose.” Cecilia rushed to Tawny’s side, and even with the din of the crowded room people heard her and their heads began to turn. A server brought towels, and Cecilia used them to pat Tawny’s dress dry.
“No, I didn’t, I swear.” She’d been so busy scanning the room for Gabe that she hadn’t been paying attention. “It was an accident.”
“Of course you did.” Cecilia’s face twisted with anger and she said something in Spanish Raylene couldn’t understand. But it wasn’t good. “In a room packed with people, you just happen to bump into Tawny? You expect us to believe that wasn’t intentional?”
“Mom.” Lucky held his hand up. “Not here, not now.”
“I’ll pay for the dress to be professionally cleaned,” Raylene said. Everyone was staring to see what the commotion was, and Raylene wanted to die. She wanted to fade into the woodwork and disappear. But she wouldn’t cower—the Rosser in her wouldn’t let her. She put steel to her spine and, with as much grace as she could muster under the circumstances, said, “Please, just send me the bill.”
“You’re damned right you’ll pay. And if the stains don’t come out, you’ll buy her a new dress. You’re the same old Raylene.Desgraciada.”
“Mom, enough.” Lucky got between them.
At only a few inches taller than Raylene, he was still an imposing man. Despite his jaw-dropping good looks, she didn’t feel her old attraction for him, only a hint of nostalgia. And a deep remorse for the things she’d done and the pain she’d caused.
Raylene’s eyes met Tawny’s, and suddenly they were back in high school. Raylene the mean girl and Tawny, awkward, skinny Thelma Wade.
“I am truly sorry,” Raylene said, and there was a world of meaning in those words. Because she was sorry for all of it.
Gabe pushed through the crowd, and she didn’t know whether to feel relief or doubly embarrassed that he might’ve witnessed the scene. At the very least, someone had alerted him to it and told him to run interference and clean up Raylene’s mess.
Just don’t turn Logan and Annie’s wedding into your personal drama.His words rang in her ears.
And here she was, on stage, being bitch slapped by Cecilia, the woman who’d practically raised Raylene, for the whole town to see. Raylene’s stomach pitched.
“We all good here?” Gabe directed the question at Lucky, the context clear:Make this go away, now!
That was the thing about Gabe, he was commanding in the most charming of ways. But Cecilia had never been one to be bulldozed, by a charmer or anyone else. She got up in his face as much as a woman half his size could.
“She owes Tawny a dress.”
Gabe draped his arm around Cecilia’s shoulders. “I’ll make sure that happens. You have my word.”
“I trust your word, Gabe, not hers. And she’s the one at fault here.”
Cecilia’s husband joined the fray and Raylene’s heart sunk lower. Jake Stryker was the cop she’d mouthed off to a few years ago at the Gas and Go when she’d been back in town—drunk and belligerent.
Do you know who I am? Yep, she’d actually said that. Embarrassment from the memory burned her cheeks.
“Let’s take it down a notch.” Jake herded them into a corner, where they’d be out of earshot of the rest of the guests, and pierced Raylene with a stern look. “No need to disrupt Logan and Annie’s wedding reception.”
Gabe stepped in front of her. “The wine was an accident, Jake. The space is tight, and I’m sure Raylene isn’t the only person to have bumped into someone. She’ll take care of Tawny’s dress first thing tomorrow. Now can we all get back to having a good time?”
Cecilia started to say something but Jake stopped her. “That’s an excellent idea.” He put his hand at the small of his wife’s back and directed her toward the buffet table, leaving the four of them alone.
Lucky draped his jacket over Tawny’s shoulders, doing his best to cover the red splatters on her emerald green dress. The dress matched her eyes to a tee and not for the first time, Raylene noted how much Tawny had changed. No longer a gangly outcast, she was as gorgeous as the boots she made. Sophisticated and sparkly enough for everyone in the room to take notice, but not so glittery to be garish.
Tawny linked her arm through Lucky’s and they started to walk away. Then Lucky turned back to Raylene, and through gritted teeth said, “Don’t bother with my wife’s dress, just do us all a favor and leave Nugget. The sooner the better, before you poison us all.”
It was no less than she deserved, yet the words caught her off guard and she could feel her body tremble. She searched for a door, any door, the impulse to run so urgent she’d go through a window if she had to.
Sensing her desperation, Gabe gently reached for her arm.
“I need some air.” Either that or a drink. Or two or three. The temptation was so strong it came over her in waves. Just one sip, she told herself, anticipating the warmth that would spread through her chest and stomach. How just one swallow would melt the tenseness away and then, sweet release.
“I’ll go with you.”
“No, stay. Logan might need you for something.” Nick was the best man, but Gabe was Logan’s right hand.
