Angie took a step backward and swept her gaze down Emily Riley’s carefully made-up face, checking to see if Holly’s maid of honor needed more blush to counteract the redhead’s natural pallor.
Emily’s fair skin was clear and pretty; artfully applied eye shadow and mascara drew her expressive eyes to the forefront, and a bit of subtle contouring slimmed the girl’s rounded cheeks. A soft peach gloss kissed her wide, expressive lips, lips that smiled every time the girl sneaked a peek to the ruby and platinum heirloom ring gracing her left hand.
No, there wasn’t much more Emily needed in the way of cosmetics. A woman glowing with that kind of happiness didn’t need anything else. “Here, what do you think?” Angie asked as she handed Emily the mirror.
Emily looked at herself and grinned. “Jason’s gonna flip,” she said as her smile cranked up another notch or two. “Am I going to be this pretty next week when it’s my turn?”
“Prettier,” Angie promised as Patsy Riley leaned in and inspected her daughter’s face.
“Angie, she looks marvelous,” Patsy said. She motioned to Emily to vacate the stool and pointed to Cathy Flores, who was fiddling with the long glove she was hoping would conceal her prosthesis. “Your turn, Cathy.”
Angie lowered the stool and Cathy sank down, biting her lip a little as she looked down at the prosthesis where her right forearm and hand should be. “This damned thing is going to show no matter what I do, isn’t it?” She looked down at the device with consternation.
Angie shrugged as she started removing curlers from Cathy’s hair. “What difference does it make?” she asked as she drew a brush through Cathy’s thick, dark mane.
“Hey, it showed at your own wedding, you doofus.” Holly laughed as she came out of the changing room, her mother, Nadine on her heels. “And as much as this new one cost Uncle Sam, you ought to be proud to show the thing off.”
“That was my wedding and it didn’t have to be perfect. You’re marrying into Verde royalty and yours does.”
“Verde royalty? Hey, I like that,” Janelle Adamcik piped up. “Thanks, Cathy.” Jimmy’s mother was in the corner helping Carrie get into her flower-girl dress without disturbing the roses Angie had woven into the little girl’s dark curls.
“Cathy, don’t give it another thought,” Nadine said briskly. “As pretty as Angie’s going to have your face, nobody’s going to be looking at the hardware anyway.” Nadine peered critically at the burn scars down Cathy’s cheeks, the scars that Angie’s special foundation could pretty much conceal.
“Angie, I swear that foundation absolutely works miracles.” Nadine turned back to Cathy. “Just hide the arm behind the bouquet going down the aisle and then don’t worry about it. Now, since everything seems to be under control here, I need to make a run to the reception hall and touch base with the caterer and be sure they got my request for jalapeno poppers. Call my cell if you need anything.” She checked her watch and swept from the room.
Patsy’s lips twitched as she watched Nadine go. “Nadine is in her element today,” she said admiringly.
“What element is that? Running things?” Holly laughed. “Here, Patsy, help me get this dress zipped. Mom was supposed to do it but I guess the jalapeno poppers were more important. Gotta have those, man.”
Patsy obligingly zipped Holly’s wedding dress up the back. “Be glad you have someone as organized as Nadine to manage it all for you. I’m so nervous I hired a wedding planner for Emily’s.”
Holly shrugged. “To Mom this is just another venue for Jimmy to politic a little. I just hope she and Daddy don’t manage to tie up over something before the night is through.”
Patsy and Emily looked at each other and giggled. “I don’t see that happening,” Patsy said. “Not after the little come-to-Jesus talk Jimmy had with both of them last night.”
“Oh my God, what did Jimmy say to them?” Holly gasped.
“Just that he expected them both to behave, but he said it in that I-am-the-judge tone he’s been practicing lately and he had them both nodding.”
“It’s about damn time they behaved,” Cathy piped up. “No offense, Mrs. Riley. What are you doing with my hair, Angie?”
“Modified Gibson with a few curls down the sides of your face,” Angie said as she deftly pulled Cathy’s hair back and up and secured it in a loose, bouffant twist. She made quick work of the rest of the hairdo and reached into her makeup case for the vial of concealing foundation she mixed for Cathy. “Woman, you have the best hair,” Angie said. “If I didn’t know better I would think you were pregnant.”
“Not yet,” Cathy said. “We’ll go for it as soon as we’re out of that teeny little apartment of Beto’s and in a real house.”
“Well, in any event your hair’s gorgeous,” Angie said. “And now for your pretty face.” She quickly applied the foundation to Cathy’s face and smiled with satisfaction as the scars faded so as to be nearly invisible. “I’m going all out on the eye makeup,” she told Cathy as she highlighted the girl’s dark eyes with dramatic shadowing and thickened lashes. She deftly applied blush to contour Cathy’s cheeks just a little and tinted her lips in a dramatic plum.
“Wow,” Cathy said as she looked herself in Angie’s mirror. “To borrow a little from Emily, Beto’s gonna flip.” Her earlier insecurity gone, Cathy was positively glowing like the happy bride she had been since Christmas. “Angie, you outdid yourself.”
“Not yet, but I’m about to,” Angie said. “Holly, hop on up here and we’ll do you.”
Careful not to wrinkle her skirt, Holly obediently sat down on Angie’s stool and Angie put a fresh cape around her shoulders, and in the next thirty minutes Angie transformed Holly from her usual beautiful self to an absolute vision of loveliness. In a modification of Holly’s signature topknot, Angie pulled Holly’s thick auburn hair up and back into a dramatic swirl, with tendrils curling around her face and fat ringlets gracing the back of her head. A ring of fresh flowers replaced a traditional veil.
Holly’s complexion needed only the lightest layer of foundation, and a quick application of concealer covered the slightest of circles under her eyes. Dramatic yet subtle eye makeup had Holly’s golden-brown eyes gleaming, and with her cheekbones already practically perfect, Angie only applied a hint of color there. Cinnamon-tinged lip color and pure, unadulterated joy completed Holly’s wedding day look, Angie thought with satisfaction as she stepped back and eyed the wounded warrior. She was the picture of a beautiful bride, but she nevertheless would limp with every step she took down the aisle, courtesy of the shattered leg she brought home from Iraq. Angie admired Holly more than the woman would ever know—Holly and Cathy and Cathy’s husband Beto and Emily’s badly disfigured fiancé—for coming home with their lives in shambles and putting them back together. And she could identify. Buck had nearly destroyed her and Wade and the two of them had put their lives back together in a similar manner.
And they were all so happy, Angie thought a little wistfully as Nadine reappeared and motioned for the bridal party to follow her. Angie shut her makeup case, whipped off her brush belt and smock and swapped her low-heeled slippers for high-heeled sandals. She followed the women down the long hall and slipped into the sanctuary, where Caroline Briscoe and Jimmy’s campaign manager and old friend Misty Martinez were lining up the bridal party and riding herd on Caroline’s tuxedoed son, Ryan. Angie gave Caroline a thumbs-up and slipped down a side aisle to the pew where Wade and Emily’s fiancé, Jason Donahue, were saving her a seat.
“Well, did you get them all beautiful?” Jason teased quietly as the organist finished the last of the prelude music.
Angie reached out and squeezed the big, broad-shouldered young man’s scarred hand. “No, they look like a bunch of trolls,” she whispered back.
“Sort of like me, huh?” Jason’s bright blue eyes, shining out of a face practically obliterated by severe burn scars, snapped with mischief. Angie had flinched the first few times Wade’s former roommate made jokes about his altered appearance but now she was able to take his teasing in stride.
“Sometimes I wonder what that magic stuff you make for Cathy would do for me, but I’d have to give up my man card to wear it.”
“From the condition Emily’s in I’d say your man card’s alive and well,” Angie said dryly.
Jason said nothing but his eyes lit up with amusement and no little amount of pride.
Another happy ending, Angie thought wistfully as the organist began another piece and Holly’s twin half-brothers by Nadine’s second marriage took Nadine and Patsy down the aisle. Angie watched as the men in the bridal party—Reverend Walker, Jimmy, his best friend, Jack Briscoe and Russ—took their places in the front of the church, and Cathy and Emily came down the aisle, followed by Ryan Briscoe and Carrie Adamcik. But when it would have been time for the traditional bridal chorus to commence, the church fell silent and the minister handed Jimmy a handheld microphone.
Jimmy nodded and the organist began an introduction that Angie instantly recognized as the beautiful old Elvis Presley song “I Can’t Help Falling in Love with You.” Jimmy raised the microphone to his lips and as Holly and her father came down the aisle toward him he sang to Holly of his love for her.
Holly had tears in her eyes by the time she reached Jimmy, but her voice was clear as she took the microphone and sang the second verse to him. If the love shining on their faces was anything to go by, Jimmy and Holly were definitely looking at a life of happily ever after.
Dear God, why couldn’t she have had that with Buck? Angie thought as a blast of envy nearly knocked her off the pew. Why had things gone so sour for her? For the first time in a long time she let herself remember her own wedding day. Standing up in front of Father Herlihy, taking communion and reciting her vows while Wade clung to her hand, and later smiling and laughing while her family and friends toasted their future. Angie had been happy that day; at least she thought she was happy, but had she seen that kind of love on Buck’s face? Had she worn the same look of love and joy? She couldn’t remember for sure, but she honestly didn’t think so. She and Buck hadn’t loved one another like that. Things would have turned out differently if they had.
Angie forcefully pushed her memories aside and watched as Ben gave his daughter in matrimony and Carrie stepped up to Jimmy and ‘gave’ her daddy to Holly in marriage. Spotting the indulgent smile on Russ’s face as Carrie placed Jimmy’s hand into Holly’s, Angie wondered how Russ, who seemed so fond of Jimmy’s little girl, could be so adamant about not wanting children himself.
She let her gaze roam over Russ during the ceremony, taking in everything from the fresh buzz cut to the quirky half smile on his face to the way his shoulders filled out the expertly tailored tuxedo jacket. Angie’s gaze returned of its own volition to his sensuous lips as she relived the way they felt pressed up against her own and she wondered if she had been just plain stupid to turn him away. Couldn’t she go ahead and enjoy an affair with him? Or was getting involved with Russ Riley just asking for a world of trouble?
Jimmy and Holly were all smiles as they came back up the aisle. As Russ escorted Cathy, he spotted Angie and, much to her embarrassment, winked at her as he passed her pew. Angie felt her cheeks turning red as Jason and Wade both turned to her.
“Well, Wade,” Jason drawled wickedly, “Looks like Romeo’s figured out she’s your mama, not your girlfriend. Deputy Riley have a thing for you, ma’am?”
Angie turned even redder and Wade graced Jason with a look that would take rust off a pipe.
“I hope not. Well, Jason, are you ready to do this yourself next week?” Angie asked quickly before Wade could say anything.
Jason’s grin faded a little as he glanced across the aisle at an imperious-looking elderly couple exiting the church.
“I’m ready and I think the Rileys are, but her grandfather Harrington sure as hell didn’t roll out the red carpet. Old so-and-so came out and said I was marrying her for her money. Hell, I didn’t even know she had money. None of them ever let on that they did.”
“Which speaks well for them,” Angie said. “And I wouldn’t worry about the old grandpa. He’ll come around.” She stood up and took Jason and Wade by the hand. “Come on, you two; let’s get over to the Community Center. Nadine Hightower put this shindig together and you can bet there’s going to be a party!”
*****
Angie stood between the canapé table and the salad bar trying to decide which one she needed to visit first, when she felt a strong hand encircling her waist. “You look good enough to eat,” Russ said softly into her ear as he steered her toward the canapé table. “I had fantasies about that all through the ceremony.”
“Good grief, Russ, you are totally incorrigible,” Angie laughed.
She’d worked at looking good this evening, choosing a bright peach-colored sheath that hugged her curves to perfection, plunging low in the front and flaring to just below her knees. She was conscious of the warmth of Russ’s body next to hers as they loaded their plates with everything from jalapeno poppers to freshly carved roast beef to vegetable dippers to spicy gorditas cooked on a large metal grille.
“Caterer must be out of San Angelo,” Angie said as she helped herself to a couple of cubes of cheese. “We couldn’t put on something this fancy here in Verde if our lives depended on it.”
Russ shrugged. “A barbeque dinner out on the Heaven’s Point beach would have been just as nice. But if you think this is swanky, you ought to see what Mom and Grandma will be doing for Emily’s wedding next week. That one will make this look downright redneck.”
“Now you’re intimidating me,” Angie said as the young server placed a piece of roast in a roll and put it on her plate. “I’m working Emily’s wedding and Wade’s the best man. Do I need to buy him an etiquette book or something?”
“Oh, hell no,” Russ said. “Wade’s got better manners than any of those trust-fund babies.” He spotted a nearly empty table across the room and without giving Angie a choice steered her toward it and placed his heaping plate next to the chair she took. “I’ll get us some wine,” he said. “What’s your pleasure?”
“Dry white if they have it,” Angie said.
Russ disappeared and returned momentarily with the wine and an attractive young couple with a little boy about Carrie Adamcik’s age and an adorable little girl about two. Angie looked from Russ to the young man and back. “You two have to be related,” she said as she extended her hand to the man. “I’m Angie Baxter.”
“Angie, this is my cousin Kevin Harrington, his wife Tess and their children K.J. and Tina. Guys, Angie owns the soap and cosmetics shop there on the edge of the Point and she did the makeup for the bridal party today.”
“Pleased to meet you,” Kevin said as K.J. clambered up into Russ’s lap and Kevin slipped into the chair beside them. “Russ, you want me to take him?”
“No, my little buddy and I need to catch up a little,” Russ said easily. “So, K.J., tell me what’s been going on with your love life.” K.J. immediately began a story involving a little friend from his daycare.
“Angie, I am so glad to finally meet you. I just love your rosemary soap,” Tess said as she sat down with the little girl in her lap. “Aunt Patsy brought me a gift basket for my birthday and I’ll be ordering more. Are you coming to San Antonio for Emily’s wedding?”
“Yes. I’m doing the bridal party again and my son’s the best man,” Angie said.
“Wade’s your son? Boy, you look great,” Kevin said enthusiastically. “Tess, you better buy more of her stuff.”
“Thanks,” Tess said dryly. She turned to Angie. “Do you have anything that counteracts the mask of pregnancy? I’m barely two months along and I’m already getting blotchy and I hate going to court looking like that.”
“Congratulations,” Angie said warmly. “Yes, I do have a cream that will fade some of it. And I also have a foundation that will smooth out the rest. Are you an attorney?”
“We both are,” Kevin said. “Associates in the family firm, hopefully partners someday. Now if we could just get this reprobate on board…” Kevin’s eyes twinkled as Russ made a face.
“Not going to happen in my lifetime or yours,” Russ said sourly.
“And that’s a ridiculous damned shame,” a deep voice intonated right behind Angie. “Wasting your life, Russ, that’s what you’re doing.”
Angie jumped and she could feel Russ tense beside her. She turned around and was not surprised to see the imperious-looking old man, the one Jason pointed out as Russ’s grandfather Harrington, standing behind her, his trembling hand holding a quivering plate of food just inches from her hair.
“Here, let me help you with that,” Angie said as she reached up and rescued the unsteady plate and set it down in front of the empty chair next to her. “Won’t you join us?”
“Yes, please do,” Russ said dryly as his grandfather turned his unamused gaze on Angie. “Granddad, this is Angie Baxter. My grandfather, Sheldon Harrington.”
Never taking his eyes off Angie, Russ’s grandfather slid into the vacant chair. “I’m so glad to finally meet you,” Angie said. “Your daughter and granddaughters speak very fondly of you.” Refusing to let his attitude intimidate, Angie extended her hand.
“Granddad, Angie makes that wonderful soap grandma’s so fond of,” Kevin said. “She owns the shop outside the Point.”
The old man’s attitude seemed to soften a little. “I’m glad to meet you. Beatrice does love your soaps.” He looked around the table. “You’ve already met Kevin and Tess, I take it? They work for the law firm. Doing me proud, both of them. And raising such a nice family.”
“And that, Granddad, is why you don’t need me doing the same,” Russ said acerbically.
“Nonsense,” the old man shot back. “Harrington, Harrington, and Riley is a family firm, for heaven’s sake, and I need family in it if it’s going to stay that way. I need you, I need Emily, I need Holly—I need all of you. Instead, Holly’s married a small-town lawyer and is teaching school, you’re running around like Barney Fife, and Emily…she wants to be a scientist, for crying out loud. A scientist. Furthermore, just who the hell is this Jason Donahue she’s marrying next week? How do we know he’s not just after her money?”
Russ opened his mouth to speak but Angie beat him to it. “Mr. Harrington, I’ll be glad to tell you how,” Angie said, her smile big and her voice pure southern syrup but her eyes glittering with anger. “He’s one of my son’s best friends and a war hero. He damn near died in Iraq trying to save a little boy and came home to years of recuperation from his injuries and job discrimination because of the way he looks. And instead of sitting on his backside feeling sorry for himself, he and that face of his are meeting the public every day and he’s making a boatload of money selling cars and just built your granddaughter the thirty-five-hundred-square-foot house of her dreams. He didn’t even know Emily had money. None of us did. Furthermore, that little girl has a marvelous future ahead of her in science if that’s what she wants.”
“Boatload of money, huh? Marvelous future in science? I see.” Sheldon Harrington looked at Angie without expression. “And I suppose you have an opinion concerning Russ and Holly also?”
Angie figured, why not? She had probably already pissed the old man off past any redemption and it wouldn’t hurt him to hear a few more home truths.
“Holly’s making an enormous impact in the classroom and the kids in Verde are lucky to have her. And Russ? Where do you think Holly and Jimmy would be today if Russ hadn’t caught Chucky? Rural peace forces need talent desperately and Russ brings that to ours.” Angie stopped and took a deep breath. “And now that I’ve embarrassed myself thoroughly, I’ll take myself somewhere else and wish you all a good evening.”
Angie started to rise but stopped when Kevin and Tess applauded and Sheldon’s hand gripped hers. “Don’t you dare get up and go,” he said, his scowl fierce. “Not after delivering that one-two punch. I like you, girl.”
“You…you do?” Angie asked.
Sheldon finally allowed himself to crack a smile. “Can’t say I agree with all of it, but anybody that will come to the defense of a young man the way you just did and make me want to smile at the same time, I want to get to know better. Russ, go get her another glass of wine. Angie and I are going to have dinner together.”
*****
Interesting family dynamics, Angie thought an hour later as she helped herself to a piece of cheesecake and a couple of scrumptious brownies. Russ brought her the requested wine and over plates of Nadine’s fancy hors d’oeuvres, Sheldon Harrington held court for the better part of an hour. The old man was a bit snobbish, but at the same time he was as sharp as a tack and had a sly, somewhat wicked sense of humor that had her rolling in her chair.
Interestingly, none of the younger generation seemed particularly intimidated by him and Kevin and Tess engaged him in a lively debate over whether Kevin and Russ should invest their trust funds in the crumbling fishing resort on the tip of Heaven’s Point. After learning about Emily’s money, Angie was not surprised to find out that Russ also had a considerable trust fund but she was surprised to learn that except for an actual trust fund, Holly apparently enjoyed every other privilege and expectation of being a Harrington. Russ quickly nixed the idea of restoring the resort with Kevin and Tess but surprised everyone at the table, Angie included, when he said that he had something else in mind.
Sheldon finally excused himself and went in search of Russ’s grandmother. “Interesting old man,” Angie said. “I bet it’s a trip working for him.”
“Yep, and he’s not shy about working us hard,” Kevin said as he took Tess’s hand. “But to us it’s worth it. We want these kids to have everything and he’s made that possible.”
“I’m glad you feel that way,” Russ said, “since I so do not.”
“I can understand about not wanting to practice law, but what about kids, Russ? You don’t want children?” Tess asked as she cuddled Tina in her arms.
“No way under the shining sun,” Russ said firmly. “Just not my thing.” He started to say something more but apparently thought better of it. K.J. clambered off of Russ’s lap when Carrie Adamcik and Ryan Briscoe came to their table. “Hi, I’m Carrie and this is Ryan,” Carrie said to K.J.
“I’m K.J. Has Uncle Russ taken you airborne yet?” K.J. asked. “Uncle Russ, show them airborne.”
Russ pretended to look Ryan and Carrie over. “I don’t know, K.J., they’re awfully big.”
“Aw, come on, Uncle Russ. Puleeeze?”
“Well, if you put it that way.” Russ stood up and swung K.J. into his arms. “Airborne,” he said as he carefully tossed the little boy a couple of feet into the air and caught him as he came down. He then performed the same maneuver on Ryan, gently tossing the child into the air and catching him oh so carefully. Russ tossed K.J. and Ryan a couple more times before turning to Carrie. “You want to go airborne?”
Carrie took a step back and shook her head. “No,” she said, her eyes wide. “Everybody would see my panties!”
“Oh, my, I hadn’t thought of that,” Russ said, deadpan, as the adults fought not to laugh. “Tell you what. We’ll do airborne later when you have on a pair of shorts. Say, is it my imagination or does that little table over there have coloring books and colors just waiting for you to color me something pretty? Come on, I’ll take you over there.”
Tess waited until Russ was out of earshot before she turned to Angie and Kevin. “I just don’t get it,” she said a little indignantly. “Russ is wonderful with children. Why in the world doesn’t he want any of his own? Doesn’t he realize they would be the light of his life?”
“Don’t look at me for an answer,” Angie said. “I don’t get it either. Wade is certainly the light of mine.”
“His loss,” Kevin said as Ben Riley stepped to the podium accompanied by Nadine Hightower. They both looked uncomfortable but determined. “Will you look at that?” Kevin murmured as a startled hush fell over the crowd. “Hell just froze over.”
The next thirty minutes or so were filled with good wishes and toasts as family and friends, one at a time, stepped to the microphone and shared their memories of Holly and Jimmy. The couple was then roundly toasted, with the traditional ‘To the Bride’ ringing throughout the community center. Jimmy and Holly cut the cake and then it was time for the dances.
Russ slipped back into his chair beside Angie as Jimmy and Holly glided across the dance floor together. “Not bad, considering that she’s got that sorry leg and Jimmy has two left feet,” he commented as he slid his arm across the back of Angie’s chair. “It’s a shame about her leg. She used to be damned good when we were in high school. We even performed in the Cotillion dance troupe.”
“We?” Angie asked. “And what was the Cotillion dance troupe?”
“Yes, we. And the Cotillion dance troupe was a group of particularly good dancers from Cotillion who performed occasionally at events in San Antonio,” Russ said. “Rite of passage for the privileged kids. They drilled us in dancing and manners. How about you? Can you dance?”
Angie sniffed. “After four years in a performing arts high school? You better believe it.”
“So how about I take you out there in a few minutes and we’ll see just how the Cotillion boy stacks up against the girl from Glee?” Russ leaned over and asked, his arm brushing Angie’s back and his breath warm in her ear.
“You’re on,” Angie said, her eyes sparkling.
Holly and Jimmy finished their dance as a couple and danced with Ben and Janelle, and then the band leader called for everyone to come to the dance floor and went into an old swing number from the mid-nineteen-fifties.
“Okay, that’s us,” Russ said as he took Angie by the hand and practically dragged her to the dance floor. Other couples were also spilling onto the floor and Angie noticed that Jack and Caroline Briscoe already had their area of the floor cleared. “They’re good but we can do better,” Russ said as he swung Angie expertly into a forties-style jitterbug that would have made a swing dancer proud.
Damn, he was good, Angie thought as she fell into step with him, somehow knowing exactly what he was going to do almost before he knew it himself. Forward, back, around, under his arm, Russ was the dance partner of Angie’s dreams.
Light on his feet, his natural grace was never more evident than it was when he was on the dance floor. Angie’s feet came alive as she too showed off her quickness and grace as they danced to the lively music. They were perfectly matched in height and her curves were the perfect foil for his rock-solid muscularity.
Angie laughed out loud as Russ spun her under his arm and then managed somehow to swing under hers and then swung her around for another bouncing round. Angie was vaguely aware of the spot that had cleared for them and the admiring glances that were coming their way but mostly she was aware of the incredible delight of dancing with Russ Riley, and she was astonished when the song ended and she and Russ were treated to a hearty round of whistles and applause.
Russ looked at her and together they took a bow. With barely a break, the band launched into a slow, romantic ballad and Russ drew Angie into his arms as even more guests poured onto the floor.
Holding her close, he expertly guided her around as the soft, dreamy song wove its sensual magic and she let herself be caught up in its flow. Their bodies close, she was aware of his warmth, of every inch of his hard, muscled body, of the firm yet sensual feel of his fingers as they curved into her back and pressed her even closer to him.
Angie gave herself over to the feel of the man next to her, melting into his sensual embrace and resting her head on the top of his shoulder. Russ murmured something softly into her hair as they moved together, the other dancers forgotten as the two of them circled the crowded dance floor; just Angie and Russ and the music weaving a magic spell just for the two of them.
The ballad was over much too soon. They danced three more dances, lively numbers that had them hopping, and then Russ gestured to the table where Kevin and Tess were packing up their sleepy children.
“We’re sneaking out early,” Kevin explained while Tess gathered up the children’s paraphernalia and stuffed it into an oversized diaper bag. “We have to drive back tonight. We’ll see you both next week and I trust we’ll be treated to more dancing.”
“Yes, absolutely,” Angie said. “And it was lovely to meet you both.” Good-byes were said and Angie sank into her chair. “You are one hell of a dancer, Russ.”
“Thank you, my dear, I do aim to please.” Russ shot his cocky grin that faded somewhat when he spotted Abel Baxter headed in their direction.
“Oh, boy, here comes Abel the asshole,” he murmured under his breath. “Maybe he’s just going to the men’s room.”
“Nope, the men’s room is on the other side,” Angie said as Abel made a beeline toward the two of them. “He’s definitely coming over here. And from the look of him he’s enjoyed a little too much champagne.” Angie schooled her face into a pleasant expression as Abel made it the last few feet toward them.
“Hello, Abel,” she said. “Lovely wedding, isn’t it?” She stifled a sigh as Abel pulled out the chair next to her and plunked his massive body down into it.
Abel leered at Holly. “Bride’s a hot little number, isn’t she? Entire coaching staff gets a hard on every time she trots her sexy ass across the teacher’s lounge.”
Way, way too much champagne, Angie thought as Russ’s eyes narrowed dangerously. “Yes, Russ’s sister is certainly a beautiful woman,” Angie said quickly. “And Jimmy’s a lucky man. So, have you had a chance to see Wade since he got home for the summer?”
Abel nodded. “We had lunch last Saturday at the café. Kid seems to be doing all right. Says he’s working for Adamcik this summer.”
“He and Benny are part of the crew renovating the old farmhouse,” Angie said. “I’m glad he could find a summer job in Verde. It will be nice to have him around for another summer.”
“Around you, you mean,” Abel said, his lip curling. “He hasn’t been out to see his grandmother yet.”
“Actually, he saw her the first night he was home,” Angie said mildly. “But I’ll remind him to go see her again.”
“You do that. And while you’re at it, you might point out that, unlike you, we’re Wade’s blood kin and have more of a right to see him than you do. Which, according to his grandmother he doesn’t seem to understand.”
Damn the son of a bitch, anyway, Angie thought angrily as animosity poured off Abel in waves. He was drunk and just wanted to get under her skin and she would be damned if she just let him badger her.
“Actually, as Wade explained so clearly to his grandmother, he knows exactly who his kin is,” Angie said as she let herself smile just a little.
“Some kin,” Abel spat as he looked Angie up and down with contempt. “Even this here deputy can’t tell if you’re his mama or his sweetie. The question is whether or not Wade can.”
Angie stared at Abel, horrified at the implication. God damn him, she thought as Abel smirked at her.
“Uh, Mr. Baxter, is there any particular reason you came over here to insult your former sister-in-law?” Russ asked mildly. “Because I’m becoming more and more convinced that you have some pretty hostile feelings toward her, which then makes me wonder if I need to take another look at you for the baskets and the chicken coop fire.”
“Oh, really, you cocky little asshole?” Abel snarled back. “And maybe I should just punch you in the mouth. What do you say, deputy? Want me to throw a few punches your way? I could whip your ass in a New York minute and have a good time doing it.”
Angie sucked in her breath. Abel was just big enough and just drunk enough to do it.
Russ cocked his head and stared across the table. “Mr. Baxter, I’m sure you could, but do you really want to punch out a law enforcement officer in front of his boss, your boss, his uncle, the county judge, and half your students? Would it really be worth the embarrassment?”
Abel was silent for a moment. “Fuck you,” he said finally as he pulled himself up out of the chair. “Fuck you both.” He gave Angie one more blistering look before stomping across the floor and out the door.
Angie let go of the breath she had been holding. “Nice job defusing that idiot.”
Russ took a deep breath. “It’s always better to defuse a fight than to have one. My question is how in the hell did he even rate an invitation?”
“It’s customary for teachers to invite the entire faculty,” Angie said. She looked down and swore when she saw that her hands were shaking. “I let that son of a bitch get to me. Damn.”
“That son of a bitch would get to anybody,” Russ said quietly. He took Angie by the hand and pulled her to her feet. “Come on, the best antidote to Abel Baxter I can think of would be a little more dancing.”
Angie and Russ danced on and off for the next two hours. Angie liked the slow, dreamy dances best, dipping and swaying to the music as Russ held her curves close to his hard, masculine warmth.
Everything woman in her wanted to take Russ into her arms and kiss him again and feel the full tender sensuality of his lips feasting on hers, and again she asked herself, couldn’t she enjoy at least some kind of romance with him? Was she merely being prudent or was she being the biggest fool in Verde County?
They danced a final slow dance as Carrie and a couple of her little friends passed out tiny vials of soap-bubble water and the wedding guests sent the happy newlyweds out the door.
“They sure are in a big hurry to get out of here,” Angie said to Russ. “Do they have a plane to catch?”
“Nah, Holly said they were spending their wedding night in that fancy bed and breakfast up close to the dam and waiting on the real honeymoon until after Emily’s wedding. I think they’re just horny.” They looked at one another and laughed out loud.
Angie wondered if the party was over, but the band went right back to dance music and the younger guests went back out on the dance floor. “Jimmy hired the band until one this morning,” Russ said. “He really wants everybody to have a good time tonight.”
Russ left Angie’s side to say a round of goodnights to the older generation but reappeared as Angie was getting into her van. “I’ll follow you back to the Point,” he said without preamble.
“Okay.” Angie had pretty much put the thought of her inebriated brother-in-law out of her mind for the last couple of hours but now her anxiety roared back with a vengeance. “I don’t mind if you do.”
Russ pulled his big truck around and stuck to her like glue all the way back home.
Angie chewed her lower lip as she wondered if he would make his move and what she would do if he did. He still wanted her. He had been letting her know all evening; by the look in his eyes when he held her on the dance floor, by the feel of his arms as he held her close to dance, by the way he smiled at her in the dark. Russ wanted to take her to bed.
The only question that remained was whether or not she wanted him to.
He pulled up behind her van in the driveway and climbed out of his truck with a rifle in his hands.
“Let me check your house before you go in,” he said. Angie handed him her house key and while she got her rolling case out of her van, he unlocked the door and disappeared inside.
“All clear,” he said a moment later as he peeked out the front door. “Wade leaves his room as big a mess as I used to.”
“Used to? Your mom’s had a thing or two to say about the shape her lake house is in now that you live there,” Angie teased as she rolled her cosmetics case into the living room.
Ross grinned. “You know moms.” Angie nodded as Russ drew her into his arms. “I’ve wanted to do this since the minute I laid eyes on you in that sexy get-up this afternoon,” he murmured as his lips came down on hers.
Oh, my. Kissing him was every bit as wonderful as she remembered, she thought as he pulled her tight against his body and began a sensual assault that had her head spinning.
Hard, firm, warm, Russ made his desire for her plain as he opened his mouth and sought out the warmth of hers.
Touching, caressing, probing, his tongue caressed her lips before exploring further, tangling sensually with hers as he found her sweetness.
His arms were like steel around her body, pulling her so close there was no space whatsoever between them. Her breasts were crushed against the unrelenting muscles of his chest and the evidence of his desire poked firmly into the lower part of her stomach.
Angie was sure he could detect the telltale stiffening of her breasts that revealed her passion, too.
What was it about Russ Riley that made a simple kiss, one for which they were both standing and fully clothed, seem more sensual, more exciting than all the full-blown lovemaking she’d enjoyed in the past? What made this man’s kiss, his caress and the feel of his body, seem like so much more than she’d ever had before?
What made him so different?
What made him so special?
Russ pulled back slightly, not breaking off the kiss entirely, and she couldn’t help the whimper of protest that escaped her lips before he leaned down and swung her up and into his arms.
Backing up a few steps to her sofa, he gently sat down with her in his arms and angled her so that her feet were stretched out on the pillowy cushions.
“Kick off those feet-killers,” he suggested against her lips.
Grateful for the suggestion, Angie kicked first one shoe and then the other halfway across the room.
“Aah, that’s better,” she admitted as she wound her arms around Russ’s neck.
He reached out and caressed her calf.
“Good girl, no pantyhose,” he said as the touch of his fingers against her bare skin sent shockwaves up her body, further tightening her already sensitive nipples and setting fire to the core of her femininity.
He let his hand drift even higher, up her leg to her knee and then up even further, caressing her inner thigh.
Angie knew that if his fingers drifted even higher she was going to do nothing to stop him. Her hands moved from his neck to his shoulders, exploring his strength and hardness, and then down the firm, well-developed muscles of his chest, greedy to touch him even more intimately.
Russ’s eyes traveled from her face to her breasts, where her taut nipples had to be clearly visible under the tight sheer fabric. In a manner that was sensual and almost lazy at the same time, he bent down to caress one stiffened peak with his lips, teasing her through the thin material covering.
“Beautiful, just beautiful,” he murmured as her body responded to his meticulous ministrations. “You are a beautiful woman, Angie. Beautiful and warm and so very feminine. And I want you. I want you very much. Do you want me, Angie? Do you want to make love with me?”
“What?” she asked, staring at him through passion-clouded eyes as her fuddled brain struggled to understand.
“Do you want me to make love to you?” Russ asked, his eyes warm and slumberous as he stared at her.
Did she?
“Why did you stop?” she asked petulantly as the cold water of reality began to trickle through her passion-clouded thoughts.
Russ planted a tender kiss on her lips. “I try to never take advantage of the moment,” he said gently. “I want my ladies to look me in the eye and tell me they want me.”
Ladies.
And therein was the problem.
Russ had been with a string of ladies, a long one if his reputation was anything to go by. Did Angie want to become the next in an unending line of Russ Riley’s lovers?
“Uh, I don’t think so,” she said as she scrambled off his lap and desperately tried to straighten her rumpled dress. “I don’t want to make love with you. I don’t want to get involved with you. No, I don’t.” Yes, yes I do but I’m scared, her inner voice screamed.
Russ got up off the sofa more slowly, his grin sensuous and a little bit cocky. “Oh, but you do want to make love with me. And we are involved, Angie,” he said softly as he leaned over and gave her a warm, tender kiss on her lips. “We just haven’t been to bed together. Not yet. But we will.” He turned to leave and said over his shoulder, “Night, Angie.”
The door clicked quietly behind him.
Damn it, she was either the biggest coward or the biggest fool in Verde County, she thought disgustedly as she stomped barefoot to the kitchen where she poured herself a really big glass of wine.
She started to sit back down on the sofa, but it was still warm from their intimately entwined bodies. Rather than sit where she could still feel the heat of their unconsummated passion, she yanked open the front door and sat down in the metal loveseat on her small front porch.
Without meaning to or wanting to, she looked down the street, where Russ’s big pickup sat in the circular driveway and a single light shone out of the back bedroom.
Angie tore her eyes from his bedroom window and she stared at the small sliver of Lake Templeton she could see between the houses that were situated between her front porch and the lake.
Fool, fool, fool, she thought as her eyes involuntarily crept back to the Riley house. She wanted him; he wanted her. What difference would all those women make? It wasn’t like she expected or even wanted a ring or a promise. An affair, a discreet little fling, a few months of enjoying one another with no expectations of anything more to come. That’s all it would be.
So why did the thought of having a fling with Russ scare her down to her bones?
*****
Russ yawned and buzzed down the window of his cruiser as he sipped the hot black coffee in his thermos, trying to ignore the faint arousal he still felt from having Angie Baxter in his arms last night. He had been so close; they had been so close, and a part of Russ sincerely wished he’d gone on and just seduced his beautiful neighbor, but then morning would have come and if she regretted her night of passion with him, it would not make his being her neighbor particularly pleasant.
So, as much as he wanted the lady, he would wait until she came to him, clear-headed and willing. And she would come to him eventually, glad to be in his arms—he was quite certain of that.
They would have their fling, short, sweet, and fun, and their involvement would go absolutely no further. He was quite certain of that because that was the way it had to be.
He was about to take the last turn that would take him into Verde when the radio in his squad car squawked.
“Deputy Riley, there’s been another of Angie’s baskets left at Jimmy and Holly’s house. They just got back from the bed and breakfast and found it on the front porch,” Verna the dispatcher said, her normally cheery voice clipped and terse. “The house was trashed. Badly.”
“I’m on it. Contact Jimmy and tell him to treat the entire house as a crime scene,” Russ said. He made a U-turn and made it back to Heaven’s Point in record time. He found Jimmy and Holly sitting out on the front porch, Holly looking miserable and sipping a bottle of carbonated water and Jimmy absolutely furious. Carrie was running up and down the sidewalk. “Uncle Russ. Napoleon won’t come out and Daddy and Holly won’t let me go in the house to look for him. Holly said maybe you could find him.”
“I’ll sure try, honeybun.” He snapped on a pair of gloves as he stepped up on the porch. “What’s it look like in there?”
“I don’t know. I had to get out of there,” Holly said as she slowly sipped the cold soda. “What a wedding present.”
“Spray paint on every wall in the house,” Jimmy said grimly. “Pink streamers and confetti all over everything. Carpet’s ruined, hardwood floors are a mess. Paint all over the leather sofa and chairs. Jesus, they even painted the damn Jacuzzi jets. Even with insurance it’s going to cost a fortune to clean up, and I’m sure most of the furniture’s history.”
“When were you last in the house?” Russ asked as he sat down on the front step and powered up his tablet.
“I locked up yesterday about three. We went straight from the church to the bed and breakfast. We picked Carrie up this morning and came home and found this. I guess it happened sometime last night; I don’t know how in the hell they got past the alarm system.”
“Let’s go find out.” Leaving Holly on the porch, Russ followed Jimmy to the alarm panel on the back wall. “Well, there’s your answer. It was disabled—expertly disabled—at three this morning according to the internal clock. Late enough to give all your neighbors time to get home from your wedding and go to bed. And it was done by somebody who knew what the hell he or she was doing.”
Jimmy looked closely at the alarm system. “Are you thinking what I’m thinking?”
“What, that a lot of people in the military or who’ve been in the military could have done this? Or somebody, God help us, with experience in setting explosives? Sure am,” Russ said. “But does that fit with the kind of vandalism inside your house? From what you said that sounds like Revenge of the Airheads.”
“Go on in and take a look for yourself. And while you’re at it, if you can find Napoleon I’ll forever be in your debt. In the meantime I’m going to turn on the air in Holly’s little house.”
Russ stepped into Jimmy’s foyer, carefully skirting the basket sitting in the middle of the floor, and whistled under his breath. He put a call into Verna—even with help this scene was going to take hours to process.
He walked slowly through the house. Although this incident was definitely related to the debacle out at the Pucketts’ place, the feel of the crime was different. And there was a definite disconnect, he thought as he took in the bright swipes of pink paint stretching across the walls and the floors and the furniture. A couple of them, actually. This was not another half-assed, poorly carried-out attack like the chicken coop. That alarm had been disabled professionally. But the actual vandalism, while extremely damaging to the Adamcik home, was a whimsical attack with pink spray paint. Russ’s investigative instincts perked up as he again looked around at the vandalized house. Was there more than one vandal involved in the two attacks?
Russ went through the house slowly, making preliminary notes here and there and looking under the furniture and behind the drapes, hoping to find Carrie’s little kitten. He had made it almost all the way through the house and was going through one of the guest rooms when he heard a quiet, whimpering mew coming from under the bed. Russ got down on his knees and flipped the bedspread up and aimed the beam of his pocket flashlight toward the sound. “Oh, no,” he said tiredly when a pink spray-painted Napoleon stared weakly into the light. “Damn, Napoleon, all that shit will kill you, little cat.”
Ignoring Napoleon’s sharp little claws, Russ pulled the terrified animal out from under the bed and ran down the stairs and out of the house with the kitten cradled in his arms. Helen and Jesse had just pulled up, and Rory, carrying his evidence kit, walked over from his house. Lisa walked beside him carrying a thermos and Styrofoam cups. Carrie let out a squeal and ran toward Russ. “You found Napoleon!”
“Yes, I did. No, you mustn’t touch him right now,” Russ said as Jimmy and Holly stood up to inspect the kitten. “All this paint wouldn’t be good for you. Or you either, Holly,” he said when Holly reached for the little cat. “Maybe Jimmy can get a towel from my place to wrap this little fellow in.”
Jimmy loped across the street. Helen and Jesse got out their evidence kits and the three other deputies disappeared inside Jimmy’s house. Still cradling the kitten in one arm, Russ carried the basket from the foyer and sat it down beside Holly. Carefully, he pulled the paint-smeared cellophane aside. “Okay, Holly, take a look in the basket and tell me if you use any of these products.”
Holly looked down at the products in the basket. “This is interesting. I don’t use anything in there but the face lotion, but I have used a couple of Angie’s products that are either similar to these or updated versions. And look. They put in an older bottle of the concealing foundation Angie makes for scarring.” She turned startled eyes on Russ. “So what is this telling you?”
“That whoever put that basket together knows you in passing, but not well. They associate you with the special foundation but don’t know you well enough to know you don’t use it. They know you like a certain type of fragrance but don’t know you well enough to nail it. All of which I will make note of as soon as my hands are free.”
Jimmy crossed the street with a towel and Russ wrapped up the tiny paint-covered kitten and handed him to Jimmy. Lisa set the thermos and cups on the front porch. “Here’s coffee for everybody,” she said. “Rory said it would take all day to process the place.” She glanced toward Angie’s house. “Does Angie know?”
“I’m taking the basket over to her in a moment.”
Lisa’s eyes were shrewd as she looked at Russ and Holly. “This is being done as a roundabout attack on Angie.”
“That is the assumption I’m making,” Russ said. “Both Ida Puckett and Holly are known to be loyal customers.”
Holly’s jaw tightened. “Well, it’s not going to work on me. I’m still going to shop with her, pink spray paint or no.”
Russ looked at Jimmy. “It’s too late for us anyway,” Jimmy said. “The ones Angie needs to worry about are all the folks who look at us and the Pucketts and decide they don’t want to join our ranks.”
Russ nodded. “Unfortunately, Jimmy, I’m very much afraid you’re right. Damn, I’m sorry about this, Holly,” he said, sighing inwardly as another cruiser pulled up and Denton got out with his evidence kit. It would take hours to process the sprawling two-story house and he had yet to take the basket and show it to Angie. “Have you gotten the air on yet at Holly’s place?” he asked. “You may as well go on over and settle in. From the looks of this you may be at Holly’s a good long while.”