by Terri Osburn
“I’m a happy girl, I guess,” she said with a wink, which was completely out of character for her. She blamed Spencer for the change. “A little hungry there?” she asked, watching Mike maneuver a cheeseburger and fries, funnel cake, and giant soda onto the table.
Mike tucked a napkin into the collar of his dark blue T-shirt. It was odd to see him looking so casual, since he wore Western button-up shirts to work every day. They’d had dinner on Tuesday evening to talk about their newly discovered connection, and discussed whether or not to share the information publicly.
Both had agreed that keeping the truth to themselves would be best until they’d gotten to know each other better. Though Mike had been less adamant about keeping the secret, Lorelei had convinced him that the locals might start treating him differently if they found out. She wouldn’t let that happen.
And in the end, it was really none of their business.
“At my age,” Mike said with a fry in his mouth, “a man can’t eat like this often unless he wants to buy stock in an antacid supplier. Festivals and fairs are the only times I let myself splurge, and if I’m going to suffer, it might as well be worth it.”
“You make yourself sound ancient.” She didn’t want to think of Mike as old. That implied she might not have much time with him, and she’d lost too much already.
Taking a large bite of the burger, his eyes closed as a look of ecstasy crossed his features. “So good,” he murmured, once he’d swallowed. “I’ve still got a good bit of years left in me, but you’ll learn soon enough. At a certain point, you can’t eat like a kid anymore. At least not all the time.”
Lorelei eyed the fries in front of her. She’d gone without the bad-for-you stuff for years out in LA. Heaven forbid she put on a pound, or get a pimple the night before an audition. There were no auditions to worry about now, and if her chance to enjoy some edible decadence was running out, then she’d better take advantage of the time she had left.
After dipping two fries into the dollop of ketchup, Lorelei popped them into her mouth. Mike was right. Splurging now and then was totally necessary.
“So why are you sitting here all alone?” Mike asked, looking around the area. “Shouldn’t you be eating with Spencer?”
She hadn’t mentioned what was going on between her high school sweetheart and herself, but everyone seemed to know anyway. It could have been the fact that they’d spent the last two nights taking in the festivities while barely keeping their hands off each other. Their public displays of affection had earned them some hard looks, but others appeared genuinely happy for them.
“Alas,” she said, “Spencer is answering the call of duty. He’s working the Ruby Restoration booth trying to recruit new members to the cause.”
“Speaking of that, did you ever come up with a good fund-raising idea?”
“I did.” Lorelei dipped two more fries in the ketchup. “I suggested we throw one of these,” she said, waving the fries to indicate what was going on around them.
“A festival?” he asked, wiping a drop of mustard off his cheek.
“Yep. But this one in the fall and located at the Ruby. I still have to put a presentation together, but I can practically see it all in my mind.” Wiping her hands on her napkin, Lorelei propped her elbows on the table. “I’m hoping to bring in a performer from Nashville. Someone who could draw a crowd, but that we could still afford without losing all the money we manage to raise. You have any connections that could help me out?”
Mike sipped at his drink while contemplating her question. “I could make some calls, but the only acts you could afford are likely to be unknowns. Which means they won’t pull in much of an audience.”
Not the answer she’d been hoping for. “That wouldn’t do us much good then. No better-known-but-partially-retired types?”
Her dinner partner’s face lit up. “There’s Wes.”
“Wes who?” Lorelei asked.
“Wes Tillman. He lives up here now.”
Lorelei’s jaw dropped. “The Wes Tillman lives in Ardent Springs? How have I not heard about this before?”
“Technically, he lives outside the town limits, but still in Robertson County. He married Harley Dandridge last year and moved up this way.”
“A country singer married our small-town radio DJ?” Come to think of it, that wasn’t such a big surprise. “I guess that makes sense, but how did they meet?”
“Wes played the county fair last August. I guess they’d known each other years before, at the start of his career, so it’s a bit of a reunion story.”
Kind of like Lorelei and Spencer. So maybe a second time around could work out.
“I jammed with him a couple times this past winter. He does an acoustic set at Second Chance Saloon once a month. Harley’s cousin owns the place, so Wes brings in the occasional crowd and gets a chance to dust off the cobwebs.”
“Color me impressed.” Her father played music with Wes Tillman. The long, tall cowboy of country music. Not that Lorelei was a huge fan of the genre, but everyone knew who Wes Tillman was. “Do you think he’d do it?”
Mike shrugged. “He wouldn’t have to go far, and seeing as it’s for charity, I don’t see why not.”
“Could you call him for me? It would be incredible if I had a go from a big-name performer when I give the presentation.” She could picture Jebediah Winkle swallowing his own tongue when she received approval from the committee. No way would they turn down the idea if she already had a top headliner ready to play.
“I’ll give him a call tomorrow,” Mike said, digging into his fries.
In a fit of excitement, Lorelei hopped out of her seat and rounded the table to throw her arms around Mike’s shoulders. As he gave her arm a squeeze in return, she couldn’t help but smile. She’d have hugged him no matter what at the news that he would help get Wes Tillman for her festival, as she’d begun thinking of it, but the fact that she was also hugging her dad was pretty cool, too.
“I knew it,” screeched a voice from somewhere behind Lorelei.
She and Mike both spun around to find a seething Becky Winkle pointing an angry finger and barreling in their direction.
Life was good. Or so Spencer thought, until he spotted Mayor Winkle heading his way, with Grady Evans right behind him.
“We need a word with you, Boyd,” the mayor said as he reached the Ruby Restoration booth.
“Yeah, that’s right,” Grady said, like some kind of lapdog cheerleader there to wave pom-poms behind his trusty leader’s head.
As he was speaking to a possible new recruit for the committee, they would have to wait. “One minute, gentlemen.” Taking his time, he continued explaining to Jacqueline Forbes, a woman who looked to be in her midthirties who’d recently returned to town, the mission of the committee. Though tentative and somewhat shy, she showed interest and agreed to attend the next meeting.
Spencer didn’t have time to enjoy the small victory as the Bobbsey twins were waiting impatiently when he turned their way.
“How can I help you, Mayor?” he asked, ignoring Grady completely.
“We have an issue with this fund-raising festival Ms. Pratchett has proposed.” Jebediah locked his hands on his hips, and Grady imitated the stance behind him. Spencer struggled not to roll his eyes.
“Mayor, we’ve been over this. There hasn’t been an official proposal. How can you have an issue with something that doesn’t exist yet?”
“Well,” Winkle started, nodding toward his brainless puppet, “Grady has brought it to my attention that a fall event could conflict with our county fair. That fair is a big earner for our local 4-H club, and we don’t want to cause them to lose out for a restoration that might never happen.”
Good to know what little faith the mayor had in their efforts. “The county fair covers ten days in September. The festival would last two days, according to Lorelei’s suggestion last Friday, and I’m sure there wouldn’t be a problem scheduling it around the fair to prevent any co
nflicts.”
The two men looked at each other as if searching for another point to argue.
“We’re not moving the fair,” Grady said, as if Spencer had suggested they should.
“Didn’t expect you to,” Spencer replied. “So the issue is settled then. Now if you’ll excuse me.” Turning to an older couple standing near the far corner of the booth, he dismissed the pair from his mind. Only they didn’t take the hint.
“Now wait a minute,” Jebediah said. “What about parking?”
This time Spencer did roll his eyes before turning back around. “What about parking?”
“Where are people going to park?”
Leaning his hands on the table between them, Spencer lowered his voice. “I’m going to say this one more time. The official presentation for the festival has not been seen or heard yet. If you want to ask questions at the meeting once Lorelei has shared the plans, that’s fine.” Staring hard into Jebediah’s eyes, he added, “But if you think you’re going to run interference on this idea simply because you have some ungrounded grudge against the person who came up with it, you won’t only find yourself off this committee, but I’ll do everything in my power to get your self-righteous ass out of office. Do we understand each other?”
A flash of comprehension crossed the mayor’s face. He knew Spencer wouldn’t make an empty threat, and he also knew he lacked the popularity he’d enjoyed at the beginning of his term. The economy was down, and contrary to his campaign promises, Jebediah had done nothing to change that. The people would tolerate his lack of action for only so long before looking for another potential savior.
“You can’t do nothin’,” Evans said, but Winkle shushed him.
“I’ll bring up any questions I have at the meeting then,” Jebediah said. “If we’re going to do something of this size, I simply want to make sure all the details have been addressed ahead of time.”
With a nod, Spencer agreed. “Then we’ll be happy for your input to make the event a success.”
Grady didn’t look happy as the town leader led him away. Spencer wasn’t happy either. He’d planned to let Lorelei handle the presentation on her own, but there was no way he’d throw her onto Jebediah’s mercy in front of the entire committee. And regardless of the older man’s willingness to back down today, Spencer held no illusion that the fight was over.
Once the two men disappeared around a cotton candy stand, Spencer turned back toward the couple who’d been lingering moments before, only to find his ex-wife standing in their place. This night kept getting better and better.
Carrie shuffled from one foot to the other, crossing and uncrossing her arms before sliding her hands into the front pockets on her jeans. “So you’re back together?” she said. No hello. No how are you doing? Fine. He wasn’t in the mood for pleasantries either.
“No thanks to you,” he said, straightening a stack of committee fliers.
“So she told you.” Neither of them needed to expand on what Carrie meant.
Gathering all the patience he could muster, Spencer said, “I married you, Carrie, because I loved you. Not because I was trying to find a stand-in for Lorelei.”
“I’m sure that’s what you tell yourself.”
Spencer gnashed his teeth together so tightly he wouldn’t be surprised if one chipped. “Did I ever once say her name when we were together?”
Carrie looked away. “You told stories about when you were in high school. Every time the old school chums got together, that’s all I heard about. How wild and fun Lorelei was. The skinny-dipping or water-skiing or racing down the back roads.”
“Those were stories about all of us. About Cooper’s souped-up cars. Or Bobby mooning Principal Rivers. Yes, Lorelei was part of those stories. Were we supposed to edit her out because you had some groundless jealousy we knew nothing about?”
“I wanted to feel like I was a part of things.” Carrie shoved a hand through her hair. “I saw your face whenever someone mentioned her. You didn’t look at me like that. You never did.”
He couldn’t win this. Carrie had created something in her head that Spencer didn’t put there, but that didn’t mean it wasn’t real to her. Maybe if he’d known back then, things would have turned out differently. But there was no going back now.
“I don’t know how I looked at you,” he said, “but I know how I felt. I wanted to have children with you. Doesn’t that mean anything?”
“We both know how I screwed that up.”
“Don’t do that, Carrie. Losing Jeremy wasn’t your fault. I thought we were past that.”
She rolled a shoulder. “I guess I’m getting a do-over. We’ll see what happens this time.”
Grabbing a napkin from the table behind him, Spencer held it out to his ex-wife. “Make sure the doctors know what happened with Jeremy. They’ll keep an eye on you so it doesn’t happen again.”
Carrie took the napkin and blotted a tear off her lashes. “Yeah. They know.” She wiped her nose, then said, “I guess everything is working out the way it was supposed to. You and Lorelei together and all. I’m sure you two will be happy.”
Before Spencer could respond, the frail woman he’d once vowed to love and honor ’til death did they part walked away. He couldn’t pretend he still loved her or wanted her back. The humiliation had been the toughest part about what had gone down between them. Half the town knew she was running around with Patch long before anyone told Spencer. But that all felt like ancient history now. Carrie’s parting words didn’t carry a lot of sincerity, but there was nothing he could do about that. If she had regrets now, that was her problem.
And he really did hope for the best where the baby was concerned. Carrie would be a good mom, he had no doubt about that. He didn’t wish Patch Farmer as a father on anyone, but again, not much he could do about that either. She’d made her choices, and now she had to live with them.
Chapter 25
“You scheming bitch.” Becky hurled the words at Lorelei before she’d reached the table. “One man isn’t enough for you?”
“You’ve lost your mind, Winkle,” Lorelei said, vowing not to become notorious for yet another scene at a Main Street Festival. “Calm down and stop embarrassing yourself.”
“You’re the one who should be embarrassed. Boffing your boss? Isn’t that too clichéd, even for you?”
Mike intervened. “No one is boffing anybody,” he said, though how he phrased his rebuttal made Lorelei giggle.
Which made Becky fume even more. “You think this is funny? This town was happy to see you go, Lorelei Pratchett. And nobody wants you back.”
Now she was going too far. “Back off, Becky. You don’t want to push me.”
“Why not?” the blonde asked, an evil smirk on her face. “You can’t do anything to me.”
“I said don’t push me.” Lorelei stepped forward, but Mike caught her arm.
“This is ridiculous. For heaven’s sake, Becky, I’m only a year younger than your father. I’ve told you before and I’ll tell you again, I’m not interested.” He looked around at the crowd gathering and lowered his voice. “We’ve created enough drama for one evening, don’t you think?”
Becky ignored Mike, aiming her hatred at Lorelei. “You think you can collect men like knockoff purses, don’t you? First you took Spencer for yourself, and now this.”
Wait. Took Spencer for herself? Did Becky want Spencer? “I’m starting to see the light now,” Lorelei said, amazed the truth hadn’t dawned on her long ago. “You hated me long before I dated Spencer, but that was the last straw, wasn’t it? You wanted Spencer and I had him.”
The crowd had thickened now, setting a buzz in the air. Lorelei wasn’t the one screaming and acting like a lunatic. Not this time. Becky was far enough gone that it seemed almost unkind not to push her the rest of the way.
“You never deserved him,” Becky growled. “Like mother like daughter, that’s what they always said. The slut and her bastard child.”
Be
fore she could think about what she was doing, Lorelei pulled back her arm, her hand fisted tight, but Mike caught the punch before it connected with Becky’s nose.
“You listen to me, little girl. Donna Pratchett was a better woman than you can ever hope to be.” The Stetson came off as Mike crowded Becky, who couldn’t retreat thanks to the onlookers behind her. “People like you, with your high and mighty ways, made her life miserable, and for what? For doing what everybody else was doing at the same time? I knew your parents, and I can promise you the holier-than-thou Deacon Winkle didn’t wait for his wedding night to take a roll in the hay with your mama.”
Wow. Lorelei did not see that coming. Mike certainly hid his temper better than Lorelei ever had. Then again, he’d had more years to practice. Pride welled in her chest at his defense of her mother. He really had loved his high school sweetheart. And the way he stepped in front of Lorelei said maybe he was beginning to care for her, too.
“How dare you besmirch my mama,” Becky squealed, her eyes wild with anger, and maybe a little fear. “You don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“Have you ever stopped to think about the hatred you throw around?” Mike asked. “What it does to other people?”
Becky pushed backward, forcing the crowd to part around her. “I won’t be insulted for speaking the truth,” she defended, fear definitely winning now.
“You ain’t perfect, missy,” yelled a woman behind Lorelei.
Were the locals taking up Lorelei’s defense, or were they simply tired of the Winkle tyranny? Either way, she was relieved the stones weren’t cast in her direction for once.
Shoving an innocent woman who’d gotten in her way, Becky yelled, “This isn’t over, Pratchett.”
Lorelei held her tongue. The heightened tension that had surrounded them dissipated as Becky stomped off. Several people gave Lorelei an approving nod, as if to say they were with her. Maybe opinions could change in this town. She returned the nods with smiles of appreciation and even accepted a couple pats on the back.