Lone Star Nights

by Delores Fossen

  Alice chuckled again, apparently thoroughly enchanted. “I like to think I am. Do I look nice?”

  Mia studied her a moment. “I guess so.”

  More footsteps, and Cassie knew Mackenzie was on the way. Cassie would have bet her favorite jeans that Alice’s enchantment would diminish considerably when she saw Mackenzie.

  But she was wrong.

  Alice gave Mackenzie an equally warm smile and then pressed her hand to her heart. “You look so much like Gracie.”

  Mackenzie flinched as if someone had struck her. “Then I must not have put on enough makeup.”

  It was inches deep as usual, and it broke Cassie’s heart a little not to have seen why Mackenzie put on this mask each day. She probably didn’t want to be reminded of her mother whenever she looked in the mirror. Some therapist she was not to have picked up on that.

  “Is it still okay for us to go to the wedding even though she’s here early? I mean, we don’t have to leave right away with her, do we?” Mackenzie said to Cassie. She tipped her head to Alice. Then she did a second head tip to Lucky. “And did you ask him about that other thing we talked about?”

  “Of course, you can still go to the wedding,” Alice assured Mackenzie before Cassie could speak. “I’ve reserved a room at the Bluebonnet Inn, and I figured we could all fly out on Sunday night. Or maybe Monday if that works better with everyone’s schedule.”

  Cassie figured she couldn’t ask the flight to be changed to next year.

  “What are you supposed to ask me?” Lucky pressed.

  Cassie had wanted to have this chat in private, but she really should include Alice in this anyway. “I didn’t know her aunt would get here this soon so I told Mackenzie that if it was okay with you that she could go to the dance tonight.” She didn’t mention the part about Mackenzie being grounded. If Mackenzie wanted her aunt to know, then she could tell her. But Lucky would perhaps think that the grounding extended to the dance.

  Judging from his expression, that’s exactly what he thought.

  A flatter look would have required Lucky getting his eyelids steamrollered.

  “Of course, I’ll chaperone,” Cassie added.

  “Please,” Mackenzie begged, not sounding at all hostile or surly. She was the normal thirteen-year-old again, standing on the brink of what she no doubt considered to be a life-and-death matter.

  “A dance?” Alice questioned.

  Oh, no. If both Lucky and Alice were on team no, then Cassie wouldn’t stand a chance of convincing them.

  “It’s at the town’s civic center,” Cassie explained. “All the local kids used to go to dances there when they were Mackenzie’s age.” Or at least she was sure Lucky had. Cassie had always had her nose in a book from the time she’d been able to turn pages.

  “Brody still has plans to be there,” Lucky practically growled, and it certainly wasn’t a growl of approval. Alice followed up with a “Who’s Brody?”

  “Brody Tate,” Cassie said.

  “A friend,” Mackenzie said.

  “A boy,” Mia said.

  Alice looked at Lucky, apparently wanting his take on the situation. Lucky glanced at both Mackenzie and her aunt. Scowled. “Brody is someone who thinks he’s Mackenzie’s boyfriend, but he’s not. He can’t be because Mackenzie’s too young for a boyfriend.”

  While his tone wasn’t exactly friendly, Lucky hadn’t mentioned the shovel or stun gun. That was something at least.

  “I’ll be late for chaperoning duties,” Lucky said. “I thought the plans for the dance were out...because of the other thing.”

  He meant the grounding over the photograph. So obviously Lucky had mentally nixed the dance. Which was reasonable, but Cassie had just had such a hard time saying no after her talk with Mackenzie.

  “Because I thought I’d be free, I’ve got that dinner thing tonight with Sugar and Wilhelmina,” Lucky added.

  Yes, payment for keeping quiet. The “date” had been postponed so many times that Cassie had forgotten about it. Apparently, Lucky had decided to kill two birds with one stone and wine and dine the women together. She was betting that wouldn’t be a pleasant evening.

  “I don’t think both of us would need to be at the dance anyway,” Cassie explained.

  “I could do it,” Alice volunteered.

  “Uh—” Mackenzie said at the same time Cassie said “Huh?”

  It wasn’t that Cassie didn’t want Alice there— All right, she didn’t. Cassie also wasn’t sure how Alice would take it when she learned Brody was older than Mackenzie. And that he had somewhat of a reputation. No way would Alice be able to get out of that civic center without hearing a boatload of gossip.

  Including gossip about those photos that would be in the paper. Since Spring Hill wasn’t that big, the local newspaper only came out three times a week, but the latest edition came out this morning, which meant people were probably looking at them right now.

  Of course, Alice would hear about that soon enough anyway, but Cassie hoped she could put off explaining it until after the dance. If she told her now, Cassie doubted even the perfect Alice would agree.

  “So I can go?” Mackenzie asked.

  “If it’s okay with Lucky,” Alice assured her.

  Now all eyes turned to Lucky. Even the cat in Mia’s little arms was staring at him.

  And he finally nodded.

  Mackenzie squealed again, and she rushed to hug all of them. Including Alice and the cat. “I want to go try on my dress,” she said, and she bolted for the stairs.

  “I remember those years,” Alice said, smiling. She touched her finger to Mia’s nose. “Your years not so much. So will this kitty be coming with us to Phoenix?”

  That got eyes back on Cassie. And like Lucky, Cassie nodded. Mia squealed.

  Squealing aside, everything was falling into place.

  Alice picked up her purse. “Let me see if I can get checked in to the inn. I’ll be staying in the garden room. And then if it’s okay, I’ll come back and spend some time with the girls.”

  “Of course,” Cassie mumbled. Lucky mumbled it, as well. Mia was still squealing and running around the room with the cat.

  Lucky and Cassie followed the woman to the door. “I’m so sorry about losing my sister,” Alice whispered to them. “But you can’t imagine how much joy the girls have already given me.”

  There were tears in her eyes, and Cassie guessed they were of the happy variety. Alice gave a little wave goodbye before she headed out.

  Lucky and Cassie stood there in the doorway, waving back. Smiling. Until Alice had gotten in her rental car and driven away.

  “Shit,” Lucky mumbled. “She’s perfect.”

  * * *

  CASSIE HAD BEEN right about the gossip and those pictures. No one at the civic center was actually saying anything to her face—not to Mackenzie’s or Brody’s faces, either—but a lot of hands were being used in the dance hall to cover whispers. Cassie suspected that the whispering would increase significantly when Lucky finally arrived.

  He’d gone on the payback date after all but had promised to get to the dance as soon as possible. He had also somehow talked Alice into not coming. Cassie wasn’t sure exactly how he’d accomplished that, but she was glad he had. The wedding chaos would start again first thing in the morning since the furniture had been cleared and the decorating would begin. So these were likely her last few hours to spend with Mackenzie.

  And fifty other teenagers.

  The civic center was jammed, and even though Cassie had never attended a dance here, it was how she’d imagined it would be. Crepe-paper decorations. Toilet-paper roses. Dim lights. Really loud music. But Mackenzie didn’t seem to notice any of that. She had her eyes locked on Brody as they danced.

  Cassie’s phone buzzed, and
she took it from her pocket long enough to check the screen. It was her agent, who’d no doubt gotten word of the photos. He was probably calling to tell her that her reputation had been as sullied as Andrew had claimed it would be. Or heck, maybe this had put her even more in demand, sort of like those pseudocelebrities who did sex tapes.

  Either way, Cassie didn’t intend to find out what was going on until after the wedding. It wasn’t very healthy to take the head-in-the-sand approach with something as big as this, but it beat having a panic attack.

  She let the call from her agent go to voice mail. The very thing she’d done with Andrew’s calls. And the one from her mother. The four from her father, too. She decided the only non-McCord/Compton call she might answer would be from a Girl Scout who wanted to personally deliver a case of Thin Mints. Everybody else could leave a voice mail.

  “Enjoying yourself?” someone asked from behind her.

  Deputy Davy.

  He was in uniform, his thumbs hooked over his equipment belt, his legs apart as if he was ready to pounce on any situation that might require pouncing.

  “So, did Lucky dump you already?” Davy asked.

  There were so many things wrong with that question, and any way she tried to answer it Cassie would say more than she wanted to. So she didn’t answer at all. “Why are you here?”

  He gave his thumbs an adjustment. “To stop underage drinking. You can’t trust these kids, and I figure somebody will try to sneak in some liquor.”

  Maybe, but since there were just as many adults there as children, it wouldn’t be easy.

  “It’s all over town, you know,” Davy went on. “Not just those kissing pictures, but about the cats. Folks know that Lucky and you took ’em.”

  She grunted again. And considered a pretend gag. If Davy thought she was about to barf, he might move away from her and pester someone else.

  “I went to the McCord building,” he continued, “to search for those cats.”

  This time she grunted because her stomach got a sudden knot in it. Certainly Helene or Logan would have called if Davy had found the cats, though.

  “Helene wouldn’t let me in,” Davy added. “Said I had to get a search warrant. I’m working on it, and once I have it, I’ll go back and search that place from top to bottom.”

  She seriously doubted any judge would sign a search warrant for a building that Logan owned, but just in case, Cassie made a mental note to arrange to have the cats moved. Where exactly she didn’t know, but she might have to fly them to California with her and kennel them for a while until she could find permanent homes for all of them. But that still wouldn’t get her father off her back.

  Or off Lucky’s.

  Heaven knew how long her father would hound Lucky.

  And Cassie decided to try to fix that. “The next time you talk to Mason-Dixon,” she said to Davy, “tell him I’ll offer him fifty grand for the cats.”

  Davy looked at her as if her functioning brain cells had been killed with the loud music, but he finally nodded. Finally, he moved away from her, taking out his phone as he walked. No doubt to call her father.

  With the deputy finally out of her hair, Cassie turned her attention back to Mackenzie. And she immediately frowned. Yes, the light was dim, but she had no trouble seeing that Brody had taken hold of both of Mackenzie’s wrists, and it didn’t look like a dance move. He appeared to be “coaxing” her toward the corner, and he didn’t look especially happy that she was putting up some resistance.

  Cassie made her way to the dance floor, hurrying but trying not to look as if she were. On the outside chance she was misinterpreting Mackenzie’s expression, Cassie didn’t want to embarrass all of them. But the moment she reached Mackenzie, Brody let go of her as if she were an electric fence gone live, and he marched toward the drinks table.

  “Everything okay?” Cassie asked her. Of course, she had to shout it. And of course, that was when there was a dip in the music volume, so Cassie hadn’t managed to do this without drawing attention after all.

  “Everything’s fine,” Mackenzie snapped, but then she huffed and led Cassie off the dance floor, toward Brody and the drinks table—though she stopped a good distance away from him.

  “He’s the only boy who’s ever noticed me, all right?” Mackenzie threw out there.

  There were as many things wrong with that comment as there had been with Davy’s question about Lucky dumping her.

  “You’re thirteen,” Cassie reminded her. “There’ll be plenty of years for boys to notice you.”

  “Mom said she lost her virginity when she was thirteen.”

  Good grief. “There’ll be plenty of time for that, too,” Cassie assured her.

  Mackenzie made a sound that might or might not have been of agreement. “Brody likes me, okay?”

  “Okay. But that doesn’t mean you have to give him your virginity. Or anything else for that matter.” Cassie paused. “Did Brody force you to kiss him that night in the barn?”

  “No. I wanted to kiss him,” Mackenzie insisted. “Anyway, it doesn’t matter. This is the last night I’ll be with Brody like this, and I don’t want to spend it standing here, talking to you.” Her tone was sharp, but Mackenzie brushed her hand on Cassie’s arm before she stepped away and joined Brody.

  Even with the music still going, Cassie became aware of the hush that had come over the room. For a moment she thought it was because all eyes had been on Mackenzie and her, but then she noticed Lucky. He came in through the door, looking exactly like the hot cowboy fantasy that he was.

  And she’d had sex with him.

  Something that made her all tingly. And then it made Cassie frown. Because apparently everyone in town was aware of that and then had made the assumption—based on what, she didn’t know—that Lucky had dumped her. Of course, maybe they thought that because Lucky didn’t spend too much time with any one woman.

  Cassie saw him glance around. Their gazes met, and he started to weave his way through the crowd to get to her. He was a different fantasy tonight. Not chapped and spurred but rather suited. He had on a dark-colored jacket paired with his jeans. Clothes for a “date.”

  “Everything okay?” he asked the moment he reached her. But then Lucky glanced around the room. “Hell, what’s everybody saying about us now?”

  “That you dumped me.”

  He repeated that “hell,” huffed and then kissed her. Not a friendly peck, either. He kissed her so long and with so much body contact that Davy called out for them to break it up. Probably not the best behavior for chaperones at a teenage dance where hormones were zinging, but it did start a new ripple of behind-the-hand whispers.

  “Something for me to think about?” she asked.

  “Something for them to talk about,” he corrected.

  Oh. So it hadn’t been an invitation to go back to his bed. Cassie really did need to apologize for that stress-reliever comment.

  “Is Mackenzie all right?” he asked.

  Cassie nearly blurted out her concerns right there, but since everyone had their ears and eyes still turned in their direction, she motioned for Lucky to follow her to the side double doors. They were wide-open, mainly because the AC wasn’t cooling off the room nearly enough and also because there was a steady trail of older teens coming and going.

  Something Mackenzie definitely wouldn’t be doing.

  Of course, everyone inside probably thought Cassie was hauling Lucky off to make out with him, but she wasn’t. Even if her body thought that might be a fun idea. Nope. She just needed to tell him that she thought Brody was pressuring Mackenzie and then hope Lucky didn’t find a stun gun and shovel to use on the boy.

  Since Gladys Ellsley, the minister’s wife, was in their path, Cassie stopped a moment and asked Gladys to keep an eye on Mackenzie. It really wasn’t necessar
y. If Mackenzie did anything, or even if she did nothing, Cassie figured she’d have a full report from at least a dozen people.

  Lucky and Cassie stepped just outside the door and definitely weren’t alone. There was a couple kissing, but they either didn’t notice or didn’t care that they had an audience because they didn’t stop. On the other side of the doors were five teenage boys. They were huddled in a circle, their backs to Lucky and her, but a sudden breeze sent a familiar scent right at Cassie.

  Booze.

  No, Mackenzie definitely wouldn’t be coming out here.

  Cassie turned to Lucky to start the conversation she didn’t want to have, but he was already moving away from her. He broke through the circle of boys like a bowling ball, scattering them and sending a bottle of cheap whiskey splatting to the ground.

  “What the hell do you think you’re doing?” Lucky shouted at the same moment one of the boys shouted something similar.

  The boy was clearly drunk, and he threw a punch at Lucky. Lucky ducked, and in the same motion he put the boy against the wall.

  “I said what the hell do you think you’re doing?” Lucky’s voice was even louder this time.

  “Drinking,” the kid snapped, sounding pretty cocky for someone who was being restrained.

  Cassie hurried to help, not that the other boys were in fight mode. They were all backing away, and they backed away even farther when Deputy Davy came waltzing out. Davy repeated a version of Lucky’s original question, and he nearly tripped on his own feet trying to get to Lucky and the boy.

  “He was drinking,” Cassie volunteered.

  Though Davy no doubt saw the bottle on the ground. The other boys took off running, and Davy went in pursuit.

  Cassie went to Lucky and, because his grip on the boy seemed a little too tight, she took hold of his hand to get him to let go of the kid. That’s when she realized Lucky was shaking.

  “Come on,” Cassie insisted. “Let go of him, and we’ll get out of here.”

  “No. Mackenzie—”

  “Gladys is watching her, and we won’t be long. We can go back in as soon as we’ve talked.” And as soon as Lucky had had a chance to settle his nerves.