Part 17 (1/2)

Meg had no idea what that even meant, but Ted was his normal accommodating self. ”Thirty-eight, forty-two percent, depending on the load.”

Sunny, all rapt attention, moved in closer.

Spence invited Meg to dance, and before she could refuse, two sets of female hands grasped her arms and pushed her to her feet. ”She thought you'd never ask,” Shelby said sweetly.

”I sure wish Dex was as light on his feet as you are, Spence,” Torie cooed.

Across the table, Emma looked as worried as someone in a sunflower-splashed yellow top could look, and Meg swore she caught the shadow of a frown cross Ted's face.

Fortunately, the first song was up-tempo, and Spence made no attempt to engage her in conversation. Too soon, however, Kenny Chesney began to croon ”All I Need to Know,” and Spence drew her close. He was too old for the cologne he'd chosen, and she felt as though she'd been enveloped by an Abercrombie & Fitch store. ”You're making me more than a little crazy, Miz Meg.”

”I don't want to make anybody crazy,” she said carefully. Except Ted Beaudine. Except Ted Beaudine.

Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Birdie, Kayla, and Zoey settle at a table near the bar. Kayla looked s.e.xy in a tight, one-shoulder white top that hugged her b.r.e.a.s.t.s without being s.l.u.tty and a tropical print mini that set off her shapely legs. Birdie and Zoey were more casually dressed, and all three watched Meg closely.

Spence curled his hand around hers and drew it to his chest. ”Shelby and Torie told me about you and Ted.”

Her internal alarm rang. ”What exactly did they say?”

”That you finally found your backbone and accepted the fact that Ted's not the man for you. I'm proud of you.”

She lost a step as she silently cursed both women.

He squeezed her fingers, a gesture she a.s.sumed was meant to be comforting. ”Sunny and I don't have any secrets. She told me about you throwing yourself at him at Shelby's party. I guess the way he rejected you finally woke you up to the truth, and I just want to say that I'm proud of you for facing it. You're going to feel a whole lot better about yourself, now that you've stopped chasing him. Shelby sure thinks so, and Torie said- Well, never mind what Torie said.”

”Oh, no. Tell me. I'm sure it'll be good for my ... personal growth.”

”Well ...” He rubbed her spine. ”Torie said that when a woman obsesses over a man who's not interested in her, it kills her soul.”

”Quite the philosopher.”

”I was surprised myself. She seems a little flaky. She also told me you were planning to get my name tattooed on your ankle, which I don't believe.” He hesitated. ”It's not true, is it?”

When she shook her head, he looked disappointed. ”Some of the people in this town are odd,” he said. ”Have you noticed that?”

They weren't odd at all. They were wily as foxes and twice as smart. She unlocked her rigid knees. ”Now that you mention it.”

Torie dragged her husband onto the dance floor and maneuvered as close to Spence and Meg as she could get, undoubtedly hoping to eavesdrop. Meg shot her a death ray and pulled away from Spence. ”Excuse me. I need to use the restroom.”

She'd barely gotten inside before Torie, Emma, and Shelby stormed in to confront her. Emma pointed toward the closest stall. ”Go ahead. We'll wait for you.”

”Don't bother.” Meg whirled on Shelby and Torie. ”Why did you tell Spence I wasn't in love with Ted anymore?”

”Because you never were.” Shelby's brightly colored enameled bangles jingled at her wrist. ”At least I don't think so. Although Ted being Ted ...”

”And you being female ...” Torie crossed her arms. ”Still, it was obvious you made up the whole thing to avoid Spence, and we'd all have gone along with it if Sunny hadn't shown up.”

The restroom door swung open, and Birdie came in, followed by Kayla and Zoey.

Meg threw up her hands. ”Great. I'm going to get gang-raped.”

”You shouldn't crack jokes about a serious issue like that,” Zoey said. She wore white cropped pants, a navy T-s.h.i.+rt that read wynette public schools honor roll, and earrings that looked like they'd been made from drinking straws.

”That's the way Hollywood people are,” Birdie said. ”They don't have the same moral compa.s.s as the rest of us.” And then, to Shelby, ”Did you tell her she has to leave Ted alone now that Sunny's fallen for him?”

”We're gettin' there,” Shelby said.

Emma took command. It was remarkable how much authority a relatively small woman with baby-doll cheeks and a cheery cap of b.u.t.terscotch curls could possess. ”You mustn't think no one understands your situation. I was once an outsider in Wynette myself, so I-”

”You still are,” Torie observed in a loud whisper.

Emma ignored her. ”-so I'm not unsympathetic. I also know what it's like to have the attentions of a man to whom you're not attracted, although the Duke of Beddington was far more odious than Mr. Skipjack. Still, my unwelcome suitor didn't hold the economic fate of this town in his hands. But I also didn't try to use Ted to discourage him.”

”You kind of did,” Torie said. ”But Ted was only twenty-two at the time, and Kenny saw through you.”

Emma's wide mouth tightened at the corners, emphasizing her plump bottom lip. ”Your presence has doubly complicated an already delicate situation, Meg. You obviously find Spence's attentions objectionable, and we understand that.”

”I don't.” Kayla adjusted the rimless Burberry sungla.s.ses she'd pushed on top of her blond hair. ”Do you have any idea how rich that man is? And he's got great hair.”

”Unfortunately, your method of discouraging him involves Ted,” Emma went on, ”which might have been acceptable if Sunny hadn't appeared.”

Birdie tugged on the hem of the silky tomato red top she wore with a cotton skirt. ”Anybody with two eyes can see how crazy Spence is about his daughter. You might be able to get away with rejecting him, but you can't get away with throwing yourself at the man his baby girl is falling in love with.”

Torie nodded. ”What Sunny wants, Sunny gets.”

”She's not going to get Ted,” Meg said.

”Something Ted will make certain she doesn't figure out until the ink on the land deal is dry,” Emma said briskly.

Meg had heard enough. ”Here's a scary thought. What if your sainted mayor decides to toss you all to the wolves and fend for himself?”

Zoey pointed a princ.i.p.al's accusing finger toward her, a remarkably effective gesture for a woman who was only a year older than Meg herself. ”This is a big joke to you, but it's not a joke to the kids at my school who are jammed into overcrowded cla.s.srooms. Or the teachers trying to make do with outdated textbooks and no aides.”

”It sure isn't a joke to me.” Kayla stole a surrept.i.tious look at herself in the mirror. ”I hate running a resale shop full of old-lady clothes, but right now there aren't more than a handful of women in this town who can afford to buy the kind of fas.h.i.+on I was destined to sell.” Her eyes swept over Meg's resale skirt.

”I've been wanting to open a tearoom and bookstore next to the inn ever since I took over the place,” Birdie said.

Shelby pushed her blond bob behind one ear, revealing small gold hoops. ”I have a husband who barely sleeps at night for feeling guilty because his company can't provide enough jobs to keep the town afloat.”

”Dex feels the same,” Torie said. ”A town this size can't survive on one industry.”

Meg spun on Emma. ”What about you? What reason do you have for expecting me to prost.i.tute myself with Spencer Skipjack?”

”If this town dies,” Emma said quietly, ”Kenny and I have enough money to do just fine. Most of our friends don't.”

Torie tapped the toe of a studded leather T-strap sandal on the floor. ”Between Spence, Sunny, and Ted, you're making things too complicated, Meg. You need to leave Wynette. And unlike everybody else, I happen to like you a lot, so this isn't personal.”