A Maverick To (Re)Marry. Christine Rimmer
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asked, “You remember Nate, Amy?”
“Yeah. Of course.” Nate had been four or five years ahead of her in school, but everybody knew him. He was the oldest of six children. His parents, Laura and Todd, owned the general store.
“Nate’s become kind of a town benefactor in the last few years,” said Eva. “He’s a major shareholder in Maverick Manor.”
Derek said, “I just mentioned the party to him and he offered the Manor as a good place for it.”
“Ah,” said Amy, staring straight ahead, unable to make herself look at him though he was sitting right there at the other end of the coffee table from her. “Terrific.”
Eva explained, “Instead of separating the girls and the guys, I wanted one big party for all of us—with nothing X-rated, if you know what I mean.”
Viv clarified, “No strippers. And the games can be a little sexy—”
“—but nothing over the top.” Eva patted Luke’s hand. “Just good fun, right, Luke?”
“Works for me.” The groom nodded.
“It’ll be a nice, relaxed get-together for everyone,” added Eva, “not only for the wedding party, but also for all of our friends in town. We want it to be loose and easy and the Manor is a beautiful, comfortable place for it.”
Viv nodded at Derek and then at Amy. “Food and music are already taken care of, again thanks to Derek.”
Wait a minute. Had Derek paid for all this? Or just arranged everything? The boy she’d known in high school hadn’t had a lot of money. So then, he’d done well for himself?
Not that it mattered how much money he had. What mattered was that she would make sure the financial burden didn’t all fall on him—and wait a minute. Why was she worrying about Derek and his finances anyway?
Really, she didn’t even know the guy anymore....
Viv was still talking. “If you need specific songs played or whatever, I’ll be happy to pass your requests along to the band. You two will be putting your heads together and coming up with some fun things to do for the event, along with party favors and prizes.
“Mostly, it’s a balance. You don’t want to pack in too many activities, but you need a few games and such, to get people mingling. I’ve listed some very basic ideas on your party brainstorm sheets, just to jump-start the process for you. I’ll be ready with more suggestions if you need them and to help in any way I can.”
Amy tried really hard to focus, to keep her mind in the now, to think about great things to do at a coed bachelor party and what prizes and favors might be cute.
But her brain defied her will. Images assailed her, of those five days all those years ago, the tacky motel by the highway, the sound of the big rigs going by in the night, the reassuring warmth of Derek’s strong arms around her. How much she had loved him.
How scared she’d been, her life spinning out of control, nothing going the way she’d planned it.
“Fun activities,” she heard herself repeat. “Will do.”
From the other chair, Derek spoke up, too. “Uh, yeah. We’ll get right on that.”
The meeting continued. To Amy, it seemed endless. The memories pressed in on her, making it hard to breathe. But really, no one seemed to notice that she wasn’t saying much. Did they?
Eva and Luke seemed relaxed, happy as only two people in love can be. Viv was laser-focused on the wedding plans. Eva, a baker to the core, was all about the food and the cake, while Viv talked flowers and ways to make the barn setting really pop.
They discussed music for the wedding day, too. Luke and Eva had put in hours practicing their first dance. The band—the same group they were using at the bachelor party—had been given a long playlist of the couple’s favorites to fill up the evening. Luke joked that of course local eccentric Homer Gilmore would be welcome at the wedding. But they had to make absolutely certain that Homer’s infamous moonshine didn’t find its way into the punch.
As for Derek...
Well, Amy didn’t know how Derek was faring. From the moment he took the chair across from hers, she hadn’t been able to make herself so much as glance in his direction.
When it was finally over and Viv was closing up her binders and stacking them to go, Amy longed to race for the stairs and the big guest room up there that would be hers for the next few weeks. She’d brought her work with her. She could power up her computer and concentrate on keeping the giant accounting firm of Hurdly and Main, International protected from cyber-criminals and digital fraud.
But no. She and Derek needed to talk.
She needed to tell him...what? There was nothing to tell him. It was over and it had been over for years and years.
Still. They really ought to come to some sort of understanding as to how they were going to work together. Not to mention, she needed to know who in town knew about them. And how much they knew. And, from now on, what would be getting said to whom.
Suddenly, everyone was standing and moving toward the door—everyone but Amy. She shook herself and leapt to her feet.
And then once she was up, she just stood there at her chair, dithering over how to approach him, what to say to get his attention before he went out the door and she missed her chance to tell him...
What?
Dear Lord, she had no idea.
She blinked and finally made herself glance in his direction.
He was looking straight at her. “So, Amy, got a few minutes?” Those green eyes gave nothing away. “We should touch base.”
Her heart pounding so hard she was lucky it didn’t crack a rib, she nodded. “A walk, maybe?” she heard herself offer lamely.
“That’ll work.”
It took her several agonizing seconds to realize that he was waiting for her to join him. “Oh!” she exclaimed like a total doofus and ordered her feet to carry her toward him.
They all went out to the porch together and waved goodbye to Viv.
Luke shook Derek’s hand. “Friday, happy hour. The Ace.”
“I’ll be there,” said Derek.
The Ace in the Hole was the only bar within the Rust Creek Falls town limits. Amy remembered it all too well from her short, unhappy visit to town nine years before.
And then, last year, the Ace had garnered national attention when a reality show, The Great Roundup, had filmed final auditions there. Travis Dalton, Derek’s cousin, had been on that show and so had Travis’s now-wife, Brenna O’Reilly Dalton.
Amy had watched the show faithfully every week. The scenes filmed in town had made her feel all warm and fuzzy, made her long for Rust Creek Falls, made her remember the good times growing up. Best of all, The Great Roundup had allowed her to get sappy and sentimental from the safety of her Boulder, Colorado living room. Never had she ever planned to set foot in town again.
But now, here she was, about to get up close and conversational with the very reason she’d stayed away for so long in the first place.
Luke and Eva went back into the house, leaving Amy alone with the gorgeous broad-shouldered stranger who’d once ruled her teenaged heart. She just stood there, like a lump. She had no idea what to say to him.
He had his straw Resistol in his hand. He slid the hat onto his head and tugged on the brim to settle it.
Everything inside her was aching. This couldn’t be happening.
But it was.
“Let’s go.” He started walking. She followed him down the steps and out into the late-afternoon