Hank met Travis’s gaze over her head and Travis slid the glass of iced tea close to her hand and took her empty wineglass and gave it to the waiter who passed by.
“Veronica, what do you mean they like you? Of course they like you. You’re beautiful and smart and funny, and you’re their baby sister.”
“Nope. I mean yep. I mean…I don’t know what I mean. Heck.” Veronica took a slow breath and let it out. “Cord and Jackson are the closest to me. They’re fraternal twins and they were both quarterbacks for the—”
“Billings Badgers?” At her nod, Travis and Hank both whistled in surprise. “Wow. Cord and Jackson Benedict are your brothers? I was sorry to see they retired.”
“Yup. Jackson’s doctor told him that to continue playing was too much of a risk. There are only so many concussions a body can handle.”
“They didn’t like your boyfriend?”
“No, but I don’t see them that often. Many a time, they’ve told me”—she adopted a deep manly voice, impersonating one of her brothers—“Nika, you need to dump that knuckle-dragger.” She sighed. “Sorry. I don’t drink very often. I probably sound silly.”
Travis knew that her sleep deprivation probably played a big role in how quickly she’d found her happy buzz and he didn’t want to take advantage of it…at least not too much. “They call you Nika?”
The smile on Veronica’s face was breathtaking. “Yes, but only when no one else hears. They don’t call me by the stupid nicknames the others use. They tried to stop them but it didn’t do any good. I don’t go home much so I don’t have to hear them that often.”
Hank frowned as she rambled. “Only Cord and Jackson call you Nika? Who are the others?”
“Jesse and Barry, my other brothers, and my older sister, Addison. They call me Round Ronnie and Mom and Dad call me Pudge. And the knuckle-dragger called my Chubbs. I don’t miss him at all. Can you believe that? We were together for two years and I haven’t missed him once while I’ve been here.”
Hank nodded thoughtfully. “Yes, I can imagine that. Do you like being called Nika?”
Veronica nodded vigorously and swayed in her chair. “Yes. I love it. It’s nice, and it makes more sense than Ronnie, which is a boy’s name. I’m a
girl
,” she enunciated and rolled her eyes.
Travis smiled. “Yes, you are.” She was also adorable with her wine-induced buzz. “I want to ask you something.”
“Ask away, Mr. Game Warden,” she said with a salute, then sat up in her chair after she slid forward a bit.
“Would you consider letting us help you with your ménage research while you’re here? You said that dynamic fascinated you earlier. Maybe we could help you to get answers for your questions.”
Hank rolled his eyes but didn’t say anything. Travis grinned, willing to risk looking like a horndog if it would mean spending more time with Veronica. Soon enough, Hank would realize that he didn’t intend to take advantage of her while she was tipsy. He just wanted time with her while she was in Divine.
“How would you do that?”
Hank scanned the gathering. “We could start by satisfying your curiosity here at the reception. Of course, we won’t share any private information but we could fill in the blanks for you. Who would you like to know about?”
Veronica settled her gaze on a pretty blonde woman standing near the entry. Travis didn’t recognize her but he understood immediately why Veronica was interested as she said, “Notice how those three men have closed in around her. I’ve been watching her while we’ve been talking and she’s kissed all three of them at one time or another. She’s wearing a wedding band, as are the three of them, so I’m assuming that they’re a committed foursome.”
“You’re right,” Hank said. “That’s Maya Warner. Those men are all Jack’s cousins, Kendall, Boone, and Richard. They own a ranch outside of Divine, and Maya is a registered nurse.”
They spent the next thirty minutes filling her in on the guests. Travis realized how long he’d been gone from Divine because there were so many people he hadn’t recognized at the reception.
“Who was the white-headed minister that married Maizy and her men? He didn’t seem too perturbed a few minutes ago when Heath kissed her while she talked with him.”
“He’s actually a Justice of the Peace. Woody Porter. He’s known Maizy practically her whole life. He knows about Heath and Spencer, but the ceremony he performed was between Cody and Maizy.”
“He doesn’t mind, even though he’s from a different generation?”
“No. Woody is pretty progressive in his beliefs. Lots of people in Divine are.”
“So people like that crazy lady who showed up at the wedding are rare?”
“I wouldn’t go that far, but people in Divine are pretty tolerant for the most part.”
Just then Grace joined them, excitement in her twinkling blue eyes. “You’re not going to believe this.”
“What?” Hank asked, seeming to immediately go on alert.
“Don’t reach for your weapon, lawman, it’s good news,” she said and then turned to Veronica. “Grandma Kate made a contribution to the fund the bears set up for the rose garden. The improvements to the Memorial Garden are
fully funded
. She’s planning to go home and talk to the Lusty Town Trust about starting a rose garden for all of their veterans. Isn’t that exciting?”
Veronica giggled. “That sounds like her. And yes, it’s wonderful news.”
Grace glanced between him and Hank, a big smile on her face, and said, “Y’all planning to go to the Dancing Pony?”
Travis and Hank turned their attention to Veronica, and Hank asked, “Well, Nika? Would you be interested?”
“We could talk some more,” Travis said softly into her ear. “And I could get those dances I wanted from you.”
Veronica blushed and said, “I’d love to talk, but the dancing I’m not so sure about. Grace?”
“Rose Marie is going home with a sitter so we’ll be there, too,” Grace said. “Maizy said she’d be happy to chat with you for a few minutes before they leave, if you’d like?”
“Sure. Would you mind, guys?”
Hank nodded and stood from his chair, “Of course not. It’ll give us a chance to congratulate the grooms. You sure you’ll be okay? I think the wine hit you kind of hard.”
Veronica nodded as she rose from her seat and smiled. “It did but I’m fine now. Give me a few minutes with Maizy and then we can go if you’d like.”
Hank and Travis watched as she walked away with Grace, and Hank groaned. “You let her go eleven years ago?”
“She was a baby, Hank. I would’ve felt like a cradle robber.”
“She sure as hell isn’t a baby now.”
When he’d met her, he’d been at the point in his career where he was making a name for himself and his trajectory pointed straight at Washington, DC. But here he was now, forty-one years old, disillusioned by life in a town that spouted on about change but the only thing changing was money and influence from one set of powerful hands to another.
His family’s house had sat vacant in Divine so long he’d finally sold it and now his life fit in a suitcase and a cold apartment in a town he knew he’d never call home. He was beginning to think that returning permanently to Divine, Texas, might be just what he needed.
Chapter Five
Hank helped Veronica into the tall chair at the Dancing Pony, which had a packed house that night. He flagged down a waitress as several members of their party showed up and took seats at the table, and Veronica was pulled into a conversation with Lydia Carlisle by Grace.
The waitress had just brought their beers and a virgin margarita for Veronica when Jack walked over, seriousness in his eyes. Ethan and Adam flanked him. “Can we chat with you two gentlemen?”
Having a suspicion of what they wanted to talk about, Hank said, “Sure, Jack.”
He laid his hand on Veronica’s in her lap and said, “We’ll be right back.”
She nodded, seeming like she was doing okay, but she watched them as they moved toward the other end of the bar, by the front door.
Jack said, “We were watching you with Veronica at the reception. Seems like there’s more than a casual interest between the two of you and her.”
While Hank could understand Jack’s concern, he wasn’t about to submit to a grilling. “There is definite interest, Jack.”
Ethan leaned in and said, “You know she’s here for a limited time, right?”
“We haven’t discussed it yet. How long?”
“She hasn’t decided yet, last I heard. She could leave next week, or she may stay through Christmas.”
“I guess our new goal then is getting her to stay until Christmas.”
Adam lifted his eyebrows. “You’re that interested? What then?”
Hank knew he’d be asking the same questions if he was in their boots so he didn’t get riled. “Last I looked, she was a grown woman capable of making her own choices.”
Jack put his hands up. “All we want to know is whether your intentions are honorable. She’s shy, Hank, and…she seems fragile, too. This has been more work than vacation for her, judging by the way the lights burn at the old foreman’s house all night long.”
Hank nodded. “She told us she keeps odd hours when she’s working.”
Ethan looked him in the eye and said, “We know how Grace gets when she’s on a deadline, so we thought talking to you was a good idea. I know it may go against your nature, Hank, but don’t push her too much about her hours. If you don’t let her get her work done, it’s only going to create more tension for her, and she already seems tense enough. And Jack’s right—she’s pretty shy. I’m—we’re just worried about her getting hurt.”
Hank shook his head. “Guys, Travis and I don’t want a hookup with her. Remember how you felt about Grace? You wanted to take care of her, right?”
“Hell, yeah,” Adam said.
“It’s the same for us.”
Jack smiled, “So you’re thinking about building something with her while she’s here? Something that might convince her to stay or make a change of address? I heard her tell Grace that she can work from anywhere as long as she has strong Internet.”
That was an encouraging piece of news.
He glanced over at Veronica and gestured with his chin for Travis to look, too. She was distracted from her cell phone by a couple of guys who tried to woo her onto the dance floor but she smiled shyly and turned them both down.
Hank noticed the slight frown on her face as she watched the dance floor, eyeing it like it was her enemy before she put her phone away and went back to her conversation with the girls. He wanted to dance with her something fierce. Feel her gorgeous curves pressed up against him. Just the thought made him feel warm. The sensation was only partly sexual, which got his attention. He could picture himself dancing with that woman for many years, and seasons, to come.
Jack turned to Travis, speaking over the noise of the nightclub as the next song began. “What about you, Trav? You mentioned the other day that you were looking into another career opportunity—one that might take you right back out of Divine.”
Travis shrugged. “Until I know whether I’m in the running for the job, I can’t say.”
“If you hang around long enough to make her fall in love with you, and leave her, I swear to God, Trav, I will hunt you down and kick your ass,” Adam said, not even a tiny hint of humor in his pale-green eyes. “I’m serious. Man, you’ve been my friend a long time, but if you do that to her…”
Travis held up a hand. “We don’t even know for sure if she’s interested in us that way, Adam. Calm down. We’ve only spent a few hours with her. I’m open to the possibilities but she needs to be, too. All we’ve talked about was helping her with ménage research—”
Adam geared up to respond to that news and Hank chuckled. Seeing one of his oldest friends so up-in-arms over protecting their woman was heartening. He put a hand on Adam’s shoulder and said, “Adam, do we strike you as the love ’em and leave ’em type? Either of us?”
“No, but I also don’t want her to get hurt ‘doing research.’”
Travis said, “I won’t lie, guys. If she wants to do in-depth research, I’d be okay with it, but only if I felt like she wanted us for us, and not simply for the experience.”
“Same goes, here,” Hank murmured. “Right now, she has a lot of questions, so we brought her here to talk. And here y’all are discussing china patterns and planning a bridal shower.”
Jack shot him the bird discreetly and laughed. “You’d do the same thing if it was someone you felt protective over. We feel responsible for her.”
“I understand. We feel protective of her ,too. It sounds like her last boyfriend was a jackass. May possibly have hit her.”
“Grace mentioned that, although Veronica hasn’t been forthcoming with details. Sounds like she’s being cyber bullied in some of those chats, too.”
Ethan nodded. “She’s got some trolls that seem to follow her about on the Internet. She handles herself pretty well, but she’s nonconfrontational with them.”
Hank shook his head. “Ignoring a bully doesn’t always work, though.”
“No, it doesn’t,” Jack said. “Anything you can do about that?”
“I can look into it. Duke and Ace may be good ones to get on it, too.”