His First and Last (Ardent Springs #1) (29 page)

“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.”

Before 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.

As Mike slid his hat back on, she said, “Thank you.”

When he turned, she was surprised to see the hurt in his eyes. “You have nothing to thank me for. If I’d been here from the beginning, all of this would be different.”

What he said was true, but there was no changing the past now. Lorelei had lived there long enough, running on anger about things she could do nothing about. She’d vowed to live in the now, and the now was too good to let Becky Winkle mess it up.

“You were here tonight,” she said. “And that means a lot.”

“We need to tell them. I’m tired of your mother being thought of this way.”

Oh, no. Her mother had sacrificed too much to keep Mike out of the fray. Lorelei would not have that sacrifice be for nothing now.

“We agreed, Mike. It’s how she wanted it.”

He returned to the picnic table. “But we can fix it for her.”

“And have them all turn their judgment on you? What if the high and mighty decide they don’t want to do business with a man who cut and run on his pregnant girlfriend?” she whispered. “You know they won’t care about the details. Who knew what and when. Honor our agreement,” she said. “For her.”

Mike shook his head, then sat down at the table and dropped his face into his hands. Lorelei returned to her seat across from him. After several seconds, he looked her way. “I hate this.”

She nodded. “Me, too.” With a smile, she tilted her head. “Is that true about Becky’s parents?”

A dark brow shot up. “I shouldn’t have said that, but yeah. People seem to forget we were all kids in the 1980s, not the 1880s. Becky’s mom is the daughter of a preacher. Those girls were always the fastest.”

“No,” Lorelei said, the word heavy with shock. “Mrs. Winkle, the queen of the cardigan and pearls, was a fast girl?”

Her father narrowed his eyes. “Remember what it’s like to have your mom talked about, Lorelei. Don’t go doing the same to someone else.”

Sobering, she tried to wipe the smile off her face. “I didn’t say I was going to mention it to anyone. But still.” The smile won out. “Mrs. Winkle?”

“Lorelei.”

“No, you’re right.” She made the motion of locking her lips and throwing away the key. “You won’t catch me repeating anything.”

“Good,” Mike said. “Now how about helping me with this funnel cake?”

Lorelei pulled the paper plate her way. “I thought you’d never ask.”

Fifteen minutes after Carrie had walked away, Spencer settled in his rickety metal chair, taking a break for the first time in more than an hour. The couple who’d come to the booth while Jebediah and Grady had monopolized Spencer’s attention had returned. As luck would have it, they’d spent their first date at the Ruby, and many more after that. As the theater had played such a significant role in their romance, Mr. and Mrs. Handleman were happy to join the cause. That made four new members on the night, including the Forbes woman, and Haleigh Rae’s mom, who’d stopped by the booth with her daughter to say hello.

Spencer had been tempted to ask Haleigh if she’d seen Cooper, but he couldn’t think of a reason she would. Cooper had loved Haleigh from afar for years, long enough that the woman should have figured it out by now, but if she hadn’t, Spencer wasn’t going to be the one to let the cat out of the bag. Of course, if Coop would man up and ask the woman out during one of these visits, he might actually get somewhere. This stupid notion that a doc wouldn’t want anything to do with a mechanic was all in the man’s head, but Spencer had given up trying to change his friend’s mind several years ago.

“You can’t say I didn’t warn you, Spencer,” Becky Winkle said, appearing to his left.

Glancing to the heavens, he wondered what he’d done to deserve this much harassment in one evening.

“I’m really not in the mood, Becky.” After his divorce from Carrie, Becky had kept him supplied with casseroles and the occasional Bundt cake. None of which she’d prepared herself, of course. He’d spent three months dodging her hints until the day he moved into the garage apartment at Rosie’s. It was as if the Pratchett house was surrounded by an invisible fence that the scheming woman couldn’t get through. Or wouldn’t. Either way, he’d been relieved to be rid of her, and she hadn’t shown any interest in him since.

“She was never good enough for you, but you were too blind to see it.”

Lorelei. Of course this was about Lorelei.

“I’m not blind to anything. Between the two of us, I’d say you’re the one with the cloudy judgment.”

Becky’s jaw worked as if she were trying to dislodge it. “You’ve been humiliated by a woman once, Spencer. I’d think you wouldn’t let the same thing happen again.”

Why would she not give this up? “I told you, I’m not in the mood for your lies and innuendos. When are you going to learn to get your nose out of other people’s business?”

“And when are you going to realize that Lorelei Pratchett is a two-timing slut like her mother?”