“Well, I’m disappointed.” Kate sighed, leaning back in her seat with her shoulders slumped. The battle just defeated her. “I was so hoping. You stole my entire thunder I had going all day yesterday. I had everything worked out in my mind and there’d be ‘happily ever afters’ all around for everyone.”
“Why don’t you steal Jake from Julia?” Dani would’ve laughed if she hadn’t been taking a sip of coffee as she saw the horror come in to Kate’s eyes. “Or not.”
“Hell no. I like him as my partner, but that’s it for me. Man.” She sighed again, the corners of her mouth dipping down. “This just means that Julia has him for good. Jake’s never dated outside the O’Hara gene pool. He’s doomed forever.”
“Maybe he’s actually happy with her?”
“No. That can’t be.” Kate shook her head. “I was so hoping to get you on board.”
“You said the rest of you are tired of her. Who’s the rest of you?”
“Me. Aiden and Bubba. Oh, those two married. Her and Bubba Meadows. And Robbie Gray—he’s a lawyer, you know. And it’s perfect because Kelley Lynn is his secretary. Sometimes we ask him to find out what they’re all planning.”
“Robbie Gray? Wasn’t he—”
“Tall, skinny, and nerdy? Yep. A social misfit just like the rest of us, except that he’s tall, dark, gorgeous, and rich now. He’s not a social misfit anymore, but he remembers his roots. He’s a good friend.”
Catching a note in her voice, Dani grinned. Kate had a thing for the attorney. That was interesting, and she could handle interesting for someone else, just not her own issues. She needed to be uninteresting.
“Why don’t you ask him out?”
“Jake? We already went over this.”
“No. The other guy. Robbie.” Dani picked up her coffee, but only held it, frowning. “Or did I get that wrong?”
Kate’s own frown was almost a glower. “No. You got it right, but Brooke Richter and Lori Hayden are duking it out over him.”
Dani was pretty sure they both had been cheerleaders, or on the dance team. “Are they still…?”
“They’re still gorgeous.”
After Kate’s high school transformation, she now looked almost average. The brown hair fell to her shoulders, and she was no longer the skinny skeleton she’d been back then. She filled out, and while some guys loved the wholesome, healthy look—most guys either went for the dark hair, dark eyes, sensual lips kinda look, or girls who looked like Brooke Richter and Lori Hayden.
Kate slapped a hand on the table, excited again. “What about Jonah Bannon?”
The coffee was lowered back to the table. “What about him?” Dani sat back, her frown forming again.
“I was joking yesterday, but is there something going on between you? That’d be great. Jonah’s better than Jake. I’d love watching my partner squirm. I didn’t know he had it in him to snipe so much as he did yesterday. Bannon this and Bannon that. All I heard yesterday.” Kate continued, “And Jake’s worshipped the ground Jonah walks on, until yesterday. That all changed now.”
“Kate.”
“Huh?”
“I’m really here just to do my own thing. Nothing else.”
“So, no Jonah?”
“No Jonah.”
“Oh.” She sighed. “Okay. I’ll get over it. You should still come to the fair tonight with us. I even made Robbie promise not to bring Brooke or Lori. It’s a date-free night, except for Bubba. He doesn’t count anyway since he’s Aiden’s husband, and Julia’s going to be gone for the weekend. She’s at some clinic or conference, or something. She won’t even be there.”
“Who’s all going?”
“Me, Robbie, Aiden, and Bubba, and I think Stilts is coming, too.”
“Stilts?”
“He migrated from Northway, but he’s fun. Just the group. Jonah will probably be with his crew. Hawk, Gee, Cory Lyles, those guys. I don’t know if you remember them from school, but they’re all still friends. Badasses back then. Badasses now. Well,” she amended, “they’re more responsible now, but no. They’ll be at the beer gardens, and it’s a little disgusting to watch women fall over themselves for Jonah. Although, Aiden likes to rate them all later when we’re at her house. Jonah doesn’t much appreciate it, especially when she gives the reasoning for her ranks too. If you want entertainment—that’s funny!”
Did she want to go? No.
Should she go? Yes.
“When and where?” She accepted her defeat.
“Seriously?” Kate broke into a wide smile. “We’re going around eight thirty to check all the barns, and we’ll end up at the beer gardens later that night. This is great, Dani. What’s your number?”
Dani wrote her number down, and around nine that night, she was at the beer gardens. It was set up inside a white barn, with two large green-painted doors opened. Picnic tables were spread out all over the inside, with a section in one corner where beer was being sold. From where Dani stood, she could see a thick crowd had formed as people waited to pay for their cups. Some left with a pitcher filled and a stack of plastic cups in the other hand. The entire place was still warm. Dani’s hair stuck to the back of her neck. She knew it’d be even hotter inside, but two large barn fans were set up outside the entrance and she spied another one by a side door. Even over the fans’ loud noise, she could still hear loud murmurs of conversations, laughter, and cheering inside.