Des wanted to cry. Right there in the salon with one of the nail technicians smiling up at her as she painted her toenails, Des wanted to cry.
“You really want me to come to your wedding?”
“Of course I do. You can even bring a date.”
“Yeah, like Logan,” Chelsea said with a wink. “He’ll be the best man, so you know he’s definitely going to be there.”
“Oh, well. Logan. Uh. I don’t think he’d want to bring me to the wedding.”
“After the way the two of you were together at the party on the Fourth? Why not?” Emma looked confused.
“I sense a story brewing,” Jane said. “Is something up with you and Logan? Or should we all just mind our own business?”
She’d told Colt, one of her best friends for years, to mind his. She hadn’t wanted to talk about it.
“Let’s have dinner somewhere and we’ll talk.”
“Are you sure you want to get out there in public?” Chelsea asked.
She didn’t, but she wasn’t going to gossip in the salon. Especially about Logan.
“I have an idea,” Emma said. “We’ll call in an order and have dinner at my place. We’ll send Luke over to your place, Jane. He can hang with Will and the kids.”
“Sounds like a great idea.”
After they finished hair and makeup, Francine took photos of them all together, then a few of Des by herself, and with Francine. Des paid for all of them, much to Emma’s dismay.
“Hey, we invited you. This was our invite and we were going to pay.”
“But this was such a treat for me today. It’s my pleasure to take care of the bill.”
“Well, thank you,” Jane said. “But we’re buying dinner.”
Des grinned. “You’re on.”
After thanking Francine and her staff, they headed over to Emma’s place. As they came inside, the dogs bounded over. Des bent and petted Annie and Daisy.
“How was spa day?” Luke asked.
“Great,” Jane said, laying her purse on the counter. “We were pampered from our toes to our hair.”
“I can tell. You all look beautiful,” he said, though his gaze settled only on Emma
Emma grabbed Luke by the shirt and gave him quite the hot kiss.
Des had to admit it made her a little jealous to see the fire and passion between them, the easy way they were with each other.
Chelsea fluffed her hair. “Thanks.”
“Oh, I bought a few bottles of wine. And some tequila and mix, in case you want to make some margaritas.”
“No wonder you’re going to marry this guy,” Des said. “He thinks of everything.”
Emma slanted a very hot look toward Luke. “Indeed he does. And thank you, babe.”
“You’re welcome.”
“Okay, you two. Enough of the mushy stuff. Out the door with you, Luke,” Chelsea said, giving him a playful shove. “You have fun with Will and the kids.”
“I intend to.” He turned to Emma. “And I’m taking the dogs with me, if you don’t mind. Will suggested Archie might enjoy Daisy and Annie playing with him.”
“That sounds like a great idea. They both love Archie.”
Luke nodded. “Okay, then. Here are the rules: Have a great time, but no dancing on the table na**d unless there’s video for me to watch later, Em.”
She laughed, then squeezed his hand. “Thanks for doing this.”
“No problem.” He brushed his lips across hers, gave her a lingering look that melted Des’s feet to the floor, then disappeared.
“Wow,” Jane said. “Are you sure you don’t want us to leave and Luke can stay?”
Emma grinned. “Oh, I’ll be thanking him for his cooperation later.”
“I’ll just bet you will,” Chelsea said. “In the meantime, let’s do something about getting dinner ordered.”
They decided on Italian food, and Jane ran to pick it up while Chelsea opened the bottles of wine, and Emma cleared her paperwork off the table. By the time Jane came back with the food, the wine had been poured and the table had been set.
Des realized she was hungry. Apparently so were the rest of them. They dove into the food, a delicious combination of spaghetti and meatballs, lasagna, and a magnificent salad.
They drank wine and talked. Mainly, Des listened while the rest of them talked.
“And then I had a surgery yesterday that was exhausting. I’m getting my share of orthopedic surgical experience. In fact, one of my mentors from college in South Carolina is doing a class on new techniques in veterinary orthopedic surgery in September. I’m going to attend it.”
“Oh, Emma, that’s great,” Jane said. “Is that the Dr. Moore you’re always talking about?”
Emma nodded. “I had him for four classes in vet school, and I don’t know that I would have made it through without him.” Emma turned to Des. “Some of those instructors were assholes that couldn’t care less whether you passed or failed. Dr. Moore saved my life, always encouraged me to push through, no matter how hard it was.”
Des nodded. “I’ve had a few mentors through the years, too. Directors and casting agents can be brutal. Sometimes all it takes are a few kind words. In my business, you don’t always get a part, especially one you want badly. My agent especially has been my lifesaver. I couldn’t imagine having made it in this business without her.”
“It’s good to have people on your side,” Jane said. “I couldn’t survive a week of school without Chelsea.”
“Aww,” Chelsea said, taking Jane’s hand and squeezing it. “The feeling is mutual, honey.”
“I admire both of you so much,” Des said. “Being an army brat, I moved around a lot, and I had my share of amazing teachers, and quite a few that sucked.”
Chelsea laughed. “Believe me, Jane and I have seen plenty of both. This summer, I’m one of those teachers who suck.”
“You are not,” Jane said. “You took on summer school this year so I could be with my kids.”
Chelsea sighed. “It’s like the kids are zombies in there. Try to teach math in the summer to a group of high school students who don’t want to be there in the first place. You might as well kill me now. What was I thinking?”
“You were thinking that someone has to help these kids get to the next level,” Emma said. “And maybe they don’t want to be there, but you’ll encourage them to do whatever it takes to pass.”
Chelsea smiled at Emma. “You’re so sweet and naïve, Em. These kids don’t give a shit about math. They’re going to do the barest minimum to get through my class. Which means a C minus. They’d much rather be at the lake. Not that I blame them. I’d much rather be at the lake, too.”
Des laughed. “Summer school is rough. And it’s probably not that the kids don’t want to learn. It’s like you said. They’re frustrated. All their friends are out having summer fun, and they’re stuck in the classroom.”
“You speak from experience?” Chelsea cocked a brow.
Des took a sip of her wine and nodded. “Unfortunately, yes. I had to do a summer of math, too. It was hideous. No offense to either you or Jane.”
“None taken,” Jane said.
“Here, either.” Chelsea shook her head. “By the end of the school year in late May, I’m toast. And then summer school starts up. Every year I say I’m not going to do it. Some years I don’t, but this year for some reason I said I would.”
“Because there was no one else to do it and seven students signed up,” Jane said.
“That’s true. It was either me or Jane. And Jane has kids, and I don’t. So I said yes.”
“There are only two weeks left, Chelsea.”
She lifted her glass and stared at the golden liquid. “Maybe I’ll start bringing wine.”
“For you or the kids?” Des asked.
Chelsea laughed. “I’ll get back to you on that one. In the meantime, why don’t you tell us about Logan?”
Des grabbed the bottle and refilled her glass. “Oh, yeah. That.” She was kind of hoping they could continue to talk about everyone else instead of her. She loved learning more about them.
“The day after the Fourth I spent the day working on the ranch with Logan.”
“Really,” Jane said. “That sounds like fun. Hard work, probably.”
“It was hard. But it was also enlightening. And fun. And hot,” she finished with a laugh.
“I can imagine. It’s one of our typical Oklahoma summers,” Chelsea said.
Des explained everything she’d done that day, from the time Logan got her up before dawn, until they were finished for the day.
“Holy crap, Des,” Chelsea said. “I’m surprised you didn’t throw in the towel by lunch.”
She shrugged. “It was okay, and I thought I was doing well. But Logan didn’t go easy on me. I mean, he treated me like he would any of the other hands that work for him.”
Jane leaned back in her chair and swirled the wine around in her glass. “He was testing you.”
“I guess so. I didn’t figure it out right away, but I believe he was.”
“He’s scared, Des. And he obviously cares about you, otherwise he wouldn’t have pushed you so hard.”
“It’s because of his and Luke’s mother,” Des said.
“He shared that with you?” Chelsea asked.
Des nodded. “He did. And I understand it, but I’ll be damned if I have to pay for her sins.”
Emma laid her hand on Des’s arm. “You shouldn’t have to. What Luke and Logan’s mother did was reprehensible. It scarred both of them, made them wary of getting close to anyone, especially women. But there’s no way you should have to pay the price for her abandoning her children. Logan’s just going to have to wake up and realize all women aren’t like her.”
“It’s not like we were headed down that road anyway.”
“Maybe Logan thinks you are. Maybe he’s in love with you and he’s confused.”
Des slanted a look of disbelief at Jane. “Logan is not in love with me. I don’t think he’s capable of loving anyone.”
“I disagree,” Emma said. “I also agree with Jane. I think he was testing you, working your ass off at the ranch that day to see if you’d bolt. God knows, from what Luke tells me, his mother hated ranch life and never wanted to take part in any of the activities there.”
“Exactly,” Chelsea added. “And here you are, someone who’s the polar opposite of him in terms of lifestyle and career. If he didn’t care about you, he’d never have tested you. He would have given you the standard McCormack Day at the Ranch experience.”
Des lifted a brow. “There’s a McCormack Day at the Ranch experience?”
Emma laughed. “Yes. I think anyone who wants to”—she used air quotes with her fingers—“‘experience life on a working cattle ranch,’ as they call it, they give them a pretty darned easy day. Nothing like what you told us you went through.”
“I survived it, and the worst part about it was, I had fun.”
“Until Logan made it not fun,” Jane said.
“Exactly.”
Emma refilled all their glasses. “So the question now is, what are you going to do about that?”
“I don’t know. I need some advice.”
“Don’t ask me,” Chelsea said, taking a swallow of wine. “Men are a mystery to me. One totally screwed-up mystery. You’d be better off asking Jane and Emma. Obviously they have them figured out.”
Jane laughed. “We do not. We’ve just learned how to live with their idiosyncrasies.”
“True that,” Emma said. “Never in my wildest imaginings did I think I’d ever settle down this soon. Or ever. And Luke? He’s a mass of contradictions and complications. But oh, he’s so sexy. And so sweet. He bought us wine tonight, you know.”
Des smiled as Emma began to slur her words. Friends were great. Drunk friends were even better. “I don’t know that you need to understand them, but you can still offer me some advice on what you think I should do about Logan.”
“Or to Logan,” Chelsea said, weaving a bit in her chair. Then she laughed.
And so did Jane.
And then Emma laughed, too.
Des cracked a smile. “You all are not helping.”
Jane set her glass down on the table. “Okay, you’re right. We are not helping. But honestly, Des, what do you want to do? Are you mad enough at him that you think he’s not worth it, or do you have genuine feelings for him?”
That was the big question, wasn’t it?
“I have feelings for him, things I’ve never felt for another man before. But I don’t really know how he feels. And God knows I have no idea what he really wants.”
“It seems to me that you’ve never had any qualms about telling him how you feel or what you want. Isn’t that right?” Chelsea asked.
“True.”
“So why the hesitation now? Unless you’re afraid you won’t like the answer.”
Des sighed. “You’re right about that. I’ve never been afraid of any man, ever. I’ve always been very honest with my feelings, my wants, and my needs. Until Logan. He makes me crazy. And conflicted.”
“Because you’ve fallen in love with him,” Emma offered.