“Herb owns the American Club in Kohler, Wisconsin, along with four of the Midwest’s best golf courses. Each room at the American Club is outfitted with the latest plumbing fixtures. There’s even a plumbing museum. Every year the place is top ranked.”
“Herb Kohler’s an important man,” Ted said with such a lack of guile that she nearly rolled her eyes. Was she the only person who saw through him? “He sure has made himself a legend in the golfing world.”
And Spencer Skipjack wanted to outdo his rival. That’s why building this resort was so important to him.
“It’s too bad Herb didn’t build his place somewhere people could play year-round,” Dallie said. “Wisconsin’s a damn cold state.”
“The reason I was smart enough to choose Texas,” Skipjack said. “I came down here a lot from Indiana when I was a kid to visit my mother’s family. I’ve always felt at home in the Lone Star State. More Texan than Hoosier.” He turned his attention back to Meg. “Wherever I build, you be sure and tell your father he’s invited to play anytime as my guest.”
“I’ll do that.” Her athletic father still loved basketball, and thanks to her mother, now rode horseback for pleasure, but she couldn’t imagine him swinging a golf club.
She’d had separate phone conversations with both of her parents today, but instead of begging them to send money, she’d told them that she’d gotten a great job in hospitality at an important Texas country club. Although she didn’t say she was the activities coordinator, neither did she correct her mother when she came to that conclusion and said how wonderful it was Meg had finally found a useful outlet for her natural creativity. Her dad was just happy she had a job.
She couldn’t keep quiet about this any longer. “Have any of you thought about leaving that land alone? I mean, does the world really need another golf course eating up more of our natural resources?”
Ted’s frown was almost imperceptible. “Recreational green spaces keep people healthy.”
“Damn right they do,” Spence said before Meg could bring up the golfers and their Bud Light. “Ted and I have talked a lot about that.” He pushed back his chair. “Come on, Miz Meg. I like this song.”
Spence might have her arm, but Meg could have sworn she felt Ted’s invisible hand shoving her to the dance floor.
Spence was a decent dancer, and the song was up tempo, so things started out all right. But when a ballad came on, he pulled her so close his belt buckle pressed against her, not to mention something more objectionable. “I don’t know what happened to make you fall on hard times.” Spence nuzzled her ear. “But it looks like you could use somebody to watch out for you until you’re back on your feet.”
She hoped he didn’t mean what she thought he meant, but the evidence below his belt buckle seemed to indicate he did.
“Now I’m not talking about anything that would make you uncomfortable,” he said. “Just the two of us spending some time together.”
She deliberately tripped over his foot. “Oops. I need to sit down. I picked up a couple of blisters today.”
Spence didn’t have any choice but to follow her back to the table. “She can’t keep up with me,” he grumbled.
“Not many people can, I’ll bet,” Mayor Suck-up said.
Spence pulled his chair closer and draped his arm around her shoulders. “I got a great idea, Miss Meg. Let’s fly to Vegas tonight. You, too, Ted. Ring up a girlfriend and come with us. I’ll call my pilot.”
He was so certain of their compliance that he reached for his cell, and since not one of the men at the table did anything to dissuade him, she realized she was on her own. “Sorry, Spence. I have to work tomorrow.”
He winked at Ted. “That’s not much of a country club you work for, and I’ll bet Ted could talk your boss into giving you a couple of days off. What do you think, Ted?”
“If he can’t, I can,” Dallie said, tossing her to the wolves.
Kenny piled on. “Let me do it. I’ll be happy to make a call.”
Ted gazed at her over the top of his longneck, saying nothing. She stared right back, so angry her skin burned. She’d put up with a lot lately, but she wouldn’t put up with this. “The thing is . . .” She bit off the syllables. “I’m not exactly free. Emotionally.”
“How’s that?” Spence asked.
“It’s . . . complicated.” She was starting to feel nauseated. Why couldn’t life come with a pause button? More than anything, that’s what she needed right now, because without a chance to think this through, she was going to say the first thing that sprang into her mind, the stupidest thing, but again, no pause button. “Ted and me.”
Ted’s beer bottle clinked against his teeth. Kenny perked up. Spence looked confused. “This morning you said the two of you weren’t a couple.”
She pinched her mouth into a smile. “We’re not,” she said. “Yet. But I have hopes.” The word caught in her throat like a bone. She had just validated everything people believed about her motivation for stopping the wedding.
But Kenny kicked back in his chair, more amused than accusatory. “Ted does this to women all the time. None of us can figure out how.”
“I sure can’t.” Ted’s father slanted her a peculiar look. “Homeliest kid you ever saw.”
Ted ground his words around the edges of a lazy smile. “It’s not going to happen, Meg.”
“Time will tell.” Now that she saw how much she’d aggravated him, she warmed to the topic, despite its larger implications. “I have a bad history of falling for the worst men.” She let that settle in for a moment. “Not that Ted isn’t perfect. A little too perfect, obviously, but . . . attraction isn’t always logical.”
Spence’s heavy dark brows met in the middle. “Wasn’t it last month he was all ready to marry the president’s daughter?”
“The end of May,” she said. “And Lucy is my best friend. It was a total debacle, as I’m sure you know from all the press.” Ted watched her, his easy smile fixed in place, a microscopic nerve jumping at the corner of his eye. She began to enjoy herself. “But Lucy was never the right woman for him. Thanks to me, he knows that now, and frankly, his gratitude would be embarrassing if I weren’t so head over heels.”
“Gratitude?” Ted’s voice was tempered steel.
To hell with it. She waved an airy hand and began to embellish with all the skill of her actor-playwright father. “I could play coy and pretend I haven’t fallen totally—and I mean totally—in love with him, but I’ve never been the kind of woman to play games. I throw my cards right on the table. It’s better in the long run.”
“Honesty’s an admirable quality,” Kenny said, openly enjoying himself.
“I know what you’re all thinking. That I couldn’t possibly have fallen for him so quickly because, no matter what anybody says, I did not break up that wedding. But . . .” She shot Ted an adoring look. “This time it’s different for me. So different.” She couldn’t resist fanning the flames. “And . . . Judging from Ted’s late-night visit yesterday . . .”
“You two had a late-night visit?” his father said.
“Pretty romantic, right?” She manufactured a dreamy smile. “At midnight. In the choir—”
Ted shot to his feet. “Let’s dance.”
With a tilt of her head, she transformed herself into the mother of all sorrows. “Blister.”
“Slow dance,” he said silkily. “You can stand on my feet.”
Before she could come up with a way out, Ted had her arm and was dragging her toward the crowded dance floor. He tucked her against him—one step from a chokehold. At least he wasn’t wearing a belt, so she didn’t have to put up with a buckle . . . or any other object pressing into her flesh. The only thing hard about Ted Beaudine was the expression in his eyes. “Every time I think you can’t cause more trouble, you manage to surprise me.”
“What was I supposed to do?” she retorted. “Fly off to Vegas with him? And when did ‘pimp’ become part of your job description?”<
br />
“It wouldn’t have gone that far. All you had to do was be nice.”
“Why should I? I hate this town, remember? And I don’t care if your stupid golf resort gets built. I don’t want it to get built.”
“Then why have you gone along with this so far?”
“Because I’ve sold out. To put food in my stomach.”
“Is that the only reason?”
“I don’t know . . . It seemed like the right thing to do. God knows why. Contrary to popular opinion, I’m not the evil bitch everybody’s made me out to be. But that doesn’t mean that I’m willing to turn hooker for the good of y’all.”
“I never said you were evil.” He actually had the nerve to look wounded.
“You know he’s only interested in me because of my father,” she hissed. “He’s a little man with a big ego. Being around famous people, even an auxiliary person like me, makes him feel important. If it weren’t for my parents, he wouldn’t look at me twice.”
“I wouldn’t be so sure about that.”
“Come on, Ted. I’m not exactly the type to be a rich man’s bimbo.”
“That’s true.” A world of compassion softened his voice. “Bimbos are generally good-hearted women who are pleasant to be around.”
“Spoken from experience, I’m sure. By the way, you may be God Almighty on the golf course, but you’re a lousy dancer. Let me lead.”
He lost a step, then looked at her oddly, as if she’d finally taken him by surprise, although she couldn’t imagine why, and she relaunched her attack. “Here’s an idea. Why don’t you and your lover fly to Vegas with Spence? I’m sure the two of you could show him a great time.”
“That really galls you, doesn’t it?”
“The fact that you screwed around on Lucy? Oh, yes. Right now she’s eaten up with guilt. And don’t think for a second that I won’t fill her in on all the sordid details of your extracurricular activities as soon as we get the chance for a long chat.”
“Doubt she’ll believe you.”
“I don’t get why you proposed to her in the first place.”
“Not being married was starting to hold me back,” he said. “I was ready to move on to the next stage of my life, and I needed a wife for that. Someone spectacular. The daughter of the president fit the bill perfectly.”
“Did you ever love her? Even a little?”
“Are you crazy? It was a sham right from the beginning.”
Something told her he was throwing up a smoke screen, but the mind-reading thing she’d been doing all evening failed her. “It must be hard being you,” she said. “Mr. Perfect on the outside. Dr. Evil on the inside.”
“It’s not that hard. The rest of the world isn’t as insightful as you.”
His easy smile slid over her, and a tiny zap—almost imperceptible—so small it was hardly worth noting—but still there— hit her nerve endings. Not all of them. Just a couple. The ones located somewhere south of her belly button.
“Crap!” he exclaimed, voicing her feelings perfectly.
She turned her head and saw what had caught his attention. His beautiful brunette lover making a beeline for Spence.
Ted abandoned Meg and ambled back to the table, his amble so full of purpose Meg was surprised he didn’t leave tread marks on the floor. He hit the brakes just as his lover held out her hand to their visitor.
“Hi, there. Torie Traveler O’Connor.”
Chapter Nine
Torie Traveler O’Connor? Meg remembered the conversation she’d overheard the night before between Ted and Kenny. Ted’s married lover was Kenny’s sister?
Torie’s Texas drawl was liquid decadence. “I heard you tore up the back nine today, Spence. You don’t mind if I call you Spence, do you? I had to meet the man who took these ol’ boys to the cleaners.”
Spence looked temporarily awestruck. It was easy to see how Torie could do that with her flawless features, swirl of inky hair, and long legs hugged by ultraexpensive jeans. A trio of small silver charms dangled at the open neck of her scooped top, an enormous diamond winked on her left hand, and two others, nearly as large, played at her earlobes.
Kenny frowned at her. Seen together, their over-the-top good looks made it obvious they were siblings. “Why aren’t you home minding my nieces?”
“Because they’re finally asleep. It took a couple of Xanax cleverly concealed inside some Twinkies, but oh well . . . Monsters.”
“They miss their father,” Kenny said. “The only stabilizing influence in their lives.”
Torie grinned. “He’ll be back tomorrow.” She poked her brother. “I just talked to Lady Emma. She told me her hand is fine, and if you call her one more time, she won’t put out tonight.” She kissed Ted’s cheek. “Hey, there, Mr. Mayor. Word is you played real ugly today.”
“Except for a hole-out eagle and a few birdies,” her brother said. “Damnedest game I ever saw.”
She looked around for a place to sit, and not spotting an open chair, perched on Ted’s right thigh. “Weird. You’re usually so consistent.”
“Spence intimidated me,” Ted said with all kinds of sincerity. “He’s as good a seven handicap as I’ve ever played with.”
Kenny tilted back in his chair. “Lots of interesting events happening around here today, Torie. Meg was just filling Spence in on her unrequited love for Ted. Who knew, right?”
Torie’s eyes widened with surprise, followed almost immediately by anticipation. Right then Meg understood. Even with Torie balanced like a sleek, man-eating panther on Ted’s thigh and one arm draped over his shoulders, Meg knew they weren’t lovers. She didn’t understand exactly what their relationship was, or why they’d been together in the suite at the inn with Torie wrapped only in a towel, or why Torie had kissed him that night in his car. Despite all the evidence to the contrary—and despite Ted’s own words—she knew with absolute certainty these two were not intimate.
Torie took a sip from Ted’s beer and turned her attention to Meg. “I never get tired of hearing women’s stories, especially ones involving men. I swear, I’d read a romance novel every day if I didn’t have to chase after my kids. Did you just blurt it right out—tell Ted how you feel?”
Meg tried to look sincere. “I believe in honesty.”
“She’s pretty sure he’ll come around,” Kenny said.
Torie handed Ted’s beer back without taking her eyes off Meg. “I admire your self-confidence.”
Meg extended her hands, palms out. “Why wouldn’t he come around? Look at me.”
She expected snickers, but it didn’t happen. “Interesting,” Torie said.
“Not interesting.” Ted slid his beer out of Torie’s reach.
Torie took in Meg’s Sung dynasty earrings. “Probably best you haven’t heard about my stepmother’s new plan to raise money for the library repairs.”
“Shelby hasn’t talked to me about any plan,” Ted said.
Torie waved him off. “I’m sure someone will mention it to you sooner or later. The committee hasn’t finished ironing out the details.”
Ted eyed Kenny. “Lady Emma say anything about this to you?”
“Not a word.”
Torie was a woman on a mission, and she wouldn’t let herself be distracted for long. “Your honesty is refreshing, Meg. Exactly when did you realize you were in love with Ted? Before or after Lucy ditched him?”
“Lay off,” Ted said pleasantly.
Torie stuck her perfectly shaped nose in the air. “I wasn’t talking to you. When it comes to women, you always leave out the interesting parts.”
“After she left,” Meg said, and then, more carefully, “there’s really nothing more to tell at this point. I’m still hoping to . . . work through Ted’s issues.”
“Remind me what those issues are,” Torie said. “Ted being so perfect.” A tiny gasp slipped through her glossy lips. “Oh, God, Teddy . . . Not that issue! You told us the Viagra helped.” She leaned toward Spence, and in a fake whisper s
aid, “Ted’s been fighting a courageous battle against erectile dysfunction.”
Skeet choked on his beer. Kenny laughed. Dallie winced, and Spence frowned. He wasn’t exactly certain whether or not Torie was joking, and he didn’t like feeling excluded. Meg experienced her first flash of sympathy, not for Spence, but for Ted, who looked as serene as ever, even though he definitely wasn’t. “Torie’s kidding, Spence.” Meg gave a superexaggerated eye roll. “She’s really, really kidding.” And then, with fake guilt, “At least from what I’ve heard.”
“Okay, that’s enough.” Ted nearly dumped Torie as he came up out of his chair and caught her wrist. “Let’s dance.”
“If I wanted to dance, I’d ask my brother,” Torie retorted. “Somebody who doesn’t have two left feet.”
“I’m not that bad,” Ted said.
“Bad enough.”
Kenny addressed Spence. “My sister is the only woman in Wynette—probably the entire universe—who’s ever told Ted the truth about his lack of ballroom skills. The rest of them bat their eyes and pretend he’s Justin Timberlake. Funnier’n hell.”
Ted’s eyes grazed Meg’s, just for an instant, before he turned away and pulled Torie toward the jukebox.
Spence watched them. “Your sister’s an unusual woman.”
“Tell me about it.”
“Her and Ted seem real close.”
“Torie’s been Ted’s best female friend since he was a kid,” Kenny said. “I swear, she’s the only woman under sixty who’s never been in love with him.”
“Her husband doesn’t mind their friendship?”
“Dex?” Kenny smiled. “No. Dex is pretty self-confident.”
Ted seemed to be doing more lecturing than dancing, and when he and Torie returned to the table, he made a point of grabbing an empty chair and seating her as far away from Spence as he could manage. That didn’t stop Torie from touting the advantages of Wynette as the perfect location for a golf resort, trying to figure out how much Spence was worth, inviting him to her stepmother’s Fourth of July party on Monday, and coercing him into a Saturday afternoon golf match.