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Heat blazed through her as shock had her lips trembling with laughter.
“You are so bad,” she accused as he lifted her from the truck and Jethro’s laughter joined Mac’s. “What am I going to do with you?”
“I have suggestions, but this might not be the place for them. ”
It was a place for hilarity. For over a dozen men and women crowded around Mac, Keiley, and Jethro. They were the friends she and Mac had been drawn to when they first arrived, couples they were comfortable with, whose interests and sense of humor seemed to align with theirs.
Now they were friends who drew around them in support and extended their hand in friendship to Jethro as well. Through dinner and drinks, Keiley watched him. He was quiet but friendly, laughing in genuine amusement at some of the women’s antics with their husbands but saying no more than he had to. As though he were watching for enemies amidst friends and categorizing strengths and weaknesses.
As plates were carried away by the waitresses and more drinks arrived, Keiley noticed the subtle tension invading him. His demeanor hadn’t changed, but she could feel it, just as she sometimes felt it with Mac.
On the stage across from them the band was gearing up, swinging into a slow, sensual love song. It was couples night, which meant lots of slow songs.
She turned to Jethro slowly, meeting his eyes, and whispered, “Dance with me. ”
Hooded, his deep blue eyes wary, he watched her for long seconds before pushing his chair back and holding his hand out to her. Talk ceased behind them, every eye at the table turning to them as she took his hand and let him lead her to the dance floor.
Mac sat back in his chair as several of the other couples followed behind Keiley and Jethro, leaving him at the table with Joseph, his wife, Maxine, and her sister and brother-in-law.
“Ladies’ room trip,” Maxine announced as she grabbed her sister’s arm. “Come on, Fayrene. ”
Fayrene rolled her pretty brown eyes before kissing her husband’s cheek quickly and following after Maxine.
“She hasn’t shut up since that damned picture hit her e-mail box,” Joseph sighed, watching as his petite wife made her way along the side of the room toward the restrooms. “I had to take the phone out of her hand before she called Delia Staten herself. ”
“Delia’s not living peaceable. ” Chase Sinclair, Fayrene’s husband, told him somberly. “I talked to her husband, Robert, today. He’s furious, Mac. He wanted to call you himself, but Victoria asked him to wait. ”
Mac nodded. He hadn’t expected Victoria to take his side in this. She had her opinions on things, and her beliefs. She was more likely to toss Keiley from the charity committee than she was not to. If she felt Keiley had disgraced the rules of decency that she lived by, then she would cold-shoulder her until hell froze over. And the same went for Mac. Mac had no doubt it would snow in hell before she extended her hand in friendship again.
She lived by her own rules, she upheld them. She wasn’t a cruel woman, but she could be a strict one.
“Robert called the bank today and had Delia’s name taken off their account and canceled her bank cards,” Joseph muttered.
“I heard computers have crashed left and right across the county as well,” Chase commented. “Everyone who forwarded that e-mail that I know of has found themselves with the hefty expense of replacing them. The hard drives were totally ripped. ”
Mac’s lips quirked. Gladsteen had a way about her, he had to admit.
“I have to admit, I was worried when Maxine start
ed screeching like a banshee this morning,” Joseph said. “She was torn between laughing in amazement at your and Keiley’s daring and crying in rage at what Delia had done. She’s worried about the three of you as well. ”
Mac’s gaze flicked to Chase.
“I saw the helicopter land at your farm, Mac, I’m not a fool. I don’t know what your problems are, but I’m betting they’re not easy. If you need us”—he nodded to Joseph—“we’re here. ”
“He would be better off with the information,” Joseph muttered. “Chase is handy as hell in a fight, Mac. ”
Mac explained about the stalker quickly to Chase, keeping his voice low, his gaze on the tables around them to make certain nothing was overheard. As he finished, he watched Chase’s blue-gray eyes narrow dangerously.
The Ranger was home on medical leave for a gunshot wound to his leg, taken in action. Rumor was he would never return to his unit, but that didn’t cancel him out of a fight.
“You have the house covered?” Chase asked when he finished.
“I have help. ” Mac nodded. “We’ll catch him. Right now, I’d prefer to keep you and Joe out of the line of sight. I don’t want to give him someone else to target. ”
“We catch him here, and he’ll never target anyone else,” Joe suggested softly, the lowered tone of his voice doing nothing to disguise his fury.
Joseph Bright hadn’t always been a banker. He had been a cop first, wounded in the line of duty just after his marriage to Maxine. It was then that he allowed his father to convince him to join him at the bank. He was the best damned bank president Mac had ever known.
