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“What did he do? Stop and pose for the masses on his way in?” She chuckled.
Max snickered at the image as well. “I heard all about him the minute I stepped into the garden this afternoon. Everyone was certain I’d know all the best gossip where you’re concerned. You didn’t tell me about him. Why?” Max pouted good-naturedly.
“Even I didn’t know he was showing up until the day before yesterday. ” She shook her head at how quickly news had reach the group that she and Mac had company. “He’s a friend of Mac’s from Virginia. We haven’t seen him since the wedding. ”
“And the rumors that he and Mac used to enjoy sharing girlfriends? Laura Tolbert is all agog over that little piece of information. Being the resident slut, you know how bad this is going to make her look. ” Beneath that laughing amusement was an edge of concern in Max’s gaze.
Keiley blinked back at her in shock. “Are you kidding me?”
She could feel her heartbeat accelerating, a sick feeling of panic filling her stomach before she straightened her shoulders and fought it back.
Damn, how had something like that gotten out?
“I haven’t found out where that little gem of information came from yet. ” Max lowered her voice as they moved further away from the other women and their curious looks. “It was an amusing little on-dit they were giggling over. Thankfully, no one seems to be taking it seriously. But you know how Delia Staten can be. So watch your back. ”
Delia Staten was Victoria’s daughter-in-law. A pious, moralistic pain in the ass.
“Good God,” Keiley muttered. “I wonder what would happen if I ever invited one of my friends up for a visit. ”
“You would instantly become a lesbian with plans to divorce Mac for your girlfriend rather than just becoming the tasty filling for a male sandwich,” Max snickered.
Keiley couldn’t contain the blush that rose in her cheeks.
“Now don’t get upset. ” Max smiled as she laid her hand on Keiley’s arm. “You know how the chickies are in this bunch, sweetheart. Though I have to admit, someone outdid themselves this time. Normally the gossip isn’t nearly as interesting. Maybe they’re getting bored with the whole cheating-
with-the-husband’s-best-friend angle. The threesome sounds much more fun. ”
“Not to mention much more tiring. ” Keiley rolled her eyes, forcing herself to treat the information as a rabid joke rather than the truth it was.
As Max had said, normally she wouldn’t have had to worry about anything more than a little gossip that she was getting some on the side.
“I wouldn’t worry about it. ” Max waved it away. “Everyone here mourned the day Mac married outside the county and cut off the potentially juicy sex details they could have gotten. It’s a compliment. They at least believe you’re too refined to cheat. ”
“Oh joy. ”
“But be on guard,” Max warned her. “Delia is heading this way and she looks like a woman on a mission. ”
Keiley was ready to walk out. She had sworn she would never subject herself to the petty viciousness of people like Delia Staten again. The same type of woman who had helped destroy her life years ago. And yet here she was, turning as Delia approached and pasting a welcoming smile on her face.
Delia had once been a pretty woman, and she could be again if she would take the pinched look of judge and jury off her long, slender face. Thick brown hair with russet tones was pulled sharply back from her face into a tight French braid. Minimal makeup showed the lines at the sides of her eyes and lips, and her brown eyes glittered with bitter anger.
She was thirty-five years old, but she looked ten years older.
“Keiley, dear, how are you doing?” The older woman’s smile was all teeth as she approached. “You’re early today, too. ”
It wasn’t as though she was ever late, damn it.
“Mac was otherwise occupied on the farm this morning when I woke up. ” Keiley smiled calmly. “He didn’t distract me. ”
Delia’s lips tightened. It was no secret that the other woman had seen Mac as a potential husband years before. Instead he had left town and headed to Virginia after his high school graduation. Evidently, no woman married to Mac would ever be safe from her hatred after that. She had definitely spent the last three years looking for ways to spite Keiley.
“I hear you have company. ” Her brown eyes were alight with cruel interest. “Very handsome company. ”
“News travels fast. One of Mac’s friends from Virginia. He stopped by for a visit while he was on vacation. ”
“And how long will he be staying?”
“Why, I don’t know, Delia. He and Mac didn’t say. But you raise a point. I really should ask. I was busy working and didn’t even think to question them. ” She widened her eyes innocently as she stared back at Delia. “Sometimes Mac doesn’t think to tell me his plans. ”
