AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Only as a last resort,” she murmured humorously. “And never in public. ”
Keiley shook her head. “If your delicate male egos will excuse me,” she said mockingly, “I’m going inside. I can deal with the gossips easier than I can you two. ”
Mac watched as she turned and headed for the wide stone steps that led to the porch and the double doors into the mansion.
His eyes were on her butt. Those sweet swaying curves that he swore had to be bare beneath that dress. He couldn’t see a hint of a panty line.
“You’ve been married three years, John McCoy,” Victoria’s amused, chastising voice had his gaze snapping back to her. “You ogle your wife’s backside in public now. ”
His brow arched.
“And your friend shouldn’t be ogling it at all. ” She turned a frown on Jethro, who at least had the grace to lower his gaze despite the grin that tilted the corners of his lips.
“Rascals,” she accused fondly. “You’ve definitely livened up these meetings of late. The ladies are all speculating on the exact reasons why Keiley has been absent. But I think I’m more interested in the exact reason why a helicopter supposedly bearing FBI markings landed at your farm earlier. ” Her gaze chilled over and her expression became warning. “Don’t make me have to strain myself to get the information, John. You know I won’t be pleased. ”
That was Victoria. Equal parts demand and gentle humor. Jethro stared back at her, surprised. “How did you know?”
“My dear boy. ” Victoria’s smile was sugar-coated steel. “I know things that would make your hair turn gray. Most really doesn’t interest me, such as your relationship with John’s wife. But if she’s in any danger, then this does interest me. I’m rather fond of the child, and I’m rather determined to have my answers. So do be brief and do be honest. ” She stared back at Mac knowingly. “Remember, son, I can pick out a lie a mile away. Now start explaining. ”
The minute Victoria Staten entered the ballroom, Keiley knew Mac had told her about the stalker. It wasn’t anything she did or anything she said. It was the way the other woman looked at her, piercing, compassionate. It was enough to cause her to grit her teeth in frustration.
Keiley was well aware of the affection the older woman felt for Mac. Victoria had made it clear to her three years before that she had a soft spot for Mac and that she expected any wife of his to take her place within the social sphere governed by the Statens. Mac’s farm was one of the more prosperous properties, and she considered social acceptance to be the forefront of personal acceptance. She demanded that Keiley have her hand in several different committees. Committees that would shield her from Delia’s viperous tongue and gossiping snideness while ensuring her social acceptance whether Delia wished it or not.
Keiley was well aware that Victoria had added her own subtle approval to her fledgling efforts to fit into the county’s evolving social structure. And she appreciated it. Keiley had always appreciated what Victoria Staten had done for her, but she had been careful to keep a very steady distance from her.
First and foremost had been the early information that Delia still lusted after Mac, and the fact that Delia was Victoria’s daughter-in-law, Keiley knew, placed the older woman in a delicate position. A position she didn’t want to have to test.
“What in the world is going on?” Maxine muttered beside her as Victoria’s gaze lingered on Keiley before turning away.
“Who knows?” Keiley answered on a sigh. But she did know, and Keiley had a bad feeling she might know more than Keiley wanted her to.
“Mac’s told her something, hasn’t he?” her friend asked.
Keiley snorted. “Do you honestly think Mac could keep a secret from her?”
“Only if he really wanted to. ” Max shook her red head. “They have a soft spot for each other that goes way back. I swear, if it hadn’t been for Victoria’s intervention when he was a child, Mac’s father would have destroyed him along with his mother. ”
Keiley knew about that intervention. How Victoria had befriended Mac and applied subtle pressure to his father, of the financial sort, to ensure that Mac wasn’t hurt. At least not physically.
“Well, he must not have wanted to keep his silence, then,” Keiley sighed. Not that she resented the older woman having the knowledge. It would stay silent, secure. Victoria would do nothing to harm Mac in any way, and Keiley knew it.
“Is he any closer to catching that creep?” Max kept her voice low, her gaze carefully tracking anyone who would have listened.
“Let’s hope so. ” Keiley nearly shuddered at the memory of the shooting. Her system was still frayed, her nerves ragged. She didn’t need to be here. She needed to be with Mac. She needed to know he was okay rather than in full view of a bastard with a gun. “Let’s pray so. ”
Max’s hand settled on her back, her touch compassionate, sympathetic, but Keiley had never felt so alone.
As Victoria took her place at the small podium at the front of the room and called the meeting to session, Keiley found her seat, sat back, and tried to relax. As she faced the women of the charity committee, she realized she didn’t give a damn about the gossip. Let their tongues wag. Let them talk. The gossip meant nothing. Hell, even if they knew the truth, it meant nothing. There were two men awaiting her outside, both determined to protect her, to keep her secure. Both supremely confident in their abilities to do not just that, but also to love her equally, to share her without remorse, without bias.
How many women had the chance to hold the hearts of two men such as Mac and Jethro? As the meeting progressed around her, Keiley admitted that for the first time since her father’s suicide, she didn’t care what those around her had to gossip about. She definitely didn’t care if they suspected what was going on in the privacy of her bedroom.
That was her bedroom. If she held the hearts of two men, two men willing to share her love, then it was her business. It wasn’t theirs. And if they wanted to make it their business, then let them have at it. She had seen too much, known too many lonely days and nights before she met Mac, to ever want to return there. She wasn’t throwing away something she wanted, something she needed, because of gossip.
Finally, blessedly, the meeting came to an end. Victoria Staten released them with a graceful nod to the buffet and snacks set up in the back of the ballroom with a pointed reminder that everyone should attend the next meeting, which would finalize the details for the booths.
Keiley rose hastily to her feet, waiting impatiently as Victoria left the podium and moved for the ballroom doors as a maid moved to open them.
“I have some things to see to for just a moment,” she informed the room at large. “I’ll return in a bit. ”
