Why had he cared what I thought? I wasn’t the one recording an album. It wasn’t like I could say no without looking like an absolute jerk. It wouldn’t matter. They could be up at Devlin’s massive cabin on the lake, and I would be safely not leaving Janice’s house. Even just driving Miss Mitchell had been enough for one day.
“It’s fine.” I absolutely would not be using the studio now. “But I guess that means we have to find a different place for Cath and me,” I mumbled.
I glanced up to see Mari hugging Molly goodbye with a smile on her face.
“Not necessarily,” Devlin said cautiously. “It’s not like they’ll be in it twenty-four seven. We could schedule it so there wouldn’t be an overlap. There’s just a chance you might bump into each other, that’s why I wanted to warn you. I’m happy to let y’all use the space, though.”
I grunted noncommittally. “Yeah. I’ll see what Mari says.”
Mari strolled happily back toward the car, her long blond hair sashaying with her hips. She was alit with victory, so I assumed the talk with Monroe & Sons went well.
She was breathtakingly beautiful. What would it be like to be the person who kept her happy and fed? Who would be the lucky asshole who would eventually get to be that person who met all her needs? Not another disappointing man.
“I’m really happy for you and Mari,” Devlin said. My jaw was clamped tight. Otherwise, I would have worried I’d been thinking out loud.
I flinched. “What do you mean?”
“I heard about what happened with the marching band. I did try to warn you she had a way of getting what she wanted.”
“Yeah, weird how she seemed to think I was a spoiled punk who refused to help out,” I said, remembering that bone I had to pick with Devlin.
“I have a new baby. I’m not sleeping well. When I talked to her, I may have miscommunicated parts of our conversation.”
“How about that,” I said flatly. But couldn’t muster any sort of real anger. Not when Mari, with a coy grin, had lifted her hand to give me a thumbs-up. I held up a hand and gave one back, feeling considerably more dorky with the action.
“Sometimes we just need a little push in the right direction. Take it from somebody who let their past rule them for way too long,” Devlin said.
I grunted again like I was impersonating him. Who was letting their past rule them? Not I. I was retired. There was a difference. Mari turned toward the direction of a contemporary boutique that looked to sell a mishmash of expensive candles and lotions.
Seriously, what had happened to this town?
Just then, a motorcycle came roaring down Main Street. It was so loud several people glared. Not everything had changed. The Iron Wraiths still made a scene wherever they went. The biker slowed by Mari as she crossed. He checked her out, not even trying to be subtle as he whistled at her. My hackles rose, and I turned off the car, body tense.
Mari ignored him but switched to come back toward Janice’s car. Smart woman. I willed her on,Ignore him. Come back to me.
She held my eye contact even from twenty feet away. I poured my thoughts into that stare.
“Mari can be highly motivated. But she’s good people. I hope you guys will learn to work together,” Devlin said as I kept my focus straight ahead. “Don’t let her tough demeanor scare you off.”
“She’s not so scary,” I said as my words drifted.
Recognizing he wasn’t getting the attention he wanted, the biker mouthed what might have been very bad language and threw a cup over his shoulder. My heart sank.
The scene unfolded in front of me like a bad dream. In fact, I’d had a nightmare last night where I was chasing after Mari, but when I called her, she wouldn’t turn around. I’d been trying to warn her about something, but she was on a mission, wogging away from me. The same sense of impending doom from the dream suffused me now.
The biker, with the Iron Wraiths emblem embossed on his leather vest, missed whatever his goal had been. I optimistically assumed he had been trying for the trash can that Mari just happened to be passing as he threw hisgiant Styrofoam cup, only missing her by a hair. But Mari had not interpreted the event in the same way.
No. Stay focused on me, I willed.
She did not do that.
She stopped midstride and spun on her heel. She looked at the cup. Looked at the biker. Looked at the cup.
That familiar burning rage transformed her features.
“Shit. Devlin. I gotta go—” I was already launching myself out of the car.
Mari bent and picked up the trash with revenge in her eyes.
