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Chelsea McCray licked her lips. “Not much more than you already know. Her father worked at McCray Landing a while back. And she’s some kind of weird mathematical genius.”
Angelina curled her mouth into a snarl. “What’s he see in her, anyway?”
“You’ve got me.” Chelsea fidgeted with her small pink bag. “Pretty enough. But she’s clearly nothing more than a step above common trailer trash.”
“I’ll get rid of her one way or another,” Angelina said.
“Are you sure you want to marry into this family, anyway? Laurie’s enough to make a saint swear, the way she coddles those three boys. She and I have never gotten along.”
“But Chelsea, she and my mother are like this.” Angelina held up two fingers side by side. “I’ll get along fine with her. And I’ll put in many good words for you.”
“Honey, I don’t need any good words. I couldn’t care less if the shrew likes me. I have her firstborn. And his wallet. That’s all I need.”
“And I’ll have her second born,” Angelina vowed.
Chapter Six
Zach was leaning against the fence surrounding the practice ring when Dusty, hauling her gear bag, arrived the next morning for her date with Diablo. In one hand, he held a brown paper bag, and in the other, a cup holder with two Starbucks cups.
“Hungry?” he asked.
“Starving, actually,” she said.
“You feeling okay?”
“Yeah. I took two ibuprofen before I went to bed, just in case. I’m fine.”
“Some coffee’ll help too.” He handed her a cup.
“Thank you. You’re an angel.”
“Definitely not.” He laughed. “But I take good care of my own.”
His own?
“I got you some breakfast, too.” He pulled out a foil-wrapped sandwich and handed it to her.
“Thank you. But you don’t need to feed me all the time. I can fend for myself, you know.”
“Sure you can. But it gives me pleasure to feed you. I like how you eat.”
“What do you mean by that?”
“I mean, you’re not afraid to eat. When you’re hungry, you eat like you’re hungry.”
Dusty raised an eyebrow. “Exactly how else would I eat?”
“Like most women. Eating like a bird, or not at all, in front of a man, and then bingeing when they get home. When I buy a woman a meal, I expect her to eat it. Otherwise it’s a damn insult as far as I’m concerned.”
“I guess you don’t have to worry about me on that count,” Dusty said. “I love to eat. Always have. I used to gorge on your ma’s cookies.”
“Yeah, I recall.” The laugh lines at the edge of his eyes crinkled and made him even cuter.
Did he really remember her that well from all those years ago? “I was just a little girl. You can’t possibly remember that much about me.”
“Of course I do. You were always hanging around, running after Chad and Sam. You were cute as a button. Little tomboy, chasing grasshoppers and lizards. Animals flocked to you even then.”
“I can’t believe it.”
