AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Rafe’s answering smile was so sweet it made her want to cry. She’d finally met someone who wanted exactly what she did, and it was going to be ruined before it even got started.
* * *
Laura staredat herself in the mirror. Harper had assured her the dress looked good on her, but she still hated it. In the ten years since leaving her childhood home, she’d never put on a skirt. And this dress she was wearing right now would never have been considered appropriate, anyway, so she felt naked. It brushed the top of her knees, swinging around her hips when she moved.
At least the color was flattering. It was a nice coppery color, and Harper had helped her straighten her hair so that it fell smooth over her shoulders. Usually, working on a ranch didn’t involve going to parties, but apparently these folks had never heard that.
“Are you ready?” Harper called from the common area of the cabin.
“As ready as I’m going to be,” she mumbled. “Coming!”
Harper drove them over and Laura admitted, just to herself, that she was jealous of Harper’s angelic looks and how gorgeous she looked in her pale blue dress. What was the point in dressing up to look nice when she could never compete with looks like hers?
Stepping out of the car, she pulled down on the dress.
“Stop fidgeting with it. You look beautiful,” Harper admonished.
Laura glared at her but unwound her fingers from the material as they walked toward a tent set up with tables, chairs, and outdoor heaters. A DJ played quiet music for the moment. When Hilary saw them, she rushed over and gave them both hugs.
“I’m so glad you guys came over.”
Laura wanted to retort they hadn’t really been given a choice since they lived here, but she figured that might not be the best option. Hilary dragged them over to the buffet where they said hello to Delsey, the mechanic who had fixed their car the previous week after Laura had talked to Sadie about it.
Laura liked Delsey. She seemed like it was as difficult for her to show up and be social as it was for Laura. The three of them sat down with plates of food.
“Any trouble with the car?” Delsey asked.
Harper gave her a huge smile. “Not at all. It’s running perfect.”
Delsey snorted. “As perfect as something that old is going to be, but I’m glad.”
Laura winced at the unintended criticism, but no one else seemed to notice, so she shrugged it off.
“You two settling in otherwise? You’re the nanny now, right Harper?”
As though on cue, the high-pitched screech of the tiny terror rang out through the tent. “Hawpa!”
Laura watched Harper roll her eyes, but she was also smiling as she reached down and picked up the small girl wearing a dress that matched Harper’s. Quinn’s dad, the one they called Tech, was close behind.
His eyes were warm as he watched not only Quinn, but Harper as well. Laura’s eyes narrowed when Harper glanced up at him with something… did Harper like the man?
She opened her mouth to ask, but a tap on her shoulder stopped her. “May I have this dance?” Rafe asked, standing by the side.
Laura blinked at him. Without thinking, she nodded, and he was tugging her up. They didn’t say anything, but behind her, she heard Quinn squawk in excitement. “Dance!”
She saw Tori watching them from another table where she sat with her brother and Nails. She arched an eyebrow at them.
Rafe pulled her close to him on the dance floor, closer than they’d been since the night in her cabin after dinner. It felt nice, if uncomfortable, just because she knew she should try to get him alone tonight to tell him about the baby. Those thoughts were interrupted by Eagle storming across the dance floor to find Sadie.
“There you are,” Eagle said.
Eagle looked Sadie up and down, then his face fell. “Don’t cry,sweetheart,please. I didn’t mean to make you sad. I just don’t think this is the best way to do it.”
“But we don’t have time to wait,” Sadie insisted with a stomp of her foot.
“We’ll be fi—”
“So help me, Eli, if you say we’ll be fine, I am going to cry for real. We have three women that need housing plus a place for the new baby. We need another crew,” she said, huffing at the end.
