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twenty
From across the room, Sunny watched as a tall brunette grabbed Rhett by the front of his shirt, drew him in and planted a long, hard kiss on his mouth. After a second, Rhett took her by the wrists and pushed her back.
“Who the hell is that?” Sunny whispered, close to Pete’s ear. “I don’t recall her being at the tour of the grounds earlier.”
Pete shrugged. It looked like he smiled a little bit.
“I’m going to get closer.” Sunny pushed her way through the crowd, until she was close enough to listen in, but still hidden.
The woman was about six feet tall with her heels on—still shorter than Rhett but well taller than Constance. She seemed to enjoy the height difference as she looked down her nose. Her black dress, which was most definitely not an ugly sweater, clung to well-muscled curves.
“What are you doing here, Katrina?” Rhett’s brow wrinkled, his eyes still blinking, like he was seeing things.
“More like, what’re you doing here?” Katrina dropped the arm that held a fancy gold clutch, but the other hand remained planted on her slender hip. “My mother donates regularly to this dog rescue—” Katrina waved her clutch around the room “—but she couldn’t make the party this year. I came instead.” She turned to Constance and pointed the gold purse in her direction. “Who’s this?”
Just then, the music started back up. Hip-hop replaced Anne Murray, so Sunny couldn’t hear the answer, but she saw Rhett’s mouth moving as he gestured in Constance’s direction.
Katrina looked blank for a second. Then she held out her hand. Constance clasped her fingertips.
Pete was suddenly at Sunny’s side. He tugged on her elbow. “You’re eavesdropping.”
“This woman doesn’t care about my rescue.” Sunny narrowed her eyes in Katrina’s direction. “She’s using her mother’s ticket. I don’t like her.”
“What I meant was—” Pete eyed all the happy, tipsy, rich people and pulled Sunny in her sister’s direction “—if you’re going to eavesdrop, do it right.” He smoothed out his ugly sweater, which had a group of drunken reindeer on the front, threaded her through the people dancing and halted next to Constance. “How’s it going, guys?”
Rhett’s eyes were hard. Constance wasn’t quite the stereotypical deer in the headlights; she was more like a deer trying torecoverfrom the headlights. Katrina eyed Pete’s sweater with distaste.
“Hey, Pete.” Looking relieved, Constance leaned in for a hug. “Haven’t seen you tonight.”
Pete squeezed her shoulder as they embraced. When they broke apart, he extended his hand toward Rhett. “Name’s Pete.”
“Hey.” Rhett clasped his hand. “Rhett Santos. Nice to meet you.”
“Pete runs Canine Warriors,” Sunny piped in. “He trains rescue pups to be service dogs for veterans. Were you able to see his demo this afternoon, out back?” She nodded toward the vicinity of the grounds and kennels.
“I missed that.” The corners of Rhett’s mouth turned down. “Sounds really interesting, though.” He looked torn between wanting to be polite to Pete and wanting to get away from the tall brunette who appraised everyone with cool detachment.
“I’ll take you out there tomorrow.” Constance offered a small smile. “If you want.”
“I need a drink,” Katrina said, her voice abrupt. “Let’s get a drink.” She nodded toward the bar.
Constance scanned the room, like she was looking for escape.
“I don’t want a drink,” Rhett said.
Katrina’s eyebrows, perfectly plucked and shaped, knitted together. “Are you back on the meds?” Her voice sounded hopeful.
The muscles at the front of Rhett’s neck tightened as his jaw clenched. “No. I’mnotback on the meds.”
“I’m not going to lecture you. But you know you should be on the meds.” She gave Constance a pitying smile. “He’s a mess when he’s not on his meds.” She patted his chest.
“You don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“Let’s not fight. Let’s get a drink.” Katrina took his arm and turned away from the group, trying to guide him toward the punch bowl. “A good bourbon buzz always beats lying awake, listening to the spiders talk, right?”
Rhett’s face paled.
Pete worked his jaw in silence.
