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“Not that one, Jim,” Colby said softly, in a voice not meant to carry to Ty. “Not that one, okay? She’s too nice.”
Jim shook his head. “No such thing as too nice.”
“Come on, Jim, you can’t. I got a bad feeling about this.”
Jim shrugged, clapped a hand on his friend’s shoulder. “We should bring something to dinner. It’s good manners.”
* * *
“What happened?” Selene asked the second Kara sank onto a bar stool at the OK Corral.
Kara looked down at herself in search of any evidence of the shock she’d just had. “What do you mean?” she asked. “What makes you think something happened?”
“I don’t think it, I know it. Something big, too. Your aura’s practically shooting off sparks. Did the bank turn you down?”
“Give the girl a chance to breathe, for heaven’s sake,” Vidalia said. But her eyes were raking Kara as if she saw something too.
“Could I have a drink?” Kara asked.
Vi blinked and shot a look at Selene, who only smiled knowingly as she grabbed a peach wine cooler, the strongest thing Kara ever drank, twisted off the cap and set it on a coaster in front of her.
“It’s not even noon yet.” Vidalia muttered. “And you never drink. What’s going on? If that banker thinks she can brush you off and—”
“The banker was fine. Mom. I won’t have an answer until the end of the day or so, but she thinks my application will be approved without a problem.”
“Then what’s going on?”
Kara sighed and took a big gulp from the bottle. The bar was empty. They didn’t open for business until seven on weeknights. She loved the Corral when it was empty like this. It was such a wide, big space, with as much wood as a small forest. Polished red oak floors. Gleaming mahogany bar. Door made from a single slab of redwood. The round tables and ladder-back chairs were tiger maple, and the trim around the ceiling and windows was pine. She loved the blending of the woods, the colors, the scents, the giant wagon-wheel light fixtures hanging from the peaked ceiling. Green garland was draped from the barn beams that crossed it, the tablecloths were white with red poinsettias, and holiday music wafted non-stop from Thanksgiving to New Year’s, when they were open.
Setting the bottle down on a coaster, Kara kept her gaze on it and said, “Jimmy Corona’s back in town.”
“Uh-oh,” Vi said. “Does he know you’re planning to buy his father’s house?”
“No.”
“You think he might intend to get the place back himself, child?”
Kara shook her head. “I don’t think so. He said he came to show his son where he grew up. I didn’t get the feeling he was planning to stay.”
“He has a son?” Selene asked. “Damn, that implies a wife, huh?”
“No. No, he’s alone. Just him and his son. The boy’s adorable. I just wanted to hug the stuffing out of him.”
“You’d best tell the man what your plans are, Kara,” Vidalia said. “It’s best to be up front with people right from the start. Don’t go behind his back the way your sister Edie did with Wade. Why, they started out so far off track I’m surprised they got back on.” She frowned at her daughter. “You look all out of sorts, girl. What did that man say to you?”
“Nothing. It’s just...” Kara heaved a sigh. “I just caught a glimpse of him and it was like everything Edie taught me evaporated. I was tripping over my feet and babbling like an idiot and blushing.” She rolled her eyes and took another sip of the wine cooler.
Vidalia looked at Selene, her eyebrows raised. Selene said, “You had a little crush on him in high school, didn’t you?”
“God, no.” It was a lie and she thought her sister probably knew it. “He was way out of my league. Most popular guy in school, don’t you remember? Star quarterback, top scorer on the basketball team. Such an athletic guy, nothing but strength and grace. I always felt even clumsier than usual around him.”
“But you’re not clumsy, Kara.”
Kara pressed her lips tight. “Not until I get nervous. Then I’m a walking insurance claim.”
“So he makes you nervous. Why do you think that is?”
“Don’t start with the pseudo-psychology, Selene.” Kara took another drink from her bottle.
