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Gah.
“Nothing wrong here, Mom. Just catching up with some old friends. Bye, ladies. Have a great night.”
Her mom gave them all a suspicious glance, but as usual, she didn’t push.
Lara followed her mom after giving the two furious women a little finger wave. She’d probably feel bad about that later. But right now . . . she didn’t care.
They were at the edge of the room when an attractive, older couple approached. They were dressed expensively, looking like they’d both stepped out of a magazine. She’d only met them twice, and both times she’d been intimidated.
“Margo, so lovely to see you,” Geoffrey’s mother said. “You look beautiful, as usual.”
They shared air kisses before Mr. Reynolds kissed her mom’s cheek. Turning to her, Mrs. Reynolds gave her a faint smile. They’d always been polite but distant.
“Lara, lovely to see you as well. Wasn’t it a beautiful ceremony? We’re so happy to have Emily in the family.”
They were?
“It was,” she managed to get out.
“So good that you’ve returned home after that unfortunate incident. I’m glad that you could heal things with your sister and Geoffrey.”
Heal things? Seriously?
But she bit her lip as her mom sent her a look. She managed a smile that was probably more of a grimace.
“I thought Chandler said you were here with Marcus Deleon. Such a nice boy. Very prestigious family. But then I saw you with another man dancing,” Mr. Reynolds said with a hint of disapproval.
“He’s a family friend,” her mom said quickly. “If you’ll excuse us, we need to go and get some family photos.”
“How lovely,” Mrs. Reynolds said. “We’ll look forward to seeing them. I’m sure some can be used as promotional images.”
That was weird.
But before she could say anything, her mom had grabbed her hand and steered her outside.
“Promotional images?” she asked. “What does that mean?”
“Oh, Chandler is looking at expanding his reach and the Reynolds are helping, that’s all.”
Expanding his reach? Good Lord.
They walked outside toward some of the beautiful gardens. Chandler, Emily, and the photographer were already waiting there.
“Took your time,” Emily sniped.
“Now, Emily. Be patient,” Chandler said with a smarmy smile. “Let’s get this done, though, because I need to get back.”
“What is wrong with your arm?” Emily asked, spotting the bandage.
“I fell over, remember?”
The photographer nodded.
“You did, dear? Are you all right?” her mother asked.
“I’m fine now. But at the time, no one bothered to help me.”
“I’m the bride!” Emily exclaimed. “I shouldn’t be expected to help you. And you weren’t even hurt. You’re putting this on to get attention.”
Both her mom and Chandler nodded as though they believed her.
“I was hurt,” Lara said through gritted teeth. “And you laughed.”
“You are rather accident-prone, though, dear,” her mother said. “And you were often hurting yourself when you were younger.”
Right. Sure.
Her stomach churned. But she knew that there was nothing more she could say to get them to believe her.
The photographer took several photos. She tried her best to smile. But it was hard when she wished she was anywhere but here.
“Right, I need to go back,” Chandler said.
Thank God. She went to follow him, but her mom grabbed her wrist, her bruised one, making it throb.
Of course, that could mostly be in her mind. It wasn’t truly sore anymore.
“Stay for some photos of just the three of us? Please, dear?”
“Do I have to stay for this, Mom?” Emily whined.
“Please.”
“Fine,” her sister snapped. She glared at Lara like it was her fault.
As if she wanted to be here. Especially when she could be spending her time with Butch instead.
They only had tonight together. And she wanted to spend every moment she could with him.
18
“Butch, could I see you in private for a moment?”
This was what he’d been waiting for. He’d half-suspected that separating him and Lara was done on purpose. But he hadn’t wanted to say anything to her because he was interested in what this asshole had to say.
“Sure.”
He expected people to stop them on their way toward the back of the building. But while people looked up, no one called out.
Interesting.
Chandler led him into an office. “I asked the manager if I could use his space for today. I’m afraid he doesn’t have the good stuff, but would you like some?” He picked up a crystal decanter of scotch.
“I’m good. I prefer to stick with beer.”
“Of course. Nothing wrong with a good beer after a hard day’s work, huh?”
He doubted this asshole ever worked a hard day in his life. But he was going to play nice to see where this was going. He was also trying to feed into their belief that he was just a simple-minded guy.
That worked to his advantage.
It was their fault if they hadn’t done any research into him. Although it seemed like Lara hadn’t told them his last name.
“Where do you work, Butch?”
“On a ranch, not far from here. I’m a ranch hand.”
