“Are you sure about that?” Maeve had stopped in town at a red light. She glanced at me before driving forward through the cleared intersection.
“I’m sure.” I said, knowing it wasn’t true. Mack and Hannah had lots to do with me. He’s my husband, but he belongs with the girl who’s loved him half her life, not the one who couldn’t even remember she married him. Standing in the middle of that wouldn’t be fair. Great sex does not make a relationship, and besides, we were opposites in every way. He’s a cowboy, I’m a lawyer. He lives in the dust and I live on the asphalt. He rides a horse and I drive a clown honkey-horn having Smart Car.
Maeve pulled into a parking lot. “Here’s the grocery store. Come on in with me and we’ll grab a few things before we head on over to the party supply place.”
I got out of the truck and followed her in, my eyes staring at the ground in front of me as I mulled over my situation. I didn’t see Hannah until she was almost on top of me.
Chapter Thirty
“WELL, IF IT ISN’T THE foreigner. Fancy meeting you here. How’re you doing there, Annie?” Hannah sauntered over in a pair of denim short-shorts and a red blouse tied at the bottom à la Daisy Duke, abandoning her grocery cart near a pile of books set up in a display near the front doors. The only thing she was missing were ponytails on either side of her head; instead, her hair was left curly and loose. It appeared less brassy than the last time I’d seen it, making me think she’d just spent some serious dough at the beauty salon. I glanced down towards the bottom of her long legs at her cute, multi-colored embroidered cowboy boots. Where I came from, she would have been laughed at for looking like a silly hayseed redneck. But out here, the whole get-up made her look like a country-western singer. A really pretty one. Maybe even sexy, too. My heart sank, suddenly seeing her through Mack’s eyes. She was like every cowboys’ wet dream right there in the flesh. She probably knew how to bake pies, too. I wouldn’t know the first thing about doing that. I’m more the buy and defrost kind of girl.
“Her name is Andie, not Annie,” corrected Maeve. She looked deceptively calm and casual about being approached by the girl we were just talking about in the truck in a not very complimentary way.
Hannah dragged her eyes from me to acknowledge Maeve, who wasn’t standing more than three feet away from her. “Oh, hi, Miss Maeve, I didn’t see you there. You acting as tour guide for the visitor?”
I glanced nervously around the immediate area, wondering if Mack was shopping with her. Part of me wanted to see him because he made me punch drunk with his sexiness, but the other part of me - the part that had a functioning brain - wanted a few States separating us. Especially with Hannah Banana around, staking her claim and making me feel like an advertisement for Nerdgirl Monthly in my plain t-shirt, shorts, and borrowed moccasins.
“I guess you could say I’m a tour guide.” Maeve smiled at me. “We’re just stocking up for the picnic.” She turned a less smiley gaze on Hannah. “You’re coming this year, I assume.”
Hannah grinned so big she looked like she was trying out for the part of The Joker. Her eyes even sparkled. “Wouldn’t miss it for the world. I’ve been to every single one, since I was just a kid. I love being part of the MacKenzie family.”
My nostrils flared at the idea, and the kitty claws came out before I could think to sheathe them. “Are you a MacKenzie? Like, officially?”
Hannah’s smile went tight at the corners. “I’m one by osmosis. I’ve spent my whole life at Mack’s side, so yeah, I’m pretty much a MacKenzie.”
I swallowed back the retort that was my first response and let out the one that would be most likely to get me home with my eyeballs not scratched out by a jealous waitress. “That’s nice.”
She put her chin in the air. “It is, actually. Mack’s a really good guy. Are you going to be staying in town long? Maybe you and I could have lunch sometime.”
Maeve pushed her cart forward. “Andie, I’m going to check out those cookies I mentioned to you if you want to come take a look.”
Cookies? What cookies? Understanding dawned a second later, and I seized the escape Maeve was offering. “Yeah, I’m coming.” I stepped away, looking over my shoulder at Hannah as I left. “I’m only going to be here another day or so, so I’m going to have to skip lunch. But thanks for the offer.”
“I won’t see you at the picnic?” The hopeful gleam in her eye was impossible to miss.
“Nope. Gotta get back to work.”
“Awww, that’s too bad. Have a nice trip back, though!” She whirled her cart around and pushed it down the first aisle at a fast clip. I was pretty sure she had just added champagne and cake to her shopping list so she could really celebrate my departure in style.
“Thanks for that,” I said to Maeve as I pulled up next to her and her cart. We turned down Aisle Five.
“Don’t mention it. Hannah, that poor misguided girl, sometimes just gets a little ahead of herself.”