“I’ll never be able to dance in this,” Eve mumbled.
Though dancing was iffy anyway. And if Lawson and she did miraculously make it onto a dance floor, he would probably be concentrating on his recently learned moves rather than her semibare back.
“Thanks,” Eve told Tessie, and she kissed her daughter’s cheek.
Tessie didn’t recoil, didn’t huff and didn’t look at her with that awful you’re a liar expression. That alone was worth the discomfort of wearing an ill-fitting dress. Plus, Eve had the added benefit of knowing that no one but Lawson would see her in this garb. There was no way he would want a dance date to happen in a public place. Eve was thinking he might take her to the barn or a pasture at the Granger Ranch. Which was fine by her. It’d be hard for him to see the back of the dress in the dark.
“I’m really sorry that I didn’t tell you about Lawson sooner,” Eve said.
Tessie shrugged, the way a person did when it wasn’t important. But it was, so Eve took her by the shoulders and looked her straight in the eyes.
“I’m sorry,” Eve repeated.
Tessie gave her another shrug, followed by a slight huff. Then a sigh. “Lawson made me see your side of things.” Her chin came up. “You know, if I’d gotten pregnant at seventeen, you would have had a cow.”
“Yes, I would have. But I would have still loved you as much as I always have.”
Tessie stared at her, and while she didn’t actually make a sound of agreement, Eve could see it in her eyes. Tessie knew she was, and always would be, loved.
“How are things between Lawson and you?” Eve risked asking.
“Okay. He’s okay,” Tessie added. “And I’m a little okay with him being my father.”
That put a huge lump in her throat. It wasn’t a gush of affection, but it was a start, and for now, that was, well, okay. Eve would take it.
Breathing hard from the running, Cassidy came back in with a pink camisole and a pair of scissors. Eve wanted to tell her not to ruin the camisole, but Cassidy immediately started cutting until it was a chopped-off silk tube top. Of course, once she was done, it meant undoing the corset laces so Eve could slip it on, and both Tessie and Cassidy tugged and pulled until everything was back in place.
Mostly, anyway.
Her bare back was no longer showing, but the pink colors weren’t even close to being an identical match. Again though, it wouldn’t matter in the dark, and she doubted Lawson was going to be studying her back.
The doorbell rang, giving Eve a jolt that was akin to terror. It was barely seven thirty, which meant it was still a half hour until Lawson was due to pick her up. She’d counted on having that extra time in case she decided to come up with an excuse as to why she couldn’t go.
Cassidy scooped up Aiden in the carrier and went ahead of Eve and Tessie to answer the door. It was a false alarm though, but it was still a reason for concern.
Because it was Darby.
The woman wasn’t wearing her usual scrubs today but rather a black cocktail dress that hugged her tiny, perfect body in all the right places. Definitely no pudge. Or shawl to cover up pudge.
Darby immediately looked past Cassidy, her attention landing on Eve. The woman’s eyes widened a little, the kind of reaction a person might have if they’d interrupted something. That might have been why Darby glanced around the foyer and the living room. Maybe she was looking for Lawson.
“Uh, I’m sorry,” Darby said. “I won’t take long, but could we talk?”
Eve silently groaned and then debated it. It would be so easy to lie and say she was pressed for time, but instead she heard herself offer a friendly-sounding “Sure.”
Cassidy and Tessie obviously weren’t sold on the idea because they lingered in the foyer while Eve ushered Darby into the living room.
“I wondered if Lawson mentioned anything about my father talking to the head of the department at Tessie’s college?” Darby asked, her voice practically a whisper.
Eve nodded. “The decision’s already been made, but thanks for the offer.”
She thought she knew where Darby had hoped to go with this. It was perhaps about those strings that Darby wanted on Lawson.
“Look, Darby.” Eve was just going to put it all out there and tell Darby that she wasn’t certain where Lawson and she were heading, but that she didn’t intend to end things with him. And even if things didn’t work out that it might not give Darby a clear path to getting Lawson back.
“You’re in love with Lawson,” Darby said before Eve could finish. “I think he might feel the same way about you. That’s why I’m moving on with my life. I have a date tonight.”
Eve certainly hadn’t been expecting that, but the relief she felt wasn’t a surprise. Despite the clinging and hanging on that Darby had done—and yes, that included the raincoat incident—Eve didn’t want to see the woman hurt any more than she already had been.
“I want more than just a commitment for weekly dates and moral support,” Darby went on. “I want marriage. Kids. And we both know I never could have gotten that from Lawson. Well, not the marriage and commitment parts, anyway.” Her gaze drifted toward Tessie.
“Yes, she’s his daughter,” Eve told her.
“I can see that. I could see it in the picture that got posted on the internet, too. I suppose Lawson’s forgiven you for not telling him?”
No. But Eve didn’t have to answer because Darby waved off the question. “I should be going,” the woman said, but she gave Eve one last look. “Does your dress have something to do with the party that’s being set up at the high school gym?”
Eve pulled back her shoulders in surprise. The original Sadie Hawkins dance had indeed been held at the gym, but she hadn’t imagined that Lawson would take her there for a date.
“I’m not sure,” Eve admitted.
Darby smiled. “Well, we’ll soon find out.”
With that cryptic remark, Darby would have just walked out if Eve hadn’t stepped in front of her. “Are you going to the dance, too?” Eve asked.
But it was such a ridiculous question. At least Eve hoped it was.
It wasn’t.
Darby nodded. “I’m not sure who planned the party, but whoever it was sent out invitations. Everyone who’s ever attended Wrangler’s Creek High School was invited. I suspect most of the town will go. See you there.”
Darby obviously didn’t notice the gobsmacked look on Eve’s face because she gave a perky wave as she headed out the door.
CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR
“THERE’S A CURSE on you, Lawson Granger.”
Lawson groaned when he heard those words. And again when he spotted the curse-bearer by his truck as he came out of his office in the Granger house.