In Shining Whatever (Three Magic Words Trilogy #2)(47)

"I don't like it that I was even given a test," Hart said.

"I'm going back to the party. When you get through pouting you can join me," she said tersely, as she turned around and left him standing there.

"I'm not pouting," he said, but she was already gone.

Music drifted through the trees on one side of him and, on the other, the laughter of children rang out into the dusk. Hart sat down on the ground and braced his back against a tree, listening to both. They'd had such a good day and had even talked a little about the history between them. He'd thought they were making progress until she let her cousin make a complete fool of him.

Women!

Too bad it was against the law to shoot them. Had it been legal, Corrine would have been on the top of the list, with Kate not far behind her.

Another bit of music started, this time with Zac's fiddle taking center stage. Suddenly it became very clear what Zac had been singing about. He was literally singing to Kate and telling her she was the woman he'd never forgotten.

"Mais, you scared me, no?" a little girl about ten years old said when she stumbled over his foot.

"Sorry about that," Hart said.

"I'm going to hide behind the tree. Don't you tell Vinnie where I am, no?" She eyed Hart.

"I won't tell."

She darted behind the tree and sat down, but he could still hear her breathing. "What's your name?" he asked.

"I'm Julietta. You'd be the sorry Texan who came to snatch our Kate back over there, no?"

Hart smiled. "I suppose I am."

The only noise that filtered through the trees was the fiddle. The tune Zac was teasing from the strings almost sounded Irish. Hart could imagine Kate swishing her skirt tails around and the sweat beading on her upper lip.

"You'd best go on back to your Texas, because my Uncle Bubba, he says he's goin' to marry Kate. He says he's goin' to turn your head around with Corrine."

The smile faded. "Oh really, is that what your Uncle Bubba says?"

"That's right, yes, it is. Uncle Bubba says now that Zac is goin' to marry the rich lady, that he's got a chance with Kate. They both like to fish," Julietta said.

Jealousy crept up from the green grass beneath Hart and down from the gray moss hanging in the trees. Who was this Bubba, anyway?

A tall, gangly kid with a blond mop of hair and clear blue eyes came running out from the bayou. "Hey, y'all seen a little redhaired girl?"

Hart shook his head, and the kid ran on toward the house. Julietta giggled and took off back toward the bayou.

Zac's Southern voice came through the microphone as Hart watched Julietta disappear into the night. "Hey, y'all, Bubba asked me to play this here-song-for-Kate Miller."

The fiddle began to send its whining notes out through the air, and the singer talked about his Louisiana woman being down in the bayou country and before the sun went down that evening, he was going to marry that Cajun baby. He said he wouldn't change his Cajun baby for all the gold in the land.

Hart seriously thought about sneaking around the end of the house, collecting his things, and leaving right then. But Maw Maw had not created the fiasco, and it wouldn't be fair to her to leave when she'd gone to so much trouble making a party for him. He stood up, dusted the butt of his jeans with the back of his hand, and went back to the crowd.

Candles had been lit and were blazing everywhere. From the smell, he knew they were Citronella to chase off the mosquitoes. One got through the aroma and bit him soundly on the neck. He slapped at it, and Maw Maw motioned for him to come to her table.

"We're ready to eat now that you're back from the bayou. Were you fishin' with the kids?" she asked.

He spotted Kate out in the dancing area, swishing around a big, tall fellow that looked at her like she was made of pure gold. No doubt he was the Bubba who'd had the song sung for her. The singer was doing something about dancing with the boogie queen. Kate was surely filling that place, and Bubba was watching every movement with raw desire in his eyes.

"Mais?" Maw Maw asked.

He had to think for a minute to remember that that word was the same as "Well?" in Texas language.

"I'm sorry. I was helping the kids play hide-and-seek. Julietta was hiding behind me, and I had to tell some little kid I hadn't seen her. Is that cheating?" he asked.

"All's fair in hide-and-seek and love." Maw Maw smiled.

She clapped her hands at the end of the song. "Time to eat. Vincent says the pig is ready, so line up and get y'all a plate."

No one needed a second invitation. Zac and the band members put down their instruments and headed off to the tables. Zac stopped at Kate's side long enough to run a forefinger up her bare arm from elbow to shoulder and whisper something in her ear. She laughed and swatted at him.

Corrine was suddenly beside Hart, arm looped in his. "Come and lead me to the table, yes?"

He carefully removed her arm. "Sorry, ma'am, but Maw Maw Miller is my date tonight. I'm escorting her to the table."

Maw Maw smiled and took his arm. When she had her plate filled, he helped carry it to the table before going back for his own food. Kate waited for him to return like a dutiful guest who'd just realized she'd brought the wrong fellow to the shindig.