Summer Nights (Fool's Gold #8)(46)

“That’s true,” Charlie said with a grin. “A couple hundred extra hamburgers won’t matter much.”

Heidi rolled her eyes. “We’re not having hamburgers.”

“Too bad. Nearly everyone likes them and they’re fun food. Weddings are too serious, if you ask me.”

“Then serve burgers at your wedding.”

“Maybe I will. Not that I have any great plans to get married.”

“You could start dating,” Heidi told her. “Go slow. Pick someone you don’t really care about.”

Annabelle raised her eyebrows. “Yes, because you want a relationship with a man who doesn’t matter.”

Charlie picked up her refilled margarita. “She’s saying that way when it goes badly, I won’t be hurt.”

Heidi winced. “I didn’t say that. I just meant then you could practice without worrying about your heart.”

Charlie smiled. “I know you meant it with love. It’s okay. Maybe I should find some guy to take me through the steps I missed before. Get a skill set to use on someone I do care about.”

“I love it when a plan comes together,” Heidi said with a sigh. She turned to Annabelle. “What about you? I say you give Shane a chance to see you’re nothing like his ex.”

Annabelle reached for a chip. “No, thanks,” she admitted.

“Why not?” Charlie asked. “According to you, he’s all things good. Handsome. Sexy. A god in bed.”

“I didn’t say that, and no. We’re just friends.”

“Uh-oh. It’s trouble when you start lying to yourself,” Charlie told her.

“No. I’m keeping my heart firmly out of play this time.” Maybe it was the margarita kicking in, or the fact that she trusted her friends. Either way, she drew in a breath and spoke a painful truth. “My parents were never in love. My mom got pregnant while they were dating, so they got married. They were never happy and they made it clear I was a complication for them. I tried to be the perfect child, but neither of them was interested in having a kid.”

She glanced at Heidi. “I envy you growing up the way you did.”

Heidi looked surprised. “Moving around all the time? Never having a home without wheels?”

“No, being in the middle of a group that really loved you and looked out for you. I wanted that so much. But I couldn’t find it. I had friends, of course, but not a place to feel safe. My boyfriends were a series of disasters. When I finally met Lewis, I thought he was the one.”

“The ex-husband?” Charlie asked.

Annabelle nodded. “He’s a writer, so I thought wow, creative. He’s a little older, which I took to mean stable. But it turned out he was never actually interested in me as a person. It was more about what I represented. He liked to control me. Emotionally, I mean. He didn’t hit me or anything.”

“Sometimes fists are easier to understand,” Charlie said quietly. “Mind games can be damaging, too.”

“I see that now. Lewis saw me as a possession, not a person. It took me a long time to figure out I wasn’t wrong to be unhappy and even longer for me to leave. But I got out and found Fool’s Gold and now I have a home.” She sniffed. “I swear, I’m not going to cry.”

Heidi’s eyes were already bright. “You can. It’s okay.”

“No, it’s not,” Charlie grumbled. “Stop it. She’s here, she’s fine, she’s having sex with Shane. Where’s the bad?”

Annabelle grinned and her tears faded. “I’ve told you. The sex was a one-time thing. I’m not going to fall for a guy who doesn’t get me—and who doesn’t want all the complications of love.”

“I believe that. What I don’t believe is the sex not happening again. That’s what they all say. No one believes you, kid. You might as well accept that.”

Heidi shrugged. “She’s kind of right. I know I’m assuming you’ll do it again. The Stryker brothers are pretty irresistible.”

“You’ll see,” Annabelle told them, raising her chin. “I have amazing powers of resistance. I’ll stand firm.”

Charlie looked at Heidi. “Twenty bucks says she doesn’t last a week.”

Heidi picked up her margarita. “Sorry. No way I’m taking that bet!”

* * *

“IF YOU TELL ANYONE, there’s going to be trouble,” Shane muttered, leading Reno toward the barn.

“I assume you’re talking to him,” Charlie said. “Because if you’re talking to me, you’re absolutely right. There is going to be trouble.”

Shane wondered if hitting himself with a two-by-four a few times would make the day go better. Now he was being threatened by a woman. This had to be the low point of his life, because he couldn’t imagine it getting much worse.

Charlie was tall, only a couple of inches shorter than him, and strong. She had plenty of muscles. Still, he knew he outweighed her and was significantly stronger. However, she was female, which meant she would have an inherent advantage in any fight. Namely that he couldn’t fight back. It was how he’d been raised.

The pony trotted along beside him, calm and curious, ears forward. So far the animal had been friendly and a faithful companion to Priscilla.