What I Did for Love (Wynette, Texas #5)(77)

“It’s Jade,” Lance said. “I’d better go.”

“You brought Jade here?” A swarm of bees buzzed through Georgie’s head.

“I told you,” Lance said. “I came right from the plane. And the car windows are dark. No one can see inside.”

A thick silence fell over the room until Bram ambled forward. “Shame on you, Lancelot, for making your wife stay in the car.” His eyes narrowed dangerously. “Grab an umbrella for me, Chaz, so I can invite her in.”

Georgie froze. Surely she’d misheard. But she hadn’t. Bram was angry and reacting in his typical bullheaded, impulsive way.

Paul leapt forward. “Stop right there.”

Bram’s jaw set in a stubborn line. “It’s a party. The more the merrier.”

She hated him, but she was supposed to love him, and with so many witnesses, she couldn’t let them see how she really felt. Instead, she had to show how a happily remarried funny girl would react to meeting the woman who’d stolen her idiotic ex-husband. “Chaz, while you’re getting Bram’s umbrella, grab a gun so I can kill myself.”

It was the right thing to say because Rory grinned. “This is the best party I’ve been to in years.”

“Ever!” Laura exclaimed.

“Fluff your hair,” Meg said to Georgie as Bram and Chaz disappeared, with Lance trailing behind. “And put on more lipstick. Quick.”

“Don’t you dare.” Rory’s hand shot out. “You’re fine just the way you are.”

“Rory’s right,” her kiss-up agent said. “Jade Gentry doesn’t have a thing on you.”

Meg rolled her eyes. “Except the most beautiful face in the universe, a body to die for, and Georgie’s ex-husband.”

“No, really,” Georgie retorted as she sank down on the couch. “All I need is a gun.”

Paul hurried forward. “Come with me, Georgie. You’re not doing this.”

Her father’s ill-timed order made her determined to do exactly the opposite. “Sure I am. Jade’s not important to me.” A lie. Just because Georgie had stopped loving Lance didn’t mean she’d ever forgive either him or Jade. She wanted revenge.

Moments later, Jade entered her living room while an invisible klieg light seemed to illuminate her stunning presence. Why did Jade have to be so exquisite? It was ironic…Most male movie stars looked better in person, but female stars tended to look vaguely encephalitic with heads too big for their sticklike bodies. Not Jade. She was even more breathtaking in person, an exquisite throwback to old Hollywood with Audrey Hepburn’s doe eyes, Katharine Hepburn’s cheekbones, and creamy Grace Kelly skin. A shiny sweep of straight dark hair framed a perfect valentine face without even a dab of makeup. Her breasts were generous but not vulgar. Her waist small and legs long. She wasn’t as tall as Georgie, but she carried herself with such commanding confidence that Georgie had to talk herself out of feeling as though she’d started to shrink.

Lance stood on Jade’s left and Bram on her right. As Paul stepped forward to greet Jade, he blocked her view of Georgie. Who knew whether it was deliberate or accidental? “I’m Paul York. I understand you just got off a plane.”

“It seems like we’ve been traveling forever.” Like Lance, she was rumpled, but her straight-legged black slacks and sleeveless black top still looked chic. Nothing about her signaled a woman who’d lost a baby less than a month ago. She shifted her weight, trying to see around Paul. She undoubtedly wanted to find Georgie so she could give her a big freaking hug. Fortunately, her cell rang before that could happen. “I need to take this. A couple of our people were deathly ill on the plane.”

She slid her hobo bag off her shoulder, pulled out her phone, and stepped away from them. Laura filled a coffee mug, and Meg swiped a chocolate truffle. Bram drifted toward Georgie. She hoped he didn’t get too close because she’d never be able to resist the temptation to kick him.

Rory did her best to ease the tension. “Laura, I hear you’ve been pushing Georgie for the lead in Rich Greenberg’s project? It’s a cute script. I wish we’d had a shot at it.”

“The movie about the bimbo vampire?” Meg wrinkled her nose. “Mom was talking about it.”

“Georgie’s perfect for the part,” Paul said.

“Georgie’s not interested,” Bram said. “She’s tired of doing comedy.”

He was right, but Georgie was angry and not the only immature person in this marriage. “Laura’s set up a meeting for me with Greenberg.”

Jade was growing agitated, although none of them could make out more than a few words. Finally, she snapped her phone shut and returned to Lance’s side, her perfect brow knit in distress. “Bad news about Dari and Ellen. Remember that outbreak of SARS in the Philippines? The doctors are afraid they both might have it.”

“SARS? My God…” Lance took her hand, the two of them against the world. “Are they going to be okay?”

“I don’t know. They’re in isolation right now, being shot full of antibiotics.”

“We’d better get over to the hospital right away.”

“That’s not possible.”

“Sure it is. We’ll go in through the back.”