Awakening Veronica(Divine Creek Ranch 17)(109)
Oh, her mother was going to have a conniption fit if they chased her all the way home!
Her mother and father had caught her pining over a picture of the three men and found a letter she’d tried to write to them and they’d taken it upon themselves to contact their preacher who had come to her and cleansed her of her sins. He’d browbeaten the devil right out of her until she knew she’d done wrong going with them.
She’d moved to Divine, where her parents had lived, joined her church, and starting teaching bible study with her best friend, Elizabeth Owen.
She’d fallen in everlasting love from afar with her boss, Clay Cook, only to have him stolen right from under her by that Lily…into a polyamorous relationship with his brother, Del, no less.
She’d pined for Patrick Owen after Elizabeth conveniently vacated herself from his life for a prison cell—stupid wench. And just when she’d thought the time was right to voice her affection for him and that unruly boy of his, Lucy had come along and snatched up both him and Beck O’Malley. No one woman deserved two men who were so sinfully delicious.
Those women were man-eaters, scooping up more men than they deserved. Tabitha deserved them. She did. Though, they’d never come close to her memories of the three that she’d run from in order to escape the hell her parents had convinced her was awaiting her if she didn’t fight the temptation.
She’d found that picture of Stubby Joe, Black Mike, and Big Dick and had kept it hidden. A reminder of her sinful, ugly past. A reminder of how close she came to hell’s fire. A reminder of everything she’d ever wanted and could never have. It was wrong. Wrong. Wrong. Wrong.
That word echoed with each rapid step in her sensible shoes until she finally reached her mother’s front stoop, the men hot on her heels. Her mother was standing on the porch, disapproval pursing her shriveled miserable lips, and hellfire burning in her eyes.
“Oh, Lord! What now!”
* * * *
Veronica craned her neck as she watched the three leather-clad bikers chase Tabitha Lester down the street, calling after her at the top of their lungs. “Can someone tell me what just happened?”
The amused crowd dispersed and their group of friends, who had been victimized and demonized by that woman for so long, gathered as Charity began to laugh.
Lucy suddenly squealed and turned to Val Teller, Justin’s cousin. “You finally remembered where you knew Tabitha Lester from, didn’t you?”
Val pushed his sunglasses up, revealing beautiful chocolaty-brown eyes and long eyelashes and said, “Yeah. It’d been a long time since I’d seen her and she’d changed a lot. She hung around with a good friend of mine. Stubby Joe, from Austin. He had it bad for Tabitha when she was younger. Really bad. But he had this situation. He’s bisexual and he was also in love with Black Mike and Big Dick.”
Charity snorted with laughter. “I’m sorry. That gets me every time I hear it. Go ahead, hon.” Justin smacked her butt for interrupting Val and then kissed her when she feigned a protest before she giggled again.
Val chuckled. “Tabby Cat and Stubby Joe were way into each other…at least until Black Mike and Big Dick rolled back into town after a long absence, and they wanted Stubby Joe with them. Like…with them. Funny thing was, they were really digging Tabby Cat, too.”
“That little sinner!” Camilla said with a chuckle.
“I get a shiver every time Val calls that odious woman Tabby Cat,” Lucy said with a snicker. “Sorry, Val. Continue, please.”
“And she was really digging Black Mike and Big Dick,” Val continued, ignoring Charity’s snicker. “She liked them enough that she didn’t mind at first that they wanted to include another woman in the mix. Stubby Joe has never shared all the details with me but I guess she gave them a try and couldn’t handle the other woman in the mix. She split without a word to anyone. She doesn’t know they all three love her. They realized they’d neglected her when the other woman gloated to her friends about running Tabitha off so she could have them to herself and word got back to them. The three of them wanted to make it up to Tabitha and they’ve been looking for her ever since. When I told them I knew where she was, they didn’t hesitate to make the trip.”
“Huh,” Maizy said. “I guess it’s true, there’s someone for everyone, even grumpy-faced closet freaks. You were right, Lucy. She had skeletons in her closet none of us would’ve guessed at.”
Veronica listened as her friends made predictions about the outcome of the surprise reunion . Slipping into people-watching mode, she observed Val as he laughed at something Charity said before turning to speak to his cousin Ransome. With his attention turned elsewhere, Val didn’t see the long look Charity gave him, the way her eyes lingered as she gazed at his face before casting the same look Ransome’s way.