“There’s a lot wrong with it, Rachel. Just once, I wish I could be more like you. You had those men listening to your every word.”
“Willa, you’re wrong. Three out of the four were trying to get to know you. You’re too hard on yourself.” There was no middle ground with Willa. Like her salad, she starved herself from both food and male companionship because, to herself, she didn’t measure up to this ideal she felt she could never reach. The Barbie syndrome was a bitch to live up to. Rachel felt it herself, which was why she could understand Willa’s feelings.
“I’ll see you at the party tonight,” Rachel reminded her, hoping she wouldn’t back out.
“Do you want me to bring anything?” Willa offered.
“No, you’re already bringing the birthday cake, and that’s enough. The party’s in four hours, so just go home and relax.”
“All right. Bye, Rachel.”
Rachel left Willa, crossing the street to the church store. Lily was still doing paperwork. Handing her the takeout lunch, Rachel began to pull out the donations from the previous day to organize them.
“Was the restaurant busy?” Lily asked, digging into her lunch.
“It was packed. Some men from out of town asked to join Willa and me.”
Lily’s violet eyes sparkled. “Any of them good-looking?”
“A couple of them were. One managed to get Willa’s card from her. I bet he ends up asking her out. I hope so; she needs to get out more.”
“You think it’s safe? If they aren’t from Treepoint, you really can’t know anything about them.” Lily paused, taking a bite of her hamburger.
“I got their names. I’ll ask Tate to check them out if she decides to go out with him.”
“Lewis won’t be happy,” Lily said.
“No, he won’t.” The recently divorced man had three children of his own and was raising his sister’s two after her imprisonment and subsequent death. He was determined to make Willa his, despite her running in the other direction whenever she saw him.
“Shade was at the restaurant, eating with some of his friends.”
Lily nodded. “They probably stopped there for lunch, coming back from Jamestown.”
“Jamestown?” Rachel separated the toys from the clothes.
“They were meeting someone about buying property there.”
Rachel’s heart sank. The thought of The Last Riders possibly moving out of town had Rachel about to question her further; instead, she snapped her mouth closed. It was none of her business if they moved to the larger town or not. She had turned over a new leaf; anything to do with Cash was off-limits. With that decided, the women worked steadily the rest of the afternoon.#p#分页标题#e#
“If it doesn’t get busier soon, you can cut your hours down until it picks up near the holidays. I hate to waste your time when there isn’t much to keep you occupied.”
“It gives me a chance to get out of the house a few days, Lily. But I may take you up on it next week. I want to get a few more plants I discovered replanted into my greenhouse before the first frost hits.”
“I can always help out if she gets busy.” Brooke Patterson came into the room from the side that connected to the church. She was dressed expensively in a yellow silk dress that showed her figure in a way no minister’s wife should. The low cleavage alone would have the men in the congregation thinking about breaking one of the commandments. She looked overdressed and out of place in the church store.
Lily didn’t respond to Brooke’s offer. She was always friendly with everyone, thus it was unusual for her to ignore an offer of help.
“Rachel, if you want to leave early to get everything ready for Mrs. Langley’s party, I can stay.” An internal warning shrilled loudly within Rachel at Brooke’s offer.
“I have it handled already. Holly and my brothers are taking care of setting everything up. All I have to do is drive there after work.”
“Oh, you’re going to wear that?”
Rachel’s hand gripped the counter at the subtle insult. She was aware of her shortcomings, but she would be damned if another woman would point them out to her.
“No, my change of clothes is in my car.”
“I see. You’re just on top of everything.” Rachel didn’t take her cattiness for a compliment. The woman didn’t seriously believe she didn’t know when someone was being condescending to her?
The door to the store opened, and Shade came in. The menacing biker took in the women standing at the counter, his mouth tightening into a thin line as he took off his sunglasses. He went behind the counter to place a kiss on his wife’s lips.