“I’ll be right back,” she promised.
She found a booth, getting Mag a plate and drink before taking it back to her. Rachel wasn’t hungry, so she sat and talked to Mag as she ate, sipping on her iced tea.
“Hi, Rachel!” Rachel waved as Lily, with the rest of The Last Riders following, approached the table.
Cash took a seat next to her, his expression telling her he wasn’t happy with her leaving him during the night again.
“Hi, Lily.” She ignored Cash’s tight-lipped anger to greet her friend.
“You’re not eating?” Lily asked.
“I’m afraid to. There’s enough fatback in those dishes to take down a horse.” Rachel had managed to find a few things for Mag that weren’t swimming in grease.
“I’m starved. I’ll be back in a minute.” Lily left while the bikers remained clustered around the table.
“Exactly when did you sneak out?” Cash asked, breaking his silence.
“Around two. Don’t worry, I didn’t walk home; Cheryl gave me a ride.”
Cash didn’t look any happier with her answer. Rachel shrugged, not letting his injured masculine pride ruin her day.
Beth gave her a wink, listening to the conversation.
“You’re not hungry?” Rachel asked her.
“I’m with you. Thank God I’m not pregnant anymore and don’t get the cravings Lily does.”
Rachel watched as Lily went from booth to booth, getting samples of everyone’s food.
“When did Brooke learn to cook beans and greens?” Rachel was surprised she would participate in the festival.
“I have no idea,” Beth said then added, “You going to try it?”
“No, it would be too depressing if she can cook as good as she looks.” No self-respecting country girl could stand for her cooking to be upstaged by a city girl.
Lily came back to the table with a huge plate, sitting down between her and Mag.
“Aren’t you going to eat?” Rachel asked Cash.
“Later.” His eyes were on a large group of men, sitting at a nearby table.
“You don’t like them, do you?”
“No.”
“Why? They seem friendly enough.”
“So was Ted Bundy.”
Shocked at the comparison, she saw that the rest of The Last Riders weren’t happy to see Scorpion and his friends. Viper had a frown, and Shade’s eyes had turned deadly. Something was going on that made these men nervous. Rachel was smart enough to realize that if they were worried, she should be also. Furthermore, she didn’t think it was a good thing Cash had compared them to a serial murderer.
“I can’t eat anymore.” Lily pushed her plate away, looking queasy.
“You only ate a biscuit.” Rachel looked down at Lily’s practically untouched plate.
“I guess it’s not agreeing with the baby.” Lily turned green, getting up from the table with Shade’s help. Seconds later, she darted to the nearest restroom inside the church.
“No need wasting food.” Mag reached out, pulling the plate toward her.
Rachel didn’t say anything. Compared to the plate she had fixed her, Lily’s looked like a banquet.
“I heard that things didn’t go well last night,” Beth broached the subject tentatively.#p#分页标题#e#
Rachel made a face. “That’s putting it mildly.”
“I was shocked the first time I went, too. I ended up leaving.” Beth’s face was red from embarrassment. “Lily ran back to college.”
“I tried to run, but Viper wouldn’t let me,” Winter gently butted into the conversation. “It was after my attack. Believe me, if I’d had use of my legs, he wouldn’t have been able to catch me, either.”
“I would have caught you,” Viper stated. Rachel believed him. With his hard, muscular body and long legs, Winter wouldn’t have gotten far.
Beth’s scream and her chair falling back as she rose terrified Rachel as she looked to see what was happening.
“No!” Rachel’s own scream parted her lips as Beth yelled for someone to call nine-one-one.
Mag had turned deathly pale and had passed out, her head falling back over the wheelchair. The men quickly pushed it back from the table, laying her on the ground. Rachel watched as Beth frantically took her pulse. Shade moved Lily back as she came out of the restroom, turning her so she couldn’t see what was going on. Cash knelt by his grandmother, holding her hand.
“Her heart is racing,” Beth told Cash.
Rachel stared down at Mag, crying. She fell to her knees beside Mag, laying her hand on her heart. After she had touched Cash, she’d had nothing left. For the last few months, her gift hadn’t shown a trace of itself.