Devil in Texass(73)

bad for you.”

“How could it not be?” he demanded, his temper getting the best of him. “With

Friday and Saturday night curfews and having to close on Sundays? How long do you

think my saloon can stay afloat when I can’t sell any alcohol?”

Her lips pressed together as she seemed to consider her own stand. Then she said,

“It’s just that…. Well, Jonathan… He’s just been so upset over all of this. The Council elections, this newcomer to town. He’s been ill, Jack. Sick to his stomach. He doesn’t think anything good is going to come of what’s going on right now.”

Jack gripped the edge of the sink behind the bar as he glared at Lydia. They’d been

friends since he’d had a memory. He’d been the shoulder she’d cried on when things

had gotten too intense at her house. He’d been the one she’d confided in when she’d

gotten pregnant. He’d been the one to offer her sanctuary, even offering to help raise her illegitimate child.

And this was the friendship she offered in return?

Shaking his head, he said, “I really miss the person you used to be, Lydia.”

She stared at him, dumbfounded.

Jack continued on. “The non-judgmental, free-spirit. The one who had big plans

and high hopes. The one who said she’d break free of her parents and never treat

anyone so poorly, because she knew how bad it felt.”

“Jack Wade!” The look she gave him was positively indignant. She stood and

reached for her purse. “I don’t treat anyone poorly! I would never do that!”

“What about Liza?” he countered.

183

Calista Fox

“I… She…” Lydia shook her head. “I have no idea what you’re talking about. I

haven’t said anything cruel to that woman.”

“You completely dismissed her on the street, Lydia. And there has to be some

reason why she’s doing her own highlights. I mean, have you seen what she did to her hair?”

Lydia crossed her arms over her chest. “I thought she did that on purpose. Some

sort of New York thing.”

Jack laughed, though without humor. “She didn’t think you’d allow her in one of

your chairs, Lydia.”

“Well, I would never!” She bristled. “I wouldn’t shun someone from my salon. Jack Wade, you know me better than that.”

He inclined his head to one side, taking in the buttoned-up, prim and proper

woman before him with the tight lips and the stiff shoulders. “I used to know you,

Lydia. But now…” He shook his head. “I’m not so sure.”

“Jack.” Her look softened. She opened her mouth to speak, but the door to the

saloon swung wide open and Liza swept in.

“I have the perfect idea for how you can stay open on Sundays and increase

business! It came to me this morning when—” She pulled up short, her mouth clamping

shut. Her bright green gaze shifted from Jack to Lydia and back. “Oh,” she said. “Looks like I’ve interrupted something. I’ll come back later.”

She turned on her high heels, but Jack was quick on his feet. He vaulted over the

bar and rushed after her.

“Hey, wait!” He gripped her by the arm and brought her back around to face him.

“No need to leave, darlin’.”

Her gaze didn’t land on him. It shot straight to Lydia. “Think I’ve had enough of

this.”

“What are you talking about?”

Her eyes snapped to him. “What were you talking about?”

Jack’s jaw tightened for a moment. He said, “We were just discussing…things…”

He shook his head. He couldn’t lie to her. “Politics and you, darlin’. That’s what we were talking about.”

She wrested her arm free from his loose grip. She stared up at him, the betrayal

painfully blatant in her eyes. “I told myself I was starting fresh. Not letting anyone tell me who I should be or how I should act. And yet, all I’ve done since I got here is try to win people over who don’t like how I dress or what I have to say.” She shook her head, looking hurt and disappointed. Not just with him, but with herself.

“Liza, just take a step back with me, sweetheart.” He needed to get a grip on the

situation before it got too far out of hand. Because something told him she was this close to walking away for good.

184

Devil in Texas

“You were right, cowboy. I am getting more than I bargained for. And I’m

just…done with it.” She turned and walked off, saying over her shoulder as she passed through the door, “You can keep my rent.”

“Jack.” Lydia’s voice was quiet on the still air. “Maybe this is all for the be—”

He whirled around to face her, his anger flaring again. “Not a word, Lydia. Not

another goddamn word from you.”

Her mouth gaped and her eyes grew wide with shock.

Jack stormed out of the saloon, but was too late. He stood in the cloud of dust

kicked up by the Mercedes as it raced out of sight.

Jack stared after the sports car, his gut clenching tight. Subconsciously, he’d known the minute Liza had walked through his door, less than a week ago, that he didn’t want to let her go.

Today, she’d let him go.

185





Calista Fox

Chapter Nineteen



Packing her meager belongings didn’t take nearly as long as she thought it would.

She’d figured that by the time she had her two suitcases stuffed to the gills and

crammed into the small trunk of the Mercedes, followed by the three oversized Louis

Vuitton totes nearly bursting at the seams and shoved into the passenger side of the car, she’d be calmer. Ready to take a deep breath and regroup. Maybe sit down with a glass of iced tea or wine and chill out. Rethink the day. Make a different choice.

She couldn’t say what, for sure, set her off today. Perhaps it was Lydia’s visit to the flower shop the day before. Her blatant snub, her veiled insults about Liza not fitting in.

She had to admit that if it’d been anyone else treating her like shit, she probably would have told her off and been done with it. But it wasn’t just anyone. It was Lydia Bain.

Jack’s dear friend. A woman he cared about and protected. A woman whose opinion he

valued.

That thought alone had brought on more insecurity today than Liza could process

at once. When she’d seen the two of them together, alone, and he’d admitted they’d

been talking about her, she’d hit her bullshit threshold.