She nodded and took a deep breath before shutting the door. She watched as Travis pulled away, turning the Rover around the next corner toward the parking garage.
Careful not to trip on her dress, she lifted the bottom up as she climbed the stairs, almost running directly into the crowd of women congregated at the top. It wasn’t hard to see who was in the center of the circle, grasping at any attention.
Annabeth Rivers.
Annabeth hadn’t seen her yet, and Meredith was hoping to detour around the group before she did when someone called her name.
“Meredith!” Sheila Poulson called and broke away from the group to come and give her a hug. Sheila’d been on the varsity cheerleading squad with Meredith and had actually been as close to a real friend as Meredith had had back then. Sheila was pretty and smart, which helped propel her popularity, but she hadn’t had the ruthlessness of the rest of them or the desire to be the queen bee, which had made it easy for her to stay under the radar. “I’m so sorry to hear about your daughter. Have you heard anything?”
“Not yet. But I’m trying to be optimistic. You’re looking great, Sheila.”
Unfortunately, the embrace had drawn the attention of the rest of the women who were now surrounding her. All except Annabeth, who didn’t disguise her sneer before Meredith caught it. Annabeth had always been in competition with Meredith through high school and had always come up short. Now, however, the tables had turned, with Annabeth in the spotlight as a local news personality, something she loved to remind her old dear friend.
Meredith accepted the other women’s sympathy and well wishes, waiting to see what Annabeth would do to pull the attention back to herself. Stunning in a beaded ivory Grecian gown, it wouldn’t be hard.
“Meredith,” she said as she reached her. Her skinny arms lightly wrapped around her in an awkward hug, and she faux kissed the air next to Meredith’s cheek. A warmer reception than yesterday. She did have an audience. “You seem to be holding up pretty well, under the circumstances. How’s Rob holding…oh.” Annabeth held her hand up to her mouth in mock surprise, as if she had just remembered that Rob had run out on Meredith months before. “I can’t believe I said—never mind. You’re holding up better than most, I dare say. Look at you.” She shook her head. “Trying to stay strong.”
“We do what we have to,” Meredith said, showing restraint in not clubbing the woman with her purse. “Did Kevin make it here tonight?”
Tit for tat, Meredith said silently. Kevin was Annabeth’s own trophy hubby, cute and buff but not very bright and, of late, always absent. Not that Annabeth seemed to mind, as she usually found other men to entertain her.
“He’s here, tonight, of course. Somewhere. Even with his training, he knew how important tonight was and wouldn’t miss it. How about the delectable Travis? Did Meredith tell you girls? Our little computer assistant from high school has become quite the beefcake.”
The beefcake came out of nowhere and stood next to her. The wry smile on his face as he met her gaze told her he’d heard the gist of their interaction and found it amusing.
Dear God. Every time she saw him in that tux she found herself staving off a flash that sent heat to all the intimate areas of her body, making her want to melt. Even though she hadn’t had his measurements, the lines of the jacket across his shoulders and over that expansive chest were nearly spot-on. With that rugged jaw and determined glint in his eye, he could be the poster boy for the next Bourne or James Bond movie.
She realized the women were waiting for her to introduce the beefcake. “Ladies, this is Travis Brennan,” she said and waited for the inevitable tangle of arms as they tripped over themselves to hug him. But Travis had taken a different stance, his arm wrapped almost possessively around her waist, and pulled her to him. The women gave her sly smiles. All but Annabeth. Which earned a wider grin from Meredith.#p#分页标题#e#
“Good to see you all again, ladies.” Smooth.
Before they could send a barrage of questions at him, she took the lead. “If you’ll excuse me, I have to get things started inside.”
That had been far more satisfying than she’d expected, she thought as Travis escorted her through the lobby until they reached the doors leading into the ballroom. If she weren’t so nervous about the importance of tonight’s event, she would have taken a moment to appreciate how beautiful everything looked.
Playing on the large screen at one end was a slideshow of photos of the past one hundred years of school history, something she had thought was impossible after a fire destroyed a section of the basement several weeks ago. But Sam, Allie’s boyfriend, had someone managed to pull one together, using photos alumni had forwarded him.