Meg thought he looked like a man intent on making a point as he appeared at the rail to scan the crowded tables down here. His gaze came to rest on her. He had a beer in his hand. No need for a stronger dose of liquid courage, his casual hold on the bottle seemed to say. He was merely whiling his time until it was his turn to climb onto the block.
Then he’d slay every female heart in this room, because he might have been tricked into doing this, but he didn’t falter from a dirty job. He showed up, worked hard, finished on time and on budget.
Actually, she bet he threw in a few extras. He looked like that kind of guy.
Someone should open a window. It was really hot in here.
“And it was a brief meeting, you say?” Liz asked, as she noted the blush staining Meg’s face.
“Very,” Meg lied, finally relaxing when Linc was distracted by the arrival of another one of the bachelors next to him. The men exchanged a handshake that held an air of commiseration.
“That’s Gabriel Morales,” Liz provided, pointing at the brochure. “Says he was one of the rescuers. Can we get these cheat sheets printed for everyone in town?”
Meg smirked. “No, you’ll have to build your database the old-fashioned way: gossip. People don’t say much about him, though.” Not anymore. His childhood had been quite the fodder for the town back in the day, but she left that alone. “I only know what was in the Courier when the accident happened. He’s a local, but he travels a lot for his work. He’s a professional rescuer. Sounds like it was lucky he was there when Josh had his accident.”
People were speculating on the intriguing coincidence that Josh’s mom, Molly, arrived on scene with Gabriel, but Meg didn’t repeat that either. Molly was being talked about enough as it was.
She hoped Gabriel was reassuring Linc that this really was a good cause, but the two men were just standing there looking remote.
Not that anything would spare Linc’s opinion of her at this point. He was never going to forgive her. She really ought to be over feeling awful about it. For the most part she’d conquered the worst of her abandonment issues. Working in television certainly grew you a thick skin where criticism and denunciation were concerned.
But something about Linc made all her rawest places feel exposed and disdained. She didn’t like knowing he felt actively hostile toward her.
Buck, the fast-talking good ol’ boy who oversaw every rodeo, estate sale and cattle auction in the county, took the stage. He wore his customary string tie and massive belt buckle along with a grin of delight.
This was going to be awful. Buck was about to have a field day and Linc would take out a contract on her.
After a few remarks that got everyone in their seats, laughing but paying attention, Buck introduced Jett Casey.
“He’s cute,” Liz leaned over to whisper admiringly while a subtle shift went through the crowd. Every woman sucked in her stomach and sat up straighter for the ex-Olympian.
“I won’t tell Blake you said that,” Meg teased, “But yeah. Jett’s family owns a ton of property in the area. No one ever sees him, though. He loves the back country and pretty much stays there. I’m surprised he’s here, actually. He was offering a guided ski trip but hurt his leg. Thought he might have cancelled.” She picked up the brochure, but didn’t have to read it. Buck explained that Jett was offering a week’s worth of handyman jobs—which was all Buck needed to put the room into fits with his lightning-fast double-entendres.
Jett was a sport about it and went for a cool two grand offered by Ella Grace Emerson who gifted the bachelor to Mardie Griffin. Mardie was delivering drinks tonight, but really needed the help at home.
“That’s nice,” Meg explained to Liz. “Mardie has a baby girl and just bought a house—if it’s the one I think it is, it’s a real dump. This’ll be a huge help for her.”
Ryan Henderson was next and pregnant Hannah bought him which made Meg do a double-take until she overheard the dinner was actually a birthday present for Rachel.
“When is your birthday?” Liz asked Meg when she explained.
“Do not even think it,” Meg warned, dragging her stern look from Liz’s grin of enjoyment to Buck as he called, “Lincoln Brady.”
Linc ambled onto the stage while Buck kept his leathery face directed at the card he held. “Says here this Renegade From The Oil Rigs is new to Marietta. You took over the Circle H a few months ago? Where from?”
“Most recently Texas—”
“Got us a longhorn here, ladies,” Buck said in a suggestive aside.
A ripple of laughter went through the crowd.