The Reluctant Beauty(31)

The more she saw couples with their heads close together talking or smooching, she felt the tug of envy.

“Oh, Mamma Mia,” she muttered. “Not me.” She’d never once had second thoughts on her career. She loved what she did. She loved the people she worked for; the King family was her second family.

Glancing at her brother and her sister-in-law, Peg watched as Chip rubbed his wife’s rounded belly. They both jumped and laughed. “Dang, rug rat must have kicked her.” Now Peg wondered what that felt like.

“Geez Louise. I gotta find Rico! He’ll talk some sense into me.”

She turned in the opposite direction, marching away, every few steps bending to fix the hem on her dress.

Near the middle of the tables, Rico stood, entertaining a group at a table of seven. They laughed at something he said. He pressed his hand to his chest and giggled.

“Rico,” she hissed, trying to get his attention. Nothing. “Mayday! Mayday!”

He finally turned to her. “Girl, you look like you’ve seen a ghost.”

Peg waved for him to come with her. He shook his head.

Jamming her hands on her hips, still clutching the clipboard, she faced him. He had to talk her out of this stinky baby thing she suddenly yearned for. “S-O-S, R-I-C-O!”

His frown deepened. “Don’t you go stealing my thing. I don’t say holy moly or holy whatever more than once a day.”

The diners around her hushed. It had a ripple effect. The room grew still.

“For criminy’s sake, Rico. I need your help!” Her voice grew louder and everyone else stopped talking. All eyes were trained on her. Peg stood perfectly still, but allowed her gaze to take in the gawking guests. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Griff rise from his seat at the family table. She gulped hard.

“You don’t have to make a scene, Peg,” Rico said.

The pretty teenage girl near Rico’s elbow said, “Hey, aren’t you Austin Rhoades’s girlfriend? It’s all over the Internet. You were caught in the window display.”

That question sparked an avalanche of murmurs and gossip. She hadn’t realized just how far the rumors had spread. Her cheeks burned. Twisting around, she searched out Austin. He sat with her family, staring at her with raised eyebrows. Her heart fell.

Her parents looked on, smiling.

She wanted a break-up, didn’t she? A very public one, too.

“Succotash and sassafras,” she muttered under her breath. “What in the world am I knee deep in the middle of this time?”

Visions of embarrassing her family, the blood one and the King family, crept into her mind. But, this was what she wanted, wasn’t it? Clean, swift, and no-question-about-it break-up.

Maybe her family would stop bugging her. Maybe they’d see she was happy as a lark just working. And working.

Her fake smile twitched as she forced it and answered the teenage girl. “Oh, you know how it is, sweetie,” she said. “He’s rock. I’m not. He’s on the road. I’m in one spot. He’s a hottie. I’m not.” The last one hurt, but she had to convince everyone, including herself, why she shouldn’t put any hopes into him or them. “Ibso, facto, finito.”

Now there were murmurs of understanding. Unfortunately, so too were there nods of agreements.

So why wasn’t she feeling any relief that they bought it?

Griff bore down on her. Holding up her hands, she said, “Boss, I ain’t crying about it. No harm, no foul, you know.”

But in the background, she focused on her family. Her mother wiped her eyes with a tissue. Her father hung his head, shaking it. She barely glanced at her sister-in-law and brother; she sensed a well of sympathy coming from them.

The King sisters and their husbands rose almost in unison.

“Peg, honey,” Rico said. “Uncle Rico will help.”

The wall of pity pelting her right now was too overwhelming. “Well, geez Louise,” she tried to lighten the mood. “I ain’t dying.” Inside maybe.

That got a few chuckles.

“For crying out loud. I’m dented. Not broken.”

The tension eased another degree.

“I think I should have something to say about this, don’t you think?” Austin asked, moving to Griff’s side.

“You’ve said and done enough,” Griff pointed out.

“This is between Peg and me.”

“Really?” Griff folded his arms across his chest and looked around the audience, who were captivated by it all.

Peg would love to slink away right now. “Boys, boys, no need in fighting over me.”

Several people chuckled.

“Boss, I got it. No problemo.” A part of her was aware of her King family coming in behind her, supporting her. Another part of her realized her own family drew near and was standing to the right, ready to lend a hand.