Her eyebrows rose at the sight of the woman. Vincent’s mate was wearing a long flowing skirt, a peasant blouse, a red scarf around her head, the most god-awful gaudy jewelry she’d ever seen, and ridiculously dramatic makeup. Probably Vincent’s doing, Divine decided. Jackie looked like a theater version of a Gypsy rather that the real thing.
She’d barely had the thought when Jackie glanced her way as she ushered the girl to the door. She paused at once, a smile curling her lips.
“Good morning,” she said, smiling widely. “You look well rested.”
Divine grimaced at the words as she pulled the curtain further open. She normally didn’t sleep more than a couple of hours a day, but she’d certainly got more than a couple of hours of sleep this morning. It had been just before 6 A.M. when she and Marcus had— Well, anyway, that couldn’t have taken more than a couple minutes so she must have slept a good nine hours straight. Strange for her.
“Who’s she?”
Divine glanced to the blonde at that curious question, but it was Jackie who answered.
“Don’t worry about it. Go on now. Have a good day,” she said cheerfully, and then pushed the girl out the door, adding grimly, “And dump that loser you call a boyfriend.”
Closing the door, Jackie turned to Divine and said wryly, “I don’t know how you do it. I swear I’ve wanted to slap some sense into half the people who have come in here this morning.”
“That’s about par for the course,” Divine said with amusement.
“Hmmm.” Jackie wrinkled her nose at this news and then asked, “Is Marcus up?”
“He is now.”
Divine gave a start at that announcement and glanced over her shoulder as Marcus pushed himself to his feet and walked toward her.
“Is that Jackie?” he asked as he approached.
Realizing she’d only opened the curtain enough to frame herself, she pushed it further open now so that he could see the other woman. “Yes. She opened shop while we slept. Thank you for that, by the way,” Divine added, turning back to offer a grateful smile to the woman.
Jackie smiled in return and shrugged. “It’s fun.”
Divine snorted at the claim, knowing it was sometimes interesting, sometimes rewarding, and sometimes just plain frustrating, but not really ever fun.
“Well, I appreciate it,” she said sincerely, stiffening a little with surprise when Marcus slipped an arm around her waist. Smile a little forced now, she eased out from under Marcus’s arm and turned back into the kitchenette saying, “You go ahead and find that husband of yours and I’ll quick-change and take over now.”
“Don’t be silly, I’ll continue here for the afternoon,” Jackie said at once, bringing her to a reluctant halt. When Divine turned back, she added, “You need to eat, feed, shower, and change. Just grab some clothes and head to our RV, you can shower and everything else there.”
Divine shook her head at once. “Oh, I can’t make you—”
“You aren’t making me do anything,” Jackie said firmly, moving into the kitchenette to catch her by the shoulders and urge her toward the bedroom door. “Besides, I want you to meet Tiny and Mirabeau.”
“Are they here already?” Marcus asked, trailing after them as they entered the bedroom.
“Got in early this morning. Arrived with half the apples grown in California and enough caramel and chocolate to cover the state,” Jackie announced dryly, and then squeezed Divine’s shoulders and said, “You’re going to love Tiny. He’s been my best friend for ages. He’s a sweetie. And his partner, Mirabeau, is lovely too.”