something she had absolutely no right to feel.
“Tell me this isn’t just what the doctor ordered,” Bianca said with a chuckle. “Chilled wine and hot cowboys. What more could you ask for?”
Chilled wine and a dark room, that was definitely preferable.
“Amen, sista,” Adeline crooned.
“Hey,” Kayla said in a stern voice, “don’t encourage her.”
“Yeah, exactly,” Jamie teased, mock-glaring at Bianca. “Aren’t you married?”
Since Bianca was the only one of the five of them who was hitched to the ol’ ball and chain, they took it upon themselves to give her crap as often as possible.
Bristol and Bianca had grown up with Adeline Miller and Jamie Collier, all four of them being roughly the same age and having lived in Coyote Ridge their entire lives. Kayla Spivey was the recent addition to their little group. The five of them chatted endlessly via their group text message and made a point to get together at least once a week, even if it was only for coffee on Saturday morning.
Bianca grinned. “Married but not dead. I’m sure you ladies remember what that’s like, right?”
“Don’t remind me,” Bristol choked out. If she never thought about her ex-husband again, it would be too soon.
As of now, none of them had a good track record when it came to forever and ever amen. Well, except Bianca. She seemed to be doing something right.
“Where is Jake, anyway?” Jamie asked.
“Miami. He’ll be back tomorrow night,” Bianca said a little dreamily.
Bristol chuckled. Her friend had been married for just over six years now, but you wouldn’t know it by talking to her. If Bristol had to guess, the honeymoon period still hadn’t ended for those two. Probably helped that Jake was some fancy advertising executive who traveled all over the country. Bianca went with him when she could and when she couldn’t … well, she claimed their time apart only made his homecomings that much hotter. They were certainly still in love.
Then again, that seemed to be the case for most people Bristol knew. Since becoming close to the Walker family, she found herself surrounded by so much love, sometimes it was nauseating. The way the Walkers treated their women… well, to be honest, Bristol often found herself daydreaming about finding a love like that. She envied Curtis and Lorrie the most, hoping one day she would find a love like theirs, one that would transcend time and tragedy.
Granted, her fantasies of happily ever after never lasted long. With a failed marriage behind her, Bristol didn’t subscribe to the love-lasts-longer-than-a-day philosophy that plenty of others did. The funny thing was, she didn’t have too many standards when it came to men. Unlike her friends, who were always coming up with another prerequisite for their “perfect” man. Everyone knew there was no such thing, but sometimes it was fun to pretend. No, Bristol only preferred they be employed, educated enough to hold a decent conversation, and willing to be friends before they moved on to the next phase. The last one was usually what killed a decent opportunity. The last three guys Bristol had dated had been polar opposites except for one thing: they thought sex was the foundation for a relationship.
Too bad she wasn’t into one-night stands. That would be the route she would take if she were. Until last night’s debacle, she’d been enduring the sexual drought just fine, thank you very much. Now it looked like the clock was going to reset.
“Did it hurt?” a deep voice bellowed from behind her.
Bristol’s gaze shot to Bianca, hoping for some sort of warning as to who it was. She got nothing.
She cautiously turned to see a man standing behind her. He was tall, relatively good-looking, more so if he would’ve kept his beard trimmed. He wore a black Resistol hat, a buckle the size of Montana, and a gleam in his dark brown eyes. And that gleam seemed to be pinned right on her … cleavage.
“I’m sorry?” she asked, confused.
He had the decency to look at her face when he said, “When you fell from heaven, sugar? Did it hurt?”
Oh, brother.
Forcing a smile, Bristol turned back to her friends. Unfortunately, they merely stared at her, waiting to see what would happen next. She knew they were enjoying this, probably a little too much.
There was a tap on her shoulder. With a sigh, Bristol peered over her shoulder again. “Yes?”
“Can I buy you a drink?” the man asked, seemingly not at all bothered by getting the cold shoulder.
Bristol held up her