“Did she mention last night?”
“She didn’t mention it, but she was remembering it. That was a hell of a chance you took last night.”
Mac was well aware of the chances he was taking with his marriage. He didn’t need Jethro to point it out to him.
“I’ll take care of my marriage, Jethro,” Mac sighed as he slid his chair back and rose to his feet. “See what else you can pull out of Dell. I have work to do outside.”
“Need any help?” Jethro asked instead. “I’ll get more out of Dell tonight after he goes home. That leaves the day pretty free.”
Mac glanced at the clock. Keiley was due home anytime, unless she decided to take lunch with any of the women on the charity committee, which she sometimes she did. Her friendship with Maxine Bright seemed to be growing, and with it, Keiley had begun settling into country life much easier than he had anticipated.
Maxine was a good woman. She and her husband, Joseph, were two of the few friends from high school Mac had kept up with over the years. Joseph had kept him up with local gossip and helped with investments enough to make certain that when he made the move home, he would have the cushion he needed to make the farm thrive.
Of course, Mac hadn’t anticipated at the time that he would marry a woman whose hobby was as lucrative as Keiley’s career. The woman thought it was fun to play with computer programs, where Mac tended to pull hair when he had to mess with them overmuch.
“Come on, then,” he finally answered Jethro’s suggestion to help with the farm work. “I have to move some cattle and check on my favorite mare. The foal she’s getting ready to throw is a potential moneymaker. I like to baby her.”
“You baby all the females,” Jethro grunted as he rose to his feet. “That’s why they all love you.”
“And you just wash over them like a tidal wave,” Mac shot back. “Scares the hell out of them, Jethro. That bad-boy persona needs a little adjustment here and there.”
“My adjustments are fine.”
“I can tell. You’re currently without a steady lover. Not like you, my man.”
“It’s just a slump.”
“Be careful, it might become a way of life.”
Keiley slammed the front door, kicked her sandals to the side of the entryway, and threw her purse and briefcase on the small chair that sat to the side.
Maxine had been a fountain of information once they were well away from the women of the charity committee. And that fount was filled with small-town politics and petty jealousies. She had tried to ignore Delia’s pettiness for three years, but it was now getting out of control.
Watch your back, Kei. Delia never forgave Mac for leaving town and not marrying her. She hates you. And she’s determined to hurt you. I don’t know what she’s up to, but she’s gloating and so are her little chickies that she runs with.
Insanity. Delia had married one of the richest and most influential men in the state of North Carolina, and she was still pissed off about the one who got away.
How had Delia known about the sharing Jethro and Mac had done in Virginia? Who did she know?
“Keiley?” Mac stepped from the hallway that led to the washroom and kitchen from the back of the house. “What’s wrong?”
“Did you f**k her before you left all those years ago?” She suddenly snapped. “Is that why she decided to make my life hell? Because she never forgot her first f**k?”
His eyes widened as he moved closer. “Did I f**k who?”
“Delia Staten.” Her hands went on her h*ps as she confronted him. “And who in this little neck of the woods, Mac, knew about your and Jethro’s little high jinks in Virginia?”
Surprise glittered in his eyes then. “No one here knows, Kei.”
“Someone knows Mac, or they’re psychic, because the latest little piece of gossip to reach Delia Staten is that you and Jethro are now sharing me.”
She watched as he tensed, his broad shoulders appearing wider, his chest beneath the gray t-shirt he wore appearing wider.
“They’re guessing.”
“Oh, you suddenly believe in coincidence now, Mac?” she asked him tightly. “Weren’t you the one who told me more than once that there was no such thing as coincidence?”
“The rules are different in small towns, Kei.” He grimaced roughly. “Here, rumor and supposition are a game all their own, sweetheart, you know that.”