Two to Tangle (A Tangle Valley Romance #2) - Melissa Brayden Page 0,20

smiled as the song wound to its end. “Trust me. You’re someone I can always be up front with. I don’t have other plans.”

“Okay then.” She leaned close to Ryan’s ear. “Call me soon, and we’ll have a two-person party.”

Ryan nodded and Lana left, leaving her alone on the dance floor as the music shifted. She headed back toward Billy, passing Joey, Madison, and Gabriella, who were situated at a tall table along the perimeter of the dance floor. In other words, a front row seat. As she passed, Gabriella raised her eyebrows in what seemed to be appreciation. “Nice work out there,” she said with a friendly smile. “You know how to juggle.”

Ryan laughed, wildly aware of her own behavior and uncomfortable seeing it through Gabriella’s eyes. “Thanks, I think.”

When she arrived back at the stool next to Billy’s, he greeted her with high-pitched laughter. “I gotta say, that was entertaining as hell. More of that, please.” He pretended to draw on an invisible whiteboard the way a coach would map out a play. With his finger, he tracked the action on the board. “First we had a Chef Gabriella meetup that was sideswiped—literally, I might add—by a Heather swoop-in, followed by a Lana sneak attack at the end.” He clapped her on the back. “This is your life, my friend. I am merely an engaged spectator, waving at your wild ride from the safety of the ground, clutching my beer and pearls.”

That was her cue to look smug or laugh along with him. She couldn’t seem to. “Just not feeling it tonight. I’ll kill one more with you. Then how about we get out of here? Call it a night.”

His smile faded. “You okay? Not enjoying the loop-de-loops?”

She shrugged. “You know me. I’m always okay.” She wasn’t, though. She felt done with all this. Ryan raised her finger to Patsy’s barely legal bartender and grinned like Ryan Jacks would, trying to own the mask. “One more round for us, and we’ll close out.” She passed Billy a look. “On me.”

“Shucks, Jacks. You shouldn’t have.”

* * *

At seven a.m. sharp, Gabriella’s alarm erupted in a soothing song most likely recorded on top of a mountain by a band of monks with long flutes. That was what she imagined, anyway, as she let the music bathe her in peace. She smiled in greeting at the new day, gave her shoulders a lift, and exhaled. With relaxed muscles, she pushed herself into a sitting position and rearranged three fluffy pillows behind her, poised to wake up slowly and take in the view from her bedroom window.

Green grass sloping downhill. A healthy spattering of wildflowers. An old oak reaching up and out as if to shake hands with the sun.

Sweet Lord, she’d never get used to this beauty. If she angled all the way to the right, she could catch a glimpse of the tangled vines and their green grapes, ripening to purple for the next harvest of pinot gris. Madison had some sort of special project going on that would allow them to keep the good buds and lose the bad ones. There’d been folks in the fields for days now, working on each individual vine, providing lots of attention. Madison was not one to cut any corners, so the days had been long.

Gabriella gave herself a squeeze and blinked happily. The first ten minutes of every morning mattered to her. She used the quiet to wake up her thoughts, take stock, and prepare for what she had ahead. In fact, she made it a point not to speak in those ten minutes, to herself or anyone else. Those minutes should be sacred and her mind quiet. She had the rest of the day to be loud and opinionated.

Six more minutes.

Wearing her customary sleep attire, a T-shirt and panties, she tossed an arm over her head and allowed her thoughts to drift back to the night before at the Scoot. She grinned when she remembered Joey working so hard to teach her how to line dance, a skill she picked up pretty damn quick if she did say so herself. Then there were the two out-of-town guys who tried to pick up Madison because she looked fantastic. They’d been relentless until she finally told them that her husband would be arriving any moment from axe-throwing practice. Finally, her mind shifted to sexy Ryan Jacks, who clearly had her hands full with the wanton women of Whisper Wall. She was obviously a