“Yes. And I missed Lorna after she left.”
She smiled at Lorna, and Bryce saw that she had a small dimple at the right side of her mouth.
“Amy’s on her way to California,” Lorna explained. “She’s a kindergarten teacher and hopes to find a job and settle out there.”
“Whereabouts in California?”
Amy shrugged. “I don’t know for sure. I like small towns, and I was thinking maybe I’d go somewhere near the San Diego area.”
As Bryce was framing another question, a flurry at the entrance to the living room announced another arrival. Bryce saw that it was Jake Kenyon, their neighbor and a long-time family friend, accompanied by his daughter, Tara. Tara and Bryce had grown up together, and until Bryce had met and fallen in love with Michelle, Bryce knew that his family and most of the townspeople had assumed he and Tara would eventually marry.
Tara had married within six months of Bryce, and Bryce had always wondered if the marriage had been her answer to his. Whatever the reason, it hadn’t lasted long. Not even two years, and the union had produced no children.
During the years Bryce was married to Michelle, Tara had spent most of her time in Dallas, working as a runway model for several of the designers based in the city. She hadn’t needed to work—as Jake’s only child she had plenty of money and stood to inherit a fortune—but Bryce knew the attention she received from her modeling and the whirl of the Dallas social scene were the big draws. At one point, she’d been engaged to some bigshot Dallas power broker, but she’d broken the engagement. He’d never known the reason why.
Six months ago she’d returned to Morgan Creek and now spent her time helping her father with his many business interests. She’d also become heavily involved with the local rodeo committee, for Morgan Creek and the neighboring town of Bailey Springs joined together to sponsor the annual Morgan Bailey Livestock Show and Rodeo, one of the largest in Texas.
Bryce genuinely liked Tara, and sometimes he wondered if that affection and their long friendship and similar backgrounds might not be enough…for something more. The girls seemed to like her, too. And yet…after having the real thing with Michelle he wasn’t sure he could settle for less.
With this thought in mind, he watched as Tara and her father headed in his direction.
Tara Kenyon looked like a movie star, Amy thought. Tall and slim at about five foot eight, she had luxurious chestnut hair and glittering green eyes. Her features were flawless: straight nose neither too long nor too short, plump lips, perfect white teeth, beautifully arched brows, long, thick, curly eyelashes and a creamy complexion with just a hint of a tan.
And that body! Amy could only dream of such a body. It was very slender yet curvy, with full high breasts and a nicely rounded rear.
Tonight she wore a figure-skimming silk sheath in a shade of tangerine that looked fabulous on her and complemented both her hair and her skin. The dress ended several inches above her knees, revealing long, gorgeous legs and high arched feet with perfectly manicured toes shown to advantage in strappy gold stiletto heels.
Next to her, Amy felt colorless and dull in her beige dress and plain brown sandals, but the outfit was the best she’d packed in readiness for her chance to flee. The reminder that she was here on false pretenses took away some of the pleasure she’d begun to feel at her warm welcome from Lorna’s family.
Watching Tara, Amy saw that she acted like a star, too, barely acknowledging the introduction to Amy as her gaze moved unerringly to Bryce. Only then did she turn on the full wattage of her smile.
Leaning forward, she kissed him on the mouth. “Hello, stranger. Haven’t seen you in a few days,” she drawled sweetly. “Where have you been hiding yourself?”
“Another nanny quit,” Bryce said.
“Are you sure you’re not beating them or something? Not that it might not be pleasant to be beaten by you.” This last was said with a low chuckle.
With unspoken accord, Amy and Lorna moved away.
“Bitch,” Lorna muttered.
Amy couldn’t help laughing. “I take it you don’t like her?” she whispered.
“Remind me to tell you some Tara stories tonight after we get back to the house.”
Just then Lorna’s youngest sister, Claudia, approached. Amy had met Claudia and the rest of Lorna’s family earlier and was struck by how attractive they all were. Lorna reminded Amy of Cameron Diaz with her big eyes and wide smile, whereas Claudia was a Meg Ryan type with her coltish grace and impish grin. Chloe, the oldest sister, had more classical good looks, sort of a cross between a young Cheryl Ladd or a Michelle Pfeiffer. They were all blonde—although Amy suspected some of the blond came from a bottle—blue-eyed, slender and tanned.
Bryce was very attractive, too, but in a different way. His hair was darker than the girls’—more brown than blond—but he also had those intense blue Hathaway eyes. Amy decided she wouldn’t exactly call him handsome. His chin was too square and his nose a tad crooked, but in addition to those great eyes, he had a terrific smile, and he exuded warmth and strength. Not to mention tons of sex appeal. These were all qualities Amy was sure most women found irresistible—not just Tara Kenyon.
It was easy to see where the women got their good looks, for their mother, Kathleen, was a beauty, almost as perfectly put together in her way as Tara Kenyon was in hers. Yet there was something about the expression in Kathleen Hathaway’s eyes that told Amy the older woman wasn’t happy. Amy wondered if that unhappiness was related to Lorna’s father. Jonathan Hathaway was handsome, but there was a softness about him that Amy found off-putting.
“So what are you two plotting?” Claudia asked with a grin as she joined them.
“No plot,” Lorna said. She leaned over and stage-whispered into Claudia’s ear, “Just dissing Miss T.”
Claudia grimaced. “Oh. Her.”
Amy was gratified to find she wasn’t alone in her almost immediate dislike of Tara Kenyon. Glancing back, she saw that the woman had slipped her arm through Bryce’s and was looking up at him as if he were the only person in the room.
“Yep,” Lorna said, following Amy’s gaze. “She’s gunning for him.”
“Your brother doesn’t act as if he minds.” It disappointed Amy that he seemed to welcome Tara’s attentions, but it didn’t surprise her. No man would be immune to a woman like Tara, she was afraid.
“She’s been after Bryce since she was knee high to a grasshopper,” Claudia said with an exaggerated country accent.
“Yeah, she nearly croaked when he brought Michelle home and announced their engagement,” Lorna added with a wicked grin. “I don’t think it ever entered her head that he’d marry someone else. It’s one of the few times in Tara’s life that she’s ever been denied something she coveted.”
Just then Bryce and Tara walked in their direction, and the sisters immediately changed the subject.
“So, Amy,” Claudia said, “Lorna tells us you’re heading to California?”
Amy nodded.
“Do you have family out there?”
“No. I just wanted a change.”
“She wanted to get away from her ex,” Lorna added.
“Well, I admire you. I want a change, too, but I haven’t done much about it.”
“You’re doing something,” Lorna said.
“Finally,” Claudia said.
“Hey, it’s not easy bucking