Hooked (10 page)

Ten minutes later—all right, maybe it was more like fifteen, but only because she’d taken time to change into something more comfortable for the long drive—Annie found Slade in the lobby.

He grinned wide and took her rolling suitcase from her. “You all set?”

“All set. Um, are you guys sure about this? Me riding with you, I mean.”

A deep frown creased Slade’s brow below the brim of his hat. “Yeah, why wouldn’t we be?”

Annie shrugged. “What’s Jenna going to think about you traveling with a woman?”

Slade grinned wide. “Who do you think told me to make sure Mustang and I get your butt to that funeral? Hm?”

Great, now Slade’s romance-author girlfriend was playing matchmaker too. Wonderful. Annie rolled her eyes. It was going to be one hell of a drive. “All right. Let’s go.”

With a nod, he tried to wrestle her shoulder bag from her too. She held tight. “Can’t I take at least one thing? Honestly. I can get it. I carry my own stuff all by myself all the time.”

“Not when you travel with me you don’t. Listen here. You better get used to having someone carry your stuff for you.” Slade slung the bag she finally let go of over one broad shoulder.

She laughed. “Why is that?” Annie didn’t plan on winning the lottery and getting herself a butler or personal assistant anytime soon, and she wasn’t planning on trading in her expense account to travel the circuit with Mustang and Slade in the trailer, so she figured she’d be toting her stuff on her own for quite a bit longer.

“Because when he gets back to the tour, there’s no way Luke will let you carry all this stuff any more than I will.” With that parting shot, Slade headed through the automatic doors.

“Why would Luke care—” She started to jog after him to argue the point but he was already outside on the curb. The lobby doors slid shut in front of her and she had to wait for them to open again as Slade proceeded to load her luggage.

Ahead of her would be many hours during which she’d be captive in the cab of the trailer, subject to all sorts of interrogation by two cowboys who were apparently so bored they had resorted to matchmaking. Annie had to wonder what the hell she’d gotten herself into. She eyed the hotel bar, not yet open for the day, before the exit doors opened again. She’d give just about anything for a drink before this road trip from hell—or maybe she needed a whole bottle. Instead, she headed out onto the sidewalk and whatever awaited her in the trailer.

Chapter Eight

The morning of his father’s funeral dawned bright and sunny. Luke supposed they should be happy about that. No place seemed worse than a cemetery in the rain.

Luke got dressed in his Sunday best—or in this case funeral best—before heading into the kitchen for coffee. It was later than he usually got up. He’d tossed and turned all night and finally gotten a little bit of restless sleep about dawn.

The day before, Chris had insisted he’d take care of the chores alone again this morning, so Luke didn’t have to get up and out early. Instead he could get ready, mentally and physically, for the funeral. Luke didn’t have it in him to argue so he’d agreed.

As expected, his mother was up and dressed and looked as if she’d already put in a full day by the time Luke strolled into the kitchen. Stacks of paper coffee cups stood neatly on the counter next to a mug full of clean spoons standing up in orderly fashion. The half-empty glass coffee pot showed she’d already drank a few cups herself this morning.

She turned when she heard his boots against the tile floor. “Morning, sweetie.”

“Morning, Mom.” He kissed her cheek and then took a step back and tried to evaluate how she was doing. “How are you?”

She reached up and grabbed him a mug from the cabinet then turned to treat him to a smile that seemed a bit forced. “I didn’t almost pour a cup of coffee for your father this morning so I think I’m doing pretty well.”

Her eyes told a different story.

“It’ll take time.” He didn’t know what else to say.

“I suppose it will.” Her gaze took him in from his hair, still damp from the shower, to the toes of his polished black dress boots. “You look real nice.”

He let out a bitter laugh. “Thanks.” Good thing he hadn’t gained weight so his black pants still fit. Those, along with a white button-down shirt, would have to do.

“Do you want to borrow a tie of your father’s?”

Borrow
. Funny word considering his father wouldn’t need it any more. “Sure. If you think I need one.”

“I think it would look real nice. I’ll go pick one out.” With that she was off, and Luke guiltily felt a bit of relief. He’d rather be alone than make small talk about ties and other things that didn’t really matter while they pretended they weren’t burying his father today.

A quick knock on the back door, followed by the door opening, had Luke turning and expecting to see Chris. Instead, Chris’s father stood just inside the kitchen, a large stainless-steel coffee maker cradled in one arm. “Hey, son. Your mom asked to borrow this.”

Luke put his coffee mug down on the table and leapt to take the maker from Mr. Collins. “Thanks.”

He glanced around, looking for a place to set it down. His mother must have rearranged the ever-present baked goods because there was a bit more space, but there still wasn’t enough room for the coffee maker on the right side of the kitchen. He put it on the counter in front of the other coffee pot with barely an inch to spare from the edge.

It would be really nice when this part was over. Then he and his mother could work on moving past the grief and start healing in their own time and way. But for now, at least for today, they had a public funeral and half the town to deal with. He glanced up at Mr. Collins. They had some very good friends, friends they couldn’t do without right now.

“I thought if you’d like, I could drive you two over to the funeral home in our car so you don’t have to take the truck.” Chris’s father watched Luke with the same probing stare Chris tended to use on him lately.

Luke would have to try harder at pretending to be okay. “That would be real nice, sir. I suppose I should ask Mom first, in case she had other plans, but I do appreciate the offer either way.”

Mr. Collins nodded. “All right. Luke, after the funeral, there are some things I’d like to talk to you about.”

That took Luke by surprise. “Talk to me?” What could this be about?

“Yup. You’re the man of the house now, son.”

His father had left some mighty big boots to fill, and Luke wasn’t sure he was up to the challenge. Not yet anyway.

“All right.”

Luke’s cell phone vibrated in the pocket of his jeans. It was the first call he’d received in what seemed like days. People must have been trying to leave him alone and give him time.

He reached for it now and saw Slade’s name on the readout.

“Slade. Hey.”

“Hey, Luke. We’re on our way but we might be a little late.”

“You’re coming here?”

“Yeah. We were coming to be at the funeral, if that’s all right. A bunch of the guys are already there in town at a hotel. We would have been there already too if Mustang’s trailer hadn’t picked up a nail in the tire. We needed to stop and get some Fix-a-Flat and air. If you don’t want any of us there, say the word and I’ll call them all right now. We’d totally understand. It’s not a problem.”

“No, it’s fine. I just wasn’t expecting it. I figured you’d all be headed to the next stop on the tour by now.”

“We’ll get to the next venue in time, don’t worry. But we want to be there for you now.”

The melding of Luke’s professional life with his home life felt strange, but the support of his friends was touching. “I appreciate it. Thanks.”

“So anyway, we’ll get there as soon as we can.”

“All right. See you when you get here. And thanks again.”

“No problem, man. Bye.”

“Bye.” Luke disconnected the call and glanced up at Mr. Collins. “The guys are coming to the funeral.”

“That’s real nice of them. You’ve made some good friends there I see.”

“Yeah, I have. That tends to happen when you spend as much time traveling together as we do, I guess.”

“You’ll be anxious to get back on the road, I suppose.”

Luke frowned. “I hadn’t thought too much about it. Everything has been happening so quickly around here.”

Mr. Collins opened his mouth and looked as if he was about to say more when Luke’s mother rushed into the room.

“Oh, you brought the coffee maker. Thank you so much. I better set this up and get it ready now, so when we get back here later we only have to plug it in.” She hoisted it into the sink before Luke had time to take it from her. She took the top off and began filling it with water, then glanced over her shoulder. “Then I suppose we need to leave.”

“Yes, ma’am.” Again, Luke marveled at his mother’s efficiency in the face of adversity when he couldn’t bring himself to think past today. Then he noticed her hands trembling as she began measuring coffee grinds into the filter basket. She wasn’t as put together as she appeared. He wasn’t sure if he found the fact that she was as shaken as he comforting or frightening.

Luke moved closer and pulled her into a one-armed hug. “Love you, Mom.”

She looked up in surprise. “I love you too.” Her attention moved back to counting out the scoops. “Go get the truck and let me finish this.”

“Mr. Collins offered to take us in his car, if that’s all right with you.”

Glancing over her shoulder, she gave Chris’s father a smile. “That would be lovely. Thank you, Jack.”

He nodded. “My pleasure.” He hooked a thumb in the direction of the door. “I’ll just go pull it up front so it will be all warmed up and ready to go whenever you are.”

“Perfect. Thank you.” She glanced back to Luke. “Luke, you going to put on that tie I got you?” His mother continued what he knew now to be an act and his only choice was to play along.

“Yes, ma’am. I’ll do it right now.”

They rode in the car in silence after a few more words of gratitude from his mother to Mr. Collins. When they arrived at the church, it was to find people already arriving.

By the time the preacher began the service, there was not an empty pew to be had. Luke wasn’t really surprised by that. His father was well liked and active in the community. Or had been, anyway. He’d have to start to think of his father in the past tense now, as hard as that was. What did surprise Luke was his reaction to seeing the crowd gathered to honor his father’s memory. The outpouring of support for his family by the entire town had him getting a little emotional. He felt Lilly rubbing his back, and the first tear of the day fell.

“For a little thing, you sure do walk fast.”

Mustang’s amused voice came from behind Annie as she strode from where they’d been forced to park the trailer. The damn thing was so big it was nearly impossible to park anywhere anyway, but with the lot of the church full to overflowing, there’d been no hope at all. Mustang had simply driven until he’d found a feed store with a large enough parking area they could park off in the corner. Never mind that now they had to hike about a quarter mile, Annie in high-heeled boots, to get to a service they were already late for.

“I hate being late.” She shot a look over her shoulder at the two cowboys who were not using their long legs to Annie’s satisfaction. Couldn’t these guys move any faster?

“I called Luke. He knows we’ll be a little late.” Slade even talked slow. Annie used to find that cowboy trait charming. Today, the slowness annoyed her, along with pretty much everything else.

Damn flat tire. What luck.

“Still. I don’t like it.” She was rarely late for anything. Showing up after a funeral had already started was incomprehensible to her. Annie let out a sigh and realized she was getting winded from walking so fast.

“It’ll be a’ight. Promise.” Mustang’s voice sounded amused and she fought the urge to spin around and shoot him a nasty look.

Finally, they reached the church. She strode up the stairs as quietly and quickly as she could. Mustang’s hand shot in front of her to grab the door handle just as Annie reached for it. Acting the gentleman as always. She wished his attention to polite details had included getting her to the church on time. Though she really couldn’t blame him they’d run over a nail and gotten a flat.

Now that they were here, Annie’s heart began to beat even faster, if possible. She blew out a slow, steadying breath and stepped from the bright sunlight into the dim quiet of the church. There were the echoing sounds typical of a cavernous space filled to the rafters with people. A cough here. A shuffling of position there. A child’s voice followed by a parent’s shush. Then the voice of the preacher filled the room.

Annie’s gaze sought and then found Luke’s figure seated in the front pew next to who she assumed was his mother. She’d recognize him anywhere, even seated and from behind.

At the touch of a hand on her elbow, Annie turned to see Mustang, cowboy hat removed out of respect for where they were. He motioned with a cock of his head toward a space along the back wall where they could stand out of the way. She nodded and moved in that direction. Every pew seemed filled, to the point they were not the only ones standing.

The preacher’s calming voice continued, though Annie couldn’t have told someone what he’d said. Instead she glanced at the front again at Luke with his head bowed and Lilly’s arm around his shoulders.

A sick feeling twisted Annie’s stomach. She leaned her hand against the wall and braced herself as she felt shaky. Swallowing the bitter taste that had risen to the back of her throat, she tried to reason away the fear. Or rather what she feared was the truth—which was that Lilly and Luke had reconciled.

Lilly was a family friend, just like Chris. Of course she’d be there to support Luke. But did her support have to include her arm wrapped possessively around him?

Mustang laid a hand on the small of her back. She glanced up and saw him shake his head. He leaned low and pressed his lips close to her ear. “Stop worrying. They’re friends.”

How did he know there was nothing to worry about? She wanted to ask that. To question him if he knew something she didn’t know. Instead, she felt her forehead crinkle in a frown and turned back to the front of the church.