Once Tempted (30 page)

Tess dug in her heels. “Quinn, I can’t be gone that long—”

Quinn was as strong as she looked, and physics was on her side, her forward momentum propelling Tess along. “Oh, yes you can. Ward told me how you went back to work last night. You’re more than prepared. What you need is some pampering so that you’re refreshed. And looking your best. Especially now that Erica’s coming,” she added under her breath.

Great. Just what she needed: Independent confirmation that Erica spelled trouble for the Brian and Carrie–centric weekend. To make it worse, Quinn had added a
whopping dollop of worry that Tess would come up short in the looks department, too. She would have loved to be the rare individual who could rise above such superficial concerns—more like Quinn, who was indifferent to her beauty—but unfortunately she was as insecure as most women when it came to the daily low-level beauty pageants they participated in with one another.

A very thin veneer of silver could be gleaned in the gloomy, ominous cloud that was Erica Marsh. Since Quinn had mentioned Erica, Tess didn’t have to embarrass herself by being the one to bring up the topic of Ward’s ex-fiancée. “So, what’s up with Erica coming here?”

They’d reached the pickup truck, and Quinn walked Tess around to the passenger’s side. Opening the door, she swept the Western tack catalogs and leashes lying on the front seat to the floor, clearing a small, dog-hair-covered space for Tess. Tess glanced at her off-white skirt and groaned inwardly. This day wasn’t going at all as planned.

“I don’t know. Really, I can’t figure her out. You know those sorts of people whose motivations just seem so out there, almost incomprehensible, because they’re so radically different from your own? That’s the way it is with Erica. I love Ward like anything, and it was awful to see how hurt he was when Erica called off the engagement—though he did his best to hide it, stoic macho dude that he is—but between you and me and the dashboard I’ll say it. I am so glad that Erica didn’t become a part of our family. She’s beautiful, smart, talented, and a user. She spent all this time with Ward and never cared enough to understand him.” Her voice was laced with disgust. “I have to stop talking about her or it will ruin my day.”

Quinn circled around the hood of the truck and
climbed in to the driver’s seat. “Hop inside, or we’ll be late for Ava.”

Tess stared again at the seat in dismay and made an attempt to brush off the animal hairs clinging to the fabric upholstery, but gave up when they only floated in the air to resettle in essentially the same spots. Her own car was as neat inside as outside.

Stifling a sigh, she climbed into the truck and tried to block a mental image of a thousand and one black and brown dog hairs affixing themselves to her rear.

If she had to choose, though, she’d pick worrying about being covered in dog hair over the prospect of dealing with Ward’s ex-fiancée any day of the week.

It was a testament to Ava Day’s skills as an aesthetician that Tess’s worries and fear receded during her deluxe pampering session. Seated in adjacent chairs, she and Quinn had tremendous fun ribbing each other and letting Ava and her assistant Ricki fill them in on town gossip.

When Tess voiced astonishment that Quinn was getting her hair and nails done, Quinn had laughed. “You aren’t the only one who needs to be well armed to confront Erica, city girl. With just a look she can make me feel like something Pirate dragged in.”

Recalling some of the gruesome carcasses she’d seen Quinn’s cat parade around with in his mouth, Tess felt the latte Ricki had fetched for her from Spillin’ the Beans shift uncomfortably in her stomach.

Before Tess could respond to that depressing bit of information, Quinn continued. “You know, I think it may be time I quit calling you ‘city girl’ now that you not only can feed Alberta and Hennie and the rest of the goat gang without looking like you’re about to faint
from fear, but you’re also proving your chops as a rider. By all reports you did a fine job on Brocco. We’re all real proud of you. We might even succeed in turning you into a cowgirl.”

Tess locked eyes with her in the oversized mirror in front of them. “Ever heard the Italian expression
‘L’anno del mai e il mese del poi’
?”

Quinn grinned as she repeated it in a fairly decent accent. “No. Can’t say I have.”

“Translated, it means, ‘The year of never and the month of then.’ ”

“You are so deep, CG. Around here we like to remind stubborn mules like you to never say never. Oh, and when Erica starts in on you—and I’m willing to bet my saddle she will once she figures out you and Ward are an item, which will take her all of about thirty seconds—just remember, we’re on your side, pal.”

That Quinn liked her and considered her more than just someone who worked at her family’s ranch moved her beyond words. Tess recalled the loneliness she’d felt upon arriving in Acacia, her sense of disorientation. She’d come a long way. Not only was she accepted and liked, but she also recognized how much she admired the Knowleses and everyone at Silver Creek Ranch for trying to preserve the land and the way of life they loved. Quite a discovery for a girl born and bred in Queens, New York.

To her dismay, Tess discovered shortly that the best facial and complimentary neck massage in the world could relax someone only so much.

“Holy crap. What are they doing here already? Their plane must have landed early,” Quinn whispered loudly as they entered the main lodge.

Tess followed the direction of her gaze. It took all her years of working with La Dolce Vita’s demanding New York clientele to maintain her easy smile when she walked into the lounge and saw the woman sitting next to Ward on the sofa.

Erica Marsh was beautiful. A flaxen-haired princess to Ward’s dark prince charming, they made a perfect match.

Erica’s identity was obvious. After the numerous FaceTime chats Tess had conducted with Brian and Carrie, she instantly recognized the couple on the loveseat perpendicular to Ward and Erica. Plus, they were holding hands … whereas Erica was sitting close enough to Ward that her straight blond hair brushed his shoulder when she turned her head at the sound of her and Quinn’s approach.

Another muscle in Tess’s neck reknotted. Erica had azure blue eyes reminiscent of a quiet sea at night.

Ward was already on his feet. “Here they are now,” he said and stepped forward to meet them with as relieved a smile as she’d ever seen on his face. “Tess, I’d like to introduce you in person to Brian and Carrie. Their plane landed early. And this is Erica Marsh, Carrie’s stepsister.”

While she and Quinn exchanged hellos with the trio, Ward positioned himself next to Tess so that she was flanked by two Knowleses. The show of support would have helped if she weren’t so very conscious of being inspected by Ward’s ex-fiancée. She wondered how many dog hairs were sticking to her skirt and felt another muscle tighten.

Focus, she reminded herself. She turned to Carrie. “How great that you arrived early. Quinn and I were just in town at Ava Day’s Salon. She’s so looking forward to meeting you to discuss your hair and makeup and what services your bridal party would like.”

“Oh, Carrie, I was hoping you would use the Mercer Street salon, where I go,” Erica interjected. “I told my stylist, Nicole, that I was sure you would.”

Carrie flushed. “Yes, I know you mentioned her to me but—”

“But Ava is right in town and while Nicole does superb work, she was going to have to charge Carrie to make the trip up here. Carrie wanted to keep the expenses down so that she could offer a spa package to you and Brian’s sister in addition to your hair and makeup,” Tess said.

“Of course, that’s fine. It was simply an idea I had.” Erica’s smile could be described only as angelic. “I do so want you to look beautiful.”

Tess soon learned this was Erica’s favorite MO, to smile as she thrust the verbal dagger home. Because of the sweetness of her expression, it took a moment for her victim to realize what had happened. Carrie, who actually was sweet—though a bit unworldly given her fascination with far-flung galaxies—was no match for her.

While the group finished the coffee and biscotti that Gordon had served them, and Tess went over the schedule of appointments for the afternoon, Erica alternated between chatting brightly with Ward and undermining Carrie’s choices for her wedding. Wasn’t a DJ a better choice than a band? Was Carrie sure the navy bridesmaids dresses she’d selected would coordinate well with her own bridal dress? She was exceptionally good at slipping comments into a conversation when Ward’s attention was diverted by Brian so that neither man witnessed the damage she was inflicting. Tess deflected them as much as possible, politely defending Carrie’s choices. The game was tiresome, Erica alone enjoying it.

Weirdly enough, Tess was actually relieved when Erica decided to include her in her well-aimed barbs. It gave Carrie a reprieve. And Tess was better equipped to deal with Erica’s subtle and not-so-subtle digs.

Erica’s decision to shift the focus of her cutting remarks was at first surprising. Then not so much. And when Tess understood what was going on—what Erica really wanted out of the weekend—she knew the under-the-radar attacks would eventually escalate.

The first of the day’s appointments was with Roo and Jeff for a tasting of the menus. It wasn’t scheduled for another hour, so Brian asked Ward to show them the newest additions to the ranch.

They walked down to the barns. It was a beautiful spring day, in the low fifties. The grass had already turned a bright green. Masses of daffodils danced in the light breeze. Steve, one of the gardeners who tended the plants and shrubs around the main lodge, had told Tess that any day now the cherry trees would burst into bloom.

Tess was walking next to Carrie, pointing to the wide expanse of lawn where the wedding tent for the dinner would be, with a dance floor set up just outside of it near the gardens, which would be in full bloom. If rain was in the forecast, the tent could be enlarged with extra pieces to protect the dancers and the band. Every now and again, Tess would catch snatches of Erica and Ward’s conversation. Except for that brief moment when Ward had been introducing Tess to them, Erica hadn’t left his side. From the way she let her arm casually brush his as she chattered animatedly one would never guess she’d jilted Ward.

As they approached one of the corrals where several horses were nibbling on shoots of grass, Erica pointed. “Don’t I recognize that horse, Ward?” she asked, resting her other hand on his sweater.

Tess looked to where she was pointing. It was that or fixate on Erica’s hand, which had yet to move from Ward’s arm.

“Maybe. That’s Bilbao.” Ward stepped sideways, forcing Erica to drop her hand. Tess’s spirits lifted marginally.

Carrie and Brian went over to the railing so Brian could take a picture of her with the horses as a backdrop. Then they switched places, Brian mugging for the camera with a wide grin.

Erica spoke again. “Oh! I remember now. Wasn’t Bilbao the one you were training in that tweet? Such marvelous riding, Ward. All my friends were talking about it. Who took the video? You, Quinn?”

Quinn had accompanied them down to the barns, making sure to announce, however, that she would be peeling off to go work with Glory and Tucker. Tess couldn’t blame her for wanting to flee.

Quinn shook her head. “No, Tess took it. She’s doing the Twitter thing for us. The Pinterest account too,” she added.

“Really?” Erica turned to look at her with an assessing gleam in her eyes. “I thought you were just the events planner.”

Tess ignored the “just the events planner” jab. “The tweets are to drum up interest in the ranch and some of the events we’ve scheduled for later this summer.”

“Quite the go-getter, aren’t you?” Erica said. A light glaze of condescension coated her words.

“It’s not all that difficult to promote the guest ranch using social media. It’s beautiful here.”

Her answer was casual, meant to show Erica that she wasn’t interested in being drawn into a competition. The tactic might have worked if Ward hadn’t decided to voice his support.

“Tess has been doing an amazing job for us. She’s an invaluable member of our staff.”

Although she and Ward had both been behaving with strict professionalism—it went without saying that any PDA on the job would have been unacceptable—Ward’s approbation held just enough warmth to register as something more than businesslike. And since Erica had a stake in the matter, she noticed.

Erica’s glance traveled between them. The smile Tess was beginning to despise curved Erica’s lipsticked lips.

“It must be gratifying to have such an appreciative employer.”

“I’m not Tess’s employer,” Ward corrected, which was true. Even though she reported to him, she’d been hired by Adele.

“That’s what I’ve always loved about you, Ward. Your modesty.”

Oh, wow, thought Tess, stunned by Erica’s audacity. She’d dumped him and now she was using the “L” word. And since Tess had paid attention in Sister Katherine’s ninth-grade English class, she knew Erica had used the present perfect rather than the past tense. Meaning said love wasn’t over.

Standing beside her, Quinn muttered, “Obvious much? Give her another ten minutes and she’ll start singing the lyrics to Whitney’s ‘I Will Always Love You.’ ”

Tess stifled a snort at the absurd image. “Behave,” she whispered. Of its own volition, her gaze strayed to Ward. How would he react to Erica’s pronouncement?

He was frowning, his brows drawn in a dark line. It would be so great if he burst into laughter.

But before Ward could respond to Erica’s comment, Brian called him over to snap a picture of Carrie and him together. Naturally Erica wandered over too, and a mini photo shoot ensued.

Then Erica’s bright voice summoned her. “Tess, would you mind taking the camera so the four of us can be in the picture at once? It’ll be fun to post them on FB.”

“And then she can show everyone how cozy she still is with her ex-fiancé,” Quinn said with a roll of her eyes. “I’m sorry to abandon you, CG, but I don’t want to keep Tucker waiting. He’s gotten used to our lunchtime sessions. He eats, I groom.”