Authors: Cynthia Hampton
Silver’s shoulders tensed as she shook her head. “No, our money is tuition based and from donations.”
“I guess that makes things tough sometimes.”
“You have no idea. It’s a great school with wonderful teachers.”
“Uh oh,” Becky whispered loudly. “Incoming.”
Silver turned to stare at the approaching catastrophe. She’d forgotten about Chase. He strutted over and stood by their table. Becky gave her a swift kick under the table, and Silver had the distinct sensation of something nipping at her backside.
“Hi, Silver and Becky. Gonna introduce us?”
Good manners prevailed. Unfortunately.
“Justin, this is Chase Richards and his friend, DeeAnn.” Oops, she hadn’t meant to say the wrong name again.
The redhead stomped her foot. “Darcy. Who the hell is this DeeAnn person?”
Chase ignored her. “Later, baby. Hey, we caught the contest tonight. Great performance, man. You really had the place going.”
When Justin glanced at her then back at Chase, Silver stared at her plate, unable to meet the singer’s eyes. Becky had always said cream and crap ooze to the surface, and it wasn’t hard to figure out how to label this situation. So nothing surprised her more than when Justin laid his arm across the back of her chair and leaned close.
“Thanks, dude. I appreciate that.”
“You must have worked some kind of magic to get Silver—” Chase tilted his chin toward her. “—to a country music show.”
She opened her mouth to answer, but the gentle touch of Justin’s hand on her arm stopped her from answering. “How do you know Silver?”
“Oh, we go way back. Almost married her, but she decided to go for richer pastures.”
Cold anger settled in her stomach. “Excuse me?”
Becky held up a hand toward Chase. “Stop. You know that’s not the truth. If I remember correctly, and I do, your idea of faithfulness took a hike when you met DeeAnn.”
Darcy pulled on Chase’s arm. “Who is DeeAnn?”
He shrugged her off. “I can see why this guy is a better option, Silver. The Rivers family enterprise? Money? Prestige?” He gave a bark of forced laughter. “Are you holding out on him, too, or did his money get you into his bed?”
Justin’s chair slammed into the empty table behind them as he stood up and grabbed the front of Chase’s shirt. Silver saw flashes outside the restaurant windows. Those reporters hadn’t left.
“Justin, it’s OK. Don’t make a scene.”
“No, Silver, it’s not OK. Richards, you have five seconds to get the hell out of here.”
Two men ran into the room, cameras on their shoulders, pointed right at what was happening. Customers had their phones in hand, filming every word.
Snorting, Chase knocked Justin’s hand away and draped his arm over Darcy’s shoulders. “Whatever. At least one of us will get lucky tonight. You’re stuck with the Silver Ice Princess.”
Justin’s fist moved so fast that Silver’s mouth dropped open. One second Chase was standing and the next he was on the floor with blood streaming out of his nose. Darcy squealed and grabbed a napkin from a table, handing it to Chase.
Sharon came running out from the back. “Justin,” she exclaimed. “Get a grip!”
Chase pushed himself to a standing position, holding the napkin under his nose with one hand. “You’ll pay for that, Rivers.” He stumbled across the floor with Darcy’s help as she asked about DeeAnn again.
“Any time you want a rematch,” Justin called. “The blood is an improvement over that crappy shirt!”
Chase shoved his way past the cameras and out the door. The photographers followed him and Silver saw the reporters crowding around her ex-fiancé.
Sharon groaned and covered her face with her hands. “Your mom is gonna fire me.”
“This wasn’t your fault, Sharon. No one is getting fired.” Justin ran fingers through his hair and spoke to the other customers. “Sorry, folks, but I don’t like it when a man disrespects a woman. Dessert’s on me.” He grinned sheepishly at Silver when the people began clapping. “I need some ice for this.” Shaking out his hand, he walked to the back of the restaurant, Sharon hot on his heels.
When Becky stood and picked up her purse, Silver held up one hand. “Please don’t say anything. I feel bad enough as it is.”
“I have to get this story to the editor.” Becky grinned. “But I have to admit, it was so freaking cool to see Justin defend you like that. And to see Chase bleeding? Worth the price of admission.”
Silver wanted to agree but knowing she’d caused this fight took away the satisfaction. With shaking hands, she leaned over to get Buddy’s keys out of her purse, dropping them on the table with a loud clatter. “I’ll take you. Let me leave some money with Justin.”
“Money for what?” Justin asked, walking toward her and holding an ice pack on his knuckles.
Becky swiped the keys off the table. “Can you take Silver home? I have a deadline at the magazine.”
Shaking her head, Silver tried to intercept the keys. “I don’t—”
Justin shrugged as he dropped the icepack on the table. “Sure, no problem.”
“Thanks. I’ll have Buddy back in the morning.”
Raising one of her hands, Silver spoke louder. “Excuse me—”
Justin handed his keys out to Becky. “Hey, take my truck. I’d love to drive Buddy.”
Silver shook her head. “No one drives Buddy but me and—”
“It was acting up on Silver earlier today anyway,” Justin said to Becky. “Wouldn’t want you to get stranded.”
“But you fixed it—” Silver began.
Becky exchanged keys with Justin. “Awesome. I’ll get the truck back to you at her house, and Sil, I’m bunking with you.”
“Wait! Don’t I get—”
“Not tonight, you don’t. You poked the bear; you do the time. Love you, Sil.”
“That’s not how the saying goes. Becky!” Her friend—now former friend—practically ran out the door. Silver couldn’t believe Becky had actually left her with Justin. She turned to him with her hands palm up. “I can call a cab.”
Justin put a hand over hers. “It’s really OK, Silver. I don’t mind spending more time with you. That is, if you aren’t totally embarrassed by what I did. Sorry I lost my temper, but I can’t handle a disrespectful attitude toward a woman.”
Guilt washed over her in waves. He helped with her car. He asked them to dinner. He did to Chase what she’d wished she could do for months, and now Chase would probably sue him. She rubbed a hand across her forehead.
“Justin, it’s not your fault. If I hadn’t…”
“Don’t. The guy’s a jerk. He obviously doesn’t recognize a lady when he sees one, and his wardrobe sucks.”
“I need to explain…”
Suddenly the room moved like a Tilt-A-Whirl carnival ride. She felt hot and cold at the same time. Standing slowly, she reached out to him.
Justin stood and grabbed her arm. “Silver?”
“Hope reporters are gone…”
She couldn’t finish when the room pitched sideways and everything went dark.
Chapter Three
Justin held a cold rag on Silver’s forehead as she regained consciousness. His heart still hadn’t slowed after seeing Silver slip lifelessly to the ground. Fortunately, he’d caught her, but only because he’d been next to her.
She pulled the rag off her forehead while slowly sitting up with his help. When he smiled and sat beside her, she leaned against him. “Easy does it. How do you feel?”
“Mortified. I can’t believe I fainted.”
“You gave me a quite a scare, I’ll admit. Does that happen often?”
“Never.” She looked around the room. “Where am I?”
“In my late husband’s office,” a cold voice responded.
Dressed in simple black slacks and a dark purple blouse, a stunning, dark-haired woman stood in the doorway and stared at Silver. “It seems you’ve caused quite a bit of trouble in my restaurant tonight.” Connie Rivers gave Justin a tight smile as, without waiting for an invitation, she pulled a leather wing-backed chair beside the sofa and sat down. “How’s my boy doing?”
Justin leaned over and hugged her. “Hey, Mom. What brings you to this neck of the woods?”
“Sharon called earlier about the fight, so I was already on my way here when she called again and said this person had fainted.” Unsmiling, she turned to Silver.
“Mom, this is Silver Madison. Silver, my mother, Connie Rivers.”
“Pleased to meet you.”
Connie glanced down as Silver offered her hand, but didn’t take it. “You’re Amelia’s daughter? Amelia Baldwin Madison?”
“Yes,” Silver said hesitantly. She rose to her feet, looking sick to her stomach. “Excuse me, is there a bathroom I can use?”
Connie gave her a polite smile. “Amelia was always good at running away, too. You can use the private bath right there.” She pointed to a door at the other end of the room.
Justin helped Silver to the bathroom then closed the door behind her. He rounded on his mother. “What’s wrong with you? Why are you treating her this way? You just met her, and what happened tonight in the restaurant wasn’t her fault. I gave her Triple Threat sauce on an empty stomach.”
“I couldn’t care less about her little ploy at getting attention. Sharon told me about your date with Amelia Madison’s daughter, and that’s all I need to know.”
Justin sat back down, his jaw clenching with anger. “Mom, it’s not a date and I have no clue why you’re upset. What’s going on?”
After a few moments, she leaned back in the chair. “I knew Amelia in high school. She made it her mission to ruin my life.”
“What does that have to do with Silver?”
“Nothing,” Connie replied softly, her mouth in a tight line. “Unless she plans to pick up where her mother left off.”
Justin frowned. “Are you serious? Mom, all of that immature teenage stuff happened ages ago.”
Her eyes widened. “Excuse me?”
“I’m not being disrespectful,” he amended quickly. “I’m just saying don’t you think it’s a little ridiculous to come charging in here, loaded for bear like that, over something that happened in high school? It’s not right to judge Silver by her mother’s mistakes.”
His mother had the grace to appear chastised. “You’re right.” She lifted her head. “I wonder how long she’ll be.”
“I’m her ride home, so…” Justin’s glanced back to the bathroom door, wondering if he should check on Silver.
Patting his hand a little too hard, Connie stood. “Tell you what, son. Why don’t I go and get her? We can’t have a little chat if she’s hiding in there, now can we?” She stood and, before he could stop her, she walked to the bathroom door and opened it without knocking.
* * *
Silver gripped the sides of the pewter sink in the spacious restroom in an effort to steady herself. She couldn’t even muster a mental response to the steer horns that framed the mirror. Taking deep breaths lessened the dizziness, so she forced herself to fill her lungs with cleansing air several times.
Her head swam with different emotions that challenged the remaining vertigo. Why had pettiness won out over common sense just to make Chase jealous? And fainting because she hadn’t taken time to eat today. How embarrassing!
She gritted her teeth against an onslaught of doubts and questions. Silver liked Justin and was insanely attracted to him despite his western proclivities. The sight of him took her breath away and made her lose track of everything else around her. He had shown a strong sense of justice, acting almost chivalrous.
But Silver couldn’t explain why his mother had treated her with such rudeness. Connie had called her mother Amelia Baldwin Madison, so she must know Amelia from long ago. Could it be another path of devastation left behind by the perpetual storm named Amelia? Silver wouldn’t put it past her mother to have hurt Connie. Amelia tended to leave an indelible mark of bitterness in every person’s life, including Silver’s father. Taking more deep breaths, she felt years of anger surge toward her mother.
Silver had watched helplessly as Amelia methodically drove Stewart Madison away ten years ago, and now he lived in London as if he couldn’t stand being in the same country with the woman. Silver saw her father several times a year and talked to him every week, but it wasn’t the same as having him there. And when she did see him, Silver always felt as if she’d been appointed to damage control for something Amelia had said or done.
Now Connie Rivers acted like she wanted to strangle Silver, all because of her mother. Not exactly the best way to impress a guy.
“Maybe I should let them dump the hell sauce over my head and get it over with,” Silver mumbled between gritted teeth.
“Wouldn’t that be a waste of perfectly good sauce?”
Gazing in the mirror, Silver’s stomach clenched when she saw Connie standing a few feet behind her. Suddenly she had no emotional strength left.
It was all too much. Silver turned to the woman, lifting one hand to wipe away the moisture on her cheeks. Justin’s mother stood before her with a hard expression on her beautiful face.
“I’m…sorry, Mrs. Rivers.” Silver stumbled over her words as tears filled her eyes, but she took several deep breaths, determined to regain her composure. “I don’t know what I’ve done to deserve your censure, but all I wanted to do was have dinner and then…” She stopped, unable to finish her sentence. There was more to this story, wasn’t there?
She’d lied to Chase. She’d used Justin to make Chase jealous. This was all her fault.
Connie hesitated a few moments then walked over and put a hand on Silver’s shoulder. “My son informed me I was being unfair to you. He’s right. And I won’t baptize you with barbecue sauce. It would take days to get out the smell.”
Silver choked out a strangled laugh.
Connie smiled and put her arm around Silver’s shoulders. “Let’s find Justin and try this whole thing again. I have a huge slice of humble pie to eat.”
* * *
Justin evidently had stepped out of the office, Silver noticed as she sat back down on the sofa. Connie leaned against the side of the desk.
“Why don’t you call me Connie?” she said quietly, holding out her hand. “I already know you’re Silver. I’d like that handshake now, if you’re still willing.”