Cam suddenly wanted to get started on that little project. It was time to show Laura that he wasn’t going to wait another five years to get inside her again. He turned to his partner, all previous anger gone.
They might have to revisit that little fight, but not tonight. “What’s the plan?”
Rafe leaned in and started to speak.
Everyone was looking at her.
Wolf twirled her around the dance floor, his big hand leading her this way and that in time to the music, but her focus was on the multitudinous eyes that tracked her.
“Congratulations, you two!” Hank Farley said as he danced by with his wife. “You should know our barn is available for the reception.”
“We’ll think about it,” Wolf said with an easy smile.
He steered her toward the middle of the dance floor. Right where she didn’t want to be.
“Laura, Wolf.” Stef Talbot held his fiancée in his arms as they swayed to the music. “Jennifer and I have talked about this, and we want to offer to include your own nuptials in our wedding. It can be a double ceremony. I’ll cover all the costs.” Jen Waters had a smirk on her face. “And Brooke said she can put together a dress in no time flat. We want to make this as easy on you as possible.”
No they didn’t. They were being righteous bastards. It was the whole damn town’s way of letting her know they disapproved of her lying. She wasn’t stupid. No one in Bliss would blink twice if she was lying to save a friend or protect herself from real harm, but the minute her heart got involved, everyone became a shrink.
“They’re going to give you hell, you know,” Wolf said as he led her off the dance floor.
“I’m beginning to see that. I’ve already received lectures from Marie and Stella on how I need to face my past if I ever want to move on.” Getting married had turned Stella into the world’s biggest authority on love. She was madly in love with Sebastian Talbot and wanted everyone in town to be just as happy as she was.
It was annoying.
Even Mel had thrown his two cents in. Apparently lying left her open to alien death rays or something. And Cassidy had called to let Laura know that she didn’t appreciate her son being used as a beard and offered her other son’s counseling services. Laura wasn’t sure, but she might actually have an appointment with a man named Leo Meyer in Dallas to discuss her relationship issues.
It wasn’t what she’d had planned. It was supposed to be a simple little deception. Nothing was simple in Bliss.
“You could come clean,” Wolf offered.
Laura frowned. “They seem to be pushing me that way.” Wolf leaned against an empty picnic table. “That’s the trouble with family, isn’t it? They always think they know what’s best for you.”
“And they think it’s best that the men who broke my heart know that I haven’t really been with anyone since I left them? They think it’s best that I look utterly pathetic?”
“I think they want you to not think of yourself as pathetic. I think these people love you, and they want you to love yourself. Whatever happened to you hurt you deeply. That’s not pathetic, Laura. They want you to see yourself the way they do. Do you know what they say about you?”
Damn, tears were pricking at her eyes. “No.”
“They say that you’re brave and you don’t hesitate to speak your mind. They admire you for that.”
“I didn’t speak my mind before I came here. The one time I really stood up for myself got me into serious trouble. It isn’t like the movies, you know. The FBI is like any other business. In the end, they want good soldiers who follow orders. It’s hard to do one thing all day and then come home and be a different person. After a while, the act seems like reality. Trying to fit in changes a person.” The only time she’d really been herself was with her friends. With Rafe and Cam, Laura hadn’t needed that armor she put on during the day. She didn’t even think of Jana Evans. Jana had never really been her friend.
She’d just been a reporter waiting for a story.
“Well, I don’t think you’re the same person you are now that you were back then.”
It was true. Bliss had changed her. The first couple of years had been rough. She hadn’t wanted to let anyone in, but they had wormed their way into her heart. Slowly, she’d become more open and willing to talk about her past, to mesh the woman she’d been with the woman she was becoming. She’d stopped hiding in her cabin and talked to people.
The truth of the matter was she was a bit surprised that Cam hadn’t found her. She’d kept off the radar as much as possible, using a fake social security number to work, but she’d talked openly about her life. She guessed Bliss was more isolated than she’d believed.
“I don’t suppose anyone would be the same after what I went through.” Maybe it was time to be really honest about it. Laura wasn’t sure she was ready to tell everyone what had happened, but she didn’t have much of a choice.
“No, sweetheart, being betrayed by a friend and then captured by a serial killer would change the best of us.” He sighed at her gasp. “I can use a computer. I knew you lived in DC five years ago and you worked for the FBI. A quick Google search of Laura plus blonde plus FBI brought up a shocking number of prostitutes and your story."
Laura tried to recover from the shock. “Well, I’m glad the rest of my friends aren’t as tech savvy as you are.”
“Oh, I wouldn’t count on it. I’m pretty sure the sheriff has figured it out, and if the sheriff knows, then Zane knows. I would bet that every man in this town knows to watch out for you. It’s the way they work.”
The fact that the sheriff knew brought with it an odd mix of anxiety and security. She didn’t like the fact that her secret was out there, but the way the sheriff seemed to have handled it made her feel respected and protected. It was the way Bliss worked.
“Hello, happy couple!”
Holly walked up, a broad grin on her face. Nell and Henry followed. They wore their typical Big Game Dinner protest-wear of black pants and T-shirts with the words “Animals Have Voices, Too.” Their mouths had been duct-taped closed to show that these poor animals had been silenced forever. Despite their dark and brooding wardrobe choices, Nell’s eyes were lit with mirth, and Henry carried a bright yellow legal pad that he flashed quickly.
Congrats on your fake engagement. I will give you a fake present!
Here is a toaster.
Henry mimed giving them a gift.
“They intend to have a whole fake ceremony for you two,” Holly explained.
Wolf laughed. “Well, hell, Henry, you couldn’t do better than a fake toaster?”
Holly and Nell both shook their heads. “Oh, no,” Holly said.
“Henry is very frugal, even when it’s fake.” Laura watched as Holly’s whole body seemed to go on full alert.
“Doc.” Wolf nodded a greeting as Caleb Burke walked up.
The town doctor was wearing his usual uniform of dark-washed jeans and a western shirt. When he was working, he sometimes put a white coat on, but mostly it was the jeans and shirt and worn boots, even when delivering a baby.
“Wolf, Laura, Holly.” His throat seemed to close over the last name, though he managed to get it out. Laura couldn’t help but smile as he scrubbed a hand through his hair. Caleb Burke was a glorious hunk of man, but he had issues. He also had a small bowl in his hand, and he passed it to Nell. “It’s peanut stir-fry with quinoa and tofu.