“Oh, there you are, Divine, love,” Madge said cheerfully. “I was just telling Marco all about you. I thought it would be nice if he joined us tonight you two could get to know each other. You have a lot in common. He’s allergic to the sun too.”
“You don’t say,” Divine murmured, peering solemnly at the man. So much for avoiding the greenie.
Marcus almost grinned at Divine’s expression. She obviously wasn’t happy to see him, but was trying hard to hide it rather than have Madge notice and have to explain why. He suspected what she wanted most in that moment was to turn and flee, but apparently she couldn’t find a good excuse to do so because she was still standing there, sort of wavering in the doorway.
“Hi . . . Marco, is it?” Divine said finally. She offered an obviously forced smile before switching her gaze to Madge, where her smile became more natural as she said, “It would have been nice to visit, but Hal stopped me on my way here. His gout is much better and he asked me to join him and Carl in town to celebrate. I would hate to see the old guy lose his last tooth. I just stopped in to say I’m going to bypass our usual coffee klatch to go with them.”
Correction, she’d come up with an excuse after all, Marcus thought. He didn’t know how much of what she said was a lie. But he was pretty sure she hadn’t planned to join this Hal and Carl in town when she’d first entered the RV. In fact, he was quite sure it was his presence that had decided her to go . . . Well . . . two could play at that game. Putting on an expression of feigned concern, he murmured, “Oh, I don’t think you should accompany those two alone. I suspect once they get drinking, those two old codgers might be a bit hard to manage. Maybe I should go with the three of you.”
“Oh, that’s a wonderful idea,” Madge interjected as Divine started to shake her head. “I’d worry about you otherwise, Divine, but with Marco there to look out for you, I’d feel a lot better.”
For one moment, Marcus was sure Divine was going to refuse, but after a moment her shoulders sagged with defeat. Her expression wasn’t defeated, however, but stiff with anger as she said, “Fine. Let’s go.”
“Stop in when you get back if the lights are still on,” Madge called cheerfully, apparently completely unaware of the waves of anger and resentment rolling off of Divine as she muttered in the affirmative and turned to open the RV door again.
Marcus offered Madge an especially warm smile as he followed Divine out. He’d known at once that the carnival owner had matchmaking in mind when she’d invited him to the RV tonight. He could read her thoughts, after all, and after interviewing him that morning and watching him work today, she’d decided he seemed a decent enough fellow—good-looking, strapping, and hardworking . . . a good match for “our Divine” as she’d thought of the woman. He wasn’t interested in a setup, of course, but it had worked well with his intention to get close to Divine and find out if she was Basha Argeneau, the woman he’d been asked to find.
Marcus found it hard to believe Divine could be the rogue Basha who ran with Leonius Livius. Not after reading Madge’s thoughts. He’d found a lot of respect and affection for the fortune-teller there. But then he’d found that same thing in most of the minds he’d read that day. It seemed that Madame Divine, or Divine as most of the carnies thought of her, came across as a bit standoffish, but was always there to pitch in and help set up when they arrived in a new town, and assist with tear-down at the end of a run when she didn’t have to, and was always there when someone needed help, even sometimes before the person himself knew he needed that help.
From what he’d learned that day, he knew Divine had been with this carnival for two years. In that time, she’d earned the respect and liking of most of the people here. The few who didn’t like, or at least respect, her seemed to have grudges of one sort or another. One woman was jealous because she was sure the man she was interested in was interested in Divine, while another didn’t like how everyone else thought so highly of Divine, which was something she wanted for herself.
There were also two men he’d come across today who didn’t have very flattering thoughts toward the woman. One man was the carnival Romeo who had bedded nearly every woman in this outfit—all the single ones and several of the married women. But when he’d hit on Divine, she’d shot him down in no uncertain terms.
The other fellow he’d come across that day with unflattering thoughts of Divine was a man named Paul. He and his girlfriend Kathy had been with the carnival for a while. Paul had apparently been a good worker until recently when he’d started drinking. Unfortunately, he had a tendency to beat up Kathy whenever he got drunk, which was becoming a nightly routine. Divine had stopped him recently. She’d torn him off the girl, breaking his wrist in the process, probably deliberately in Marcus’s humble opinion. Divine had then explained that if Paul hurt Kathy, or any of the other carnie females again, she’d break both his wrists. Paul had managed to refrain from beating Kathy ever since, but knew it was just a matter of time before he slipped and hit her . . . and then Divine would keep her promise . . . and that scared the hell out of him.
Paul didn’t just dislike Divine, he was afraid of her, and that was a dangerous thing. In Marcus’s experience, fear could make people do stupid things, and judging by the thoughts running through Paul’s mind that day, he was going to end up doing something stupid sooner rather than later. The man had enjoyed several nasty fantasies that day while Marcus had worked with him, fantasies like catching Divine unawares one night, hitting her over the head with a bat to knock her out, and then beating her to death so she could never threaten him again. So long as they stayed fantasies, things would be all right. But fantasize about something often enough and you might get brave enough to try it in real life. Marcus suspected Paul would be in for a big surprise if he was ever stupid enough to carry out the fantasy. A beating would not kill Divine, and her fury at his attempt would be something to see, Marcus was sure. The man would be lucky to get away with his life. She’d probably break every bone in his body, and Marcus wouldn’t blame her.
“Stop staring at my ass. I can feel your eyes drilling into my behind. If you’re coming with me, walk beside me.”
Marcus blinked at those words from Divine as she led him away from the Hoskinses’ RV, and then blinked again as he realized he had indeed been staring at her behind. Huh, he thought. That was new . . . but then it was a fine view. He liked the way her skirts swung from side to side around her hips and behind with each step. And those boots. Damn, they—
His thoughts died abruptly as Divine paused, swung back, and scowled at him. She then pointed her finger to the ground at her side in silent demand. Repressing a smile, Marcus walked to her side and stopped, one eyebrow quirking. “I thought you liked attention. Isn’t that why you wear the coins on your scarf skirt?”
“Not your attention,” Divine assured him grimly, and then turned forward to walk again. A moment later he realized she was leading him to her RV. Surely she didn’t intend to try to get the vehicle out of this mess? Good Lord, there was a ride on one side, a cotton candy trailer on the other, and the back lot at its front. The back lot was a maze of vehicles she couldn’t possibly get through. He should tell her he had a vehicle and lead her to the SUV Lucian had given him, Marcus thought. It was presently parked in the lot outside the gates where he’d left it. Before he could make the suggestion, however, she stopped next to a large, slightly protruding rectangle along the side of the RV that he hadn’t noticed until now. Divine flipped up a small flap, revealing a set of numbered buttons. She tapped out a code and then stepped back as a side panel immediately slid open, revealing a motorcycle.