“You said you wanted to talk about…Bronte.” She stumbled over the name like it was hard to get out.
“She left.”
Polly’s eyes shot up. “She did?”
“Yeah. I told her that I didn’t want her here. That we were never going to get married like our parents wanted. She actually took it better than I thought she would. She confirmed she was back in Houston a few days ago.”
“Really?”
“Mm-hmm.” He kissed her neck, feeling her shiver.
“Will you regret it?”
He lifted his head and traced the golden specks in her eyes. They reminded him of the stars when the sky was really dark. “Never. I willneverregret my decision to love you instead of marrying her.”
Her eyes flared.
“How’s your mom?” he asked, slipping a lock of hair from her cheek.
“She’s drinking herself into oblivion and giving inspirational speeches about singing in front of strangers.”
“Uh, and you took her advice, hence the singing.”
“No. There was physical force involved in that. The woman had vodka-induced strength on her side.”
Joel chuckled.
“Seriously though. She’s doing better than I thought. She was really sad for the first three or so days but since then has seemed almost okay. Which is odd, considering how deep she got with Jonah. I wish we had an update on the gun and whether the bullet’s a match though.”
“We’ve been checking in with Ward every day.” His jaw tensed in frustration. “He said he put a rush on the test, but if that was true, we would have gotten the results already.”
She wrinkled her nose. “Ward’s so useless.”
He was worse than useless. His inability to do his job put everyone in this town at risk.
Maureen stepped toward them. “Hi, Joel. What are you doing here?”
“Well, Maureen, I heard there was a party, and where there’s a party, there’s a Joel Dawson.”
“Oh, I have no doubt.” She laughed and patted his arm. “Now Joel, I don’t know if you know this, but I’m very good at readings. Anytime you’d like a little insight into your future, you let me know.”
Joel glanced down at Polly. “It’s okay. I’m pretty sure I know what my future holds.”
Her cheeks turned a pretty pink.
“Lucky for you, things look bright in your future.” Maureen leaned close. “That’s not to say it won’t come with some surprises though.”
His smile faltered. That sounded a bit too ominous for his liking.
Maureen turned to Polly. “Dear, do you know where your mother has disappeared to?”
“She was with the women at the front.” Polly scanned the crowd.
Joel did the same, but he couldn’t see her.
“Where is she?” Polly asked under her breath, panic widening her eyes slightly.
Joel slipped his hand into hers. “Come on, she might be in the bathroom.”
