Rayleen scowled, as usual, but when she turned to look in the mirror, her scowl fell away. She didn’t smile, but her eyes lit up. Just a little. “All right,” she finally conceded. “It’s fine.”
Eve and Jenny exchanged amused looks. It was more than fine. Rayleen looked almost ten years younger, and her white hair only looked more beautiful against the careful palette of coral and gray.
Rayleen didn’t smile, but she did look at herself for a long time before she finally slapped her knees and stood up. “Let’s go.”
“Wait!” Jenny shouted. “I need to take a picture. Girls’ night out!”
Grace made herself smile for the picture, but as they left the condo, her heart was sinking. She couldn’t do this. Go out and act as if she didn’t have a care in the world.
It was stupid to feel so betrayed. He was a man she’d had sex with. He couldn’t betray her, because he hadn’t promised anything. So maybe it wasn’t him. Maybe it was herself. There’d been a connection. A chemistry. Something that had made it feel different. But it hadn’t been different. It had been the same in the very worst possible way.
She realized that she was planning excuses with every step. Planning a way to escape from these women and lock herself in her apartment to lick her wounds alone. But what if she didn’t? What if she swallowed all this strange grief and went to the saloon?
Despite the short length of time she’d known them, Jenny and Eve had given her a chance. They seemed to like her, or at least to want to like her. They might be friends. Actual friends. If they didn’t want sex or money or connections, maybe they just wanted her.
Grace crossed one arm over her chest in defense. She held tight to her opposite elbow and tucked her head, startled at how frightening it felt to consider having friends. To trust that they genuinely liked her.
They turned the corner and Grace realized they were coming up on the Crooked R. “I need to drop off my makeup kit,” she said.
“Sure,” Eve said. “We’ll wait for you.”
“No, go ahead and go in. I’ll meet you there.”
Jenny rolled her eyes, and everyone kept walking past the saloon and toward the Stud Farm. “Don’t be silly. We’ll wait here and then go in together to make an appearance. Four beautiful women walking in at once? They won’t know what hit them.”
This was Grace’s chance to make an excuse. To say she wasn’t feeling well and she wanted to turn in. But instead, she nodded. “Okay. I’ll be right back.”
But as she headed up the sidewalk toward the porch, headlights flashed over the lawn and she glanced back to see a sheriff’s truck pulling up to the curb.
Oh, God.
The SUV stopped and two deputies got out. As Eve and Jenny and Rayleen watched, the men started up the walk toward Grace.
Oh, no.
It was an apartment building with four apartments. They might not be here for her. Or maybe it was something that didn’t have anything to do with—
“Grace Barrett?” the shorter deputy asked.
“Yes,” she breathed. Her pulse suddenly swelled to a booming beat inside her skull. Her entire body went tight and numb.
“We have a warrant for your arrest,” the same guy said.
/> And there it was. This was it. “Oh,” she said, not really speaking, just letting air escape from her lungs. They hadn’t turned their lights on, at least, but she could still see flashes at the edges of her vision. “Oh,” she said again as the deputy approached with his hands raised in a calming gesture.
She glanced toward her new friends, though she tried not to meet their gazes. All three women stood wide-eyed, lips parted in shock. “Can I set down my kit?” Grace rasped.
The deputy nodded, and she set it down slowly, more than familiar with how jumpy cops could be. But these officers were a little more Zen than the average L.A. cop. When she held her arms up, the deputy didn’t snatch her wrist and twist it behind her back. Instead, he calmly slipped the cuffs over one wrist, and then the other. Grace couldn’t help but wonder if he would have been kind enough to cuff her hands in front if she’d still had purple hair and wild makeup.
The thought of her hair brought tears to her eyes. Despite everything—the misguided affair with Cole, the knowledge that she was moving on soon—this had felt like a new beginning. A new start. She’d been shedding her skin. Letting go of her defenses. And she’d meant it. But now…
She dared one last look at Eve and Jenny and Aunt Rayleen, but they were blurry. She was protected from whatever she’d see in their faces.
“Grace?” Jenny called tentatively.
Grace just dropped her head and let the deputy lead her to his truck. She wondered if anyone else was watching. Wondered if half the saloon had come outside to watch her perp walk. It hardly mattered. All the important people were right there with front-row seats.
She felt the deputy’s hand on top of her head guiding her into the truck. Grace just closed her eyes and let him push her under.