Lucy gathered the other promo goods from the table and stacked them while Maizy folded the festive tablecloth that had been decorating the table. Lucy said, “The last we saw of her, she was on the back of Stubby Joe’s Harley, headed out of town on Main Street, with Black Mike and Big Dick cruising alongside them with big ol’ smiles on their faces. I wish I’d had my camera handy because that would’ve been one for the front page of the Divine Courier. That was two weeks ago and we haven’t seen hide nor hair of her since.”
Violet giggled, “So that shrew wound up riding off into the sunset with her own ménage à quatre. I wonder if those three men know what they have on their hands. Did she look happy at least?”
Maizy raised her hands and shook her head. “She had a helmet on so it was hard to say.”
“I guess she left her cats with her mom,” Maizy added with a snicker. “Speaking of pussy, I can’t believe one of them called her Pussy Girl. Tabitha Lester—Pussy Girl. It simply doesn’t compute.”
Maizy and Veronica laughed along with Violet and Lucy said, “Just goes to show you there’s someone for everyone. Maybe Val will keep up with them and let us know if it works out. I’m hoping it’s in another town, though. I can’t see myself doing a girls’ dance at the Dancing Pony with Tabitha Lester in our midst.”
Maizy shook her head. “Some things are sacred, darn it.”
Chapter Twenty
On Christmas Eve, Veronica stood nervously between Hank and Travis, watching through a window as headlights came up the driveway of the Divine Creek Ranch. Some of the occupants of those vehicles were people she wasn’t sure she wanted to see. Others, like Cord, Jackson, and their new wife Ari, she couldn’t wait to see again.
All of her friends had wanted to be there for their binding ceremony, and when her family was added in the mix, there simply hadn’t been enough space at Hank’s home, so Grace had kindly opened her house to them.
They were leaving in the morning for a weeklong honeymoon deep in the Texas Hill Country, staying in the luxurious vacation cabin of a friend of Hank’s. Tonight would be spent in the arms of her men in their own bed, a new, supersized custom creation built by wood craftsmen Hank had introduced her to, Wes and Evan Garner.
On her right side, Travis asked, “Doing okay, Nika?”
Veronica nodded and squeezed his big, callused had. “I feel like I’m about to charge Hell’s gates armed with a water pistol.”
At her left, Hank chuckled and said, “We’re all behind you. Nika, far as I’m concerned, you can stay glued to my hip or Travis’s all night. I’m not letting any of them ruin this night for you. You don’t let them draw you away from us for any tacky little comments they want to make.”
“That’s right,” Travis said. “Anything they want to say to you they can say in front of us and everyone else.”
Hank stroked the small of her back. “You’re doing some of those people a favor by allowing them to be here at all.”
Veronica nodded. Over the past few weeks, she’d realized that this time in her life had been a series of confrontations with the bullies in her life. The first had been BookAddictedWhore. The second had been Brent. The third had been Tabitha Lester, although Hank had been her champion in that clash. This was the last one. The one that would be both the hardest and the most freeing. She would be free of the bondage and bullying of her family. They no longer had any power over her. She wouldn’t let them, and if they tried, Hank and Travis would deal with them.
She turned as footsteps came up behind them.
Grandma Kate smiled reassuringly and gave her hands a solid squeeze. “You ready, sweet girl? You look beautiful.”
“Yes, thank you, Grandma Kate.” She smoothed her hand over the white silk and lace knee-length dress that Grace had helped her find in Morehead. “I feel beautiful.”
Jack, Ethan, Adam, and Grace came up behind them, too, and Jack said, “Veronica, we’re all here for you.”
The rest of their group of friends—all of them—nodded and gave her reassuring smiles of support over Jack’s shoulders.