Grudgingly, the crowd dispersed, walked away. She was left alone with Dallas.
“I’m sorry about that,” she said, looking up at him. “We don’t get many strangers here.”
“I can see why.” Smiling as if it had all meant nothing, he leaned toward her, whispered, “Nice kiss,” in her ear, and then he walked away, leaving her standing alone beneath the hot lights, feeling unsettled.
“What happened?” Winona said a minute later, coming up so fast she was out of breath. “I came back from the bathroom and someone said—”
“I danced with a guy. Big deal.”
Aurora sidled in close. “Way to pick ’em, Vivi. Very classy.”
Vivi Ann didn’t know what to say. Her whole body felt odd, like an engine idling too fast. “Don’t be a bitch, Aurora.”
“Me? Never. I know how much you love a man with tattoos.” Aurora laughed. “And an Indian, too.”
“She danced with an Indian?” Winona asked sharply. “With tattoos? What did he look like?”
“Hot,” Aurora said immediately.
Vivi Ann looked away, unwilling to see the judgment in Winona’s gaze. “Dallas somebody.”
“Like his name matters,” Aurora said. “How was the kiss?”
“She kissed him?” Winona said. “In front of everyone?”
Vivi Ann would have sworn her sister was smiling when she said it. “Come on,” she snapped. “I need a drink.”
Aurora laughed. “I’ll bet you do.”
When Vivi Ann woke the next morning she felt edgy and restless, and, worst of all, aroused. Putting on her robe, she went into the bathroom and brushed her teeth, then headed down the hallway.
Her father stood by the fireplace in the living room, watching her come down the stairs.
Winona was beside him, already dressed for work in a blue dress that was stretched tight across her chest.
“Good morning,” Vivi Ann said, tightening her robe’s belt around her waist.
“It don’t look good from where I’m standin’,” her father said. “My daughter makin’ out with some Indian in front of God and everyone.”
She missed a step. She’d known he would hear about it, of course. In a town like theirs, what she’d done was certainly gossip-worthy. She’d just thought she’d be able to tell him her version first. Whatever her version was. “It was nothing, Daddy, really. Tell him, Win. The gossip will die down in no time.”
“They were drinking and dancing,” Winona said. “You know how she flirts when she’s drinking.”
“Win!” Vivi Ann said, shocked by her sister’s disloyalty. “That’s not true—”
“Fire him,” Dad said.
“What do you mean, fire him?” Vivi Ann asked.
“We can’t. He signed a contract.” Winona looked right at her. “You were sucking face with our new ranch hand last night.”
This was coming at Vivi Ann too fast. She felt as if she were suddenly in a boat that was taking on water.
“I’m ashamed of you,” her father said.
Vivi Ann was shaken by those hard words. She’d never heard them from him before, never imagined it to be even possible that she’d shame him. Years of connection seemed fragile; for the first time she wondered if his love was as conditional as her sisters always said it was, and that frightened her. He was the bedrock, the solid ground of their family. A crack in that was inconceivable.
While she was trying to figure out what to say, someone knocked on the door. She knew who it would be. “Did you tell him?” she asked her sister.