“No, I didn’t mean anything by it.” I tried to backtrack.
“Hey, I was just trying to get your goat.” He smiled. “Relax. I know how it looks.”
He was soft around the middle, like a lot of men in middle age. “One thousand yards,” he said.
“Excuse me?”
“All I need is one shot, and if you’re anywhere within a thousand yards it’s bye-bye. I was a scout sniper in the Army. I can handle things here, don’t you worry.”
My eyes widened. “Darcy never mentioned…”
He shrugged.
“This is the saddest party I’ve ever seen,” Shelly said, causing me to turn.
She was dressed from head to toe in all black. Her blond hair was curled and sprayed and she looked ready for a night on the town. Cheese stood behind her, gazing at her with obvious adoration.
“There’s been a change of plans,” I said, walking to her.
Shelly embraced me in a vanilla perfumed hug and I closed my eyes. She was familiar. She was family.
“What happened?” she asked. “Where is everyone? Where’s this man of yours?”
“I’ll tell you upstairs.”
Shelly pulled back and raised her eyebrows but said nothing.
Gray introduced himself to Shelly with a quick handshake. While Gray and Shelly talked for a few minutes, I went over to Cheese who still looked awe-struck.
“She’s engaged,” I told him.
“Engagements end.”
I burst out laughing, enjoying Cheese’s arrogance. I didn’t have the heart to tell him that Mark and Shelly were the real deal, and even if they weren’t and Shelly was single, she wasn’t going to go for a biker.
My phone buzzed in my back pocket and I took it out. Colt’s name flashed across the screen. I thought about being incredibly juvenile and ignoring him, but I knew he’d only call back. Or call Cheese to check in on everything.
“Yes?” I asked, answering the phone and going into the kitchen nook for a measure of privacy.
He paused. “You’re pissed.”
“Damn right, I’m pissed. You didn’t even say goodbye to me.”
Colt let out a weathered sigh. “I’ll be back late. Don’t wait up.”
He hung up on me and I stared at the phone for a second.
Pissed had just morphed into rage.
“Uh oh,” Shelly said.
“Uh oh, what?” Cheese asked.
“Mia’s about to go O’Banion on someone’s ass.”
Cheese frowned. “I don’t know what that means.”
“It means,” Shelly explained, “that she’s half Irish and it’s about to show.”