“What is it you need?” Ruby asked evenly.
“I just came down to see if you needed anything. I heard the rumors about what happened at Delbert’s. I thought it might upset you.”
Ruby smiled. She had been happy with the conversations she’d had with her friends. They had taken great delight in informing her of the whore’s dismissal. The fact that she had thought she would be welcome in a genteel place like Delbert’s boggled the mind. Well, the idiot had never been very smart. The fool had turned down the money Ruby offered her to stay away from Adam.
“It didn’t upset me at all. It just proves that society still works. A person of her character should not be allowed to mingle with the rest of us.”
Jan’s blue eyes rolled. It was further proof to Ruby that her daughter-in-law wasn’t Echols material. Sarcasm had no place in a properly bred lady. “You need to be careful, Mother Echols. She wasn’t alone tonight. She was with Sam Fleetwood and Jack Barnes. You might not approve of their lifestyle, but there is no question you don’t want to upset those men.”
A brief vision of Jack Barnes entered Ruby’s head. He was dark and handsome, like Adam. He was broader, but Adam would have been broader, too, had he been allowed to reach maturity. Adam would have taken on a man’s build and authority. Sometimes, Ruby got confused and saw Adam when she was looking at Jack Barnes. Ruby waved off the statement, her big diamond ring catching the light. It shouldn’t shock her that Abigail Moore was trying to get her hooks into the Barnes fellow. She’d heard he was considered quite the up and comer in the business community.
“They have no place in society.” They didn’t, Ruby assured herself. They never attended socials or the charity balls. They weren’t powerful.
“Only because they don’t want to,” Jan replied. “I don’t know how serious they are about Abby Moore, but I wouldn’t want to get between Jack Barnes and something he wanted. I’m asking you to think about Walter before you do anything to hurt that girl. I wouldn’t want Walter’s election to get nasty. I don’t get it. She seems perfectly nice. I had lunch at the café with the girls. She was really sweet to them.”
Ruby’s eyes narrowed, and she stood up, reaching her full five-foot height. “You took my granddaughters to meet the whore who killed their uncle?” Ruby might not care for the girls, but they carried the Echols name and should not be allowed to sully it.
“Adam was killed in an accident, and it was twenty years ago.” Jan’s mouth firmed, and she crossed her arms stubbornly. “I’m not going to have some twenty-year-old feud hurt Walter’s chances of getting elected. The way you treated that girl was shameful then and ridiculous now, and I won’t do it. I am not going to pretend she doesn’t exist. I intend to ask Ms. Moore if my daughters can meet their cousin. They won’t have any more, so I think it’s important that they know the family they do have.”
The crack of Ruby’s open hand against Jan’s face resounded through the room. Ruby was sixty-eight and knew people considered her physically weak. They didn’t understand the strength that a righteous cause could give her.
Walter flew to his wife’s side, surprising them both. “Are you all right, baby?” Walter hugged his wife to him.
Jan pulled away from him and rubbed her reddened cheek. “I’ve had enough. I never wanted to push this, but I am going to now, Walter. I love you. It’s me or her. I don’t want her influencing my girls anymore.”
“You idiot,” Ruby sneered at her daughter-in-law, “a boy never leaves his mother.”
Walter was quiet for a moment. “I’ve been thinking a lot about that lately, Mother. I’ve been thinking about all the times you held me and lavished your love on me. It didn’t take long to go through those memories since they didn’t exist. Everything you had was reserved for Adam. Every bit of love you had in your heart was for him, not me. No matter how hard I tried, I couldn’t make up for the fact that Adam is dead. I’ll be damned if my girls have to live like that, too. Only one person has ever loved me for being me. Mother, if you think I would choose you over Jan, you really have lost your damn mind.” He looked to his wife. “Pack up the girls. We’ll stay in the motel tonight. I’ll find us a place to live tomorrow.”
Ruby watched, stunned that her son would speak to her in such a manner. Didn’t he know his obligations? Hadn’t she spent his whole life making sure he understood what he owed his family?
Walter ignored her. He was too busy looking at his fat wife. “I love you, Jan. I love you. I will always choose you.” He finally turned to Ruby. “As for you, Mother, I’ll make certain the housekeeper knows to take care of you.”
Her whole world shifted. Ruby steadied herself as her son turned to leave. “I will cut you off, Walter,” Ruby threatened. “I will make sure you don’t get a dime.”
Walter shook his head. “I’m not the idiot you think I am. I don’t need your money, Mother. I have worked my entire adult life, and I know how to save. Daddy made sure I knew how to take care of myself financially. I have made some very savvy investments. Jan and I will do just fine. You keep your money. I suspect it will be the only thing to keep you warm at night.”
With that, he took his wife’s hand and walked up the stairs. Ruby Echols sank to the antique divan that had been in her family for generations.
Adam was leaving, she thought. That was what Adam had said.
“I don’t need your money, Mother,” Adam had said. “Abby and I will be just fine.”
Adam was leaving her again, and this time he was taking Walter, too. Abigail Moore was the reason she was losing her family. Just tonight Adam had tried to take her to a fancy restaurant.
Ruby picked up the keys to her car. Abby Moore wasn’t going to win this time.
The honky-tonk seemed even louder than before after the quiet intimacy of Sam’s room. Abby immediately spotted her best friend still sitting at the bar. Christa’s left eyebrow was practically in outer space as Abby walked up to her. It took everything Abby had not to pat her hair or smooth down her dress self-consciously. She wondered if she looked like a woman who had just had mind-blowing sex with two men. Suddenly, with her body still humming from the recent orgasms, Abby didn’t care.
“You look like the Cheshire Cat, you know.” Christa smiled as she slid a frosty cosmo Abby’s way.
“Do I?” Abby took the drink and sighed. “I can’t ever think why.” The grin on her face just wouldn’t go away.
“Probably for the same reason I need to hose down my desk from this morning’s session,” Christa complained good-naturedly.
Abby’s entire face flushed. “I am so sorry about that.”
“No, you’re not,” Christa replied. “I wouldn’t be. So was it Sam or Jack on the desk?”
Abby gingerly sat down on the barstool, the small butt plug still lodged discreetly where Jack said it would do them all the most good. She leaned over to her best friend and was so happy she had someone to confide in.
“Sam was on the desk. Jack was in the chair.”
Christa’s mouth hung open for a moment before she shook her head and laughed. “Girl, I am gonna live through you from now on. I want Facebook updates hourly. I can see it now. Abby Moore…is exhausted from doing her two gorgeous men.”
Abby gnawed thoughtfully on her lower lip. “I think I love them, Chris. Hell, I don’t think, I know I love them. I’m seriously thinking about staying in this two-bit town just so I can be with them.”
Christa’s hand went up in victory. “Yes! Another evil plan works. Damn, I am good. My brain is wasted on this town. Mike is gonna owe me a week’s worth of dish duty.”