Bring on the Rain by Eve Asbury

now. She tried hard because
of Brook being so popular, not to remind anyone of her mother or
her ex, or to live up to the stereotypical waitress
image.
    Madeline was peeling the label off her
beer when Mitch came over. She had sensed him though long before he
reached her.
    Mitch took the chair vacated by Ruby,
though there was one other. He tilted his head, taking her in.
Madeline realized he had probably never seen her in her town
clothing. She had her jacket off. He eyed the locket she wore, a
bit too long. It was nestled in that valley between her
breasts.
    “ Someone told me you don't
come here when you’re not working.”
    “ Usually not.” She looked at
him, then away and wished all of those cinched muscles that had
tensed up during the song, would relax...
    “ You look nice.”
    Madeline peeked at him.
“Thanks.”
    “ Am I intruding?”
    “ It’s our girls’ night. Ruby
and me.”
    He nodded, looked at Ruby on the dance
floor, and then said to her, “Now there’s a woman, who can make
Jude nervous.”
    “ I don't see why. She hasn’t
cared about him in years.”
    Her coolness apparently caused his
smile. “Z’at right? Well who knows what Jude freaks about? He had a
thing with her once, is all I know.”
    “ Yeah right.” She laughed
and shook her head.
    “ What?”
    “ It’s obvious you know she
went a bit overboard for him. Can’t you have a normal conversation
without lying?”
    His brow rose. “I was aiming to not dis
your friend.”
    Madeline was a she-lion now that she
knew her friend’s secret. “Ruby is long past him. She’s lived away
from here a long time. I think her list of lovers probably showed
her the difference between a boy and a man.”
    “ Am I supposed to pass that
to Jude?”
    “ Yeah.”
    “ And Bud? Did he do it for
you?”
    “ I don't kiss and tell. And
no—I don't give a shit about your wife and you.”
    “ Ex-wife,” he corrected.
Then, “Have you drank too much, or are you always a bitch after
dark?”
    Madeline forced a laugh, took another
long drink, met his gaze, and muttered, “What was up with the song?
Was it supposed to mean something to me?”
    Mitch’s gaze roamed over her
face.
    She hoped her mauve eye shadow was
still fresh. She hoped he wasn’t looking at the laugh lines at the
corners of her eyes. She had applied fresh lip-gloss. She had done
a deep condition on her hair last night to bring out the shimmers
of deep red. Madeline wasn’t kidding herself. She wanted him to be
impressed with the way she’d aged. Shit, part of her hated him, and
part of her wanted him to regret he’d dumped her.
    Madeline didn’t expect his answer when
he finally gave it, but she should have known from the
under-the-lashes look and half grin he gave her, it was
coming.
    “ I got hard singing
it.”
    She paused, her beer half to her lips.
She carefully set it down.
    Mitch reached across before she could
prevent it, taking the locket in his fingers, and rubbing it with
his thumb. When he let go, his fingertips touched her cleavage.
“That was a compliment.”
    She snorted soft. “Yeah? Well, in
Copper Creek, it would be.”
    Mitch stroked his jaw, a glint in his
light blue eyes and a lowering of his lashes. “I told Coy about us.
Jason knows too.”
    “ Why—what did you
say?”
    “ Just, yes. We were an item
and it ended badly. Jason found a photo album. You recall Jude
taking pictures that summer? He had questions. Hell, Jason never
could figure out what me and Ronda were doing married anyway. But
Coy, he can’t understand why you hate all of us. Or what it has to
do with him and Brook.”
    She swallowed, furious, feeling the
tension and beer turn her stomach into a nauseated knot. All
Madeline could think of was, “He’ll tell Brook.” When she said it
aloud, she knew her daughter would demand answers.
    “ Maybe.”
    “ Dammit, Mitch. Why did you
start this mess?” Madeline leaned her head back a moment, then
lowered it.
    “ You should have