was the first one she’d seen when she’d come in. Then Dudley had stepped between them, blocking Josh from sight, and she had gratefully accepted his invitation to join him for a drink—something she wouldn’t have done if she’d known he would soon invite Josh over, too.
But she was here, and so was Josh, and what did it matter? Clearly he didn’t intend to talk to her, and she had nothing to say to him. Enlisting his help in gaining access to Natalie was out of the question. Not only would she not ask, but he would surely refuse if she did. And with Natalie between them, that pretty much ruled out anything else.
He finished the game without Dudley even getting close to the table, scooped up the forty dollars and shoved them into his pocket and started away.
“Hey, what about the next game?” Dudley said. “You afraid to play the lady?”
Josh slowly turned and let his brown gaze slide over Candace as if he were taking inventory and coming up short. “What lady?”
Dudley pushed away from the table with surprising speed for a man his size. “That was uncalled for,” he said flatly, his voice empty of good humor. “You owe her an apology.”
“Like hell I do.”
“You sure as hell do. You can give it on your own, or I can help you with it. It’s your choice.”
Josh’s gaze narrowed and turned even colder. “You remember the last time you tried to make me do something I didn’t want to do?”
“You broke my nose.” Dudley jutted out his jaw. “But that ain’t gonna happen this time.”
Tired of the blustering, Candace stepped in front of Dudley and laid her hand on his arm. “You promised me a beer.”
“Right after he gives you an apology.”
“I don’t want an apology. Come on, a drink and a dance, then I have to go home.” She maneuvered him around until he broke eye contact with Josh and finally looked at her. Sweeping off his cowboy hat, she gave him a coaxing smile. “Come on. I haven’t danced in ages.”
After a tense moment he let her pull him around tables to the dance floor, then grudgingly took her in his arms. With one last glare in Josh’s direction, he looked down at her and smiled.
The music was country and slow, and she stumbled over her own feet and Dudley’s only a time or two. There had been a time when she’d danced as naturally as breathing—a time when a lot of things had come naturally to her. She’d taken a great deal for granted…but not anymore.
She wasn’t counting on Dudley to remain silent, and sure enough, around the middle of the song, he asked, “What’s between you and Josh?”
“Nothing.”
“Oh, come on. He’s not usually like that.”
“What’s he usually like?” she asked, though she’d seen a good example that morning, before he’d known who she was.
Dudley was quiet for a moment, then he grinned. “His mother says the trouble with Josh is he likes women…a lot. Trouble for her, because he’s never gonna settle down and give her some more grandchildren. No trouble at all for the women around here. He’s been involved with every pretty woman in a hundred-mile radius. I should have expected that he’d already met you, too.”
“And how many grandchildren does his mother have that she needs more?”
“Two. Jordan’s twenty and the little one’s ’bout three.”
Natalie mothering the three-year-old was an easy enough image to conjure, but a twenty-year-old? When she was only thirty-six herself? Of course, how much mothering did a twenty-year-old need? Candace had been on her own for two years before her twentieth birthday, and she’d done all right.
She’d just been lonely. Alone. Ambitious. Driven. Afraid.
“Have you settled down and given your mother grandchildren?” she asked to keep him from returning to Josh.
His grin was remarkably boyish. “A time or two.”
“For the settling-down or the grandkids?” she asked dryly.
“Two marriages, two divorces, two grandkids. What about you?”
“No marriages, no divorces, no kids.” And no mother around to nag her for babies to spoil.
“You’ve never been married? The men in Atlanta must be blind.”
To the contrary, she thought as the song ended. They just had so many better women to choose from than her.
When the music stopped, she stepped out of his arms. “Thank you for a nice evening.”
“What about that drink?”
She regretfully shook her head. “I’d better skip it and get on home.”
“How long are you going to be around here?”
If the Rawlins family had their way, no longer than it would take to cross the state line. In a weak moment that would be her choice, too—had been her choice that afternoon after seeing Natalie.
But she couldn’t allow herself to be weak. A weak woman couldn’t survive everything she’d been through in the past year. Though she’d often been weak in body, her spirit had been strong, and she had to keep it that way. Living another thirty-eight years depended on it.
“I don’t know,” she answered honestly. “Maybe a few days. Maybe a few weeks.”
“Then I’ll see you back here again sometime.”
How long had it been since anyone besides a doctor had wanted to see her again? Too unbearably long.
She smiled at Dudley with real pleasure. “Yeah. You’ll see me again.”
With that she got her suede jacket from the stool where she’d left it, pretended not to notice Josh or the icy stare centered on her back and walked out into the chilly night. As she unlocked the car, she gazed up at the sky, midnight dark and filled with more stars than it was possible to see in Atlanta. She picked out the brightest one, focused hard on it and tried to make a wish, but only one word would form. Please.
It wasn’t particularly articulate for someone who’d earned her living with words, but it pretty much covered everything. Please let Natalie give me a chance. Please let me live a long, healthy life. Please don’t let Josh look at me like that again. Please help me be strong. Please let me have just one friend…and please let Natalie be that friend.
Yep, that one word said it all.
Smiling with a satisfaction she hadn’t felt in far too long, she climbed into the car and headed off through the dark night.
Dance.
Have some fun.
Wish upon a star.
For a brief time the day before, Candace had thought she
