Page 270 of Mountain Men Heroes

“I hear you,” I said finally, but then I couldn’t resist teasing him just a little. “This hen party over? Or you going to braid my hair next?”

He threw me a dark look and swung the truck into the parking lot. I grinned, knowing I’d gotten under his skin.

“Let’s go see what kind of trouble our women have gotten up to while we were gone.”

The thought of Gabriella inside waiting for me brought the grin right back to my face.

Eleven

Gabriella

The sick feeling in my stomach didn’t get any better when we got to the little pub down the street for lunch. I’m sure some of it was due to morning sickness. But not all.

As soon as we placed our orders, I excused myself to go to the ladies’ room. I stayed in the bathroom stall a few minutes, waiting to see if I was going to get sick.

When my stomach calmed, leaving only the knot of tension and fear there, I took a deep breath and moved to unlatch the door. Before I could get to it, the outside door opened and I could hear a few people walk into the bathroom.

“Oh my God, did you see Trinity walk in with Mac’s baby mama?”

I froze, my hand flying to my mouth. Who was out there talking about me? I hadn’t even had a chance to meet many people in town outside of Mac’s family and friends.

“Two peas in a pod, if you ask me. Trinity’s just like her mother. Only she finally managed to get one of our men on the hook. They should leave town and leave our men to us.”

“I don’t know. It seems like Trinity and Sawyer were meant to be together. Did you see the promise ring on her finger and her wedding ring? Those are more than small tokens of love. Those were statements. There’s no way Sawyer would claim her like that if he didn’t love her.”

“I don’t know about that.” The original speaker took up the conversational thread, cattiness and pure spite clear in her voice. “But I did notice the little baby mama isn’t sporting rings of her own.”

“Ugh, poor Mac. He’s going to be tied to that woman forever. What happens when he finds someone he really loves? I think I’m going to find a moment and give him a reason to reconsider his options.”

Another girl spoke up. “That will be interesting. Maybe once she sees she can’t get anything from him, baby mama will take her little bastard and go back to that little beach town of hers.”

Every protective instinct I had surged to the surface and my mama bear instincts roared to the surface.

I burst out of the stall and as one their jaws all went slack and their faces pale.

“I think there are a few important facts worth noting here. One, Mac can’t keep his hands off his baby mama. Morning, noon, and night that man covers me like honey.

Two, he isn’t with any of you people. And judging by the nasty attitudes, my guess is it’s not for lack of trying on your part.” My eyes skimmed the ring fingers of all three women. “And judging by the lack of promise rings or wedding bands on any of your fingers, I’d also guess that most of the hot guys around here aren’t interested in what any of you have on offer.”

The woman on the end wrinkled her nose and opened her mouth, I’m sure to spew more of her venom. But I’d be damned if I’d stand there and listen to it.

“Bless your heart,” I said with the deepest southern accent I could muster. “You think you still get to talk.”

I leaned into her and I knew she could see the flames of rage in my eyes.

This time when I spoke, the saccharine sweetness was gone and my words came purely from my inner warrior combined with years of defending myself as the system shuffled me from one hellhole to another.

“Shut your mouth and keep it that way or I’ll shut it for you. And that instruction isn’t just for today. You have opinions about Mac and me or Trinity and Sawyer, you keep that shit to yourself or it will be the last bit of vile nastiness you spew. Ever.”

The three of them stared at me, fear a white mask over their expressions. Two of the three nodded. The ringleader didn’t move a muscle to acknowledge my words, and I could see the loathing mixed with the fear behind her eyes. But I couldn’t help but notice that she kept her mouth shut.

I straightened and smiled at the bunch. “Y’all have a good day now, ya hear.”

I turned and sauntered out of the ladies’ room despite the desire I had to run as fast as my feet would carry me. Putting on a show for those three was all well and good, but it didn’t take away the wounds their words inflicted.

Because they might be mean and catty and a whole host of really not good things. But that didn’t make the words they spoke out of pure spite any less true.

“You okay?” Trinity asked when I got back to the table.