Runaway Vegas Bride / Vegas Two-Step: Runaway Vegas Bride / Vegas Two-Step

“I’m quite sure I am. It’s so exciting! Love at my age.” She smiled like she didn’t have a care in the world.

“See? I told you,” Jane said to Gladdy. “Love. She thinks she’s in love with that…cad!”

Gladdy rolled her eyes and said, “So what? Half the women at Remington Park are in love with Leo Gray. Jane, he’s a wonderful man. I wish you could see that, and if I ever hear about you assaulting him again. Well, let’s just say Kathleen and I are both greatly disappointed in you, Jane. Would you care to explain yourself?”

Jane frowned, her brow furrowing. Everyone was in love with Leo? That was it? That was their explanation?

Could she have completely misread the situation and thought Gram cared more about him than she actually did? Was no one’s heart or lifelong friendship at risk here?

Jane sighed. It was hard work, taking proper care of two women in their eighties, especially two active, stubborn women who didn’t want to be taken care of. “I just. I worry about the two of you.”

“Well, we worry about you, too, Jane, darling,” Gram said gently. “But we try not to overreact and let you live your own life, even if you’re doing so in a way we disagree with at times.”

“I’m…I’m sorry,” Jane apologized, feeling ridiculous and so relieved.

Everything was okay. Nothing really bad was happening. She could relax, back off, never have to deal with Leo Gray again and maybe never see Wyatt again.

That was a good thing, wasn’t it?

She felt vaguely disappointed and just…out of sorts. Which was silly, because this had to be a good thing.

Gladdy got up, came over to Jane, smiled down at her and gave her a little kiss on her forehead, like she used to do when Jane was little. “You’re so sweet to fuss over us like this, but we’re fine. Honestly. And I hate to rush off, but I made plans to meet a friend for bridge. Bye, darling. Bye, Kathleen.”

“Bye,” Jane whispered.

Gladdy left, and Jane for once relaxed that rigid posture of hers and fell back against her chair. “I’m so glad we got that cleared up.”

But then she looked at Gram, and it appeared as if nothing at all had been cleared up, Gram’s expression suggested that she had to tell Jane something and she was dreading it.

“What?” Jane asked.

Gram gave a shrug and a smile, then a sigh. “I just. Don’t get upset, all right? You get upset over everything, Jane.”

“Upset? Why would I get upset? You two said you’re not fighting, that you haven’t gone nuts over Leo Gray and that everything is fine. There’s nothing upsetting about that. That’s all good news. I’m happy. See? Happy Jane.”

“The thing is, that isn’t. entirely true,” Gram confessed. “We haven’t told Gladdy yet, although honestly, I don’t believe it’s going to be such a problem. I mean, I know she really likes Leo, but she hasn’t said anything about being in love with him, and you know Gladdy. She doesn’t do love.”

“Neither do you,” Jane said.

“Still…there’s nothing official yet, but Leo and I’ve been talking, and…I’m fairly certain he’s going to ask me to marry him! Jane, I’m just so happy, darling. Isn’t it fabulous!”

Chapter Seven

“You can’t do that,” Jane said, after a long moment of stunned silence.

“Of course, we can. We can do anything we want.”

“But…why would you want to?” Jane tried.

“Because that’s what people in love do!” Gram gave her a huge, glowing smile.

Jane winced. Her head hurt. Her ears hurt. She could not listen to this anymore. She had no calm reasoning abilities left in her where Leo Gray was concerned.

“People in love do a lot of things,” Jane said. A lot of really stupid things. “And you’ve only known him for two weeks, Gram.”

“I know, but when it’s right, Jane, you just know. This is right, and honestly, he’s eighty-one—”

“No, honestly, he’s eighty-six. He’s lying about being eighty-one.”

Gram laughed. “Well, I’m lying about being seventy-six, so I’d say we’re even on that score.”

“He was in Gladdy’s room, necking with her just yesterday! That’s what made me so mad! That’s why I stormed off after him! Because he acted like it was nothing, to be messing around with you and her, like he could hurt you both and laugh about it.”

“She said she had something in her eye, and I believe her, of course,” Gram said sternly. “Now she may like him and enjoy spending time with him but she’s not in love with him, and we’ll all just sit down, talk this out and everything will be fine. You’ll see.”

“I don’t think so, and I don’t trust that man. You shouldn’t, either.”

“Things will be fine. Leo’s going to tell her everything. Just wait and see.”

Gladdy, just as Jane feared, was with Leo Gray!

When she finished with Gram, Jane went to the card room, where Gladdy wasn’t, and then kept asking if anyone had seen her or Leo. She eventually tracked them down to a secluded bench near the tennis courts. Someone said it was a particularly favorite spot of Leo’s to take his lady-friends.

Jane contemplated strangling him with her bare hands when she saw him and Gladdy sitting there, laughing hilariously, Gladdy’s hand on his knee, Leo toying with a bit of Gladdy’s long, pretty white hair.

Was the man on some new combination of Viagra and steroids?

This was ridiculous.

Jane crouched down behind a bush and tried to figure out what to do next. It was like both Gram and Gladdy had completely lost all sense. Granted, they’d never been the most sensible women, but they hadn’t been crazy, either.

Marry Leo Gray?

Gram would be safer jumping off a cliff.

He was like those wackos who founded cults and could get people to do anything he wanted, no matter how illogical or inherently dangerous.

Drink the Kook-Aid for Leo Gray.

And here was Jane, the only sensible one in the group. Well, maybe Wyatt was, too.

She had to see Wyatt again—and firmly ignored a little happy feeling that came along with that thought. There was simply no choice. He at least would help her.

She was getting ready to creep away from her hiding place behind the bush when Leo got up, kissed Gladdy on the cheek and headed Jane’s way.

She gave a little yelp, fell to her knees and tried to crawl into the midst of the bushes. It was all the cover she could find that quickly, but it just wasn’t big enough for hiding purposes. She was sure her butt was sticking out, and the stupid bush scratched her cheek, her arms, maybe even her ear and was likely ruining her pretty-yet-sensible, low-heeled pumps she’d just bought on sale.

Jane waited there, cuts stinging, knees sinking into the dirt, wondering how her life had been reduced to this—hiding in bushes—until she heard a man’s voice.