Meg was the last to arrive at the Roustabout. She’d chosen the black-and-white Miu Miu mini from the resale shop, along with an acid yellow tank and one of her favorite pair of shoes, elaborately beaded and embroidered pink canvas platform sandals. But as she made her way to the table, her resale skirt drew more attention than her fabulous shoes.

In addition to Ted and the Skipjacks, all the Travelers and their spouses had gathered around the big wooden table: Torie and Dexter, Emma and Kenny, Warren Traveler and Shelby. Sunny had positioned herself to Ted’s right where she could better demand his undivided attention. As Meg approached, he took in her mini, then gave her a pointed look that she interpreted as a command to sit on his other side. She’d been more than clear about hiding their affair, and she wedged a chair between Torie and Shelby, directly across the table from Emma.

The easy affection between Torie, Emma, and Shelby made her miss her own friends. Where was Lucy now and how was she getting along? As for the others . . . She’d been dodging phone calls from Georgie, April, and Sasha for weeks, unwilling to let any of her accomplished friends know how perilous her situation was, but since they were used to the way she dropped out of sight, her lack of response didn’t seem to have raised any alarms.

The wily Traveler family flattered the Skipjacks outrageously. Shelby asked detailed questions about Viceroy’s new product line, Torie lavished Sunny with compliments about her shiny dark hair and classic wardrobe choices, Kenny pointed out the strengths of Spence’s putting game. The atmosphere was congenial, almost relaxing, right up to the moment Meg made the mistake of addressing Kenny’s wife as “Emma.”

One by one, all the locals at the table fell silent. “What did I do?” she said as they turned to stare at her. “She told me to call her Emma.”

Emma grabbed her wineglass and drained it.

“It’s just not done,” Shelby Traveler replied, her mouth pinching with disapproval.

Emma’s husband shook his head. “Never. Not even by me. At least not as long as she’s got her clothes on.”

“Bad manners,” Torie added with a swish of her long dark hair.

“Disrespectful,” her father, Warren, agreed.

Ted kicked back in his chair and regarded her gravely. “I’d have thought by now you’d know better than to insult somebody you barely know.”

Emma slowly lowered her head and banged her forehead against the table three times.

Kenny rubbed his wife’s back and smiled. Amusement danced in Ted’s eyes.

Meg had distinctly heard both Sunny and Spence refer to Kenny’s wife as Emma, but she knew it would be useless to point that out. “Deepest apologies, Lady Emma,” she drawled. “I hope I get a last meal before the beheading.”

Torie sniffed. “No need to be sarcastic.”

Emma gazed across the table at Meg. “They can’t help themselves. Really.”

Her husband planted a satisfied kiss on his wife’s lips, then returned to a discussion of Spence’s new Callaway irons. Ted tried to join in, but Sunny wanted his full attention, and she knew how to get it. “What’s the tank-to-wheel efficiency of your new fuel cell?”

Meg had no idea what that even meant, but Ted was his normal accommodating self. “Thirty-eight, forty-two percent, depending on the load.”

Sunny, all rapt attention, moved in closer.

Spence invited Meg to dance, and before she could refuse, two sets of female hands grasped her arms and pushed her to her feet. “She thought you’d never ask,” Shelby said sweetly.

“I sure wish Dex was as light on his feet as you are, Spence,” Torie cooed.

Across the table, Emma looked as worried as someone in a sunflower-splashed yellow top could look, and Meg swore she caught the shadow of a frown cross Ted’s face.

Fortunately, the first song was up-tempo, and Spence made no attempt to engage her in conversation. Too soon, however, Kenny Chesney began to croon “All I Need to Know,” and Spence drew her close. He was too old for the cologne he’d chosen, and she felt as though she’d been enveloped by an Abercrombie & Fitch store. “You’re making me more than a little crazy, Miz Meg.”

“I don’t want to make anybody crazy,” she said carefully. Except Ted Beaudine.

Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Birdie, Kayla, and Zoey settle at a table near the bar. Kayla looked sexy in a tight, one-shoulder white top that hugged her breasts without being slutty and a tropical print mini that set off her shapely legs. Birdie and Zoey were more casually dressed, and all three watched Meg closely.

Spence curled his hand around hers and drew it to his chest. “Shelby and Torie told me about you and Ted.”

Her internal alarm rang. “What exactly did they say?”

“That you finally found your backbone and accepted the fact that Ted’s not the man for you. I’m proud of you.”

She lost a step as she silently cursed both women.

He squeezed her fingers, a gesture she assumed was meant to be comforting. “Sunny and I don’t have any secrets. She told me about you throwing yourself at him at Shelby’s party. I guess the way he rejected you finally woke you up to the truth, and I just want to say that I’m proud of you for facing it. You’re going to feel a whole lot better about yourself, now that you’ve stopped chasing him. Shelby sure thinks so, and Torie said— Well, never mind what Torie said.”

“Oh, no. Tell me. I’m sure it’ll be good for my . . . personal growth.”

“Well . . .” He rubbed her spine. “Torie said that when a woman obsesses over a man who’s not interested in her, it kills her soul.”

“Quite the philosopher.”

“I was surprised myself. She seems a little flaky. She also told me you were planning to get my name tattooed on your ankle, which I don’t believe.” He hesitated. “It’s not true, is it?”

When she shook her head, he looked disappointed. “Some of the people in this town are odd,” he said. “Have you noticed that?”

They weren’t odd at all. They were wily as foxes and twice as smart. She unlocked her rigid knees. “Now that you mention it.”

Torie dragged her husband onto the dance floor and maneuvered as close to Spence and Meg as she could get, undoubtedly hoping to eavesdrop. Meg shot her a death ray and pulled away from Spence. “Excuse me. I need to use the restroom.”

She’d barely gotten inside before Torie, Emma, and Shelby stormed in to confront her. Emma pointed toward the closest stall. “Go ahead. We’ll wait for you.”

“Don’t bother.” Meg whirled on Shelby and Torie. “Why did you tell Spence I wasn’t in love with Ted anymore?”

“Because you never were.” Shelby’s brightly colored enameled bangles jingled at her wrist. “At least I don’t think so. Although Ted being Ted . . .”

“And you being female . . .” Torie crossed her arms. “Still, it was obvious you made up the whole thing to avoid Spence, and we’d all have gone along with it if Sunny hadn’t shown up.”

The restroom door swung open, and Birdie came in, followed by Kayla and Zoey.

Meg threw up her hands. “Great. I’m going to get gang-raped.”

“You shouldn’t crack jokes about a serious issue like that,” Zoey said. She wore white cropped pants, a navy T-shirt that read wynette public schools honor roll, and earrings that looked like they’d been made from drinking straws.

“That’s the way Hollywood people are,” Birdie said. “They don’t have the same moral compass as the rest of us.” And then, to Shelby, “Did you tell her she has to leave Ted alone now that Sunny’s fallen for him?”

“We’re gettin’ there,” Shelby said.

Emma took command. It was remarkable how much authority a relatively small woman with baby-doll cheeks and a cheery cap of butterscotch curls could possess. “You mustn’t think no one understands your situation. I was once an outsider in Wynette myself, so I—”

“You still are,” Torie observed in a loud whisper.

Emma ignored her. “—so I’m not unsympathetic. I also know what it’s like to have the attentions of a man to whom you’re not attracted, although the Duke of Beddington was far more odious than Mr. Skipjack. Still, my unwelcome suitor didn’t hold the economic fate of this town in his hands. But I also didn’t try to use Ted to discourage him.”

“You kind of did,” Torie said. “But Ted was only twenty-two at the time, and Kenny saw through you.”

Emma’s wide mouth tightened at the corners, emphasizing her plump bottom lip. “Your presence has doubly complicated an already delicate situation, Meg. You obviously find Spence’s attentions objectionable, and we understand that.”

“I don’t.” Kayla adjusted the rimless Burberry sunglasses she’d pushed on top of her blond hair. “Do you have any idea how rich that man is? And he’s got great hair.”

“Unfortunately, your method of discouraging him involves Ted,” Emma went on, “which might have been acceptable if Sunny hadn’t appeared.”

Birdie tugged on the hem of the silky tomato red top she wore with a cotton skirt. “Anybody with two eyes can see how crazy Spence is about his daughter. You might be able to get away with rejecting him, but you can’t get away with throwing yourself at the man his baby girl is falling in love with.”

Torie nodded. “What Sunny wants, Sunny gets.”

“She’s not going to get Ted,” Meg said.

“Something Ted will make certain she doesn’t figure out until the ink on the land deal is dry,” Emma said briskly.

Meg had heard enough. “Here’s a scary thought. What if your sainted mayor decides to toss you all to the wolves and fend for himself?”

Zoey pointed a principal’s accusing finger toward her, a remarkably effective gesture for a woman who was only a year older than Meg herself. “This is a big joke to you, but it’s not a joke to the kids at my school who are jammed into overcrowded classrooms. Or the teachers trying to make do with outdated textbooks and no aides.”

“It sure isn’t a joke to me.” Kayla stole a surreptitious look at herself in the mirror. “I hate running a resale shop full of old-lady clothes, but right now there aren’t more than a handful of women in this town who can afford to buy the kind of fashion I was destined to sell.” Her eyes swept over Meg’s resale skirt.

“I’ve been wanting to open a tearoom and bookstore next to the inn ever since I took over the place,” Birdie said.

Shelby pushed her blond bob behind one ear, revealing small gold hoops. “I have a husband who barely sleeps at night for feeling guilty because his company can’t provide enough jobs to keep the town afloat.”

“Dex feels the same,” Torie said. “A town this size can’t survive on one industry.”

Meg spun on Emma. “What about you? What reason do you have for expecting me to prostitute myself with Spencer Skipjack?”

“If this town dies,” Emma said quietly, “Kenny and I have enough money to do just fine. Most of our friends don’t.”

Torie tapped the toe of a studded leather T-strap sandal on the floor. “Between Spence, Sunny, and Ted, you’re making things too complicated, Meg. You need to leave Wynette. And unlike everybody else, I happen to like you a lot, so this isn’t personal.”

“I don’t dislike you,” Emma said.

“I do,” Birdie said.

“I don’t dislike you either,” said Shelby. “You have a very nice laugh.”

Kayla gestured toward the embellished skeleton-key necklace Meg had assembled a few hours earlier. “Zoey and I love your jewelry.”

Birdie puffed up like an angry parakeet. “How can y’all say anything nice to her? Have you forgotten about Lucy? Thanks to Meg, Ted got his heart broken.”

“He seems to have recovered,” Emma said, “so I’m prepared to overlook that.”

Shelby opened her purse, a pink and brown paisley Juicy clutch, and pulled out a folded piece of paper that Meg quickly realized was a check. “We know you’re short on cash, so we have a little something to help you get a fresh start somewhere else.”

For the first time since Meg had met her, Torie seemed embarrassed. “You can consider it a loan if it makes you uncomfortable.”

“We’d appreciate it if you took it,” Emma said kindly. “It’ll be best for everybody.”

Before Meg could tell them all to go to hell, the restroom door swung open and Sunny sauntered in. “Is there a party?”

Shelby quickly slipped the check back in her purse. “It didn’t start out that way, but we got to talking.”

“And now we need your opinion.” Torie deliberately turned to the mirror and pretended to look for mascara smears. “Charlize Theron or Angelina Jolie? Which one would you go gay for?”