The Prodigal Wife by Susan Fox

Author:Susan Fox
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Harlequin Enterprises
Published: 2013-03-03T16:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER SEVEN

THE bubble of nervous amusement felt suspiciously like a giggle as Cassie’s latest five years crack replayed in Lainey’s mind. It seemed so relentlessly juvenile that she couldn’t help but see how ridiculous it was. If not for the situation with Gabe that Lainey herself had created, the natural competitiveness between her and Cassie would have spurred the woman to find any number of other things to target.

The small gurgle of amusement that defeated her control slipped out despite the effort to keep it to herself.

Lainey covered it with a smiling, “Oh, Cassie, you’re not a day different.” Then she added an inspired, “At this rate, you’re still going to be gorgeous and young when the rest of us have wrinkled and gone gray. You surely do take after your daddy.”

Lainey resisted the urge to think about how few other ways she’d noticed Cass take after her daddy. Mac McClain was cowboy gallant in the manner of good-hearted ol’ Texas boys who were blunt, fun loving, and indulgent with their women. Mac adored his spoiled daughter and was completely blind to her faults. Which made him a lot like her own daddy. Lainey might never have been a bosom pal of Cassie’s but she’d always liked Mac, and she’d always been welcome in his home.

It was clear by the faint confusion that showed on Cassie’s beautiful face that she wasn’t certain how to take what Lainey had said. She probably suspected that her “you’re not a day different” was some sort of nudge, but it was obvious the compliment and the prediction of one-upmanship in the aging department far outweighed whatever offense there might have been before it.

Cassie actually smiled at Lainey then and without the sly quirk, it looked disarmingly genuine. “You know, we might drive down to San Antonio to shop sometime, Lainey. Just let me know when you’re free.”

The suggestion took Lainey completely by surprise. Was there something she’d missed? And yet she couldn’t read anything in Cassie’s face now that even hinted she had an ulterior motive, or that she’d only said what she had because Gabe could hear. If this was an olive branch of some kind, it was probably something she should accept.

“That might be fun, Cass. Thanks for the invitation.”

Cassie actually looked pleased, and Lainey realized that she suddenly felt better.

She’d sworn to herself that she’d never do or say or even think anything spiteful about anyone again, and yet her first impulse with Cassie had been to do just that. She’d made a belated reversal to overcome it, and the result was vastly more satisfying than it would have been if she’d kept tossing back veiled insults.

Even if Cassie leveled a few more barbs, perhaps the best way to deal with her was to be kind, to disarm her with an honest compliment of some sort. At the very least, there’d be no petty verbal wars and no guilt involved afterward.

Gabe had remained silent since he’d sat down, though Lainey had felt his constant disapproval.

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