One Night in Weaver... by Allison Leigh Page B

was.” There was no point in pretending otherwise. “But things happen. I’m sure he had a reason.” She took another small sip of champagne. “I also wish my grandmother would have come to the reception. Even she would have been impressed with the setup here. Not a single detail’s been missed.”
    Sam nodded, looking around the tent’s elegantly appointed interior. “At least Vivian made it to the wedding,” she said. “I saw her sitting next to Sloan and Abby.”
    “For a while. I thought she’d be more comfortable sitting with them.” Abby was an old schoolmate of Hayley’s cousin from Braden. She’d recently married Sloan McCray, who worked with Sam at the sheriff’s department. “She just wasn’t comfortable enough to stay very long. She claims she has a headache, but—” She waved her hand. “You know Abby’s a nurse. She and Sloan were kind enough to drive Vivian back home for me. She said Vivian seemed agitated at the church, but once they left, she calmed down and was fine when they dropped her off. I don’t know if the headache is real, or if it’s just another one of Vivian’s excuses. When she first came to town, she wanted to know who everyone was and what they were doing.”
    “I remember.” Sam started to prop her ankle on her knee but then thought better of it, tugging with some annoyance at the fluff of skirt billowing out around her slender ankles. “When you introduced us to her at the harvest festival after Halloween last year, she was all about getting clued in to who, what and where. I remember thinking she would fit right into Weaver—even if she does go around wearing fancy clothes—as long as she likes gossip.”
    “Of which Weaver has plenty,” Hayley finished. “She was interested at first. But she’s been getting more and more reclusive. Particularly the past few months. We talked a lot last night and I thought we were making progress.”
    “You did. She came to the wedding. Criminy. Everyone was there. Even Jane’s ex-husband came.” Sam bumped her shoulder against Hayley’s. “Talk about a hottie. Casey’s a good-looking guy, but Gage Stanton?” Sam fanned herself, smiling wickedly. “I could think of a few wonderfully naughty things to do with him.”
    “Tall, dark and handsome does it for you?”
    “Tall, rich and temporary does it for me,” Sam countered with a laugh. “Jane says he’s a workaholic and so am I. It’s a match made in hottie heaven.”
    “Except you live here and he lives in Colorado.”
    “Details shmetails,” Sam countered dismissively. “I hear the advantage of all that money is that silly little problems like that are easily solved.”
    “You wouldn’t sleep with Jane’s ex-husband,” Hayley scolded. “And you know it.”
    “Yeah.” Sam’s lips curled. Her hair was several shades darker blond than Hayley’s. She usually wore it in a no-nonsense, shoulder-length bob, but this evening, it surrounded her head in a tumble of soft waves that she kept pushing impatiently away from her face. “S’pose you’re right. I’m surprised Casey wasn’t bugged by Gage coming, though. He’s Jane’s
ex
. A little weird, if you ask me.”
    “Vivian thought it was unseemly. She told me so when I called a little while ago to check up on her. I told her the same thing I’ll tell you—Casey’s not threatened by Jane’s past, and she’s not threatened by his. They’re adults who trust each other and who’ve made a commitment to each other, and that’s where their focus rightfully is.”
    “How
adult
of you,” Sam drawled. “If my man’s ex came sniffing around at my wedding, I’d want to scratch out her eyes.”
    Hayley muffled a laugh. “Nobody’s sniffing around anyone, Sam.”
    “More’s the pity.” Sam polished off the rest of her champagne and stood. “I’m going for more before they run out. You?”
    Hayley shook her head as she held up her flute that was still more than half full.
    “Lightweight,” Sam