Riding Bitch by Melinda Barron Page A

stop, the front door of his adobe house opened, and his mother stepped out.
    He could tell she was pissed. Her gaze raked over him and settled on Fee, who still had her arms wrapped round his waist.
    “Mother.” He stepped off the bike and then helped Felicia dismount. “What are you doing here?”
    “Looking for you. Where have you been?” The hateful look she shot at the woman he loved infuriated him.
    “We were riding my new bike up.” He put his arm around his future bride’s shoulders. “You remember Felicia?”
    She didn’t answer his prompt to greet his companion. “I’ve laid three suits on your bed. Please choose one for the gallery showing. I think for the shoot you should—”
    Ash held up his hand. “Mother, I can dress myself.”
    She sighed as if he’d just told her he planned to wear a dress to the event. “Please, Ash, don’t tell me you’re going to wear jeans and boots. Do you realize the people who will be there tomorrow, the amount of money you can make from commissions? This is a big event.”
    Instead of answering her, he tightened his grip on Felicia’s shoulders. “You didn’t say hello to Felicia.”
    There was a heavy pause before she said, “I’m sure Ms. Montrose realizes you and I have important things to discuss.”
    “Felicia and I are going to get married. Monday evening. You’re invited, of course, and so is Dad.”
    For a minute, he thought his mother was going to topple over. Her face turned an ashen shade of gray, and he worried that he’d sent her over the edge.
    When she did speak, her voice was controlled. “I think we should discuss this.”
    “There’s nothing to discuss.” Ash made sure his grip on Felicia was tight. “We love each other, and we’re tired of being apart.”
    Now he could see tears leaking from his mother’s eyes. “Don’t you realize what will happen? You’re well-known now, Ash. When you announce this, the press will dig into your background. They’d find out about the arrest; they’ll learn what happened. It will be humiliating.”
    “For who, Mother? Me or you?”
    Another silence. When his mother spoke again, he wanted to yell. “If she truly loves you, she’ll realize what I’m saying is true. She’ll walk away.”
    “It’s because I love him that I won’t,” Felicia responded. “Ash and I have already discussed all this.”
    That was the only thing they’d talked about during the trip. When they’d stopped for dinner, they’d called Courtney and Doug and asked them to stand up for them. Ash was pretty sure he’d never heard Courtney scream so loud, even at the announcement of her own nuptials. After tomorrow’s showing, Ash and Felicia would ride to Shiprock where they would tell her parents and get her birth certificate so they could apply for the license. Luckily New Mexico was a no-wait state, and they could get married immediately.
    But they’d decided to wait until Monday, to give family members time to come to Santa Fe if they so desired. Something told him his future father-in-law wouldn’t make it.
    “Are you going to tell the people from the art magazines tomorrow?”
    “No.” Ash watched for her reaction. Relief flooded her face, and he was sure his mother would try to talk him out of it before it happened. “We don’t want Felicia’s parents to hear about it from anyone but us.”
    Ash hoped he hadn’t spoken too soon about Felicia’s parents. It would be just like his mother to run home and call them, try to get them to team up with the Chees to prevent this horrible event from ever taking place.
    But then he decided that wouldn’t happen. If she told them now, there was the chance they would come to Santa Fe for the opening tomorrow night, and the press would hear about the upcoming wedding before she had more of a chance to quash it.
    “Perhaps you’ll listen to your father when he talks to you about that woman invading your life again.”
    Ash sighed. “Her name is Felicia, Mother.