6. Evelyn
CHAPTER 6
EVELYN
I’m nervous about wearing this dress. It’s gorgeous, but I haven’t worn something this nice since prom, and even then, it was a hand-me-down from my friend's older sister, not a brand-new dress bought just for me.
The other day, Scar had the girls take me shopping for a dress. He gave me his credit card and told them to make sure I bought the dress I liked, not what was the cheapest. It’s a hard habit to break, but he’s working on it with me.
When I saw it on the rack, I knew it was the dress. It’s a deep jewel-tone green with crystals around the neckline. It’s floor length, slits up one side, and the way it hugs my curves makes me look beautiful, not like a can of busted biscuits.
I do one more makeup check and add more hairspray to the curls in my hair, then head out to the living room to meet up with Scar. This will be the first time he’s seen me in the dress, so I really hope he likes it.
My heels click on the hardwood floor as I walk to the living room. This causes Scar to look up, and it’s like one of the movies when the hero sees the heroine for the first time all dressed up. His eyes go wide and his jaw drops. I feel my cheeks heat, and when I lower my head to look at my feet, there is no mistaking the bulge in his pants.
He clears his throat. “You look stunning.”
“Thank you,” I say and take in his dress pants and button-down shirt rolled up at the sleeves. “You look really good yourself.”
He holds up my jacket and helps me put it on, takes my hand, and leads me to his truck that he has already started. When I get inside, it’s nice and toasty warm.
Since that night in the kitchen, Scar hasn’t tried to kiss me again. I’d think he regretted it if he wasn’t constantly hard around me. Or for the sweet forehead kisses he gives me every night, and the way he holds my hand or wraps his arm around me when we are in town like I’m the most precious thing in the world.
Even though there haven’t been any more melt-my-panties-off kisses, he paid all the debt I incurred. Then he made sure I got my credit card linked to his so I could buy anything I wanted or needed.
I’m shocked he’s doing all this before we have even agreed to get married. We still have nine more days to decide, and we haven’t talked about it, but I really want this. I’ve never felt more cared for or safe. When Scar looks at me, it’s the way every girl hopes to be looked at – with heat and desire. But I’m very aware he can still change his mind and because of that, I’m scared to bring it up.
Ruby and Orville wanted the four of us to go to the party together. On the way to meet them in the truck, Scar reaches for my hand. “You warm enough?”
“Yes. Thank you. It was very sweet of you to warm up the truck while I got ready,” I tell him.
He smiles as we pull into the small parking area behind the Merc. Ruby and Orville are waiting in their large truck, so Scar helps me out of his and over to the backseat of theirs.
“Well, don’t you look prettier than a Christmas tree!” Ruby gushes as soon as I’m inside the truck.
“Thank you. I love your dress too! We will look like Christmas standing together!” I reply.
Ruby is in a red sequin dress that peak out under her coat and that will sparkle off any light that hits her. She even has on light-up Christmas tree earrings.
“Yes, we will!” Ruby laughs as Scar gets in the truck on the other side. Once he buckles up, he reaches for my hand again.
“Have you found anything on these guys?” Scar asks.
“No, just that the same company also bought some land in Silver Creek,” Orville says.
“That’s what we found out, too. Though some of the girls say the rumor at the café is they want to bring a hockey team into Silver Creek,” Scar says.
“A hockey team!” Ruby sounds shocked.
“I would think it would be an off-season practice arena because the infrastructure isn’t there to hold a team during the season,” Scar says.
“Unless the plan is to build it all up to host one,” I say, thinking out loud.
Everyone is quiet for a moment, and I instantly regret opening my mouth.
“Well, let’s hope that isn’t the case,” Ruby says quietly.
I look over at Scar, and his eyes are already on me.
“Sorry,” I whisper, and he squeezes my hand.
“Don’t be sorry. You made a good point, and it’s something we need to think about.” He leans over, placing a kiss on my temple.
Until we pull into the Hot Springs, the rest of the drive they talk about Christmas events in town and catch up on what is going on with people I don’t know.
“Alright, so let's head in together and check things out,” Ruby says before we get out of the truck.
We step inside the building that looks like it used to be the lobby and offices of an older but well-kept lobby. It’s packed with people and the reception desk is being used as a bar. We go there and grab a drink when the sheriff walks up to us.
“I just got here, but I don’t recognize a single face here,” the sheriff says.
“That makes two of us. None of these people are from Mustang Mountain, so where are they from?” Ruby asks.
“Let’s find out,” Scar says.
We go off in different directions. Ruby and Orville go to the back of the room, the sheriff moves toward the doors we just came in, and Scar leads me to the opposite side of the room. That’s when, against all odds, I see a familiar face. It’s the woman who was on the bus with me, going to Silver Creek.
“I know her!” I take Scar’s hand and lead him toward the old woman.
“Oh my! A face I never thought I’d see again!” The old woman says when she sees me. She pulls me into a hug.
“What are you doing here?” she asks.
“My fiancé brought me with a friend of his,” I say, nodding to Scar.
“My, he is handsome.” She winks at me.
“I’m sorry I never got your name,” I tell her.
“Oh, I’m Mary.” She puts her hand out to shake mine.
“I’m Evelyn, and this is Scar.” I introduce us, and she shakes Scar’s hand as well.
“Any idea who these people are? I don’t recognize a single face,” Scar says.
“Many of them are from Silver Creek, but there are a lot of businessmen here from Bozeman from the sounds of it. I came with some friends for free food and drinks. If you haven’t tried the deviled eggs at the food table, they're to die for!” She giggles.
Just then, my stomach rumbles, and it doesn’t escape Scar.
“Let’s go grab some food and we can circle back before we leave,” he rests a hand on my lower back.
“Sounds good. Have fun.” Mary winks at me.
Scar guides me to the food table, which is set up with finger foods and small appetizers. We both grab a plate and move out of the way to watch the room while we eat.
“Oh, wow, this food is delicious!” I’m happily surprised by how such small food can taste so good.
“They aren’t trying to make friends in town, that’s for sure,” Scar says.
“What do you mean?”
“My buddy’s wife, Lily, has a catering company in town. If they were trying to fit in, or make friends, they’d have asked her to make the food. Instead, they brought it in themselves. So how do you know Mary?”
“Well, she was on the bus I came to town on. She was nice, shared her lunch with me, and talked about her visit to Silver Creek.”
“You didn’t have food?” he asks, frowning, obviously not happy about my leaving without proper sustenance.
“I had a little, some stuff I stowed in my bag before I left the diner, but it didn’t last as long as I thought,” I admit while finishing off the food on my plate.
“I should have sent you money.” Scar’s mouth tightens and he looks grim.
“Don’t worry about it. If you had asked, I’d have told you not to. Anyway, I was fine. Hey, what’s in there?” I ask pointing to what looks like it was an office at one point, where there are several people looking over a table.
“Let’s find out.” He takes my hand and we go inside.
We find Ruby and Orville on one side of the table and walk up to them.
“Looks like it’s their designs for the hot springs,” Ruby says as we stare at the plans for what appears to be a major resort.
“It is. We plan to revamp the hot springs into a resort that rivals Flathead. It will be great for the small towns around here, like Silver Creek and Mustang Mountain,” the woman says with a fake smile.
“Then maybe you should have invited people from Mustang Mountain to pitch your idea to. After all, you will need their approval, as the hot springs sits on the edge of Mustang Mountain city limits,” Orville says.
“And who might you be?” the woman asks, dropping the false smile.
“The Mayor of Mustang Mountain,” Orville says.
“I’m Wendy and the person in charge of the redesign.” She holds her hand out to Orville.
He hesitantly shakes her hand, but it’s brief. Unfortunately, she gets pulled away before Orville can ask any more questions.
We hang around for a while longer, get some more food, and chat with some of the guests before Ruby says she is ready to head home.
Scar helps me out to the truck, and it hasn’t escaped me that all night he has had his hands on me. If he wasn’t holding my hand, he had his arm around me, pulling me into his side, or he was standing behind me as we talked to people with his hands resting on my waist. Every minute of being so close to his hard body was wonderful, making me feel secure and wanted.
“I have a bad feeling about all this,” Ruby says once we are on the way back toward Mustang Mountain.
We all agree with her.
“I didn’t even know the property was up for sale, and as mayor, I should have. She has to go through us for all permits and planning, and nothing has come across my desk,” Orville says.
“Maybe this was part of the planning to see people's comments and make any final changes before she submitted anything to you?” Scar says.
“Perhaps, but it all seems a little shady, and I don’t like it, not one bit,” Orville says.
Now that my belly is full, and the truck is warm, I’m tired. So I snuggle up to Scar, rest my head on his shoulder, and he wraps his arm around me once again, holding me close to him.