CHAPTER SEVENTEEN #3
I glanced at Carrie and had to choke back a laugh. It was clear from the look on her face that she hadn’t invited Gemma to help with decorating. “I’m sorry, Gemma. Did you sign up for the decorating committee?”
Gemma, a pretty blonde who’d had a significant amount of plastic surgery over the years, had been divorced three times already even though she was roughly the same age as Sadie and her friends.
She was rather well-known for being a gold digger.
Though I wasn’t sure she needed to be anymore.
The rumors were that she’d gotten excellent divorce settlements from all three of her older, rich ex-husbands.
She laughed. “Oh, no. This isn’t my thing, but I heard there was someone here I was interested in.” She boldly and unapologetically stared at Tim.
He got a ‘what the hell’ look on his face. Then he just gave her a kind of half wave. “Hey, Gemma.” Then he went back to working on setting up the wrought iron fencing Carrie had ordered for the event.
“So, Natalie,” Blair Hastings, one of Sadie’s close friends, said, “tell us more about this guy you’re dating.”
“Blair, leave her alone,” Carrie laughed. “You know she’s private.”
“Is it just one guy?” Tim said, sounding aghast.
All eyes turned and stared at him, then swiveled to me.
My eyes widened. “Um… yes.”
Tim frowned. “You mean all those dates you’ve been going on have been with the same guy for months?”
“I guess I thought you knew that.” Not that it was really his business.
He didn’t say anything, but his mouth settled in a firm, thin line. As soon as he was done with the fencing, he started flirting with Gemma Reardon. He’d seemed completely disinterested just a few minutes ago.
Weird. But whatever.
I tried not to care, as I saw the two of them laughing and talking together, Gemma’s hands drifting all over his arms and even his chest. He didn’t back away.
“Maybe you could take me home tonight,” I heard Gemma say, giggling.
“Sounds good,” Tim said, looking at me. His eyes were dark and snapping in that way they did when he was angry.
What the hell did he have to be angry about?
The night wore on, and I chose to ignore Tim and Gemma while I worked on helping Carrie make sure everything was in place with the caterers and the auction items.
It was finally time to go. “You’ve done an amazing job, Carrie,” I said. “Tomorrow is going to be wonderful.”
“Thanks,” she said gratefully. She looked exhausted and kind of… sad. It had been obvious when her husband Thatcher had briefly stopped by that they were having some sort of problem in their marriage. She was a wonderful person, so I hoped they were able to work things out so she could be happy.
“Hey, Nat, can you get a ride home with one of these losers?” Tim called out as he had his arm around Gemma Reardon.
“I don’t need a ride. My boyfriend is picking me up.”
I saw Tim’s face go pale at the word boyfriend. I raised my eyebrows. What was his problem?
We all moved into the parking lot, and everyone hung around talking until Heath pulled in.
“Oh my God,” Gemma said as he got out of his luxury SUV. It was one of his other ‘weekend’ cars. “It’s that handsome surgeon from Halliwell Hospital. Hello, Heath,” she called waving and sticking out her ample chest.
He gave her a half-hearted wave and a smile, obviously trying to place her.
She sashayed over to him. “I’m so glad you’re here.”
“Just here to pick up my girl,” he said, pulling me to him for a kiss.
When we pulled apart, I said, “Everyone, this is Heath Reyes. I work with him at the hospital, and, well, we’ve been dating for several months now.”
I introduced him to everyone and stopped in front of Tim last. He was in his most imposing stance and frowning.
I ignored that. “And Heath, this is my best friend, Tim.”
“Ah, the best friend. I’ve heard a lot about you,” he said, sticking out his hand for a shake.
Tim looked at his hand like it was a snake.
I thought he wasn’t going to shake it for a minute, but then Sadie elbowed him. He complained about her hurting him but finally gave Heath a half-hearted handshake.
As we left, I heard Tim telling Gemma Reardon he wasn’t up for taking her home.
“So,” Heath said, gripping the steering wheel tightly as he drove off, “he’s in love with you, huh?”
“What? Tim? No. Believe me, he’s not. He’s just protective, that’s all.”
He gave me a disbelieving look but dropped it. “Are you excited about the ball tomorrow?”
“I am. I can’t wait for you to see my dress. It makes me feel like a princess.”
“I can’t wait,” he said as he pulled in the driveway. He reached for me, and soon we were making out in his car.
“Do you want to come in?” I asked.
He was breathing a little hard. “I’d love to, believe me. But I’ve got the early shift in the morning to make sure I’m not on call during the ball.”
I nodded, a little disappointed. “I get it. But hey, tomorrow will be fun.”
“It will.” He gave me one more kiss. “Bye, baby.”
“Bye,” I got out and waved as he pulled out of the driveway.
I wondered if Tim had a date for the ball tomorrow. Was he going to go with Gemma Reardon?
Why did I care?