“Men conspiring.” Callie, who had a mouthful, lifted her napkin and hastily chewed. “They’re still worried about that creep, Mike.”
“Rightfully so.” Kam stared toward the muted voices at the door. “Until we know where that jackass is, you have to be careful.”
“He wouldn’t comehere.” At least, she hoped he wouldn’t.
“Maybe not.” Kam rolled one shoulder. “But we’d rather not take chances.”
Good grief, what did he think Mike would do?
“Leave room for dessert,” Addie said, switching the topic. “I made blueberry cobbler and it’ll still be warm. I have vanilla ice cream to go with it.”
“Oh, that sounds good, doesn’t it, Glory?”
“It sounds like pure temptation.”
Kam grinned at her.
Just then, Tanner reentered the dining room, an unmistakableexpression of irony on his face. “Kam, you have a guest. I told her you were eating, but she was... persistent.”
On his heels was a woman Glory hadn’t met. Tall, model-slim, with long fawn-colored hair and dark eyes, she breezed in with familiarity—until she spotted Callie and Glory. That drew her up short and she glared at each of them.
After coming to his feet, Kam put a hand on the back of Glory’s chair. “Shara. What are you doing here?”
“You didn’t call me back, so I came by to see you.”
First Natalie at the reception hall, then Ronna from the hardware store, and now this woman? Kam certainly got around.
Done with her meal, Glory stood. Pride kept her voice even and friendly. “I’ll just take our dishes to the kitchen.”
Callie jumped up. “I’ll help you.”
“Here, now,” Addie protested, scrambling to join them. “I’m the host.”
“And as such, you should relax.” Glory urged her back to her seat.
“You fixed the meal, now let us clear the table.” Callie gave Tanner a kiss, whispered something to him, and then filled her arms with stacked dishes.”
As she was walking away, Glory heard Kam say, “Sorry, Shara, but I’ve been busy.”
“With her?” The other woman laughed. “Get real.”
It didn’t help that even when they reached the kitchen, Glory could still perfectly hear the conversation in the dining room. It consisted of Shara making not-so-veiled insults toward her, and Kam clearly becoming irked.
Callie glared back toward the dining room. “Kam should tell that woman to shut it.”
“Shh.” That hearing thing went both ways. “I’m sure he doesn’t want to be rude.”
“Well, I don’t mind throwing her rudeness right back in her face.”
“Callie,” she hissed. “Please don’t embarrass me.”
Taking one look at her cousin’s expression, Callie relented and lowered her tone. “She’s a nasty woman. I don’t like her.”
“Neither of us really knows her.”
“I know you and Kam have something going on, so stop trying to hide it.”
“I... It’s just...”