Page 3 of The Perfect Hosts
“No, separate. He’s coming in from a job, and he’s pissed at me again.”
“Why?” Madeline asks, though she can guess why. Johanna and Dalton haven’t been getting along for a while now, and though Johanna hasn’t come right out and said it, Madeline is beginning to wonder if there is someone else in the picture.
“Who knows?” Johanna says, rolling her eyes. “It’s always something. Hopefully I can avoid him for most of the night. I’m not going to let him ruin your party. Hold on,” she says, pulling her phone from her pocket and glancing at the screen.
Just then, Alyssa comes bouncing up to them, clipboard in hand, a slightly harried expression on her face. “Madeline,” she says, tucking a wayward strand of blond hair behind her ear. “I can’t seem to find Wes. Any idea where he might be?”
“Oh, I’m not sure,” Madeline says, scanning the yard. It’s hard to tell who’s who with the dozens of cowboy hats obscuring faces. “He has to be around here somewhere.”
Alyssa bites her lip. “I really don’t want to bother you with logistics. This is supposed to be your special night.”
“Excuse me, but I have to take this,” Johanna says abruptly, holding up her phone.
“Another mother-to-be?” Madeline asks.
“Always,” Johanna said with a little sigh. “I’m sure it’s nothing, only Braxton-Hicks. If I see Wes, I’ll tell him to come find you.”
Madeline nods, well familiar with the pesky false contractions that she, too, has been experiencing. As Johanna rushes off in search of a quiet spot for her phone call, Madeline turns back to Alyssa, who is intently studying the sky.
“Does it look like rain to you?” Alyssa asks. “The forecast now says we could get some rain right around sunset.”
Madeline follows Alyssa’s gaze. The sky is still cloudless and blue, though the sun is quickly losing its earlier ferocity. “It looks fine to me,” Madeline says, her eyes trailing back to the waitress.
“I’ll keep an eye on it,” Alyssa says before scurrying away.
Madeline feels a sharp tug on her elbow, and she turns to find Dalton Monaghan. “Where’s Johanna?” he asks, bluntly.
“She had a phone call,” Madeline says, looking up at Johanna’s husband. Sweat beads from beneath his cowboy hat and rolls down his temple. His shirt is damp with perspiration.
“With who?” Dalton demands, squeezing her arm more tightly.
“A client,” Madeline says. He stares down, scanning her face as if trying to figure out if she’s telling him the truth. “Dalton, you’re hurting me,” Madeline says, trying to extract herself from his grip.
He quickly releases his grasp. “I’m sorry,” he says, not lookingthe least bit apologetic. “If you see her, tell her she needs to find me. It’s important.”
“I will,” Madeline says, rubbing her elbow as Dalton disappears into the crowd. There is something much more going on with Johanna and her husband than her friend is letting on. The first chance she gets, Madeline is determined to get to the bottom of it.
She continues to make the rounds, greeting guests and pausing to watch a group whooping and hollering around a woman dressed in Levi’s and a bandeau handkerchief top riding the mechanical bull Wes arranged for.
“I think we should move things up and do the reveal now,” Alyssa says, coming toward her with a frown. “Then we can serve dinner. If it starts to rain, we can move the concert to the barn.”
It seems like a lot of shuffling around to do, but nothing will dampen spirits like two hundred partygoers getting caught in a downpour. “Sounds okay to me,” Madeline says. “I’ll find Wes while you corral everyone over to the meadow.” Before she can change her mind, Madeline asks, “Do you know who that waitress is?” She nods in Mellie’s direction.
Alyssa peers through the crowd. “No idea. The caterer would know. Probably a college student trying to earn a few bucks. I’ll meet you over by the hay bales in a few.”
Madeline nods as Alyssa rushes away. The waitress had to have been talking to Wes about something to do with the catering arrangements. She is being silly. Overthinking things, like she usually does.
Butterflies swirl in Madeline’s stomach. This is it—they are about to learn the gender of this little creature inside her. Will they have a little girl who has Madeline’s love for horses? Or will it be a little boy who has Wes’s dimpled cheeks and stubborn streak?
Madeline wades through the crowd in hopes of findingher husband, but all she sees is a sea of cowboy hats and Gucci purses. A property developer who has been sniffing around their land reaches out a hand to touch her belly just as the photographer they hired snaps a picture. Madeline recoils, turns, and comes face-to-face with Mia and Sully Preston, their neighbors to the west. If the Drake family is a Wyoming institution, the Preston family is a downright dynasty. Sully Preston brokered horse sales for Madeline and Wes’s ranch and equestrian business, but that didn’t last long. Sully was more interested in making money than the health and safety of the horses and their riders. The dissolution of the partnership was swift but ugly. And now the Prestons have shown up, uninvited.
Mia, dressed in cowboy boots, a short denim skirt, and a bustier studded with pearls, places both hands upon Madeline’s stomach. “You are absolutely glowing,” Mia says, her long red nails garish against the white cotton of Madeline’s dress. Beside her is Sully, wearing a black shirt with a flying eagle embroidered on each side of his chest. He’s carrying a large package gift-wrapped in Tiffany blue and topped with a black satin bow. Madeline suddenly finds it hard to catch her breath. These people, thinking that they have the right to touch her. Where is Wes? And why hasn’t Johanna come back? She would step between Madeline and anyone who dared to try to caress her stomach, and with her narrowed-eye stare the offender would back away.
“Look at all this,” Mia says, her overly made-up eyes wide with mock admiration. “I have to say, you’ve really outdone yourselves. I mean, a rodeo? Reba? You two are the perfect hosts, now, aren’t you?”
The Prestons have made their lives miserable for the better part of a year, and Madeline wants to tell Mia to take her husband and leave but is aware of all the eyes on them eager to see what will happen next.
“Why are you here?” Madeline whispers, stepping back, away from Mia’s touch, but making sure to keep a smile on her face.