Winnie was shocked. “Clark, I’m sure Boone didn’t tell them to make up that report,” she began.
“Boone hates Nellie,” he shot back. “He’d do anything to break us up. And before you both say it, I know she has a mercenary streak. She likes pretty things, because she can’t afford them. It’s my business if I want to buy them for her…nobody’s making me do it.”
Winnie and Keely exchanged woeful glances.
“Anyway, she’s furious because Boone checked her out and tried to break us up with lies,” he added grimly. “She won’t see me anymore.”
Keely felt guilty. Although why she should was anybody’s guess.
“I’m really sorry,” Winnie said gently, kissing him on the cheek. “I wish I could stay and talk more about it, but I’ll be late for work. We can talk later, can’t we?” She frowned. “Oh, I forgot! I’ve got to drive Keely home….”
“I’ll drive her,” Clark volunteered. “She can console me.”
Winnie hugged her brother, and then Keely. “I’ll call you,” she told her friend.
Keely nodded. She was disappointed that she didn’t get to see Boone at all, and sad for Clark that he’d been lied to. It didn’t seem at all like Boone to have people make up stories about Nellie.
Clark put her into his sports car and peeled out down the driveway. He was still furious, and it showed.
“What are you going to do?” she asked.
“I’m going to do what Boone wants me to do,” he muttered. “I’m giving Nellie up before he finds a way to destroy her reputation.”
She felt sad for him. “Boone is formidable,” she said.
“He’s too used to getting his own way. He’s run things for so long that he thinks he can run people’s lives, as well.” He glanced at her. “Are you game for a little payback? After all, he’s done his bit to hurt you, as well.”
She felt a sense of dark foreboding. “What bit?”
“He told Misty that you were running after him at the charity dance,” he said tautly. “I told you there was some gossip. She heard it and raised hell. Boone usually doesn’t pay attention to her when she rants, but he did that time. He said you’d lured him onto the patio and flirted with him shamelessly.”
She was so embarrassed and humiliated that she wanted to sink through the floor. That was an absolute lie, and Boone knew it. She bit her lip almost through.
Clark glanced at her stony expression and grimaced. “Sorry. I didn’t mean to lay it on that thick.”
“The truth is always best, Clark, even if it hurts.”
“I couldn’t believe it when I heard him,” he said. “I know you don’t chase men. And you never flirt. When she left, I gave him hell. He just walked away without a word. You can’t argue with him. He ignores you!”
She felt very small. She’d gone running out to the Sinclair house to go riding with Winnie on the flimsiest excuse, hoping to see Boone. And he’d been telling lies about her to his girlfriend. It was the last straw. She felt sick to her stomach.
“Let’s start going out together, for real,” Clark said curtly.
“What good would that do?” she wanted to know.
“It would teach Boone a lesson about trying to run peoples’ lives, that’s what it would do,” he gritted. “I’m sick of him leading me around like a kid. He can’t stand Nellie because he says she’s mercenary. But what is that gilt-edged gold digger he takes around with him, if she’s not mercenary?”
“She isn’t one of my favorite people.”
“Or mine. And now he’s talking about getting engaged,” he muttered. “I heard him mention it to Hayes Carson on the phone. I couldn’t hear everything he was saying, but he sounded furious. Then he mentioned that he was trying to get engaged. I couldn’t believe it. But when I saw the rings sitting on his desk…”
Her heart fell the rest of the way into her shoes.
He sighed. “Well, I won’t live in the house with that ratty woman, and Winnie says she won’t, either. If she moves in, we’re moving out. Boone can entertain her all by himself.”
“I can’t say I blame you,” she said in a subdued tone. “She was willing to sacrifice poor old Bailey just to go to a concert.”
“Something you’d never do in a lifetime,” he replied and smiled across at her.
“I love animals.”
“So do I.”
“So what do you mean, that we’d pretend to go around together, like we were doing before? Boone saw right through it, Clark.”
“He won’t this time,” he assured her.
She puzzled those words the rest of the way home while she endured the pain of Boone’s cruel taunts. The man who’d kissed her so tenderly on the patio of the community center hadn’t seemed like someone who would humiliate a woman who responded to him. But she knew very little about men, and Boone had certainly pegged her for a novice. Perhaps he was just amusing himself. He’d moved away from her when she mentioned Misty, and he’d been remote. Maybe he felt guilty playing up to one woman when he was involved with another one. He had to explain the gossip to Misty, so he’d made Keely the fall guy. Gal. Whatever. She could almost hate him for that. For certain, it brought home the reality of her situation.
Boone was wealthy. Keely was poor. His girlfriend was socially acceptable and pretty. Keely’s father was a criminal. That said it all.
Clark pulled up at her front door and cut off the engine. “We’re going to San Antonio, to the ballet.” He held up a hand when she started to protest. “I’m going to hire a bodyguard so Boone won’t have the excuse that I’m putting you in danger.”
That was a new twist. She felt new respect for her friend.
“And
