Mary Beth heard the plates being set down. At some point, the waitress who’d served her was bound to notice that she’d finished with her meal and come over with the check. Unless the other table wasn’t her station.

In self-defense, Mary Beth nibbled on the last chunk of buttered roll without really eating it. She could go back to chasing almond slivers. She looked around without turning around, fixing the location of the exits in her mind. There really was no way to leave unseen except by dashing through the restaurant kitchen.

And Lord forgive her but she had to know what Luellen would say next about Bobby Joe.

Mary Beth didn’t have long to wait. What she heard filled her with fury.

It took all her willpower to stay and not storm out. But she was damned if she would make a scene. Luellen had seen her cry once already, a memory that made Mary Beth feel deeply ashamed of her weakness. Today, though, Bobby Joe hadn’t been the direct cause of her renewed pain.

But once she made her escape, she was going to find him and they were going to talk with a capital T, for what it was worth.

“It’s not my fault, baby. I had no idea Luellen was scheming like you say,” Bobby Joe insisted. “I haven’t seen or talked to her since that night.”

He raked a hand through his hair, which had been and was no longer as immaculately groomed as the rest of him when he’d walked into the restaurant that evening. The place was a lot nicer than where she’d eaten lunch. And just look at him. Nice suit, nice shirt, nice tie. And what a nice lie he’d just told. Mary Beth looked daggers at Bobby Joe.

“Can you prove it?”

“Sure. Just look at my smartphone. Not one single call to Luellen, made or received, since our engagement party. Go ahead. Look at it.” He dug it out of his pocket and handed it over.

“There are pay phones.” Mary Beth waved it away. “Calls can be deleted.”

“True, but I never did, because I didn’t have to. Hell and damn, Mary Beth, you can look at the bill online. Shows everything. My mobile carrier doesn’t delete anything they can charge me for.”

She gave an infinitesimal nod. But she didn’t take the phone from his outstretched hand. Bobby Joe gave up and put it back into his pocket.

A moment of angry silence stretched out to more than a minute.

“Are you going to tell me what she said?”

Mary Beth folded her arms across her chest. “I guess I have to.” She glared at him. “Feel free to check with her and confirm everything, by the way. I may have missed a line or two of her declaration of undying love.”

“Luellen said that?” He stared incredulously at her.