by Milan Watson
Lacy’s eyes widened marginally but she nodded before reaching for her phone, and her fingers furiously started typing in what he said.
“Anything else you’d like to splurge on?” Scarlet asked beside him.
Burke didn’t know what her problem was but he wondered how long it would take for her green eyes to warm instead of peg him in place. “Are there any extras you can offer, something to make it special. It’s already special having it here, but something… more?”
Lacy tugged her bottom lip between her teeth but it was Scarlet who spoke first. “Flowers. Alice wanted lots and lots of wildflowers – but since they’re out of season she settled for just a bouquet.”
“I’m sure we can get flowers delivered,” Burke said, turning to Lacy. “Do you have suppliers?”
Lacy nodded. “This time of year it’s pricy, but I think if we add flowers to the staircase, the keg tables, and perhaps even a freestanding arrangement or two, it would make a big difference.”
Burke nodded. “Add them. Another thing, fairy lights. She loved them as a kid, any way we can incorporate some here, maybe enough to turn out the lights and only have the fairy lights and candles?”
Lacy sighed. “Aaaw, that would be amazing. Of course, I’ve got a friend whose father works at a lighting shop in Denver. I’m sure he can help us out.”
“Great.” Burke glanced at the stairs. “Is there a back entrance upstairs – like a fire escape?”
“Why? Are you planning on burning down the saloon?” Scarlet quipped. “You’re too late, Levi already tried that.”
Burke frowned, making a mental reminder to ask Alice about that later. “No, I just think it would be amazing if Alice and Tom could make their entrance from the staircase instead of the saloon doors. Imagine it …” Burke framed his hands towards the staircase. “They’ll stop for a moment and everyone will turn and look at them – before they’ll walk down the stairs as Mr. and Mrs. Walker for the first time.”
He glanced at Scarlet and noticed her rubbing her eye. She quickly blinked and looked away. “There is a fire escape, that’s a good idea, Burke.”
“I thought it would be.” Burke smiled. “Where are they spending the night?”
“Their wedding night?” Scarlet asked with a frown. “At Tom’s place I guess.”
“We can put them up in a room here,” Lacy offered.
Burke walked to the brochure stand on the counter and pulled out one for the Blue Jean Dude Ranch. “No, here. I’ll book them a night here. It ought to be quiet, so they’ll wake up on Christmas morning with nothing but mustangs for company.”
Both women looked at him with surprise.
Burke tucked the brochure into his coat and glanced around the saloon one last time. “Thanks Lacy, if there’s anything you need please call me.” He handed her his card before nodding at Scarlet and walking out of the saloon.
He had barely reached the sidewalk when Scarlet rushed up to him. “Burke!”
He turned and stopped with a questioning look. “Yeah?”
She shook her head and finally that shield she had kept in place lowered enough for Burke to really see her for the first time since she was seventeen. “You’re nothing like I expected.”
Burke shuffled a little uncomfortably. “What do you mean?”
“The wedding… what you just did in there… maybe I was wrong. You won’t let her down; you’re going to make it better for her.”
Burke nodded. “That’s the plan.” His eyes cruised towards her mouth and he couldn’t help but wonder what she’d taste like. He felt his blood heat just looking at her and quickly stuffed his hands into his pockets. “I’ve gotta go.”
Their gazes met but neither made a move to leave, instead they searched each other’s gazes trying to find the reason for their attraction. Burke had never looked into a woman’s eyes and wished he could read her mind, but as he looked at Scarlet he wanted to know her every thought, her every dream.
Would her eyes darken with passion, or brighten? His heart skipped a beat and he quickly glanced away. “See you around, Scarlet.” His voice was hoarse, laced with desire, but he started walking before she could reply.
He wanted nothing more than to pull her into his arms and sample the girl he remembered as a fresh-faced teenager, but this was his sister’s best friend and he had no business wanting a woman he couldn’t have.
Because, he was sure of that. Scarlet Miller was no longer a teenager; she was a hot-blooded woman who made him hot under the collar like few women had before.
Chapter 10
• ---------------------------- •
Burke checked his watch and a grin tugged at the corners of his mouth. Right about now his sister was having her first drink to celebrate her bachelorette. He had arranged a few surprises for her girl’s night at the Horseshoe – none of which he had passed by Scarlet first. He knew he’d probably have to face the wrath of Scarlet in the morning, but for some reason he was looking forward to it.
For a brief moment on the sidewalk she had let Burke see the real Scarlet, and Burke couldn’t stop thinking about what he’d seen. It had been three days since he’d seen her. The wedding plans had come to a slight pause with the end of the week, but next week would be jam-packed with the last few things, the wedding dress most important of all. But for tonight Burke looked forward to spending the night with another woman.
A woman who had been his first love, his idol, his protector, and most of all a woman who had faced hell and managed to walk out the other side. “Want some coffee, Ma?”
“Oh Burke, you don’t have to serve me, I’ll get some if I want some,” Rowena said putting down her book.
She was sitting on the sofa by the fireplace, across from the empty recliner where his father used to sit. It baffled him how his mother, and come to think of it Alice as well, could read for hours on end.
“I’m not serving you, I’m grabbing some for myself and I don’t mind making you a cup as well.” Burke took out two cups and poured the fragrant liquid. He had splurged on decent coffee beans when he stopped by the grocery store on that first day back in town.
“Thank you. I see Pal’s had a rough day. I haven’t seen that dog move an ear in more than an hour,” his mother said, stretching her legs.
Burke smiled as he glanced towards the pup who had taken up permanent residence at the fireplace. “Yeah, it’s hard work marking your territory when it melts away with the wind.”
Rowena laughed softly, shaking her head. “He suits you.”
Burke couldn’t help but nod. He never thought a dog would, but his mother was right. The pup suited him. He could confide anything to Pal and knew it would never be repeated. He joined his mother on the sofa and handed her the coffee before staring into the flames.
Rowena sipped on the coffee before setting it on the side table and letting out a sigh. “I’m glad you’re back, Burke.”
“I’m sorry I had to go,” Burke said quietly. It had been a week since his return to White Horse Creek and this was the first time the subject was brought up.
“I knew you didn’t have a choice.” Rowena reached for his hand. Her hands were small and had become a little bony and flecked with age-spots. Burke glanced down at their joined hands and felt his heart burn with the painful memories of the past. “I just wish you’d kept in touch.”
“Ma…” Burke started, not wanting to go on a trip down the memory lane that had been hell for him.
“No Burke, we need to talk about this. I can see you haven’t forgiven him and I don’t expect you to, but I need to know that you’ll let it go. You can’t plan a future if you’re haunted by the past.”
“Ma, I can’t ever forgive him.” Burke set down his cup and stared into the flames. “All the beatings, the insults, and most of all the threats. I just couldn’t take it anymore, not after what he did that night.”
Burke allowed himself to remember for the first time in years. It had started when he turned nine.
He could remember it as if it were yesterday. It was his birthday party and his mother had gone to the trouble of inviting the entire neighborhood. After blowing out his candles Burke, Andrew, and Colt had gone to play in his treehouse. After everyone left his father called him to the kitchen.
It was the first time Burke had seen his father drunk. John Birkowitz was a big man, and a respected member of the community. That day his father had struck him for the first time because he hadn’t yet put his gifts away.
From there everything changed. His Pa began drinking more, his mom grew quieter, and Burke took the brunt of his father’s temper. By the time Alice was old enough to know what was going on Burke made sure she never saw his father striking him.
His father changed from a loving family man into a monster. A bad day at work, a cup in the sink, a missed kick at the football game, any reason was good enough for John to take it out on Burke.
By the time Burke grew strong enough to fight back the fights got even worse. It was as if his father relished him fighting back. Burke didn’t back down, not once, until his father turned his anger on his mother that night.
Burke was a twenty-four year old man with a job, and a girlfriend he hoped to marry one day. He had come home one evening to a raging drunk. His mother was hiding in her room, the television turned up loud so Alice couldn’t hear what was going on.
As soon as Burke walked through the door that evening the lewd comments started. Insulting comments about Lisa, asking if Burke had tapped that ass yet. The insults had always been aimed at Burke, but to insult Lisa was taking it a step too far. Burke had stepped up to his father and made it clear that one more word about Lisa and he would pay for it. Of course John saw that as an invitation. He still remembered his father’s words. “You should bring her over sometime so I can show her what it feels like to have a real man between her legs.”
Rowena had gasped from the stairs. “John!” Neither Burke nor his father had heard her coming down.
“Mom, get upstairs,” Burke had called, knowing her interference would only make things escalate.
He punched his father so hard his knuckles had ached, because by then John Birkowitz wasn’t his Pa anymore. He was the martyr that lived in their house and took out all his failures on Burke. When John stood up he grabbed a fire poker and charged for Burke. Rowena tried to throw John off balance, causing the poker to stab her skin. The wound had been barely more than a scrape but it was enough for Burke to realize he couldn’t stay there for another minute. His father had begun crying as he tried to help Rowena nurse the wound, while Burke raced upstairs and packed what he could carry in a duffel bag.
He left without saying goodbye.
Beside him now, his mother brushed away a tear. “I’ll never know why he became like that. At first I thought it was his work, he had been demoted for bad performance back then, but it never stopped. When you grew older I thought he was trying to toughen you up, until I realized he was jealous of you. You were the younger, better version of him, the man he never could be.”
Burke sighed, the tears burning his throat. “Ma, it was never a competition. He was my pa, not my enemy.”
“I know. I just… I wanted to leave him but I couldn’t. I had you and Alice… no work experience, nowhere to go… I was afraid, Burke.”
Burke glanced at his mother. He had blamed her for not kicking out his father, but her words rang true. She had come from a conservative family where divorce was akin to murder. “Ma, I would’ve taken care of you and Alice.”
“I know that now, Burke. Time gives perspective. Do you know how much I blame myself for not leaving him?” Rowena sniffed and wiped away more tears. “Every single minute you were gone, I know you left to protect me and Alice.”
“If I stayed I would have probably killed him, Ma,” Burke admitted quietly.
“I know,” Rowena said, squeezing his hand. “That night… with you leaving and me getting hurt… he stopped. He didn’t stop drinking but he stopped fighting. Instead he’d get drunk and wallow in that damn chair until he passed out.”
Burke sighed, relieved to know Alice had never felt the burn of his father’s hand on her skin. “Then it’s good I left.”
“No, it’s good you’re back. Stay, Burke…” The words were soft but almost a plea. “I can’t stand to lose you again.”
“You never lost me, Ma, I just… I had to get away from him and from who I was becoming. I took out my anger on him at school. I’m ashamed of some of the things I did back then, how I treated kids… Looking back now I think I lashed out at school because I wasn’t brave enough to lash out at the man who deserved it.” Burke took a deep breath; it felt almost cleansing to finally get everything out in the air. “This time I’ll stay in touch. You should come and visit me in Florida.”
“I don’t know about that, but we’ll make things right again, Burke. Alice is getting married and hopefully soon you’ll be an uncle.”
Burke chuckled. “Hopefully not too soon. I’m sorry, Ma; I should’ve found a way to make him leave. I was supposed to protect you and instead I failed and ran away with my tail between my legs.”
“Burke, I was supposed to protect you. You were nine.” A sob escaped her and Burke wrapped his mother in his arms.
When her sobs finally dissipated Burke looked up and saw the recliner. “I’ve got an idea.”
He stood up and headed to the kitchen. After finding two knives he headed back to the living room. “Let’s destroy that damn recliner!”
Rowena laughed from her stomach. “Burke, you can’t be serious. It’s a perfectly good piece of furniture… although I must be honest I never liked it. What is that color? Something between turd and mustard.”
“Mustard Turd.” Burke chuckled. He could see his mother’s refusal quickly turn to intrigue. “Ma, that recliner is a memory of everything that went wrong in this family. Look at it as a physical shrink. We’ll kill the recliner along with the bad memories.” He held out a knife to her.
“What will Alice think?” Rowena asked, taking the knife.
Burke laughed. “I’ll tell her I got you a Christmas gift. We’ll find you a new one in the morning.”
Together mother and son walked towards the recliner to slay the demons they had avoided for so long. By the time the recliner was murdered and its guts spilled all over the living room floor, Burke smiled at his mother. “It’s done!”
“Finally.” She laughed. Her eyes sparkled again for the first time since Burke’s ninth birthday. “I wonder how your sister’s getting on?”
“Yeah, I think I’d better head that way and make sure those girls get home safe.”
“You’re a good brother, Burke. You always were … protecting Alice.”
Burke shrugged and walked to his mother, wrapping her in a warm hug. “I love you, Ma.”
He felt her sniff against his shoulder. “I love you too, Burke.”
Chapter 11
• ---------------------------- •
It felt good to let her body to sway to the music. The two glasses of wine she had enjoyed had loosened her just enough to throw her hands in the air as Ariande Grande sang about Christmas.
There was something to be said about planning a wedding in the festive season. She was surrounded by her friends on a Friday night, and for the first time in days she wasn’t thinking of Burke.
As soon as the thought came to mind she shook her head and headed back to the table. When she had first seen Burke in the woods she thought he was the most handsome man she’d ever seen. Since that moment, crouching in front of a bush, she came to know a side of Burke she had never known; in fact she doubted anyone in White Horse Creek knew this side of Burke.
He had always been the town bad-boy, creating trouble and brawling at school. But the man she had come to know over the last week was nothing like the reputation that still followed him around, more than a decade after leaving White River High.
First he had caught her off guard by ca
lling her on her sarcasm and temper, before flirting with her. Then he completely shocked her during the meeting at the saloon. But tonight Burke almost earned wings as Alice’s Fairy Godmother – all he needed was a magic wand. The bachelorette exceeded every single one of Scarlet’s expectations.
Scarlet had arranged the bachelorette; the invitations, the sashes, and of course the venue. When they’d arrived, Scarlet, for a moment thought they were crashing someone else’s bachelorette, until she found the manager who confirmed the luxury gift bags, the open tab, French champagne, and the dancers that drove in all the way from Denver to start their evening with a sexy cowboy line dance – had all been arranged and paid for by the brother of the bride.
Every time she thought she had him figured out he did something unexpected.
“She looks so happy!” Lisa Stokes called over the loud music. Lisa was the town hairdresser as well as Burke’s ex-girlfriend. Scarlet knew someone had to tell Lisa that Burke was back in town, but Scarlet simply didn’t have the courage. Lisa was dressed in pink from head to toe for the occasion, her lipstick rivaling Barbie’s.
Scarlet glanced towards the dance floor where Alice was dancing with a few other girls. Both Lewis and Jasmine Tate had come out from the Double T. Lewis looked about ready to pop and yet she was still dancing and having the time of her life.
Somehow Lisa managed to convince Stacy Flannigan to join them as well. Lacy Parker and Sky Lepenbaum were laughing over pictures they’d taken of the group when they arrived. Altogether they were a group of fifteen ladies, quite a turnout for a small wedding in a small town.
Satisfied with how the evening turned out Scarlet reached for her wine. Two glasses were her limit and she only had one sip left of her second glass of wine. She lifted the glass to her mouth and glanced towards the door of the Horseshoe when it opened.
He stepped into the bar with confidence only he could exude.
His blue eyes scanned the bar before a smile slowly settled on his mouth. Scarlet felt her tummy twist and curl at the sight, even as heat settled low in her belly. Her breath caught, but she quickly swallowed her last sip of wine – to catch it again even as her heart began to race. She tried to drag her gaze from him but it seemed almost impossible, especially when his eyes cruised over the tables before landing on her.
