Lassoing The Last Dance (Double Dutch Ranch; Love At First Sight Book 4)

by Mary J. McCoy-Dressel

  “While you’re at it, drop the hint we don’t want Randy there.”

  “No, Roxy, you’re the one who doesn’t want Randy there. We all like him. He’s a nice guy. How soon you forget how you lost your mind the day you met him.”

  It was true, and she’d lose her senses upon seeing him again if she allowed it. His longer ebony hair, those damn eyes. Roxanne chuckled to herself. Upon meeting him, she had visualized his eyes as blue, but they couldn’t be further from blue. How did she make that mistake—missing those sexy brown, long-lashed orbs? She had been blinded to his handsome face, that’s how. “I admit he’s a nice guy. I never said he wasn’t. You aren’t making it any easier.”

  “I don’t intend to, either. I saw the way you two were with each other, and how content you looked around him.”

  “The past.” Roxanne held Nora’s sleeve, and her eyes misted. “I mean it. The past. Nothing is the same. Please let it go. I’m destined to be alone now.”

  Tristan came up behind Nora and put his arms around her. “Where’s the coffee, ladies? You just missed Dane and Randy.”

  “We saw them heading out,” Nora responded. “Here, help me carry the coffee. Your mom sent snacks. She’s having a blast babysitting Trista Rose, as usual. I don’t know what we’d do without Grandma Judy.” Nora opened the back door on her side.

  “Good for Mom!” Tristan gave Nora a kiss on the top of her head. “Come on, Roxanne, we’ll help you with the steps. We’ll start a ramp tomorrow.”

  “I don’t need a ramp.” Roxanne pushed him in the arm to clear him out of her way, took her coffee and two loaves of the bread, and headed into the house. “I’m so happy to be here,” she said over her shoulder. Destiny Carlson ran from the porch swing to hold the door open. “Thank you, Destiny.”

  “Hi, Aunt Roxanne.” Destiny beamed with happiness while her blue eyes sparkled in the sunlight. Her long blonde waves shone from the brightness of the sun. “I know you’re not my real aunt, but you’re like my mom’s sister, so I’ll call you aunt.”

  “It’s perfectly fine with me. I’d be proud. You’re getting so grown up, honey. What are you, six now?” she asked with a teasing wink.

  “No. I’m nine!”

  Roxanne scooted inside through the front door. The awful smell of stale cigarettes overwhelmed every room. “I’m kidding. Wanna help me slice zucchini bread your grandmother made? Mmm, and it smells so good.”

  “Yes, ma’am.” Destiny waited for her dad and Nora to come inside before heading to the dining room after Roxanne.

  Roxanne smiled at Destiny and tried to ignore the child’s curious scrutiny. “Let me sit down a minute and drink my coffee before it gets cold. I’ll slice up a couple pieces for you while you wait.”

  Nora pulled out a chair and sat beside Roxanne. “What time will the movers be here with your furniture?”

  “Not until this place is ready. I wanted to have this paint party, and the small jobs taken care of before it got here.” Roxanne looked around. “Before long it won’t look like your mom’s house anymore. I hope not still smell, either. Not much has changed here since you were seventeen, Nora.”

  “It’s due for a change.” Tristan poured coffee before heading back outside. “We’ll finish working on the garage, then we’ll grab a paintbrush.”

  “Always coming and going, huh, Tristan,” joked Roxanne. “You’re sure a busy man.”

  “Yep, got to be. Always have been. I got this family of females here to take care of, ya know?” He turned to Destiny as she stretched across the table for more bread. “Baby cakes, stay out of trouble.”

  She chased out after him. “I’m helping you and Uncle Jase, Daddy.”

  Nora stretched out her legs at the table. “I want to get back to Randy.”

  “No, it isn’t necessary.” Roxanne rose from the chair and opened a cupboard door to peek inside. “Yuck! Even after cleaning, it smells like cigarettes in there. I never noticed the smell when I smoked myself.”

  “At least Mom quit smoking. We’ll strip the carpet and toss it out.” She stood. “Listen to me anyway about Randy. You lived far away and couldn’t have a normal relationship, but you’re here now and nothing should stop you. And what about the times you visited each other. Randy wore a smile for a week afterwards. I bet you did.”

  “So what!” she barked, slamming the cupboard. “I told you, nothing is the same now. Look, I can’t do what I love anymore. Dancing is over. Men are over. My life is over. Why can’t you get it?”

  Nora narrowed her eyes in the most loving kind of way a frustrated person could. “Roxanne Marie Connor you’re talking foolishly. Life is not over.”

  “Yes, it is. Nate Evers ended my life when he left me to die on the road.” Roxanne willed the fateful image out of her mind, but it never worked.

  Nora gripped Roxanne’s shoulders. Shook her. “Look in the mirror. You didn’t die! By doing this, you’re letting him win. Look how far you’ve come.”

  Flipping Nora’s hands off her shoulders, Roxanne turned away and placed her hands against her forehead. “Oh, Nora, you just don’t understand.” Be strong. Don’t cry.

  Nora rested her hand on Roxanne’s shoulder. “I understand. Remember when you found me in the barn with my stepdad? Did you let me give up? I won’t let you, either, no matter what.”

  She did everything she could to prevent crying. Roxanne lifted her arms in defeat. “What do you want from me?”

  “What do you want from you?”

  She wanted Nora to get off the damn subject. Jase and Tristan plowed through the back door. Thank God! What had she wanted for, or from, herself now? Too much to hope for. Randy Drake? Happiness? A safe environment. Maybe in another time and place.

  But this was another time and place.

  Her dad always said she needed something to fall back on in case a dance career failed. Hah, how’d he know? After her dancing gigs took off, she bought a storage unit business. It took little work, and brought in a lot of steady money to suffice between shows. Luckily, she had found good managers to run it while she had recuperated, and now lived here. Tristan almost knelt to get through the doorway with Destiny on his shoulders. “There you go, little girl. You’re getting too big for this. Go wash your hands.”

  “I’ll go with you, Destiny,” Jase said, following. “Crud is on my hands, too.”

  Tristan went to the sink to wash his hands and stopped to give Nora a kiss. “Everything okay?”

  “Yep. I’ll start taping for the paint. We should get done quickly with all of us working. Your mom will be by to pick up Destiny later.”

  Jase came back into the room. “We’ll have this done tonight. Dane got his best friend, Wade Emory, to come over but we might have to buy extra beer.”

  “Not a problem, Jase.” Nora went to the table and removed a flyer for pizza. “We’ll order this for dinner later, so we’re all set. Wade doesn’t drink a lot that I know of.”

  Tristan chuckled. “He will—or, err, we all will when we’re together.”

  “Oh, fabulous! Having everyone drunk should make for a cool paint job.” Roxanne smiled at Tristan then followed Nora out of the room. In the living room, she scanned the overcrowded assortment of nasty smelling furniture. This room would be painted eggshell with a dark blue accent wall opposite the large window. “I’ll help you tape the walls in this room, but only if you stop talking about Randy.”

  Yanking a piece of tape off the roll, Nora frowned. “Roxanne, when did you turn into a smart aleck?”

  “I’ve always been one.”

  “Now, that’s a lie. You’re the sweetest person I’ve ever known. I suppose it works as a good shield, though, girlfriend.” Nora smiled.

  Roxanne smiled back. Nora was too good of a friend to scorn, but maybe the sweet person was someone from yesterday. Maybe, she didn’t have it in her to care anymore.

  Chapter 2

  Late that night, Randy and Dane unloaded the horses, and he hadn’t much ex
pected to come back with one for himself. The opportunity was too good to pass up after watching the buckskin single-footing stallion. His four-beat gait was similar to the Missouri Fox Trotter or Tennessee Walking Horse. The stallion closed in on sixteen hands. Randy outbid Dane for it.

  They laughed about it over a couple beers at the sports bar after Randy convinced Dane it wouldn’t be a good horse for Gracelyn. It was half-ass true. Come to find out, Dane never wanted it, but he couldn’t pass up a chance to razz the hell out of Randy about losing out.

  Randy rolled into his drive a happy man until he pulled up to the house. Kim had herself parked on the porch chair as if she owned the place. If he had known, he would’ve killed the headlights and drove off into the desert, and maybe over a damn cliff.

  Leaping from the second to last step, she rushed toward him and wrapped her arms around his neck. Randy removed them and took a step back. “Why are you here?”

  “I needed to see you.” She tilted her head, smiled, and blonde hair fell across her eye. She stepped closer. “Come on, Randy. I brought a bottle of wine. Your favorite.”

  He dragged his feet to the porch and sat. No way was he about to unlock the house. His bed was what he wanted, alone tonight. While glancing upward at the sprinkling of stars, he said quietly, “You stuck around long enough to know I don’t have a favorite wine, Kim.”

  “Everyone likes wine. I’ll get it from my car. You go get the glasses.” On the way, she turned abruptly. “We were together for ten months. That’s a long time.”

  Eleven. “It was a long time, and most of it was fun. Then you left nearly three years ago.” And turned into a drunk. What didn’t she get about him being over her? “Kim? Get in your car and go home. Today was a long day.” What if he had come home with someone? Coming home with someone these days was unlikely.

  He must’ve had an invisible sign taped to his back saying kick me when I’m down, for he didn’t have a line of ladies waiting at his door. This had to stop. She had no right. He hated to have an attitude toward her, and to be harsh, but she never took the hint. He didn’t want to be with her.

  Kim sauntered back to where he sat on the step. She leaned forward, placed her hand against his face, and meant to kiss him, but stopped short enough for her low-cut top to fall open. “Come on, baby.”

  Randy peered into her blue eyes, then brushed long hair over her shoulder. Grasping her forearm, he pulled her hand away from his face. “No. I’m going to bed.” He walked her to the car then leaned against it and still held her hand, but released it to cup her face. He stared into her eyes. Her breath smelled of alcohol. “We can’t do this. We can’t have a relationship again. It’s been over. Admit to yourself you don’t know what you want—”

  “I want you.” She glanced off to the side.

  “No, you don’t. You want me when there is no one else. I understand you don’t want to be alone, but you didn’t want to be with me.”

  “You’re wrong.”

  Randy opened her door and motioned for her to get in. She didn’t seem drunk, but might’ve guzzled wine from the bottle before he had arrived home. “You deserve to be with someone you can really love.”

  “Randy. It was a mistake to leave you.”

  “I know. You proudly cheated on me because you wanted more than what I have to offer. Leave the cork in the bottle for the right person. Drive safe.” Closing the door, he waited until she fumbled with the keys before starting her car. Yeah, their relationship had been short as far as relationships went, but he could’ve fallen in love with her in time. Maybe it was the reason it had hurt so much when she left. More so, for the reason she left. Then Roxanne Connor had come along some months later. Kim waved and backed up to turn around.

  Standing under starlight, he reflected on Roxanne again. Now there’s a woman he wouldn’t mind holding, like they’d done under both an Oklahoma and Arizona sky.

  ***

  Early the next morning, Randy put his paint supplies away and tucked the easel into a corner out of the way. For a moment, he stared at the painting. Mountains looked okay. It needed a little touch-up on the one cactus, but the rest didn’t look too bad. Tomorrow, or later, he’d work on the clouds. He dressed and headed to town.

  Today he shopped at the local market out on U.S. 60. At the end of the bread aisle, he spotted Nora. Was Roxanne with her? Instead of saying anything, he pretended to buy donuts.

  “Randy! Hi there.” Nora pushed her cart beside his. “You’re here early.”

  “Hey, Nora.” He nonchalantly glanced down the aisle. “Yeah, I needed some groceries and wanted to get them before getting dirty and grimy from ranch work.”

  “Great. I’m buying things for dinner.”

  “Me too. Did Tristan tell you about the horse I got at the auction? He saw it over at Dane’s last night.” Small talk with Nora now? He didn’t want to blurt it out, but hell, it came out on its own. “How come you didn’t tell me Roxanne was moving back?”

  Nora glanced away, obviously contemplating and uncomfortable because he’d caught her off guard with the truth. Good. “Never mind, it doesn’t matter. I better get back home. I have extra work to do today to make up for being gone yesterday.”

  “She asked me not to tell you, Randy. I didn’t agree, but she’s my best friend and she trusts me.” A quick glimpse at him was all she had before switching her gaze to an elderly man up the aisle.

  “I get it, although I’d like to know why she wanted to stop seeing me.” He tossed the donuts into his shopping cart and grabbed another one. Chocolate. Why had he said that anyway?

  “It’s such a long story, and she’s the one who has to tell you. I suggest…” Nora surveyed the selection of baked goods and grabbed a box of donuts. Sighing, she set her foot on the back of the cart. “She’ll be mad at me for saying this, but I suggest you find a way to make her tell you her story. It’s out of my hands, Randy. I have nothing else to say.”

  Randy peered into her concerned eyes. She had wanted to tell him. So, there is a story. “You have a good day. I’ll see you around the ranch later.” He headed down the aisle.

  “Randy? Come for dinner?”

  Coming to a halt, he peered over his shoulder. “Who’s all invited?” Like he didn’t know.

  Nora hesitated and her lip curled downward as her shoulder slumped. “E-everyone.”

  “How about a rain check?” God knows, he wanted to go if Roxanne was going to be there, but the flip side of his rationale wouldn’t give in. She didn’t want to see him.

  “All right, but the invitation is open. Six-thirty at our place.”

  “Gotcha.” He hustled to the meat aisle to grab food that would take a long time to cook to keep him occupied. A big kettle of vegetable beef soup sounded perfect.

  Not long after he arrived home, Tristan pulled into the driveway and carried the last bag from the back of Randy’s truck. “Shopping early, huh?”

  “Nora tell you she saw me?” Randy proceeded to put cold items into the refrigerator. “I don’t know what the big secret is concerning Roxanne. You all act like there was something going on between us, like it’s my business.”

  “Admit it. There was something going on. The two of you could barely keep your hands off each other when together.” Tristan removed his hat and set it down on its crown. “I didn’t come over here to argue with you. I came to reissue the invite to dinner.”

  Randy stopped putting food away, closed the refrigerator door rather hard, and turned around. “Why? She doesn’t want to see me. You guys know more about it than I do. Stop hounding me about it.”

  “Will you shut up and listen, man? We’re trying to do something about it, dammit.”

  “Again, why?” He dumped a box of dog treats into the plastic treat container that looked like a dog itself, for Dane, or his buddy Jake’s dogs. “You kept it quiet about her moving back, and now you want to get us back together? Bullshit, Tristan.”

  Tristan slid his fingers through his
hair. “That’s right. Maybe Roxanne doesn’t know what’s good for her. She needs a little shove, kind of like those horses you train.”

  “I don’t know what the hell to do or think.” Randy pulled out a chair at the table indicating for Tristan to take a seat. “Want some iced tea or something to drink? It doesn’t match your mom’s but it’s cold.”

  “Sure, but I can’t stay long. The farrier will be along in about thirty minutes.”

  “Might as well have a sandwich while you’re here. I’ll throw you one together. I skipped breakfast this morning.” Randy picked up the bags of dry staples and moved them into the pantry and left them to sit. He took sandwich fixings out, and began to slice the avocado into thin slices.

  Tristan reached for a slice off the cutting board. “All I can tell you is Roxanne has had a horrific eight months. Probably for longer than what I know.”

  “Her ex-husband giving her trouble again?” He spread mayo onto rye bread and stacked it with tomato, lettuce, the avocado, and sliced turkey with pepper-Jack cheese, set it on a plate, and slid it in front of Tristan. Then he made one for himself.

  “You could say her ex is involved, yeah. Hey, that’s a real nice horse you picked up yesterday. I can’t believe Dane let you outbid him.”

  Randy laughed. “I suppose I’ll never hear the end of it. It was all a show.”

  Tristan took a bite and then a drink of iced tea. “About dinner. I’m just trying to help people who might not know they want help.”

  “I’ll pass on dinner this time—”

  “Why not go to her house? What’s she going to do, kick your ass off the porch?” Tristan chuckled. “All kidding aside. Give it a try. You know you liked her.”

  High school behavior. Randy shook his head and continued to eat as her image formed in his mind. What would it hurt to stop by her house? To welcome her back to Canyon Junction. “I might go see her, but don’t expect me for dinner.” Randy left half of his sandwich and got up to put the food away. He set his hands against the edge of the table. “You want anything else before I put this away?”