Whiskey Smash (It's all in the Whiskey Book 7)

by Jen Talty

  “But that was her first day really back training. Since then she’s been fearless. Like she used to be. Something’s bothering her, but it didn’t start until right before this part of the competition.” JB covered his forehead with his hand.

  “Has her uncle always been so tough on her?” Sawyer asked, keeping his focus on Hayden as she mounted the bucking bronco. His heart raced faster than it ever had in the past.

  “I don’t know,” JB said. “We didn’t train her when she competed years ago. We knew her in passing and admired her talent. I sold her uncle a horse and thought he was a bit of a dick, but outside of that, we don’t really know him.”

  “He’s kind of hot and cold.” Cheyenne set her baby girl in the stroller. “He’s definitely rough around the edges and there have been times I wonder how much he really cares about his niece’s career or if he just resents he was strapped with having to take care of her when he’d been barely an adult. But this time around, there seems to be a strong bond. However, she’s looking really scared right now. I don’t like that. It’s a recipe for a big mistake.”

  “I agree,” JB said.

  “I’m not liking this conversation.” Sawyer rolled his shoulders as Hayden grabbed hold of the rein.

  “Whatever is going to happen will be over in seconds.” JB hoisted himself up on the fence, swinging his legs over the top.

  “What is he doing?” Sawyer asked.

  “You really don’t want to know,” Cheyenne said.

  “Yeah. Actually, I do.” But when Sawyer glanced over his shoulder, he didn’t need an explanation.

  Kevin was perched on top of the fence, ready to go racing across the hard ground if something horrible happened.

  Just like JB.

  Sawyer swallowed.

  The chute opened.

  Hayden leaned forward. Then back. Then to the right and the left.

  And then she fell to the ground.

  She lasted all of three seconds.

  It wasn’t a good showing, not to mention she fell hard and the bucking bronco nearly landed on her shoulder.

  “Fuck,” JB muttered as he jumped from the fence.

  Sawyer gasped. He glanced over his shoulder as Kevin leaped from his post, racing across the hard ground, calling out his niece’s name. Sawyer went for the fence.

  “Don’t,” Cheyenne said. “She’s on her feet, so let them tend to her.”

  Sawyer blew out a puff of air and nodded. “I think I’ll go get another beer.” Instead, he found himself making a beeline for the inside of the barn. He needed to know she was okay.

  Hayden climbed up on Ginger and glanced toward the south side of the corral. Her heart pounded and she smiled at the sight of Sawyer.

  He’d turned out to be a totally unexpected cheerleader and he probably didn’t even know the extent of the support he’d given her over the course of the last week. But all she had to do was focus on his music and it immediately calmed her pulse and gave her the ability to focus on the task at hand. More than once in the last few days she’d found herself sitting on his rooftop and staring out over the cemetery. They did nothing but chat about the rodeo or the music and of course the occasional hand-holding.

  She even let him steal a kiss or two.

  But that was as far as it went because she couldn’t allow things to get carried away. Not now.

  Not ever.

  Which was too bad because Sawyer was exactly the kind of man she could fall madly in love with. He was kind and sensitive and didn’t judge. He understood that her relationship with her uncle had been complicated and while he obviously didn’t like it, he had no desire to come between her and Kevin.

  However, there were some things that troubled her, like Sawyer’s unwillingness to discuss his family in detail. Of course, she was one to talk. She avoided in-depth conversations as if they were the plague, so she couldn’t push too hard. But Sawyer carried a darkness behind his chocolate-colored eyes and she wanted to know what it was, but she’d never asked.

  “Good luck,” the man holding the gate said.

  She lifted her gaze and her heart stopped beating.

  MacKenzie waved from the fifth row.

  What the hell was that bitch doing at this particular rodeo? Did she really need to come and watch the beginning of Hayden’s comeback? As if the papers and all the major news channels weren’t covering the biggest story in the sport since Cheyenne Hawkins Whiskey broke the world record with her comeback.

  MacKenzie had given Kevin until next week before he had to make his first payment and even if she fell coming right out of the chute on this run, she’d make enough for that first installment with a little more to put away for the next.

  The goal was that in a year, her uncle wouldn’t owe her a dime and in two years, she and Kevin could go their separate ways and hopefully, Kevin wouldn’t go back to gambling and pissing his life away.

  But she would no longer be responsible.

  She sucked in a deep breath and let it go slowly. “Ready,” she said, gripping the rein and holding her free hand high.

  The man lifted the chute and the horse took off bucking.

  Only her eyes went from the pile of muscle she was riding to the woman in the stands. Next thing she knew she was flat on her back, staring at an angry horse waiting to pounce.

  Hayden quickly rolled to her side and under the fence. “Shit,” she muttered as her uncle and JB scooped her up onto her feet.

  “Are you okay?” Kevin lifted her into his arms and raced her to safety. “Are you hurt? Did you get stepped on?”

  “No. I’m fine. Really. You can put me down.”

  “I will when I get you to the first aid room.” He continued to dodge people left and right as he raced through the barn. He rounded the corner and set her down on a gurney, patting down her body. “Does anything hurt?”

  “Other than my ego, I’m fine.”

  “I’ll find the doctor to check you out,” JB said.

  Hayden nodded as she tried to breathe normally, but it proved impossible.

  “What the hell happened? It looked like you choked, but that’s not like you,” Kevin said. “You appeared so confident as you strolled to the chute, but the second you climbed up the ladder, you froze. I’m worried I’m pushing you too hard.”

  “I take it you didn’t see MacKenzie in the stands,” Hayden said as she took the glass of water her uncle offered.

  “You’re joking, right? She wouldn’t set foot in a fucking rodeo.”

  “She’s here alright.” Hayden guzzled, not caring that half the liquid didn’t make it in her mouth and dribbled down her chin and onto her shirt. “She was staring me down. Smiling and waving like she was my best fucking friend.”

  “Shit. That’s not good.”

  “Thank goodness I did well enough to win a good chunk of money. We can cut her a check today and send her on her way until the next payment is due.”

  Kevin squeezed her shoulder. “I don’t like that MacKenzie is here. I’m going to need to deal with her, but I want to make sure she’s not anywhere near you and that will take a well-thought-out plan.”

  “I wasn’t going to tell you, but I have a date with—”

  “I know all about it,” Kevin interrupted her. “And I just canceled it for you.”

  “Why would you do that?”

  “Because he’s a man with his own past and he’s a distraction,” Kevin said, letting out a long breath. “Yes. I’m an asshole and I’m thinking about myself. I get you’re my ticket out of this mess. But you agreed. If you hadn’t, we wouldn’t be sitting here together.”

  “You’re right. I signed on for this and I’m going to help you, but you don’t get to run every aspect of my life, especially who I’m friends with.”

  “Maybe not, but for the next couple of years I do have a say in it and if you knew what I do about Sawyer, you’d agree with me.” Her uncle held up his hand. “He has a dark past. Like I do. Worse actually. However, he’d
never hurt you, and that is something I believe I can say with some confidence.”

  “I’m really confused, Uncle Kevin.”

  He nodded. “MacKenzie is nuts. Certifiably nuts. I don’t trust her and I don’t want her near you, so if that means you go out with this Sawyer guy, then that’s what it means.”

  “I won’t use him.”

  “I need you to. And I need you to do so publicly. I know it’s one more reason for you to hate me. To hate what I’ve done to you. I get it. But MacKenzie isn’t just a woman I—we—owe money to. She’s dangerous. If she believes you know nothing, she can’t hurt you. If she thinks you’re in bed with a killer, she’ll—”

  “A what?” Hayden dropped the glass of water. Thank God the cup was plastic and it bounced on the ground. “Did you just call Sawyer a killer?”

  “It was self-defense. It’s not like he went out and murdered someone in cold blood.”

  Her heart tightened and she couldn’t catch her breath. It was as if the horse she’d just been on sat on her back and wouldn’t get up. “That’s supposed to make me feel better about it?”

  “Does my story make you feel better about me?” he asked with an arched brow.

  Her jaw slacked open.

  “He’s probably a much better man than I am,” Kevin said. “I know why Sawyer did what he did and under the circumstances, you would have too, so cut the boy some slack.” Kevin let out a long breath. “I don’t want you around him because I think he’s exactly the kind of young man that will take you away from what I need you to do and I get that’s awfully fucking selfish of me right now.” He glanced over his shoulder before turning and catching her gaze. “However, that woman is bad news and if I thought she’d just kill me, I’d walk out into the center of that corral and let her do it. But she’d haunt you for the rest of your life and I’ve screwed yours up enough.”

  For the first time since her uncle broke her nose when she’d been sixteen, she believed and trusted every word he said.

  Hayden wrapped her arms around her body and shivered.

  “I need to get MacKenzie out of Idaho and keep her away from you. So, let Sawyer take you out a couple of times this weekend. Hell, if during your downtime he wants to take you do Disney, let him.”

  “But if I’m out with Sawyer, that will draw MacKenzie’s eye. She’ll want to know about him.”

  “If she does, hopefully it will make her feel comfortable in the company we’re keeping.”

  “That would be using him and regardless of what he’s done, I don’t like doing that to him, at least not without his knowledge.” Hayden rubbed her aching lower back, though her ego would take a bigger hit at tomorrow’s headlines when they rip her a new one after being tossed about a half second after she left the chute. She figured she ranked tenth out of twenty overall. Wasn’t the worst showing and since it had been two years since she competed, she really shouldn’t complain.

  But she was.

  Because she knew she could have done better.

  “You can’t tell him because that would be putting a target on his back,” Kevin said. “He’s headed this way and I need to apologize for telling him to take a hike. I’ll be right back.”

  She opened her mouth, but in a flash, her uncle was gone. She peeked her head out the door, craning to hear Kevin and Sawyer’s words, but she only got like every other one over the chatter of everyone else, along with the movement of horses being shuffled in and out of the barn.

  About all she got was that Kevin was just looking out for the best interest of his niece and that perhaps he’d been a bit too judgmental in his assessment of the situation and that he’d like to have a drink with Sawyer to hear his side of the story.

  Hayden didn’t like that idea.

  It meant she’d be kept out of the loop.

  But she’d change that real quick.

  This was her life and if she was going to continue to play this game, she was going to push her way into the driver’s seat.

  6

  If there was one thing Sawyer understood better than anyone it was that abusive relationships were complicated and often those involved loved each other deeply.

  His parents certainly had a passionate relationship when they weren’t fighting.

  His father never grasped the idea that marriage and love wasn’t about total submission. His father thought that if his mother didn’t make him lunch one day, or if the laundry wasn’t completed on time, that she’d been off gallivanting with her friends—or worse, some guy—and hadn’t been doing her duty as his wife and therefore she wasn’t committed to him and their family.

  He equated love with the archaic concepts and values of being a wife instead all the little things that went with being a couple and a family.

  But his father used fear to keep his family together, and that’s not love.

  Sawyer couldn’t figure out the connection with Hayden and her uncle because she didn’t fear him, but she was afraid of something.

  And so was Kevin.

  Sawyer stepped from the back entrance of his apartment onto the grassy backyard. He took the beer that Kevin offered and sat at the picnic table, digging into the chips and guacamole.

  “Thanks for taking a moment to talk with me.” Kevin leaned against the side of the house, nursing a longneck.

  “I don’t take too kindly to people checking into my background.” Of course, Sawyer was being a hypocrite because he’d just spent the last couple of hours poking around the internet looking for information on Kevin.

  And he’d taken it one step further by asking Crew to do a little digging, which if Hayden found out.

  Oh boy.

  Well, Sawyer could kiss goodbye taking that girl out again.

  Again?

  He hadn’t even had the first date yet.

  “I can understand why. If I were you, I would have done more than moved my last name to being my first.”

  “You’re not me.”

  “This is true,” Kevin said. “But I’m no saint. I’ve seen things and done things that I’m not proud of. I’ve had a hard life and I’ve been put in situations that have pushed me over the edge. Considering you were just a kid when you pulled that trigger, I suspect the things you endured to that point might have been even harsher than mine.”

  “What are we going to do? Compare tit for tat here?”

  “Wow. I didn’t expect to get the angry, young bitter singer this evening.” Kevin raked a hand through his wavy hair. “Why so defensive?”

  “You’re putting me in that position.” Not entirely true, but for now, Sawyer was going to run with it. “What is it that you want to know?”

  “You were arrested for the murder of your father, but all charges were eventually dropped, correct?”

  Sawyer nodded. He hadn’t had this conversation in years and the last time he had to relive the day’s events, it wasn’t pretty. To this day, his emotions were as bitter and raw as the moment his mother took her last breath.

  It was one thing to take someone’s life when they were threatening you.

  Beating you.

  Killing your mother.

  It was something else when the person doing those things was your own father.

  And you knew the second you picked up that gun what your intentions were and you knew you’d be able to live with the consequences.

  Sawyer swallowed.

  No way would he be spending any more time with Hayden. There was a reason he didn’t date or spend too much time in one place, and it was time to move on. Boone would find another singer and even if he didn’t find one before Sawyer moved on, Boone’s place wouldn’t suffer because there wasn’t any other establishment in town worth hanging out in.

  “It took a few months before the district attorney’s office decided it was self-defense. Why is that?”

  “Because I didn’t kill him in the middle of the beating.” Sawyer pushed the beer to the side. The last thing he needed was alcohol to fuel the rage tha
t still burned deep in his gut. It was a fire that roared so hot nothing could put it out and he had no way of controlling it or containing it.

  The only thing that kept the beast from taking over his life was his music and the solitude. As it turned out, the more he allowed himself to step out into society, the more the beast his father created inched toward the surface. Knowing you could take a life was not an easy thing to live with and Sawyer’s only regret was not doing it sooner.

  “What does that mean?”

  “Look. This is none of your business.” Sawyer stood. He couldn’t do this. He’d tried seeing a therapist and he couldn’t even get through the entire story in the safety of their offices without losing his shit. “I don’t owe you an explanation of what happened. All you need to know is I’m not crazy and I’m not a danger to you, her, or anyone else for that matter.”

  “Maybe not. But you might owe it to my niece, especially if you’re going to be dating her.”

  Sawyer wiggled his fingers. “It’s best if we don’t go down that road. I’ve been booking some gigs in Utah and there are a couple of places in Salt Lake that want to sign me for the winter, and I’m thinking about taking it. Between that and Hayden’s rodeo schedule, I’d say us getting involved would be a recipe for disaster.” He inched closer toward the back door. “Besides. She’s really young.”

  “So are you.”

  “I am,” Sawyer admitted. “You don’t have to worry about me hanging around your niece.”

  “Okay. I’m going to come at this from another direction.” Kevin maneuvered himself between Sawyer and the back of the duplex. “Hayden has a few days off from training and she needs it. Her body needs a break before she goes back into some harsh training. The next three rodeos are make or break for her.”

  “Get to the point,” Sawyer said. He could see movement inside the house, and he didn’t want to see Hayden. If he got caught in conversation with her, he wouldn’t want to leave. More importantly, he didn’t think he could leave. She had a way of captivating his attention.

  “I just started a new job and I can’t take any time off work. The two cowgirls she hangs out with the most are taking off for a few days. I don’t want her getting inside her head too much. She needs to wind down, and I thought maybe going out with you would give her some time and space from her fall. That way, when she comes back to training in a few days, she’s focused on anything but what happened.”