Monroe, Marla - Trusting the Cowboys [Riverbend, Texas Heat 1] (Siren Publishing Ménage Everlasting)

by Marla Monroe

  Lexie thought about the extra tip money hidden away in her shoe. If he knew she was holding out on him, he’d probably kill her. She needed the money, though, in order to get a place of her own, and she needed it for the bus to get away so he wouldn’t find her again. That was where she had made her first mistake, staying in the same town. She wouldn’t do that again.

  They pulled into the drive of the dilapidated trailer, and Lowery cut the engine. She hurried out of the truck but had to wait for him to unlock the door to the trailer. Before she had even crossed the threshold, Lowery shoved her to the floor and kicked her. She balled up, protecting her face and stomach, knowing she had to be able to work her next shift in two days. If she had a black eye, people would talk, and Lowery didn’t like it when people talked about him. And she didn’t like it when Lowery was upset.

  Chapter Two

  Saturday evening, Jared and Quade drove into town for a beer and to shoot the breeze with their friends from neighboring ranches. It had been a long two days since they had been to town, punctuated by birthing difficult claves and rounding up stray cattle. They had three ranch hands, but it took all of them sometimes to keep the ranch running smoothly.

  Quade was looking forward to this trip to town for more than one reason. He planned to see that pretty waitress from the diner again. He hoped she was working tonight. If she wasn’t, he would find out where she lived. And do what? You can’t barge in where she lives and ask her out. Quade huffed out a breath and climbed out of the truck.

  “You heading to the diner or to get a beer first?” Jared gave him a knowing smile.

  “Beer first. I figured we would catch her getting off work and talk to her.”

  “Good idea. Let’s go see if someone knows any more about her than what we do.” Jared led the way to the local bar.

  Once inside, they made their way to the bar through the already dense crowd and held up their hands for beers. The bartender, Harold Brewster, smiled and nodded at them. Harold and his brother Humphrey were married to Cindy. Humphrey was an accountant and had an office in town.

  “What’s going on, boys? Haven’t seen you in here in a month of Sundays,” Harold bellowed out.

  Quade and Jared took their beers and filled the bartender in on the woes of a rancher’s life.

  “Yeah, and you love every minute of it.” Harold laughed and moved back down the bar to tend to his customers.

  “Hey, Quade, Jared. How are you?” Nate, one of Mattie’s husbands, stuck out his hand.

  “Hey, Nate. How are you doing? Mattie working?” Quade looked around for the woman.

  “No, with the new girl, Mattie is taking more time off again. Come on over and join us. I think she wants to talk to you two about something.”

  Jared’s brows furrowed. Quade wondered what Mattie wanted with them. They followed Nate over to where the woman was sitting with her other husband, Bruce. She immediately brightened when she saw them heading her way.

  “Just who I need to see. Sit down, you two.”

  They shook hands with Bruce and then took a seat.

  “Hey, Mattie. How are you doing?” Jared waggled his eyebrows at her. “Finally thinking about letting us whisk you away to our place?”

  “Don’t make me get in your face, Jared,” Bruce said with a laugh.

  “You guys.” She fluttered her hand at them. “I want to talk to you about Lexie.”

  “What about Lexie?” Quade was immediately all business.

  “Are you really interested in her, or are you just making time?” Bruce asked before Mattie did.

  “We’re serious about her. Why?” Quade stared at Bruce.

  “Because if you’re just wanting to get into her pants, she doesn’t need more crap. She’s got enough to deal with without you making it worse.” Mattie poked Bruce in the ribs.

  He scowled at her but kissed the top of her head anyway.

  “What’s going on?” Jared asked cautiously.

  “Mike said her boyfriend was a bit rough with her the other night. Then when she came in this afternoon she was walking funny, like she was in pain. When I asked her about it, she said she was fine, just stove-up from cleaning while she was off work. I don’t believe it, though. I think she’s hurt.”

  Quade immediately jumped up, but both Jared and Bruce stood up with him, keeping him from taking off for the diner.

  “Easy there, big boy.” Bruce placed a hand on Quade’s shoulder. “We need to talk about this before anyone goes off half-cocked.”

  Quade sat back down, scowling at the other men. He didn’t want to do any more talking. He needed to see about Lexie. It briefly occurred to him that he hadn’t spoken more than a dozen words to her and already he was half in love with her. Something about her called to him. Never mind that as a man he detested crimes against women in general.

  “Mike said Lowery got angry because he thought she was flirting with him. He swears there was no flirting, and I believe him,” Mattie said. “The thing is, if you interfere, you could make things worse on her. If you’re not planning on this being more than a few weeks of fun, don’t get involved with her.”

  “Are we through talking yet?” Quade asked with a growl.

  “Quade, don’t talk like that to Mattie.” Bruce leaned forward.

  “I’m sorry, Mattie. I don’t mean any disrespect. I just know Lexie is waiting for that good-for-nothing asshole to pick her up, and there is no telling what he’ll do to her tonight.”

  “She doesn’t get off till ten thirty, so you have time,” Nate assured him.

  Quade sighed and relaxed slightly against the back of the chair. He needed to regain control of himself, or he would scare her for sure. Jared nodded at him as if he knew what he was thinking. No doubt if anyone knew, it would be Jared. They went all the way back to grade school. Quade’s family had been poor white trash living in a rundown shack near Jared’s ranch. His old man worked for them when he was sober and beat on him and his mom when he wasn’t. There were many days he went to school black and blue.

  Jared hadn’t cared that Quade’s family was poor. He had befriended Quade and taught him how to ride and how to be a boy. As soon as he was big enough, he went to work for Jared’s father and took his old man’s place. The bastard rarely showed up to work anyway. So it fell to Quade to be the man of the house while his dad slowly drank himself to death.

  When Quade turned seventeen, his father had died of alcohol poisoning. His mom died two years later of cancer. Quade moved in with Jared’s family, and when the old Bartwell ranch went up for sale, the two men had pooled their money from working the ranch and riding in local rodeos to buy the run-down place. Now, at the ripe old age of thirty, they were self-sufficient and known for their superior beef.

  When Jared’s parents had decided to retire to Arizona where the weather was dry and warm, they took over their ranch and merged it with their own. Now they had one of the larger ranches in the region.

  “How do you know her boyfriend won’t go to pick her up early?” Quade asked.

  “Because he’s right over there tying one on.” Bruce pointed the bastard out to them.

  “He’s name is Lowery, and from what Harold says he spends most of his nights here.” Nate shook his head in disgust. “He’s usually pretty wasted when he leaves.”

  “Not too wasted to beat on Lexie, though,” Quade pointed out.

  “Maybe we should go talk to her while he’s busy,” Jared said.

  “I like that idea.” Quade stood up after downing the last of his beer.

  “Just remember what I said,” Mattie pointed out. “If you’re not going to take care of her for more than a few weeks, don’t mess with her. She’s been through enough.”

  “You don’t worry about her anymore, Mattie. She’s under our protection as soon as we get her away from that asshole.” Quade made his way through the crowd, passing within spitting distance of Lowery as he did.

  Once they were outside the bar, they drove over t
o the diner and parked. Jared touched his shoulder.

  “Remember to relax and try not to scowl at her. She’s not going to be real trusting of anyone.”

  Quade nodded and drew in a deep breath. All he could think about was closing his fingers around the neck of the bastard who’d hurt her. He had to make an effort to calm down.

  By the time they walked into the diner at a quarter of ten, Quade was much calmer. He watched Lexie grab two cups and the coffeepot as they took a set at the counter.

  “Coffee?” she asked.

  “Sounds good.” Quade smiled at her.

  Lexie smiled back then sobered up and schooled her features.

  “What can I get you?” she asked, all business.

  “Any pie left?” Jared asked.

  “Um, there’s apple and a piece of lemon meringue left.”

  “I’ll have the apple,” Jared said.

  “Give me the lemon.” Quade watched as she moved back to where the pies were.

  She did limp, and she favored her left side. Add to that the fact that she was wearing long sleeves on a hot May night was all he needed to know. She was hurting.

  “Here you go. I’ll check back to see if you need more coffee in a few minutes.” She slipped back to the back with the empty coffeepot.

  “She’s hurting, Jared.”

  “Yeah, I can see. How do you plan to approach her?”

  “Straight up. She’s not going to trust anyone that hedges.”

  When she returned to make another pot of coffee, Jared called her over.

  “I know you told us before that you were seeing someone, but we hoped that maybe you would leave him and let us take care of you.”

  “Both of you?” she squeaked out.

  “Yeah, both of us.”

  “Um, thanks, but I’m really not looking for another relationship.”

  “We know he hurts you, Lexie. Let us help you get away from him.” Quade had to try.

  “I’ve got a plan. I’m going to leave him next week when the bus comes through town. I have almost enough money now, so I’ll have it by then.” She smiled.

  “Honey, let us help you now. He’s already hurt you bad enough that you can’t walk straight.” Quade couldn’t stand the idea of her going back to him for even one night, much less three or four.

  “I’m fine.” She lifted her chin and returned to the coffeemaker. She fiddled with it, setting it up to brew.

  Quade looked at Jared. His friend shook his head. There wasn’t anything they could do to help her if she didn’t want their help. It was tearing him up inside, but he wasn’t one to beg. Instead, he dropped a large tip on the counter and nodded at Jared that it was time to go.

  They walked out of the diner about the time that Lowery pulled his beat-up pickup into the parking lot. Jared shook his head when Quade started to head toward the man.

  “Don’t start something. It will only get her into more trouble.”

  Quade knew he was right, but it didn’t make him feel any better. He would think about it some more and come up with another idea. There had to be a way to convince her to give them a try.

  * * * *

  Quade stretched. He and Jared had been working on fences all morning. He was ready for something decent to eat besides their cooking.

  “Let’s head in to town and get lunch. I’m sick of sandwiches, and neither one of us can cook worth crap.”

  “You’re just wanting to see Lexie again,” Jared teased.

  “And you don’t?”

  “Hell yeah, I do, but I was waiting on you to give in first.”

  “Asshole.” Quade grinned and headed for the shower.

  The diner would be clearing out by the time they got there. It would give them a little more privacy to try and win her over to their side. He’d been thinking about it a lot while they were working on the fence line. They needed someone to cook for them. She could be their cook, and that would give her a reason to live there until they could convince her to be their wife.

  With a plan firmly sketched out in his mind, Quade and Jared climbed into the cab of the truck and headed for town. It was two thirty when they pulled into the parking lot. There were two other trucks still there.

  Mattie greeted them with a strained smile on her face.

  “Hey, you two. Decided you needed something good to eat for lunch?”

  “You know we can’t cook worth crap, Mattie. What’s for lunch today?”

  Mattie went over the special then waited for them to order. Once they had finished, Quade looked around for Lexie.

  “I wonder if she’s in the back.”

  “She may not be here yet. We don’t know what her hours are.” Jared looked around as well.

  Mattie returned a few minutes later with iced tea.

  “Where’s Lexie?” Quade asked.

  “She was supposed to be her at two thirty, but she hasn’t made it yet.”

  “Is she usually late?” Jared asked.

  “If she walks she is a couple of minutes sometimes but not much later.”

  Quade looked at his watch. It was two thirty-eight. Not really that late yet.

  “If she isn’t here in another ten minutes, we’ll go see about her,” Jared said.

  Mattie nodded. “I’d send Bruce, but he’s the only one I have here besides me today. Mike had to study for one of his finals.”

  “We’ll see about her, Mattie.”

  As soon as they got their meal, they wolfed it down and gave up waiting on her. It was nearly three now. Quade didn’t like it.

  “Mattie, call the sheriff and ask him to meet us at her house. I don’t have a good feeling about this,” Jared said.

  “Let’s go, Jared.” Quade walked out of the diner and climbed into the driver’s side of the truck.

  After getting directions from Mattie, they made it to the trailer in less than five minutes. It would have been a good twenty-minute walk to the diner from there. The windows were all dark with curtains pulled tight. There wasn’t a truck in the drive, so Lowery was gone. Just as they opened their doors to climb out, the sheriff pulled up and got out. He shook his head at them.

  “What in the hell are you two getting into here?”

  “Lexie didn’t show up for work today. The last time we saw her she was walking with a limp and had bruises on her arms,” Quade said. “I think something’s wrong.”

  “Let me handle this, guys.” He walked over to the trailer door and knocked on it. The door opened with his knock.

  He looked back at Quade and Jared and drew his gun.

  “Lexie? Are you in there? It’s Sheriff Tidwell. I’m coming in, Lexie.”

  He eased the door open and disappeared into the trailer. Quade wasn’t waiting around. He followed the sheriff, with Jared right behind him.

  “Fuck!”

  Quade immediately hurried into the room where the sheriff had disappeared. Lying on the floor between the bedroom and the bathroom was Lexie, naked and all curled up in a ball. There were bruises all over her body, some in the shape of shoeprints on her back.

  “I need an ambulance out at the trailer park outside of town where my car is parked, Lettie. Now!” Sheriff Tidwell used his radio as he knelt beside Lexie’s still body.

  “Aw, hell. Lexie, can you hear me?” Quade was afraid to touch her.

  “Don’t move her, Quade. We don’t know if she has any spinal injuries. Let the paramedics see about her.”

  “Get a blanket to cover her, Jared.” Quade looked up at his best friend. He had tears in his eyes.

  They covered her up and waited for the ambulance to arrive.

  Chapter Three

  Lexie woke up with a headache, hurting all over. She immediately recognized where she was by the smell. She was in the hospital. How had she gotten there? God, her body hurt. Lowery had been furious when he found her money. She still couldn’t believe he had stripped the bed. She had never known him to change a sheet in all the time that she had been with him.
<
br />   She had stashed her money in a Ziploc bag under the box springs. What was he doing looking under the box springs?

  She moaned and tried to turn over, but it hurt too much.

  “Easy there, Lexie.”

  She knew that voice. Where did she know it from? She forced her eyes open all the way and saw the two men from the diner sitting at her bedside. Even through her blurry vision they were easy to look at. Mattie had told her who they were and that she could trust them, but she knew better than to trust anyone.

  “What are you doing here?”

  “We’ve been with you since the sheriff found you unconscious in that fucking trailer,” Quade said.

  “Where’s Lowery?” She tried once again to move, but it was just too much for her.

  “Don’t move, Lexie,” Jared, the other man said.

  “He’s in jail until he makes bail,” Quade told her.

  “He’s going to be so pissed.” She couldn’t help the tears building up in her eyes.

  “Shh. He can’t hurt you. All you have to do is press charges. We’ll take care of you.” Quade slipped a strand of hair back behind her ear.

  “He’ll just get out, and then he’ll be even worse. Oh, God. How did he find my money?” The tears slipped from her eyes.

  “I don’t want you worrying about him at all, Lexie. We’re going to take care of you from now on. You have a home with us.”

  “Why would you get involved with me?” she demanded.

  She knew that there would be only one reason. They wanted her for sex. That was all men ever wanted. Why had she ever trusted Lowery in the first place?

  “We care about you, Lexie. Let us help you.”

  She swallowed. It hurt to do anything. He had really messed her up this time. Usually she ended up in the emergency room for a few hours and she was home again before he even showed back up. This time, it was bad. Her body ached all over. Her head felt as if a sledgehammer beat inside it.

  “Will you let us help you, Lexie?” Quade asked.

  “He’ll hurt you if you help me.”

  “Honey, that asshole can’t do a thing to us. Don’t worry about us. We can handle ourselves,” Jared told her.