by Becky McGraw
As it turned out he didn't do either, because Cole stood up quickly and got right up in his face. "Ut uh--no way, buddy. You're not going anywhere," he grated then pushed him back to his seat, before going back around to his seat.
"You're no fucking fun, man. When did you get so fucking boring?" Luke asked and plopped back down in his chair.
"About the time I dragged your sorry ass out of jail ten years ago."
"What are you my fucking guardian angel?"
"Not nearly. Your keeper maybe...but it's getting real old, real fast." Cole drummed his fingers on the table, then said seriously. "Luke you're gonna fuck up your career. You worked too damned hard to let that happen."
Luke took a deep shuddering breath then looked into his friends eyes. "Thanks for being here for me, man. You know this isn't me," he said and worked at peeling the label off of the half-empty bottle.
"I know. That's the only reason I'm putting up with your sorry ass."
A few minutes later the waitress delivered their food, and Luke dug in even though he wasn't hungry at all. He needed something to dilute the beer he'd drank and get him sobered up. After he'd devoured half of his meal, he looked over at Cole and asked, "Hey you think Candy gave us the old bathroom ditch?"
"Looks like it. Unless she's passed out in there, she's gone."
Luke was glad she'd left. It saved him the embarrassment and hassle of having to cut her loose when they left the restaurant. There was no way he would have been able to go through with having sex with her. He wasn't in the mood. And she didn't do a damned thing for him.
His eyes moved over to the beautiful blonde talking chattily with preppy boy, and the steak he was chewing turned to dust. Pushing back his plate, he pulled out his wallet and tossed down a few bills on the table. "Let's get out of here," he told Cole and got up.
Cole quickly wiped his mouth and threw the napkin on his plate. "Good idea. You feelin' better?"
"Yeah, but I'll need a ride home." He'd pick up his truck from the station tomorrow. He'd parked there earlier to walk to the bar. Forcing himself to ignore Cassie and her fiancé, he put his arm on Cole's shoulder and headed for the front door. "Thanks for not letting me do something stupid, man."
"That's what friends are for and I'm sure you'll be returning the favor one day."
***
Cassie wanted to vomit. Watching Luke kissing and petting that floozy had made her physically ill. Seeing that had brought back memories of the night he'd crushed her ten years ago. And he'd done it on purpose. He looked to be drunk and he was trying to hurt her. If he'd wanted a pound of flesh from his performance, he'd gotten ten from her.
"James, I'm not feeling well, can we go?" Tears burned at the back of her eyes and her stomach was a burning cauldron of acid.
He looked up from his cell phone and replied distractedly, "Sure, sweetheart." He didn't even notice how upset she was.
He'd done nothing but check for text messages all night, and fiddle with that damned phone. It was like he was making up for the lack of reception at the ranch, by cramming in as much texting as he could while they were in town. She wondered what was so damned interesting that he' practically ignored her all night. "Work trouble?"
He looked up at her again, "Yeah, working on a big deal over in Mesa."
"At nine thirty at night?" She couldn't help the edge that crept into her voice.
"Yeah, it's really big. I'll tell you all about it when you get home."
Cassie twisted her lips to stop from saying what she felt like saying. "If I come home." Now that she'd decided that she was going to break things off with James, there wasn't really anything to keep her in Phoenix. She could sell him, or someone else, her part of the business and move. She'd enjoyed the physical work on the ranch, since she'd been here--realized how much she missed working with the animals. Once, her horses had been her life. Maybe she could expand the farm to breed quarter horses and scale back the cattle operation.
James sighed then stood up and reached in his pocket and pulled out his wallet opening it up then frowning. "Aw, nuts. I forgot to stop at the bank machine earlier. Can you get the tab, honey?"
Cassie ground her teeth in frustration and reached inside her purse for her wallet. James always did this to her, and it really pissed her off. She grabbed the black folder off the table and shoved her credit card inside then waved it at the waitress.
"We're kind of in a hurry...sorry." The girl nodded and was back quickly with their ticket. Cassie angrily signed it, put her credit card back in her wallet and tossed the ticket down on the table. "You ready?"
"You're not mad are you, sweetie?" he asked in a patronizing sing-song voice.
She replied in the same tone, "Why in the world would I be mad, sweetie?"
Cassie's laugh was brittle and insincere, but James didn't notice. She brushed past him and walked ahead so he didn't put his arm around her. The thought of him touching her made her skin crawl. The way he'd acted at dinner made her realize she was right, it was time to put a fork in this relationship. She was going to break up with him tonight. While she had a full head of steam going.
He'd driven her fucking car to Bowie, so she'd have to buy him a one way ticket to Phoenix tomorrow morning and drop him off at the airport in Dallas.
"So who was that guy you were staring at all night?" James asked glancing over at her after they'd driven a few minutes and had just turned on the Old Farm Market Road.
She couldn't believe he'd noticed anything other than what was on the screen of his cell phone. "Old friend," she said shortly and looked out the window.
"How friendly and how old?" He asked suspiciously glancing at her again.
Cassie sucked in an exasperated breath then blew it out and said, "Why do you care James? Really? I'm surprised you even noticed you were so caught up in your text conversation."
"That was business."
Business hell. She didn't believe that anymore than he believed Luke was just an old friend. Cassie would find out later when she got her hands on that damned phone.
"Sure it was," she said breezily. "Let's just drop both subjects, okay? I don't want to fight with you."
"Fine." He stomped on the accelerator and her car fishtailed on the soft gravel shoulder before he corrected to right it.
"Don't drive my car like that." She crossed her arms over her breasts and glanced at him then looked out the window again.
"It's going to be our car soon, Cassie. And I wasn't driving recklessly."
Like hell it would. This car was her baby, bought with money she'd earned. Just like everything else he'd laid claim to these days. Fuck the plane ticket, she was doing this right here, right now.
"Pull over," she demanded.
He looked at her curiously, then did as she asked.
She reached over and grabbed the keys from the ignition, then said forcefully, "Get out."
"What the hell, Cassie?" James barked incredulously.
She clenched her jaw and restated slowly as if he was a little short on gray matter. "I said, Get out! Now!"
When he didn't move, she leaned across him and opened the door then pushed on his shoulder. He finally got the message she was serious and slid out of the seat to stand beside the car.
Cassie yanked her dress up to her waist and awkwardly climbed over the gearshift to settle herself in the driver's seat. "I hope a fucking Coyote eats your sorry ass, James. We're done. I'll be in touch about the business. And don't bother going by the house, the locks will be changed by the time you get home. I'll have a moving company box your shit and set it at the curb next week."
He spread his hands and almost whined. "Cassie, honey, don't do this. I love you."
"You love yourself and my money...and whoever you're so interested in on your damned cell phone."
His face pinched and his lips curved nastily. "I want my fucking ring back."
"Tough luck, Pedro. I lost the fucking ring when I fell off my horse and almost broke my neck.
Not that you give a shit. And besides, I paid for most of it. You charged it on my credit card, remember? Goodbye, James," she said then slammed the door in his face.
Hitting the lock button, she jammed the keys into the ignition. Cassie felt liberated--and laughter bubbled up inside of her as she fired the engine to life and shoved the car in first before roaring down the road, leaving James staring after her on the dark country road.
She grabbed her purse from the floorboard and fished around inside for her cell, and then pulled a business card from the side pocket. Turning on the phone, she saw she still had a little reception, one bar, but it would fizzle out soon, she knew.
Quickly, she flipped the card over and punched in the cell number with her thumb. Cole picked up after one ring. "Cole, it's Cassie."
"Cassie? What's up?" She heard someone grumble in the background.
"I think you should send someone out to the Old Farm Market Road. I just dumped James out there and he'll probably get eaten by a coyote or wind up with cactus needles in his ass."
"And I'd care about that why?" he asked a little gruffly.
"I'm doing the right thing here and letting you know. I couldn't give a shit what happens to him either. Just thought I'd let you know. Goodbye."
Cassie disconnected the call and tossed the phone on the floorboard where it immediately started to ring. She turned on the radio to a country station and cranked it up then sang along at the top of her lungs.
***
"What the hell did she want?" Luke asked then belched loudly.
"I think she's lost her ever loving mind..." Cole disconnected the callback he'd made to Cassie and tossed his phone into the center slot on his console. He picked up the microphone from the dash and keyed it, then told dispatch to send a squad car to go pick up James and take him to a hotel.
Luke sat up straighter and grinned over at Cole. "She dumped him?"
"Out on Farm Market Road. She was just letting me know so we could pick him up before a coyote ate him or he wound up in a cactus patch." Their soft chuckles in the cab of the truck turned into gales of laughter then uproarious hoots and thigh slaps. Cole was laughing so hard he pulled over to the shoulder and leaned over the wheel holding his stomach.
Luke was gasping for breath when he finally got control of himself again. "Oh god, that is too good. I didn't need to get drunk. I just needed to let him piss her off."
"She sounded pretty damned mad. He's lucky she didn't fill his ass with buckshot," Cole said and glanced over at him which was a mistake, because they both started laughing again.
When they finally composed themselves, Cole pulled back on the road and Luke told him, "Damn, that felt good."
"Yeah I haven't laughed like that in forever."
A few minutes later, Luke saw Cole glancing over at him like he wanted to ask something. "What's on your mind? Spit it out."
"Why do you think Cassie left back then?" His friend's voice was kind of somber.
"Who the hell knows...she sure didn't say anything to me when she left, not even goodbye. Why?" Luke threw an arm over his eyes and closed them. He didn't want to go there right now, but was curious why Cole brought it up.
"When you stormed away from the ranch the other day, I stuck around and talked to her for a few minutes. She just said something strange that got me to thinking there might be something you hadn't told me."
Luke opened one eye and stared at Cole's profile, the green light from the dash casting an eerie glow over him. "I told you everything I knew about it. What did she say?"
"I told her that you loved her...always had. She said 'No he doesn't, he proved it to me that night.'"
Luke sat up and turned toward him. "What the fuck?"
"Kinda what I thought, but she seemed so convinced...or convincing."
Luke sat back again swirling her words around in his mind, while he dissected each one for hidden meaning by tying them back to the events of the night Cassie had left him.
It was the night of the Bowie High School graduation and Luke had made plans to meet up with Cassie that night at their favorite spot to star gaze and make out. It was damned hot out that day and he was early, so he decided to go for a swim first.
He'd just gotten his shirt and shoes off when he heard a girl screaming and looked out into the lake to see what was going on. He saw hands flailing and a head go down under the water, so he ran down the dock and dove in.
Luke had been a lifeguard at the Henrietta Rec Center pool during the summer when he was in high school, so he knew what to do. He swam out to where he'd last seen the girl and dove under the water swimming in a grid to try and find her.
His hand finally rubbed against her skin and he found a piece of clothing to grab on to. Unfortunately, it was her bikini top and it had come off in his hand, so he tossed it aside and managed to wrap his hand in her hair and swim with her to the surface. When he got her back to shore, he lifted her in his arms and carried her, while doing rescue breathing on her at the same time. He didn't even notice it was Becca Harvey, the girl that had been after him all summer just to piss off Cassie, until he laid her down on the dock. He kept up breathing for her until she coughed and turned to the side to spit up half the lake.
By the time she came around and help arrived, he knew he was way past late meeting Cassie. He picked up his clothes and looked around for the ring he'd bought to ask her to marry him, but couldn't find it. He hadn't had time to take it out of his pocket before he dove in the water, and figured the pretty little ring he'd scrimped and saved to buy for her was at the bottom of the lake. He didn't stick around to look more, because he knew he had to find Cassie and explain what happened. Why he'd missed their date. After he went and checked their spot on the rocks, and she wasn't there, he rode his motorcycle hell-bent-for-leather to the Double B, where her Daddy told him she'd taken off.
Cole was about to turn into Luke's driveway when Luke vaulted up and shouted, "Holy Shit!" and slapped the dash. Cole slammed on the brakes and Luke slid forward, but caught himself by bracing against the dashboard.
"What the hell is wrong with you man?" Cole screeched.
Excitement, relief and then finally anger flooded Luke's chest and he rubbed a spot between his pecs. "I think I might know what happened."
"What happened when?" Cole asked in confusion staring at him like he was nuts.
"The night Cassie left." If he was right, Luke would be sick that ten years had passed with her thinking what she did about him. It all made sense now. Ten years too late.
***
Cassie got back to the Double B and waltzed up the steps and through the front door. "Daddy, I'm home!" She yelled running through the house and down the hall to his bedroom.
When she burst through his door and flipped on the light, he sat up in bed and rubbed his eyes. "Baby girl, are you drunk?"
"Drunk on life, Daddy!" she told him and giggled. Since she'd only had one glass of wine with dinner, she was nowhere near intoxicated.
"What's got you so fired up then?"
"I dumped James' sorry ass out on Old Farm Market Road tonight. I'm hoping maybe a coyote will eat him."
Her daddy's eyes widened and his jaw dropped open. "Well slap my ass and call me Sally," he hooted. "Come here and give me a hug."
Cassie laughed then walked over and sat down beside him, pulling him into a big hug. "I love you daddy," she said close to his ear and then kissed his cheek with tears burning behind her eyes.
