Black Hills Rebel

by A. C. Wilson

  Randy reached behind the seat and grabbed the handle of his duffel bag. He pulled the keys from the ignition and opened the truck’s door. Garrett was coming across the parking lot with a grin on his face.

  “What has you all chipper?” Randy asked as his brother-in-law came closer. Garrett’s grin only widened.

  “How do you feel about a suite?” Garrett chuckled as he went to the passenger side and opened the door. Randy creased his forehead in confusion at what exactly Garrett was talking about.

  “Come again?” Randy hit the remote locks and stuffed the keys into his front pocket. Garrett closed the door and came around the front of the truck.

  “Cute girl at the desk gave us a suite. So that means a queen sized bed and a pull out couch.” Garrett gestured between them with his index finger and Randy lifted a brow when Garrett indicated he had the queen bed and Randy had the couch. “Or vice versa.” Randy could only chuckle at Garrett’s ability to charm his way into things.

  “You never cease to amaze me.” Randy said as they walked back to the hotel with cheesy grins on their faces.

  A half hour later they had ordered pizza and wings to be delivered to the hotel room. Randy grudgingly took the couch or pull out bed just because he was sure he wouldn’t be sleeping anyway. There was a high probability that he would be watching some less than informative infomercials.

  “I’m going to run across the road to the Kwik Mart to get something to drink. Do you want anything?” Garrett asked as he plucked his hat from the table and checked his wallet for cash. Randy shook his head and grinned.

  “Maybe a beer or two.” He plopped down on the couch and found the remote control. Garrett chuckled.

  “Oh right! Pizza and beer.” His brother-in-law was absurdly plucky today and Randy was starting to wonder what this was all about. Garrett was generally the moody one and Matt was the overly optimistic one. More than one red flag had popped up since they’d left Hot Springs.

  “Hey!” Randy grabbed the keycard off the couch cushion and tossed it at Garrett. “I’m going to hop in the shower.” The key floated and then fell through Garrett’s fingers when he reached for it.

  “Good idea. I didn’t want to mention it before but you sort of smell.” Garrett cocked his head to the side with a grin plastered on his face. Randy gave him a dirty look and threatened to throw the remote at him before Garrett jerked the door shut. Randy could still here the outright laughter down the hall as his brother-in-law left.

  Rolling his eyes, he got up off the couch and tossed the remote onto the cushions. He picked up his bag and headed for the shower. He turned his head to sniff at his armpits and wrinkled his nose. Garrett was right. Randy did smell. Shaking his head, he thought about how the previous night had gone. He had spent the first part in a bar wondering just what was going on with his wife and Colt Cavanaugh. The second part he had spent in an argument with Nora and then slept a couple of fitful hours cramped in his pickup. He wished he could rewind the past twenty-four hours leaving in his head what he knew now.

  Hindsight is twenty-twenty. Wasn’t that the truth? He pulled back the curtain on the tub and turned the knobs until steam was filling the room. It was one thing to wish back all the things he had said to Nora last night. It was quite another to wish it all undone. He would pray that if it went south and Nora chose to leave that he would not regret their marriage.

  Even if it has been a lie? It was a fair question, but not one he wanted to answer right now. Randy stripped his jeans off and pulled his shirt off too. The steam was already covering the mirror. Reaching for the soap he carried in his bag, Randy got into the tub and stuck his head under the hot water. It was nice to enjoy the pulsing spray on his skin. He ducked his head under the water and closed his mind to everything. It became somewhat of a trance with the water massaging his scalp before he heard a loud knocking on the door.

  Every sense was brought to full awareness as he listened. It came again and it was definitely from the front door. Cursing under his breath, Randy quickly turned the knobs and pulled the shower curtain back. Water dripped off of him and onto the floor. His barefoot slipped as he hurried to grab a towel and wrap it about his waist. Randy cursed again. He had totally thought Garrett would have been back by the time the pizza delivery man came.

  Apparently not! Randy grimaced as he reached for his wallet on the side table by the couch and hurried to the door.

  “Just a minute.” His voice carried much too loudly and it only added to his frustration. Blowing out a breath, Randy unbolted the hotel door, turned the knob and swung it open. His body stilled and his mouth dropped open. He knew that was the case by the surprised look on the young woman’s face. Randy reached down to make sure his towel was still in place and luckily it was. Had his towel fallen to his ankles, it would have made his mental breakdown complete.

  “I am so sorry.” The woman looked frazzled and her cheeks fairly glowed with embarrassment. “Did you order pizza?” She asked as she tried to keep her gaze anywhere other than his naked chest and towel.

  “Yes.” Randy nodded and brought his wallet up. “How much do I owe you?” Any other scenario and the fact that he had his wallet out might have looked bad. She gave him the total and he pulled bills from his wallet. He had to take his hand off his towel to give her the correct change, but it started to slip. Randy closed his eyes tightly and clenched his jaw to keep from swearing again. A deep chuckle came from further down the hallway and Randy threw a glare toward Garrett. The poor woman looked mortified.

  “Thank you and keep the change.” His voice was raspy and a bit edgy too. Her smile was more of a grimace as she took his money and handed over the boxes.

  Hot boxes! Randy turned abruptly into the room and left Garrett laughing his butt off in the hallway.

  “Wait! That was awesome!” Garrett was holding his side as he walked into the room and all Randy had wanted to do was throw his brother-in-law out.

  “That was not funny! That poor girl was embarrassed.” Randy ranted as he put the boxes down.

  “She was embarrassed? You should have seen your face!” Garrett started laughing again and Randy wanted to punch him right in the face. “For a moment you looked like you wanted her to see what was underneath that towel.” Blue eyes sparkled with mischievous humor, but Randy wasn’t thinking any part of that encounter to be funny.

  “I’ve never been unfaithful to your sister and the fact that you think I would is completely insulting.” Randy stumbled over the words and it only hit him after he had said it all that it sounded stupid. Randy swore again and stomped off to the bathroom to put clothes on.

  “Hey man! Randy?” Garrett called after him, but Randy couldn’t stop or turn around. There was so much trouble and now this just happened to be the thing that tilted the scales.

  Randy pushed the bathroom door open and heard it smack against the wall with a satisfying thump. He stopped next to the sink and put his hands up on top of the white counter. Pressing his palms flat, he took a good look at the man looking into the mirror. Taking a deep breath in through his nose, Randy held it and then let it out. He was praying that clarity would find him in the midst of the madness that was all but consuming every feature of his life. He took a few more breaths and each time he felt the tightness of his anger slip. He discarded the bath towel and put on his clothes. His basketball shorts and t-shirt made up the relaxed man in the mirror. It was time to go face his brother-in-law and try to explain the blow up.

  Garrett was pulling a slice of pepperoni and sausage pizza out of the box. The look on his face when he looked at Randy was priceless. It really made Randy feel like an ass for being so curt.

  A little teasing never did hurt anyone. The little contrite voice in the back of his head whispered, but the fact was that it did hurt. He was ashamed to admit why, especially to his brother-in-law.

  “Randy, I’m sorry. I was being an ass and I didn’t even think about the crap you’re going through.” Garrett beat Rand
y to the punch and it felt rather strange to hear Garrett apologize. Randy had known him for quite some time now and he’d never seen Garrett put himself in a position to look so sorry. It was usually his good and reserved nature that kept him from having to apologize.

  “It was all in fun and I shouldn’t have gotten all bent up about it.” Randy shook his head and reached for a paper plate. Garrett shifted the pizza box towards him and pulled out the box of wings behind it. The hot spicy smell made Randy’s mouth water.

  “Still…it was poor judgment. I’m sorry.” Garrett offered the wings up and a tentative grin. Randy rolled his eyes and took the wings.

  “Did we get ranch?” Randy poked a couple of wings with a plastic fork and slid them onto his plate. He looked around for the little cups of sauce. Garrett grinned wider and slid them over the counter. It was quiet in the suite except for the television that was on some weather channel. He glanced up to see that two beers had been set out on the coffee table in front of the couch.

  Ring. Buzz. Ring. Buzz. The guys looked around them to see what was making the noise. Garrett flipped the lids of the pizza boxes closed and found his cell phone vibrating around the counter. He looked at the message screen and then Garrett looked at Randy with a creased brow.

  “Hey.” Garrett greeted the caller and lifted his plate to take it to the couch. Randy lifted a brow in question.

  “What do you mean she’s left?” Garrett’s tone changed and he set his plate down on the short table. Garrett shook his head as he listened to whomever it was that was on the other end of the line.

  “Well that throws a kink into things. I just spent half of the morning setting up everything and now I have to rework it.” Garrett grumbled into the receiver and Randy felt an icy chill snake up his spine.

  Something is up with Nora. Shit. He put his food down on the table and leaned back into the couch. He wondered why his wife couldn’t make things relatively easy. He wondered why she had to be so damned difficult.

  “No, we will figure it out. We will pick the bulls up and get out of here first thing in the morning.” Garrett nodded and hung up the phone. Randy was stuck between wanting to know what had come up and not wanting to know what Nora was up to. The cell phone dropped on top of the table and Garrett let out a deep breath.

  “That was Dad and apparently Nora has gone to Deadwood.” Garrett ran his palm up and down his jaw. Randy furrowed his brow and wondered why Nora would head up there. Deadwood was where they went for their honeymoon, but he didn’t think that was why she would make that her destination.

  “Why would she go up there?” Randy spoke his thoughts out loud and one look at Garrett made him clench his jaw tight.

  “Colt is playing up there. He invited us up there when we are at the bar.” Garrett shook his head. “I guess she decided to take him up on it.” His brother-in-law’s voice hardened and Randy fought the urge to curse. Things were not looking up in his favor and it was difficult to see them changing.

  “Why can’t things go right for a change?” Randy slapped his palm against the arm of the couch.

  “We will just have to go to plan B.” Garrett picked up his phone and tapped it against his knee. “Instead of thinking local, now we need to think regional.” Garrett lifted a brow and grinned conspiratorially at Randy. There was a slight tremor of apprehension in his stomach as Randy stared at Nora’s brother.

  “What exactly do you have in mind?” Randy wasn’t sure he wanted to know, but he needed to see just how crazy this plan could get.

  “How better to get my dear sister’s undivided attention than to whisk her away?” Garrett turned his attention to his phone as he scrolled along the screen. Randy must have had this deer-in-the-headlights look when Garrett looked up for a response. “Women love romance and what’s more romantic than time alone with her husband?”

  Randy couldn’t help that both brows shot up into his hairline at Garrett’s explanation of romance. Garrett began looking like a fish out of water as he moved his mouth and nothing understandable came out.

  “Romance isn’t quite my thing.” Randy murmured more to himself. Garrett cleared his throat while looking suitably disarmed.

  “It could be a second honeymoon. A little wine, some firelight, soft music and sweep her off to bed.” Garrett swallowed hard and his face paled a shade. “If anyone asks this discussion never happened. I’m speaking objectively, of course.”

  Randy gritted his teeth to keep from laughing hysterically or throwing up, which he wasn’t entirely sure. It made him feel better to know the guy sitting on the couch next to him felt the same way.

  “That might be a bit harder than it sounds.” Randy stumbled through the words as if it might be his last confession. He knew Garrett’s ears were nothing close to virginal, but when the topic involves your sister, it was more than a bit uncomfortable. There was a moment before Garrett responded.

  “How’s that?” There was a pause in between the weatherman talking on TV and their conversation. Both were acutely aware of the quiet.

  “We haven’t been, well, you know.” Randy expelled a deep breath. “It has been quite some time.”

  Garrett shook his head, but Randy wasn’t sure if it was in disbelief or shock. He wanted to assure his brother-in-law that this wasn’t any more pleasant than sticking needles in his arm.

  “Hey, no, that’s fine. We all hit slumps. We aren’t exactly horny rabbits all the time.” Garrett couldn’t contain the grin that broke across his face and Randy felt the warm heat of embarrassment climb up his neck to his cheeks.

  “It’s more than that.”

  If only a hole would open up and swallow me right now! Randy had never been good at these kinds of discussions and probably more so because he sidestepped all of them anyway. Garrett sat quietly on his end of the couch looking like he would rather be across the room. Randy wanted to crawl under the couch in shame.

  “Well we can work on that. We do have a long drive home tomorrow.” There was a determined finality in Garrett’s voice that Randy recognized. For whatever reason, Nora’s brother had taken it upon himself to secure this gaping wound. This marriage was going to fail if this didn’t turn it around. These next few days would be the last ditch effort to hang onto his wife and lay claim to her heart.

  Chapter 11

  Nora opened her eyes to the soft light of mid-morning filtering through the slight cracks between the blackout shades. She sighed and stretched her limbs against the smooth sheets. The comfort of the California King bed enveloped her as she denied the need to get out of bed. Hugging her pillow a bit closer, Nora couldn’t help but return to last night. She had spent a great deal of time thinking about each step, each glance, each word and each touch. None of it was adding up to be what she thought it would.

  She and Colt had eaten at Mustang Sally’s and it was nicely relaxed. They had talked about his surprise rise to a record label and a country-wide tour. Colt Cavanaugh was a virtual nobody entering the Nashville scene and like any young artist he was hoping to make it big. She remembered him talking about the sometimes two or three jobs he had to take on just to make ends meet. He had been a part-time valet and it was there he had overheard the time and place of a hushed “mic night”. Taking the bull by the horns, Colt walked in and signed up to sing.

  Nora had oohed and ahhed at his tale of triumph. Colt shared with her how nervous he had been and shared the self-doubts he had harbored before, during, and after the performance. Even seeing him now, Nora knew Colt wasn’t as terrified as he had said. He had always been a tough, head strong boy.

  “Is there anything you miss now that you have the career you always wanted?” She had asked him, her heart thumping quickly and out of sync. His silver eyes smiled at her as he searched her face. He shook his head and flexed his hand on the table. Nora squeezed the comforter in her hand as she recalled wondering if he might take her hand in his own. He hadn’t.

  “It can be lonely on the road.” Colt had smirked a
nd shook his head. “I know that sounds cliché, but you wish someone was there to share it with.”

  Someone to share it with. The words reverberated in her head spinning around and around. It made her head hurt trying to figure it out and determine whether there was a hidden meaning underneath.

  “I can’t imagine you being lonely, Colt. Definitely not when you have all of this.” She had been brazen in indicating how handsome and sexy he was. He had chuckled at her and Nora had the grace to blush. Now remembering it, she was absolutely mortified.

  Why didn’t you just answer the door naked when he came to pick you up for dinner? That stupid little voice was always quick to snap. She wasn’t entirely proud of being so forthright in her approach to see if there was still a flame there. She was also old enough to know that it wasn’t all physical. A pretty face and a hot body only lasted so long. A person couldn’t stay in bed the entire length of a relationship.

  Oh, but wouldn’t it be fun to try! Nora rolled her eyes and flung her arms out as she looked up at the ceiling. Clearly this less than limited sex was getting to her.

  Colt had called his driver to take them back to the hotel where they had gone to his suite. She had been surprised by his invitation to come to his room and with a deep curiosity that might kill the cat, she had went.

  “You’re married now.” His statement left little room to wiggle. She had swallowed hard as she sat in one of the cushioned chairs. “Happily married?” Those silver eyes shimmered like mirrors and although she probably should have she couldn’t force herself to look away. Pressing her lips together, Nora shook her head.

  “It is complicated to say the least.” She tried to make light of it. It was such a heavy subject that gravity did its job and she couldn’t smile past it. Colt sat down on the couch next to her chair and leaned back into the cushions.

  “Isn’t it always? You never were a simple person, Nora.” He watched her face, for what she had no idea, but he must have seen it. Nora felt stripped of all her many talents at being evasive.