The Heart of the Rodeo

by Nicole Higginbotham-Hogue

  “I’m not,” Jane said, giving in. She figured that Blake probably did need some time out of the house after the day that she had, and she knew that Walter would keep a close eye on her. “Let’s get you cleaned up, so that you can get ready.”

  “That was way too easy,” Blake said, eyeing Jane up and down. “What are you up to, woman?”

  “That’s for me to know and you to find out,” Jane replied with a laugh. “Now, this is going to sting a little,” she said grabbing a cotton ball and a bottle of alcohol and dabbing a cut on Blake’s face.

  “Ow!” Blake exclaimed.

  “Come on,” Jane replied. “That’s just a little alcohol. I imagine that falling off the bull had to hurt much more than that.”

  “I’m not sure about that,” Blake said, wincing as Jane moved a clean cotton ball towards her once more.

  Chapter Ten

  Blake waited for Walter’s pick-up truck to pull up the drive. She was excited to get out of the house, and though the bar that they were going to was just down the street, she knew that riding down there would be a lot easier than hobbling on her crutches. Between being in the hospital and the house, she was a little stir crazy, and she knew that going to Henry’s Tavern would be fun and a nice change of pace. There was music there during the week nights and sometimes karaoke. People even came from the surrounding towns to hang out and socialize. Blake needed a chance to relax and be around other people.

  Blake checked her outfit. She had put on a clean pair of jeans, a plaid shirt, and some brown boots. It was the first time that she had dressed up in a while, and she wanted to look good. She looked out of the window, seeing Walter’s truck light shine reflect off the siding as he pulled up and started walking towards the door.

  “Hold on,” a voice called from upstairs, and Blake looked around, waiting for Jane to appear. The other woman had been up there for a long time, and she wondered what she could possibly need from her right before she was about to walk out of the door.

  “I have to go,” Blake called after waiting for a couple of minutes. “Walter’s out there waiting for me.”

  “I’m coming,” Jane said, thumping down the stairs loudly.

  Blake looked up at the other woman. She looked gorgeous, wearing a long, flowing dress that hugged every curve of her body. Blake scanned the other woman up and down, unable to take her eyes off of her. “Wow, you look good? Where are you going?”

  “With you,” Jane smiled, her lips glinting in the light.

  Blake started to protest as a knock sounded at the door. “I better get that,” she said instead, opening the front door and letting Walter in.

  “Are you guys ready?” Walter asked, ushering them outside. “I’m ready for a cold drink and some fun after the day that I had.”

  “Sure am,” Jane told him, walking passed Blake and out the door.

  “Blake?” Walter asked, looking at her while she stood there watching Jane cross the driveway.

  “I’m ready,” Blake replied. “Did you invite her?”

  “Yeah,” Walter said, walking with her to the truck. “I thought that she would like a night out on the town.”

  “And don’t worry,” Jane chimed in, clearly listening to the two of them. “I’ll stay out of your way. There’s a couple of ladies from the office that will be there. I will be spending my time with them.”

  Blake nodded, getting into the truck with a little help from Walter. She didn’t know quite what to say. She had expected to have a night alone with her friend, but she couldn’t tell the stunning woman sitting next to her that she couldn’t come with. It just didn’t seem right. Blake turned her attention towards her door, pulling her crutches in and closing it. Blake looked out of the window as Walter started the truck and felt her mood rise as she realized that she was going to have the first bit of fun that she had in a long time. The ride to the bar was quick, and Blake smiled as she looked at the familiar venue in front of her, remembering all of the good times that she had, had there throughout the years. Walter got out of the truck to help her out, and the three of them headed through the front doors. Blake could hear the music as soon as the front doors opened and feel the warm, familiar air.

  “Hi, Jane,” said Darla Murphy, walking up to the group. “It’s nice to see you here. Let me take you around and introduce you.”

  “I’ll see you guys later,” Jane said, waving to Blake and Walter as she walked away with the other woman.

  “See you,” Walter said, waving back. “You ready for a drink?” he asked, turning to Blake.

  “Sure am,” Blake replied, following him over to the bar and propping herself up on a stool.

  “So, how has it been living with Dr. Steibold,” Walter asked with a gleam in his eye.

  “She’s a handful,” Blake replied, looking behind her at the woman who was talking with her friends.

  “She’s a beautiful woman,” Walter said. “Smart too. I wouldn’t take that for granted.”

  “Why don’t you ask her out if you are so interested,” Blake laughed, picking up her drink as the bartender set it in front of her.

  Walter chuckled. “I don’t think that she bats for my team,” he told her, giving her a humored look. “She’s been checking you out since she first met you.”

  “I doubt it,” Blake said. “She seems more interested in trying to tell me what I should and shouldn’t be doing.”

  “I think that’s just the professional in her,” Walter replied.

  Blake looked at her friend and noticed him glance at the door as it opened. His whole demeanor changed in that little bit of time, and Blake looked over to see what he was looking at. A slim woman in a tight dress and cowboy books walked through the front door. Her clothes were high quality and though she was trying to come off as country chic, nothing that she was wearing would be useful in any kind of farm environment. Blake watched as the woman smiled and greeted several people as she walked across the bar. Her smile lit up the room as she walked and her laughter chimed like ringing bells, bringing a sense of contentment to Blake.

  “I haven’t seen Martha around in a while,” Walter muttered, clearly unhappy about the woman’s presence.

  “Neither have I,” Blake said, not able to take her eyes off of the other woman.

  “You still miss her, don’t you?” Walter asked, trying to divert her attention.

  “I do,” Blake replied. “I think that I am going to go and talk to her.”

  “Now, hold on cowgirl,” Walter said. “Remember how she treated you. Are you sure that you want to do this again?”

  “She’s all that I think about all day,” Blake replied. “I can’t go the rest of my life not knowing what happened.”

  “Alright,” Walter told her. “But I think that this is a bad idea.”

  Blake ignored him and started across the room to the other woman. It wasn’t as easy with her crutches, but she made it work. “Martha,” she yelled across the room at the other woman. She saw Martha look around and finally saw her eyes find hers. “How are you doing?”

  “I’m doing alright,” Martha replied, coming towards her. Her expression was less than happy, and she looked as if she really didn’t want to talk to Blake even though she continued to come towards her. “What happened to your leg?”

  “I fell off a bull,” Blake told her, ignoring her body language. “You should have seen it. I was doing so good, and before I knew it, I had loosened my grip and was flying ten feet in the air.”

  “That sounds dangerous,” Martha said.

  “I guess,” Blake said, smiling. “So, how long are you in town?”

  “I’ll be here for a while,” Martha replied. “I’m trying to help my father out with some of his campaigns.”

  “That sounds like a lot of fun,” Blake said.

  “It’s interesting,” Martha replied. “You know how I like my politics.”

  “Yeah I do,” Blake chuckled. “So, if you are going to be here for a while, we should go out t
o dinner or something. Or I guess we are in a bar, do you want me to buy you a drink?”

  “No, that’s okay,” Martha said, a frown appearing across her face. “Like I told you last time, Blake, I can’t see you anymore. I don’t want to do anything that will damage my father’s campaign, and he doesn’t exactly have a good stance on gay rights.”

  “That’s kind of ironic, isn’t it?” Blake inquired. “His daughter’s gay, and he is against gay people?”

  “I’m not gay,” Martha said. “What we went through was a phase, and I’m just not interested in that anymore. I’m sorry if I hurt your feelings, but I have to do what is needed to win the elections.”

  “Even if it is giving up the only person you love?” Blake asked.

  “I don’t love you anymore,” Martha said. “Sorry, Blake. It’s over.”

  “Whatever,” Blake said, turning around to walk away.

  “Hey, Blake,” Martha said, putting a hand on her shoulder to turn her around.

  “Yeah?” Blake asked, turning towards her, hoping that she had reconsidered.

  “Sorry about your leg,” Martha said.

  “Thanks,” Blake replied waiting to see if she would say anything else, but the other woman just walked away. . Blake shook her head and walked towards her spot by Walter, sitting down and taking a sip of her drink.

  “It didn’t go well, did it?” Walter inquired, sadness in his eyes.

  “Not at all,” Blake told him. “I don’t understand how someone can change so fast.”

  “Did you ever think that she might not have been what you thought she was in the first place?” Walter asked. “Maybe, you two were on completely different pages the whole time. I mean, just to be honest, I never saw her look at you the way that you looked at her. She just seemed to go along with the flow. It didn’t seem like her heart was in the same place that yours was.”

  “I don’t know,” Blake said, letting the cool liquid flow down her throat, leaving a burning sensation in her belly. “I thought that she loved me. I thought that she cared about me, and she just got up one day and decided that she didn’t want to be with me.”

  “Then, she moved halfway across the country and didn’t talk to you,” Walter replied. “Who does that? If she was really in love with you, it wouldn’t be that easy for her to pick up and leave.”

  “That’s true,” Blake told him. “I guess that love isn’t my forte.”

  “Don’t say that,” Walter told her, patting her on the back. “She just wasn’t the right one. I’m sure you will find someone that you connect with, and when you do, any memory that you had with her will be a stepping stone of your past.”

  “I don’t know if I will ever meet anyone that takes my mind off of Martha,” Blake said. Part of her knew that Walter was right. Martha wasn’t as into her as she was in her, but Blake had never felt close to another woman like she did Martha. She wasn’t quite sure what love was, but she had felt content from her loneliness when she was dating Martha. She figured that had to be close to what love meant, because it just wasn’t realistic that a person would feel fireworks and time stop by just being with another person.

  Chapter Eleven

  Jane continued to listen to Darla and Suzanne as they went over the different personalities of the single men in town. She hadn’t told them at this point that she wasn’t really interested in finding a man, let alone dating one, but she figured that they would learn this truth with time. While they gabbed about their preference among these men, Jane had been watching Blake from across the room. She had seen the other woman get up to talk to an attractive woman that walked through the front door. Blake had looked happy when she first approached the woman, but her countenance fell quickly as she walked away. Though Jane didn’t know Blake exceptionally well, she still worried about her, and she wondered what the other woman could have done or said to leave Blake in such sadness. Now, the other woman was sitting next to Walter drinking one drink after another, and though Jane knew that she should probably interfere as the alcohol wasn’t helping Blake with the healing process, she somewhat felt the other woman’s pain, and something inside of her told her that the woman that had made Blake’s smile go away wasn’t just any woman.

  “Distracted?” Darla asked, tapping Jane on the shoulder.

  “A little,” Jane admitted, signaling towards the foreign woman that Blake had been talking to. “Who’s that?”

  Suzanne laughed, looking in the direction of the other woman. “That is Martha Wilson, Mayor Wilson’s daughter. Beautiful, isn’t she?”

  “She’s alright,” Jane said, looking the other woman up and down. “Really not my type.”

  “So, you’re a lesbian?” Darla whispered.

  “Yes,” Jane laughed. “I hope that doesn’t change our friendship.”

  “Not at all,” Darla chimed. “It just means that I don’t have to consider you competition in the dating arena, and all of these handsome men are all mine.”

  Jane chuckled. “Yes, you don’t have to worry about me there.”

  “So, if you are gay, are you and Blake…” Suzanne started.

  “No,” Jane smiled and shook her head. “I’m just trying to help her heal.”

  “Well, word has it that she does have a broken heart,” Darla replied.

  “I’m not that kind of doctor,” Jane replied.

  “You’re a doctor, huh?” a voice said from behind her.

  Jane could smell the heavy smell of perfume mixed with red wine as she turned around. “Hello,” she said, finding herself face-to-face with Martha Wilson.

  “Well, hello,” Martha said with a seductive smile. “It’s nice to meet you Doctor…”

  “Steibold,” Jane finished. “And same to you.”

  “I heard that you have been living with Blake Young,” Martha stated. “Are you two…”

  “No,” Jane said. “She is just my patient.”

  “Well, it’s been a long time since I got a physical,” Martha told her. “Maybe, you and I could play doctor one of these days.”

  Jane noticed that her two friends had left to get drinks at the bar, and she was all alone with this foreign woman. “No thanks,” Jane laughed. “You seem nice, but I’m not really looking for all of that.”

  “I don’t understand why not,” Martha said, stroking Jane’s cheek. “I’m one of the most wanted woman in Melville, and you can’t be too occupied at Blake’s. That is, unless you two are…”

  “No, I told you,” Jane retorted, removing Martha’s hand from her cheek. “Blake and I are just friends. And from what I understand, you are Blake’s ex. Don’t you think that hitting on someone that lives with Blake is just a bit of a conflict of interest?”

  “The only conflict that I am having is why you are trying to act like you aren’t interested in me,” Martha told her. “Come on. I’ll show you a good time. We can get a couple of drinks, listen to a little music, and have a little fun.”

  “I’m going to have to pass,” Jane said, walking away. She listened to see if Martha was following her, but it seemed like the other woman had taken off in another direction. Jane walked over to the bar, noticing that Darla and Suzanne were in conversation with a couple of young cowboys and decided to go over to Blake and Walter to see how they were doing.

  “Well, hey there,” Walter said as she walked up. “How are you doing?”

  “I’m doing alright,” Jane said with a smile. “How are you two?”

  “We’re okay,” Walter replied a bit hesitantly.

  Jane noticed that he was looking in Blake’s direction, but Blake was completely occupied by Martha Wilson, watching her every move as she talked with a group of women across the room. Jane could almost feel the sadness in Blake’s mood as she watched her ex-girlfriend, and when she looked closer at the woman, she observed that there were tears welling up in her eyes. Jane wanted to make Blake feel better. As stubborn as the woman was, she knew that she had a good heart. Jane looked around the room, noticin
g a man in a flannel shirt and cowboy hat playing with a vintage jukebox that sat in the corner. As he put in his quarters and pressed a couple of buttons, others began to crowd around him, and before she knew it, the corner on the other side of the room had become a dance floor. Jane looked at Blake, whom was still occupied by Martha. Then, she looked back at the dance floor. “Do you want to dance?” she asked, tapping Blake on the shoulder.

  “Are you trying to be funny?” Blake laughed a humorless laugh. “My leg is broken.”

  “You can lean against me,” Jane said, helping her up. “I’m a lot stronger than you think I am.”

  Blake began to protest, but Jane ignored her, helping her get her crutches, and leading the way across the room. Blake followed with some resistance, and Jane stopped walking when she had approached the edge of the dance floor. She walked up to Blake, taking her crutches and propping them against a nearby wall. Jane wrapped her arms around Blake’s waist, letting the other woman lean her weight against her and began to move her body to the music. Jane held Blake tight, letting everything around her disappear into the background and the sound of the music flow through her ears. She twisted around to see how Blake was doing and noticed that the other woman had closed her eyes and begun to move with her to the music. The moment was displaced from the environment around them, and Jane felt her head lean against Blake’s chest. The woman’s heart beat was smooth and steady, creating a rhythm for both of their bodies to move to. The music faded, and for a moment it was just the two of them. Jane closed her eyes and leaned into Blake, hoping the moment never ended.

  Chapter Twelve

  Blake rolled around on the couch, the sun shining in her eyes through a nearby window as she did. She had spent most of her night up talking to Jane until the two of them fell asleep on the couch. Blake remembered the feel of the other woman as the two snuggled together throughout the night, the only interruption the alarm on Jane’s phone, reminding the other woman that she still had to get up and go to work to tend to her responsibilities. Blake had been sad to see Jane go earlier that morning, but she was thankful for the night that they had together. She had never experienced such tranquility with another human being.