Hot Cowboy Nights (24 page)

T
he energy in Dry Creek that Saturday morning was electrifying. Nadine had opened her café but she was only serving as a hostess, talking to people, providing headquarters for the festival along with platter after platter of cookies and gallon after gallon of sweet tea to the folks.

Banners stretched across both ends of Main Street and God bless Lucy Hudson’s heart because she’d taken it upon herself to invite vendors to the festival. Since it was the first year, they could set up their tables and booths on the sidewalks on both sides of the street at no charge. Folks sold hand-tied horse halters, purses, and blinged-out western jewelry, artwork, woodcrafts, and handmade items along with Indian tacos, baked goods, chili pies, and hot dogs.

A bouncy house and pony ride for the kids and a mechanical bull for the bravehearted took up a chunk of the blocked-off Main Street. People had parked up and down the road for a mile on either end of town, and by midmorning Dry Creek was buzzing with excitement.

At noon folks began to meander down to the church to eat a free lunch provided by the churchwomen and then came back with their lawn chairs to sit and visit until time for fireworks.

Lizzy and Fiona were busy helping Nadine in the café that afternoon. Lizzy was jealous of every single person who stopped to talk to Fiona that day. Not because she was getting attention, but because Lizzy didn’t want to share her sister. She would have rather spent the whole day just the two of them in her feed store with the door locked. Then she and Fiona could play with the kittens and talk about the new twists in both of their lives.

“So do you see Mitch anywhere yet?” Fiona asked.

“I hope I don’t see him at all. I hope he and his new wife are so swamped with events that they can’t find time to get down here,” Lizzy answered as they carried two empty platters to the kitchen to refill with cookies.

“You probably need to see him one more time just for closure.” Fiona piled chocolate chip cookies on one platter and peanut butter brownies on the other. She handed one to Lizzy and nodded toward the dining room. “Folks are going through these so fast I’m wondering if we’ll make it to the end of the day.”

“If we don’t, there’s about twenty bags of store-bought cookies in the pantry. Nadine said they aren’t as good as these but latecomers can’t be choosers,” Lizzy said.

“Elizabeth?” The voice was familiar.

Lizzy set the platter down and turned slowly to find Myra Turner, Mitch’s fiancée/wife/whatever, at her elbow. The woman hadn’t changed much in the past five months. Long brown hair flowed down her back to her waist. Hazel eyes were set in a round baby face with full lips and a perky little nose. That day she wore a multicolored skirt that skimmed her ankles and a lovely little Victorian lacy blouse.

“Myra.” She nodded.

“Could we talk?” Myra’s eyes darted around the full café. Folks had been taking advantage of the tables and the air-conditioning as well as the refreshments all day.

“It’s pretty quiet in the kitchen. Come on. Fiona, folks can help themselves to cookies,” Lizzy said.

“Are you sure?” Fiona asked.

“Very sure.” Lizzy led the way and didn’t have to motion toward the chairs pulled up to an old yellow chrome table for Myra to slide into one. The poor woman looked pale and absolutely miserable.

“I’ve made a big mistake and it’s too late to get out of it,” Myra said. “But before I unload on you because I know you will understand, I need to apologize for what Mitch and I did to you. That was cruel and ugly, and I’m sorry.”

“That’s in the past but thank you and apology accepted,” Lizzy said.

“I’m pregnant and I don’t want to marry Mitch,” Myra spit out as if she had to get the words out in a hurry. “What do I do?”

Fiona went to the refrigerator and brought back a bottle of water. “Here, drink this. You look like you are about to faint.”

“Thank you,” Myra said softly. She twisted the top off the cold water and took a tiny sip. “I’m miserable and I’m about to marry a man I don’t love, and I don’t know how to change things.”

“I barely know you. I met you at the church, shared a few potlucks with you, and sang in the choir together a couple of times. All I can tell you is to follow your heart,” Lizzy said.

Myra wrung her hands and looked like she might break into tears any minute. “I thought it was cute the way he was so possessive at first. It made me feel protected and loved, but that’s changed to controlled and smothered. We’re supposed to get married tonight in a small ceremony at my parents’ house with just family there. Everyone thinks we are already married, even our church in Mexico. We did say vows to each other before we…” She paused and blushed. “Well, you know.”

Myra looked over Lizzy’s shoulder and gasped. Her face registered fear, shock, and disgust all at the same time. Lizzy followed her gaze to see Mitch pushing through the swinging doors from the dining room to the kitchen. “Hello, Lizzy. Nadine said I’d find you back here.”

His cold gaze started at her head, hair thrown up in a ponytail with errant strands sticking to her sweaty neck. It dropped down to the hot pink tank top that hugged her body like a glove, then on to the skinny jeans held up with a blinged-out cowboy belt with a diamond-studded four-leaf clover on the belt buckle. His lip curled in a sneer like she’d seen it do a million times when he didn’t like what she was wearing.

“Mitch,” she acknowledged. Mentally, she stood at the end of a bridge with Mitch on the other side with a raging river below them. She held a flaming torch in her hand ready to set the brittle wood on fire.

“Myra, darlin’.” He crossed the room and laid his hands on her shoulders. “We must be going. It’s only three hours until wedding time, and you still have to do your hair and get into your dress. Lizzy, I hear you are seeing one of those cowboys who bought the Lucky Penny.”

“I am.” She nodded. “You should remember Toby. I sat between you two at Sunday dinner when he came to visit one time.”

“Oh, I remember him well. I’m sure with your background, you are pretty well suited,” Mitch said with a sneer.

“I hope so.” She smiled. “Y’all been in town all day?”

Myra nodded. “We watched the parade, prowled around the vendors, talked to some of Mitch’s friends, and ate at the potluck. Where were you all day?”

“Enough chitchat, Myra. We have to go.” Mitch let go of her shoulders and took her hand, pulling her up to her feet.

She broke free of his death grip and took two steps backward. “I need to go to the ladies’ room. I will meet you out front.”

His jaw worked in anger. “Don’t take more than five minutes.”

Her smile was forced as she waved and pushed through the doors toward the hallway to the restroom area. Poor thing had a tough decision to make and very little time to do it in. But it sure wasn’t Lizzy’s problem.

“It would have never worked between us.” Mitch kept an eye through the window where the orders were passed rather than looking at Lizzy.

“Probably not,” she said.

“Myra and I will be happy.”

Who was he trying to convince? Himself? Her? God?

Hopefully, it was himself because Lizzy didn’t give a damn and she didn’t think God was taking time out of his schedule to attend the Dry Creek Festival.

“I hope you are very happy.” In that mental picture of the bridge, she tossed the torch and immediately there was nothing but a gaping hole between her and Mitch.

Fiona had been right. Complete and utter closure was a beautiful thing.

Fiona! Dammit! Where were her manners?

“I’m so sorry. Mitch, this is my sister, Fiona. You heard me talk about her a lot but I don’t think you two ever actually met each other.”

Fiona stretched out a hand. “Pleased to meet you. How are you enjoying Mexico?”

Mitch had no choice but to shake hands with her. “It’s God’s work and that brings happiness.”

“I see. Well, I do hope you and your new bride are happy.” Fiona held on to his hand a moment longer than necessary.

Lizzy had closure and she’d expected her fiery-tempered sister to cuss Mitch out at the least, maybe send him to the wedding with a black eye at the worst. It was over now so why was her sister continuing to engage this sorry bastard in polite conversation? She tilted her head to one side and caught Fiona’s very slight wink. Her sister, bless her heart, was thinking about Myra. She was trying to give the woman a few more minutes in the bathroom to figure out a way to get out of a doomed marriage.

“We will be.” He jerked his hand free. “Tell her I’m waiting beside the car for her when she returns.”

Fiona nodded. “I’ll do that. I’m sure she won’t be much longer.”

He was all the way at the swinging doors when he turned around. “You would have never gone to Mexico with me, would you?”

Lizzy shook her head. “My store is in Dry Creek. Going to Wichita Falls was a stretch.”

“Then you would not have followed me wherever God led me?”

What was he trying to do? Find closure for his heart and mind or justification for what he’d done?

Another shake of the head. “Mitch, what we had is over. What I might or might not have done isn’t important. What is crucial right now is that you learn to let Myra be a partner and not a slave to your every whim.”

“God says a wife will be submissive, and Myra will learn in good time. Good-bye, Lizzy.”

She waited until he was gone and then she and Fiona hurried to the ladies’ room.

Lizzy opened the ladies’ room door and found a pale Myra sitting in the corner, her head in her hands. Fiona went straight to her, slid down the wall to sit beside the girl, and hugged her. Myra looked up, misery written in her eyes. Lizzy remembered the day that Allie had found her huddled in the bathroom, weeping because Mitch had dumped her to be with this woman. She should be gloating with glee because the
other woman
had gotten her comeuppance, but she only felt pity for Myra. The poor darlin’ didn’t have a Logan backbone like Lizzy, and she damn sure didn’t have two sisters to help her fight her way out of the misery.

“Where is Mitch? Is he mad at me?”

“He’s waiting beside your car,” Fiona said.

“I cannot do this, not today, probably not ever. I just need a place to go for a couple of weeks to get my head on straight.” Tears streamed down Myra’s face as she looked up into Lizzy’s eyes. “Help me, please, Lizzy. I’m not as strong as you and I need help and there’s no one to ask.”

“If you had a way to get out of town, do you have a friend or money to stay in a hotel?” Lizzy asked.

Myra nodded. “My very best friend in college lives in Olney. He would let me stay with him.”

“He?” Lizzy asked.

“Rowdy Williams and he lives up to his name. We were as different as night and day. He was the wild child. I was the preacher’s daughter in every sense of the word, but we were good friends. I can stay with him and no one will even know where I am. God knows, I couldn’t ever bring him home to meet Mama and Daddy or even talk about him back in those days,” Myra said.

“Lizzy, you don’t have to get tangled up in this,” Fiona said.

“She needs our help. Where’s your car parked, Myra?” Lizzy asked.

“Across the street. In front of that old hotel,” Myra answered.

“My truck is parked out behind my store. Go through the dining room and kitchen and out the back door. Fiona is going to drive you up to the Dairy Queen in Olney where your friend is going to pick you up. She’ll drive my truck home.” Lizzy fished in her purse for a set of keys and handed them to Fiona. “And, Myra, let your mama and daddy know that you are okay. They’ll worry.”

“I’ll text them and Mitch. I can’t call him or he’ll talk me into the marriage. He’s real good at manipulation.” She peeked out the door and turned around. “Thank you, Lizzy. If you ever need anything at all, I owe you big time.”

“What are you going to do, Lizzy?” Fiona asked as she extended her hand to Myra.

“I’m going to keep Mitch in town as long as I can so y’all can get away,” Lizzy answered. “Good luck, Myra.”

“Thank you.” Myra took Fiona’s hand and stood up.

Lizzy marched out of the café and then across the street. Mitch was sitting on the sidewalk right beside the car, feet extended down the three steps, crossed at the ankles and a smug expression on his face.

“Where’s Myra?” he asked.

Lizzy sat down beside him. “I’ve got some more that I need to get off my chest so I told her to sit down and have a cookie or two while we have a private talk.”

“I’m going to be her husband in less than three hours. She needs to listen to me, not to you, and I told her that it was time to leave,” Mitch said coldly.

“If you truly love that woman you need to treat her as an equal, not as property. She’s fragile.” Lizzy saw the tail end of her truck make a left-hand turn at the end of the road. She caught a glimpse of Fiona’s flaming red hair, but no one was in the passenger’s seat. Either Myra was lying low or she’d backed out. If it was the latter, she’d show up at the car in the next few minutes.

“She’s submissive, which is what a good wife is supposed to be. You wouldn’t know anything about that, Lizzy,” he said.

“You should at least give me points for trying.” Lizzy smiled up at him.

“Regretting your decision?” he whispered as he leaned over toward her.

“You left me, Mitch, and broke my heart with that phone call.” She fluttered her eyelids in mock flirtation. Anything to keep him in Dry Creek until Fiona got a good head start.

“But you fought me and God about doing my bidding,” he said.

“I was doing my best to change,” she said softly.

Toby and Blake had been on the other end of town sitting on the tailgate of Blake’s truck when Herman Hudson showed up. Toby talked to him a few minutes, then realized it had been a while since he’d seen Lizzy.

“Y’all excuse me. I need to go find my girlfriend before some other feller makes off with her.” Toby grinned.

“Last I saw her, she was sitting across the street in front of the old hotel, talking to Mitch. You might want to head on up that way to protect your interests or keep her from killin’ him. Sorry sumbitch has balls showin’ his face in town after the way he hurt her.” Herman laughed.