Between Two Sisters (contemporary western romance novella) (9 page)

Billy would have traded every time with every other woman he’d ever had for this one time with Melanie. He held her hips, and bucked beneath her, matching her frantic pace. He watched with fascination as she threw her head back and moaned loudly, lost in her
own pleasure as their bodies blended together as one.

When it was over, he held her in his arms and stroked her auburn hair as he whispered to her all the things he had always longer to tell her. The alcohol still coursing through his veins made him bold and uninhibited, and he told her far more about his feelings for her than he ever intended to. Finally, his voice trailed off as he drifted off to sleep with the woman he had loved from afar for over a decade.

Waking up the next morning was sheer torture. Billy clasped his eyes tightly closed after a brief peek at the world resulted in searing pain. His head throbbed angrily, and his mouth was parched. He rolled over, looking for Melanie, but she was gone.

He was disappointed, but not surprised. It’s not like she could go casually strolling out of his cabin in the morning light for all to see.
With a grimace he remembered Cass. What had he been thinking? He didn’t want to hurt Cass, but he wouldn’t have undone the passionate night he spent with Melanie for anything. He would do his best to let Cass down gently. He felt sorry for the pain the news of their union would cause Cass and Marty, but there was no denying the love that he and Melanie had for each other. They would probably have to move, and go work on another ranch to avoid the tensions their union would cause at the Haffner ranch, but it would be worth it if they could be together.

Groaning, he rolled out of bed and cradled his head in his hands. He slowly made his way to the bathroom, cringing with every step. It’d be a long time before he touched a drop of whiskey again, that was for sure.

In the medicine cabinet, he found a bottle of aspirin and forced himself to dry swallow three pills, followed by a mouth full of water from the bathroom sink. His stomach clenched in protest, but he managed to keep it all down. Getting to the kitchen was a difficult process, but he made it to the sink to get a glass of water. As he leaned against the counter for support while he drank the water, he spied a note on the kitchen table.

He hurried to grab it as he was anxious to read it, but the pounding pain in his head couldn’t be ignored. After he swiped it off the table, he shuffled carefully back over to his bed and gingerly sat down.

Billy, It was all a big mistake.
It was an incredible, passionate, wild mistake. I’m sorry. I just can’t do this.
He cursed and slammed his fist down on the mattress as he read the note over and over, hoping the words would change. They didn’t, of course, and he was crazed with anger and grief. How could she possibly call what they shared last night a ‘mistake?’ They had expressed the bond between them, the bond that developed in their younger years, yet she was dismissing it as a ‘mistake.’

He dragged himself out of bed once more and took his anger and frustration out on the mostly empty bottle of whiskey on the table. Sheer willpower got him through the motions of grabbing the bottle off the table and bringing it to the sink. Cursing under his breath, he dumped the remaining contents of the bottle down the drain.
He had no more use for that devil’s brew; all it did was cause trouble. It was beer in moderation from here on out.

It was impossible to decide who he was angrier with- Melanie, for putting him through hell while she tried to choose between him and Marty, or himself, for sleeping with her. If he hadn’t been drinking so heavily, he doubted the whole incident would have happened to be
gin with. What a fool he’d been.

His cell phone rang, and he answered it quickly so the horrible, loud ringing would stop. It wasn’t helping his splitting headache.

“Hello?” If someone was calling for his help with something around the ranch, they were in for a sorry surprise. He was in no shape to do much of anything at the moment, especially physical labor.

“Hey, stranger!” It was Cass. “I grabbed your cell phone number off my dad’s phone. I hope you don’t mind.”

“No, no, that’s fine; I don’t mind at all.”

“Are you okay? You
sound sick or something.”

“I’ve got a super hangover,” he confessed.

“Poor baby. Too much booze last night, huh? Melanie’s got the same problem this morning. I guess she drank too much at that cookout. Did you go to it?”

“Ah, yeah, I did.” He fervently hoped she wouldn’t ask too many questions about the night before. “I was kind of hoping you’d be there,” he added.

“No, I went out with the girls. One of my friends is getting married soon, so we did kind of a bachelorette party last night, just the bridesmaids. I’m a bridesmaid, so…”

As Cass prattled on about her friend’s upcoming wedding, Billy’s stomach twisted in knots with anxiety. He was disgusted with himself. He let a teenage fantasy of being with Melanie almost ruin his chances with Cass, and for nothing. At least Cass was straightforward about her feelings and desires. That woman knew exactly what she wanted and she wasn’t afraid to let it be known. He was ashamed that he couldn’t say the same thing about himself. Maybe he and Melanie deserved each other after all; they were both emotional wrecks, unable to decide who they wanted to be with.

“…and I’ll be gone that week.”

“I’m sorry?” He hadn’t been listening closely.

“So the wedding’s in Connecticut, and I’m flying out there to spend the week before it with the bride.”

“When’s that?”

“In three weeks, silly, weren’t you listening?” she teased.

“Sorry. This hangover is wicked.”

“Care for some company?”

“I’m not much company myself, right now,” he reminded her.

“Well, I’ll leave my sex swing at home then, okay?” Her raunchy joke made him smile. “I’ll bring a DVD and some homemade soup instead. You’re in luck; I made a batch earlier for Melanie, and there’s plenty to go around. I’ll be over in, say, half an hour?”

“Sounds great.” As awful as he felt, he wouldn’t mind her company.

After he hung up, he rolled over in bed and panicked when he smelled Melanie’s scent still on his sheets. He couldn’t have Cass noticing that, so he forced himself to strip off the sheets and replace it with a fresh set. Melanie’s note had fallen to the floor, and he burned it in the woodstove. Satisfied he had erased all signs of the previous night’s activities, he took a quick shower and brushed his teeth. He still felt horrible, but at least he was clean.

Cass knocked on the door just as he was trudging back to his bed.

“C’mon in!” he called. The front door felt too far away at the moment. His exertions in the last half hour had drained what little energy he had, but at least the aspirin had kicked in. His headache was down to a minor throb instead of a hammering pain.

“Hey,” Cass breezed in like she owned the place. “Soup’s on! Let me just zap it in the microwave to heat it up a bit.” As she prepared his soup in the kitchen, Billy watched her from the spot on his bed with great relief. Melanie was right- last night
had
been a mistake, and she did him a favor by labeling it as such. Now that Cass was here, he couldn’t imagine tossing her to the side for a chance with Melanie. It was too late for them, but not for him and Cass.

“What movie did you bring?”

“Well, I brought an assortment, actually.” She dug into her bag and produced a handful of DVDs. “We’ve got zombies, a classless comedy, a thriller, and a spy movie.” She held them out up one at a time so he could see the cases. “I skipped the romantic comedy I’ve been dying to see- you’re welcome,” she added with a wink. “But you owe me one next time.” The microwaved beeped to signify the soup was ready, and she brought it to the table for him. Billy knew it would have been appetizing on any other day, but the smell of it did his stomach no favors at the current moment.

“I’m sure it’s great, but I’m not sure I can eat right now,” he told her apologetically.

She dismissed it with a wave of her hand. “No problem.  I can heat you some up later if you change your mind.” She sat on the bed next to him and leaned closer, like she was about to let him in on a big secret. “Melanie had some this morning, but she couldn’t keep it down, so I get it. It’s actually good, but you drunks don’t seem to think so.”

“This drunk promises to try it later,” he promised. He was surprised to hear Melanie was so sick. He remembered her drinking some whiskey with him last night, but it didn’t seem like e
nough to make her so sick. Then again, he had no idea how much she had to drink at the cookout beforehand. A sharp flare of emotional pain stabbed through him as he wondered if she had only seduced him because she was drunk. Looking back on the evening, that must have been it. Melanie didn’t seem the type of girl bold enough to show up on a man’s doorstep in nothing but a leather duster and a pair of cowgirl boots. Perhaps he wasn’t the only one who had overindulged in the spirits the night before.

“So which movie do you want to watch?”

“Hmm. I’m not sure I’m up for zombie gore right now, so how about the comedy?”

“You got it.” Cass popped the DVD into the player on his dresser and turned on his little TV. Once it was set up and running, she snuggled next to him on the bed. Billy moved to prop himself up to watch the movie and wrap
his arm around her, and she laid her head on his chest.

“You look good today,” he murmured. The compliment seemed to embarrass Cass.

“Liar.”

“I mean it, you really do.” Her hair was in a messy pile on top of her head, and she wore minimal makeup and an oversized, baggy top. It was a far cry from her sexy, made up look on their date, but she still looked amazing to him.

“The movie’s starting,” she shushed him.

Billy tried not to think of sweet Melanie and the things they did on his bed just hours before as he held Cass close and tried to watch the movie. There was no use in fixating on what never should have happened in the first place.

By the time Cass left early Sunday evening, Billy was feeling better, both physically and mentally. Maybe his tryst with Melanie the night before meant that they had each other out of their systems now, and life could go on without the strain between them, once they got over the initial awkwardness of the situation.

Cass gave him her cell phone number, so now he could contact her whenever he liked without having to call or stop by the Haffner house.

“Hey,” Billy stopped her as she headed out the door. “I owe you a movie, your pick next time. How about Friday night?”

“It’s a date then.”
Cass blew him a kiss and headed home.

-9-

Billy threw himself into his work the
following week. His heart pounded in anticipation every time he went to the barn. He hoped to run into Cass, and dreaded running into Melanie. Marty seemed none the wiser about the events that transpired between them on Saturday night, and Billy worried about it less and less as the week wore on. The few times he passed Melanie while out and about on the ranch, she gave him an awkward wave, and he returned it. She made no attempt to speak to him, much to his relief. It appeared they were both trying to move on and put their night together behind them like it had never happened.

He
concentrated on Cass instead. On Monday evening he had two dozen roses delivered to her, with a note thanking her for Sunday. He wasn’t too surprised when she called him a few hours later.

“Thank you for the roses, Billy; they’re lovely!” He could hear the excitement in her voice, and he was proud to have made her so happy.

“I just thought a beautiful girl deserved some beautiful flowers.” It was rare for him to send flowers to a lady, but Cass was a special woman and found he wanted to spoil her a bit. They chatted about their days, and as he listened to her voice, he yearned to see her again.

“You want to come over?” he asked her hopefully.

Cass sighed. “I’d love to, but I can’t. Melanie’s is a horrible mood, and my mom’s asked me to stick around to hang out with her tonight. Maybe I can cheer her up or something. I don’t know what her problem is; she’s been acting nasty to all of us since this weekend. It’s like her hangover’s lingered and turned her into this snappy hot mess. How about tomorrow night?”

“Tomorrow, then. I’
ll make you dinner. How’s that sound?”

“Dinner, huh?” Cass laughed. “How could I say no to that?”

She arrived for dinner right on time the next night, and Billy swept her into his arms and kissed her passionately when she arrived.

“What was that for?” she asked breathlessly.

“Just making up for lost time on Sunday,” he teased.

“You’re horrible!” She
was visibly pleased by his attention despite her mock protests.

Dinner was
a casual affair, and afterwards they drove to the barn and took their horses out for a quick ride before the sun disappeared for the day. When it came time to say goodnight, they shared a long, hot and heavy kiss, but neither pushed for more. Cass had adjusted to the idea of not sleeping together right away, and Billy was enjoying pursuing her like a gentleman. Their time would come, and he looked forward to it, but what they shared right now was enough for the time being.