Rodeo Blues (15 page)

"What?" Those last sentences focused her
attention. "I'm not marrying you," she told him, but he didn't want
to listen. That was what was wrong with Jhett. He never listened.
It was all about him and his needs and wants. He never stopped to
consider what anyone else wanted.

His grip tightened on her arm as she tried to
take a step back. He yanked her toward him into a tight embrace. He
tried to kiss her even as she strained to get away. "Come on,
Jolie. You need me," he told her.

"Take your paws off my wife!"

Both turned at the same time to find Tye
looming over them, his hands fisted and fire burning in his eyes.
His gaze narrowed in on Jhett and his nostrils flared.

Jhett wisely let go of her and stepped back
with his hands raised and palms forward in mock surrender, but his
eyes told a whole other story.

"Are you okay, Jolie?" Tye asked her in a
calmer voice, but he didn't take his eyes off Jhett, who looked
like he was about to split a gut with the way his body tensed.

"I'm fine," Jolie told him, but she wasn't
fine. She was pissed at Jhett for taking advantage of the
situation, and at Tye for marrying her when he had no right. She
was a whole lot of confused over what Jhett hinted about Tye's
return visit too. Not only the bragging rights to running Tye out
of town, but also for suggesting Tye was only here to even the
score. She needed a moment to process – all of it.

"You are far from fine," Jhett spat the
words, which took on a whole different meaning when he spoke them.
"You're married to a low life—"

She didn't even think, but reacted. Her fist
flew into Jhett's nose. Caught off guard, he stumbled back into the
crowd.

"Watch it!" A biker with a snake tattoo
winding around his bicep, growled. He shoved Jhett in the chest,
and he stumbled back a few steps. Jhett was by no means a pushover.
He'd played football and he'd stayed in shape.

Jhett already had his dander up, and the
biker's action proved his breaking point. He whirled on the guy and
threw a punch. The biker didn't even falter, not one bit. It was
like he was carved from granite, for as much damage as Jhett had
done to his face. Jhett realized his mistake a little too late. The
biker went after him, and before long others joined in as if they'd
been itching for a fight all evening and were glad someone finally
initiated it. A fist from the biker landed Jhett into the
crowd.

A security guard yelled for them to stop, and
then his whistle trilled next. It wouldn't be long before he had
back up.

"Come on," Tye said to her and grabbed hold
of her upper arm, ushering her away from the flying fists.

The farther they ventured from the crowd, the
more time she had to think logically, but as the adrenalin rush
dwindled, she also became acutely aware of her throbbing hand. She
cradled it to her stomach, wondering if she'd broken something. It
would serve her right for punching Jhett. What had she been
thinking? She never let anyone get her dander up like she did
tonight.

Tye glanced her way and noticed her babying
her hand. "We'll get some ice for that, slugger. It isn't everyday
someone protects my honor." His mouth slid into an appreciative
grin, and for a moment, the pain she endured had been well worth
the price.

She returned the smile.

Chapter Twenty

Tye headed toward the swings situated in the
park facing the food stands. The park had been built the summer he
turned six years old. The merry-go-round could use a coat of paint,
but the slide and the swings looked to be in good condition.

Tye took a seat on the swing next to Jolie.
Using his feet, he shuffled closer to her and took her hand. The
food stand selling snow cones was good enough to help him out with
a baggie filled with crushed ice. He lightly pressed the bag to her
bruised knuckles. "Not that I don't mind you defending me, but what
possessed you to punch Jhett?"

She sighed heavily, but then seemed to get
all riled up again. "That man's been a bee in my bonnet since the
seventh grade. He had it coming."

Tye chuckled. "I suppose you're right.
Shocked him some though." Jolie had never been one for fistfights
unless provoked, and he had a hunch she hadn't changed that much.
Made him wonder what Jhett said to her right before he happened
upon them. He lifted the baggie and inspected her hand. "I don't
think you broke anything, but it'll be tender for a few days."

"I can handle it." She pursed her lips then.
He could tell she wanted to say more, but was formulating the words
before she blurted them out. "Why didn't you tell me what Jhett and
his buddies did to you after prom?"

So that was what had gotten her all riled up.
"That's ancient history," he said with a long tired sigh. "I don't
think about it anymore."

"Bulls in pen, you don't," she snapped.

He smiled at her choice of curses. She could
come up with some colorful metaphors when angry. "Like I said, it's
ancient history. I'm not an insecure teen anymore."

Her gaze searched his for a long measured
moment before she reached for him with her good hand, her slender
fingers caressing his jaw. "I wish you would have told me. You
should have told me," she repeated, her voice gentler now.

Yeah, maybe he should have, but he wasn't one
to wallow in self-pity, and he definitely didn't want hers. He took
her hand and lowered it. "It wasn't your problem."

"Not my problem?" Her brows furrowed. "I
love… I loved you. If someone hurt you, I would have wanted to
know."

He couldn't help but notice, she used the
past tense. She
loved
him. He'd been gone a
long time. He couldn't expect her to hold a torch for him forever,
even if he couldn't get her out of his mind or his heart. No girl
ever matched up to Jolie Lockhart and what they had together. No
one captured his heart, and now he knew why. He'd left it in
Skeeter Blue with the girl…the woman...who sat beside him on a
swing, nursing bruised knuckles.

"When you told me you were joining the rodeo
circuit, you promised you would come home for Christmas. You
didn't," she accused. "I waited and you didn't come home. No phone
calls. Nothing. If you hadn't made a name for yourself, I would
have believed you were dead. Can you imagine how that felt?" She
shook her head before she pinned him with a look that clearly told
him how much he'd hurt her. "Why didn't you come home?"

He remembered what he told her. At the time,
he had meant it. He knew he had nothing to prove to Jhett Reeves,
but he had to prove to himself he was worthy to ask Jolie to be his
wife, and a penniless man didn't have the right to ask anyone to
marry him.

He had come home for Christmas. He believed
he had enough money to support both of them by then. He'd come home
a winner in three of the rodeo events. He had planned to ask Jolie
to marry him, but when he arrived home, she hadn't been alone…

* * * * *

He'd taken the bus back to Skeeter Blue with
a ring in his pocket and a whole lot of promises. Once he arrived,
he'd planned to head to the town square where they held the
Christmas tree lighting. Following the ceremony, they'd all head
for the town hall, where there would be food, drinks, and a whole
lot of dancing. It was a yearly tradition and he knew Jolie would
be there with her father. They never missed the event.

Only on the last stretch of the way, the bus
ran into engine trouble and they had to switch vehicles on route.
He arrived late and all the town folk were already inside the town
hall. Probably had been there for hours.

The music floated on the air with holiday
cheer. He smiled as he hurried to join the townspeople…his friends.
As much as he wanted to leave Skeeter Blue and forget where he'd
come from, another part of him missed the simplicity of small town
living.

He smoothed down his hair, and prayed his
clothes didn't look too wrinkled from having been stuffed in a
duffle bag. He eased the hall doors open. No one took notice of
him, which suited him just fine.

There were red and green streamers overhead,
a small Christmas tree near the bandstand and a long table pushed
over by the wall with a display of sweets – cookies, pies, and
chocolate cake. The punch bowl was a red concoction and he wondered
if it had been spiked yet? Every year, since he was fifteen, Mike
would sneak in a flask to do the honors, while Jimmy and Sonny kept
anyone from catching him. He was in charge of stopping the
young'uns from sampling the juice, by handing out juice boxes with
straws. Those were the days. He smiled at the thought.

His gaze searched the crowd,
and finally, he found Jolie. His breath caught in his throat as he
took in all of her at once. She was dressed in a red velvet dress
with her hair curled just so, with most of the strands cascading
down her back. She was a vision for sore eyes. He had taken a step
toward her, but halted his advances when his gaze latched onto the
guy standing next to her.
Jhett Reeves
. He
clenched his fists, and wanted so much to ram them into Jhett's
pompous face, but Jolie did the darnedest thing. She walked into
Jhett's outstretched arms.

He rubbed a hand over his face, believing his
tired eyes deceived him, but when he looked again, the scene became
his worst nightmare. Jolie didn't push Jhett away. She seemed
mighty comfortable in his arms and when Jhett dipped his head to
give her a kiss, he knew he couldn't stay a moment longer.

He turned on his heels and marched out of the
hall and didn't look back.

* * * * *

"Tye?"

He turned toward Jolie. "I did come back that
Christmas," he told her.

"What do you mean?"

"I was at the dance where you were cozying up
to Jhett."

"Cozying up to—" She pursed her lips. "I
don't know what you're talking about." Her frown almost made him
believe her, but he'd been there. He saw it with his own eyes.

"I saw you kiss him," he clarified.

"
Jhett?
" The pitch of her voice went
up a few notches and her nose wrinkled as if she smelled something
dreadful. "You saw me kissing Jhett Reeves?"

"Yes, Jhett Reeves," he said, a little
perturbed now.

She shook her head. "I don't know what you're
talking about. Jhett and I never were a couple and I don't go
around hugging Jhett for no good reason."

"Maybe not, but I saw you two together. It
was that Christmas I told you I would return for you. Can you
honestly sit there and tell me you never kissed Jhett Reeves?
Never?
" He stressed the last word with meaning and leveled
his eyes on her as he tried to read her expressions, tried to tell
if she were lying when she claimed she didn't care for Jhett. Maybe
she didn't have feelings for the man now, but he couldn't erase
what he witnessed all those years ago.

She truly did appear perplexed. In truth, it
had been a long time ago, but the memory had been burned into his
brain like a brand. "You were at the dance, standing near the punch
bowl," he said, trying to jog her memory. "Jhett pulled you into
his arms and—"Then he saw it. The recognition lighting her eyes.
She did remember.

"Oh, no." She closed her eyes and shook her
head. "That's not what you saw."

"But you remember kissing him," he pushed for
the answer.

"I remember," she murmured. She met his gaze
then. "You did see us kiss, but we were standing under the
mistletoe and Jhett took advantage of the fact. He was supposed to
kiss me on the cheek, but like always, he took more than was
offered. You didn't stick around for what happened afterwards, I
take it."

"No, I'd seen plenty. Why would I want to see
more?"

"'Cause if you had stayed, you would have
seen me push him away. You would have known I didn't want to be
with him. How could you not trust me? How could you even believe
for a second I wouldn't be waiting for you?"

He stared at her for a long measured moment.
She would have no reason to lie to him. Old memories and feelings
overwhelmed him, and he knew his insecurities had always hampered
his judgment in regards to Jolie. "I was a fool in more ways than
one. I should have fought for you."

She licked her lips. "You never had to fight
for me. You already had me, Tye. You just didn't want to believe
it."

"And now?" he asked, and couldn't help but
hope he'd have another chance.

She didn't answer at first, but he took it as
a good sign when she didn't laugh at him for asking. Finally, she
spoke, "I don't know." She brushed strands of hair away from his
forehead with a sweep of her hand. "I believed those feelings I had
for you were long gone, but they're still there. Only I'm not that
young girl anymore." She gave him a sidelong glance. "And I sure as
heck am not going to wait around for you to come home for Christmas
this time around."