Breene, K F - Jessica Brodie Diaries 01 (11 page)

So please like me after this, okay?

After a moment, he asked, “Are you
okay to go back?”

I let the breeze finish drying my
tear streaked face.

“Yes, I’m okay. Sorry about that.”

He shook his head in frustration,
waving away my apology with his hand. Not taking his probing eyes off mine, he
politely gestured for me to go ahead of him. Ladies first.

As we rounded the corner of the
trailer, the older man ran into us. His expression was hard until he took me
in, then immediately softened.

Apparently I was still emanating
chick in distress.

“Willie, your next bull is about to
go. You should get back there. Georgie Jones is ridin’ him.”

“Georgie is here?”

“Yes. And he is about to ride your
bull. I’ll escort this lady back.”

William looked at me, nodded,
tipped his hat and said, “Ma’am.” He ran off toward the gate.

The older man held out his hand.
“My man is Tom. Senior.”

It was William’s dad, as I thought.
The looks gave it away. Well, and the name.

“Oh, hi. My name is Jessica
Brodie.”

“Brodie? Is that Scottish?”

“Uh, yes actually. My grandfather
was from
Scotland
.”

He returned my smile. He had an
ease to him that made me feel comfortable. “My wife’s maiden name is Scottish.
Cameron. Would you like to head back to the arena?”

Yeah, sure, why not? Today couldn’t
possibly get any worse.

By the time we arrived at the
arena, the rider was ready, hand up but immobile, braced. Just waiting for that
gate to open.

“This rider is very good." Tom
said conversationally. "He competes in the top purse rodeos with some of
the best bulls in the country. He also happens to be riding the toughest bull
of my son’s stock. It is a wonder how he drew this bull. It is good for all the
other riders, of course. Otherwise he would probably take the purse without a
struggle.”

As man and beast rushed from their
tiny confinement, the same old dance filled the arena, except this time, the
performers were professionals. The bull was obviously the strongest, brutish
yet, with twists and turns, leaps and bucks to make a hooker proud. Georgie was
picking up what the bull was putting down, almost.

The bull did a powerful spin, jump,
buck, spin combination that had the rider totally bewildered. He was hanging on
by sheer stubbornness. Georgie’s once perfect, coordinated rhythm was thrown to
the walls. The power in this animal was beyond the others, and this rider could
not maintain his poise under such duress.

After the buzzer sounded, and
Georgie was chased to the gate, Tom said, “That was a really good ride. It
wasn’t pretty, but that was a nasty bull, so he’ll get points for that. Should
be a high scoring ride.”

“Does that mean the bull will go to
the bigger circuit? Or, you know, more advanced rodeos?”

“Well, he’ll have to be in a few
more small time rodeos first, but I have no doubt he’ll make it if he continues
to do this well.”

Everyone turned as the rider came
strutting into the area, sweat and dirt, just like Ty had been. It seemed a
hazard of the profession. Tom excused himself and headed back toward the
trailer, other things to do. Being that he was at a rodeo, I couldn’t imagine
what those things were.

“I didn’t know you would be here
until I saw you on that monster of a bull.” Georgie said as he gripped Ty’s arm
in a strength-of-wills kind of shake, both with victory smiles on their faces.

“Likewise," Ty responded
jovially. "How’d you like riding yours? They’re from the same stock, you
know.”

Georgie looked at William. “Yeah,
what you been feedin’ ‘em, haus? Dynamite?”

William smiled. “I feed ‘em little
children. Keeps ‘em mean!”

“Ah man!” Georgie reeled back in
laughter. “That ain’t right!”

“I had a helluva time keeping on my
bull,” Ty said. “My arm’ll need to be iced tonight for sure. I’ve ridden them
before, though, so I basically knew what to expect.”

“Yeah, I was going to ask you about
that, Davies.” Georgie's eyes got a business gleam. “I wouldn’t mind some
practice rides.”

“Well, these five are put into
circuit so they are out, but I got a couple more that are close to as good. You
might take a ride on those next week if you’re around.”

“Cool.” Georgie nodded, business
over. His eyes scanned the area, a dog checking out the neighboring territory.
As they skittered past me, they snapped back like a rubber band. “She with
you?”

My eyebrows fell down to the ridge
of my nose. Have you any manners?

William’s eyes flicked to me before
he shrugged and looked out at the empty arena. The crowd was starting to break
up and disperse. My initiation to rodeo life was over. After the day I’d had, I
couldn’t say it wasn’t welcomed.

Adam answered Georgie, apparently
now my pimp. “She came with some others, but her and her friend here,” he
nodded at Candace, “are in our care for the evening.”

My eyebrows slipped a little
further. Your care? I missed the part where you peed on me. Which, given the
fact that I wasn’t crazy about golden showers, was a good thing. But still, I
wasn't aware women were still viewed as property in this state.

Georgie looked back at me with the
focus of a slut. Being that he was only mildly attractive, and also on the
shorter side, I had a feeling being good at bull riding gave a guy a certain je
ne said qui. A small scale celebrity status. And with girls, it didn’t matter
your appearance, if you were known, you were doable.

Sometimes I had to wonder about my
sex in general.

“You goin’ to the dance, darlin?”
he asked, taking a step closer.

My eyes slid to Candace. “Dance?”

“Oh hoot, boys. She is an out of
towner! Where you from, darlin?” Georgie asked with glee.

I wasn’t in the mood to be hit on.
Plus, my earlier embarrassment with William, which was now exacting its
punishment since he was busying himself with a freaking rope by his trailer
instead of paying any attention to another man wanting me, made me surly. I
reigned it in, for the sake of my ride home, but barely.

“I’m from
L.A.
”
Then, in case he was dense, I said, “Which is in
California
.”

“Hmm. I like me some Cali-fornia
girls. You girls are frisky.” He stepped closer again, now only a foot away,
nearly invading my space bubble. It gave me a dose of claustrophobia. It also
worried away the last of my good-behavior.

“Look, short stack,” I put my hand
to his chest and pushed him back. “I am not in the mood.”

Moose and Adam burst out laughing.
William’s head snapped up, a frustrated expression on his face. Possibly I was
supposed to be nice to his future clientele, but he could just stuff it. They
all could. I’d had a bad day.

Ty put his hand on Georgie’s
shoulder. “Better luck next time, man. I’m slam out of pity for ya.”

Georgie shot me a gleaming smile.
“I love a girl that plays hard to get. I love those bright eyes and country
music,” he sang with his hand on his heart.

“Bright lights dummy. Lights, not
eyes. You’re dumber’n a box of hair!” Adam said with a grin, leaning back and
crossing his arms over his chest. He was enjoying the show.

William walked away. Ty followed
with Candace keeping pace. When Moose and Adam shifted and stood, walking after
the others, I figured I’d act like a Lemming and follow blindly as well.
Suddenly going home with Dave and JP didn’t seem like such a bad idea.

“I think she loves me, boys!”
Georgie shouted merrily.

I shook my head as I threw a glance
back his way. Some men never gave up. When I turned back around, I caught the
tail end of Moose’s apprehensive glance. Apparently he, and probably all of
them, wondered if I’d succumb to Georgie’s strange kind of charm. I'm at a
rodeo for one day, and already they think I’m a groupie? What the hell?

“I think I am going to head on,”
William was saying to the guys as I walked up. “Unless you all want to go to
the dance?”

“Hell, I love them dances. I’ll be
DD if y’all want?” Adam said.

“I’ll go. Gotta shower and change
first, but why not? How about you?” Ty asked Candace.

“Sure!” she said, a little too
happily.

Five bodies turned my way.

“Uh... Peer pressure is fun and
all, but what is this dance?”

“After rodeos there is generally a
social dance. Just some music and beer. It’s a good time,” Moose explained.

“If I went, how long would I be in
for?” I asked the group.

“In for?” Ty asked as he lounged
against the trailer. “It isn’t prison. Do you dance?”

“I have been known to cut a rug or
two,” I replied. “But I don’t feel like getting drunk and doing something
stupid. Plus, dancing to country music without drinking is not the stuff of
magic. I don’t want to be hit on, either. It’s been a long day.”

“Note to self, hit on Jessica on
short days, only.” Ty acted like he was writing on a notepad—the pad being his
palm.

“C’mon Jess, please come!” Candace
pleaded.

What was the saying about fallen
soldiers?

“I don’t have JP to keep me out of
trouble,” I said as a last ditch effort.

“I’ll take care of that,” Moose
responded as he flexed his left bicep. Then patted it. Then kissed it.

“I suppose next you’ll ask me if I
want to see the gun show…”

Moose’s brow furrowed. He shook his
head slightly.

With a put-upon expression, I bent
my arms at the elbows, held them up, hands fisted, and flexed. “See these
guns?”

Moose’s eyebrows fluttered upward,
the corners of his lips following as if a string connected the two.

“Anyway—“ I continued, ignoring
William’s blank look.

“Now how’d I miss that one growin’
up?” Adam asked incredulously, a smirk taking over his face.

“You’re slow, that’s how,” Ty said,
getting comfortable in his lounge, which took him closer to Candace.

“Right, okay." I sighed and
worried the ground with my toe. "I guess the big brute is now my bodyguard.
Good times.”

From the trailer, we all heard
Tom’s voice say, “I’ll be going, too, if y’all don’t mind.”

All the boys’ faces lit up. Except
for William’s. “Well, it looks like I have to go by default. Alright, who’s
first for the shower?”

Showered, not changed because I
didn’t make a habit of carrying around a knapsack on a stick, and wearing
borrowed makeup, since Candace apparently did carry one, I stepped down, out of
the plush trailer and into the night. A circling of men and one woman were
there to greet me, all turning at my entrance, the glow from the light behind
me illuminating their faces.

As my feet crunched against the
dirt, there was a moment of silence dotted with an occasional neigh and the
distant drum of bass. I nearly asked what I’d done before Candace broke the
silence.

“Oh my God Jessica, I love what you
did with your eye makeup! You have to show me!”

“It’s just a smoky eye,” I
muttered, shuffling toward the group.

“Okay, entrance made, let’s get
cracking,” Ty said with a laugh, stepping out of the group and stopping with
his arm out and elbow crooked, as if it was 1806. On cue, Candace stepped
forward and daintily threaded her hand through his arm. It was too dark to
tell, but I had a feeling her face was bright red under her intense layer of
makeup.

All eyes turned to me. No one
stepped forward. My confidence shrunk by the second.

“What are y’all gawkin’ at?” Tom’s
voice wafted into the scene, followed a second later by his body, dapper and
suave in plaid and cowboy boots. It was a country suit. “Ah, Jessica, you look
lovely. May I escort you?” He held out his arm.

Grateful, I nearly fell into him.
“Thank you.”

"You look beautiful, tonight,
my dear," he said in gentleman tones. He had been preprogramed by his wife
from years of marriage to notice when a woman tried to look good, then comment
to that effect. I was grateful to William's mom.

“Why thank you, Tom,” I replied.

Tom patted my hand. “Nonsense. I
didn’t think any of the boys would get around to telling you, but they are
surely all thinking it. When they get older they will learn to speak up.” I
could hear the gentle smile in his voice.

It was a short walk to the dance
hall, which was a big tent beyond the rodeo. We got to the ticket booth, and as
I reached for my purse, Tom tsked.

“Now, now. The gentleman always
pays.”

He took out money and paid for the
whole party. Being that no one had reached for wallets but me, everyone was
expecting that.

Inside the tent were flimsy round
tables dotting the packed dirt floor. Streamer hung limply in blue and white,
and the bar, which Tom headed shortly after taking drink orders, was nothing
more than plywood and alcohol. There was a stage, which was cool, but the
country music they were playing was not. Thank God for beer.

We didn’t even have time for the
first topic of conversation before Georgie found me.

“Well, well. If it ain’t the purty
lady and her bodyguards...”

Georgie was cleaned up, wearing his
own country suit, and confidently standing like I had already consented to go
home with him. That slipped a fraction when he met my expression, but bounced
back easily. “Well now, boys. You can’t have her all night!”

I turned back to my beer, feeling
eyes burning a hole in my head. William was looking at me with a vexed
expression. His eyes quickly moving from mine back to Georgie as soon as I made
contact.

If he was under the impression I
was going to turn back around and suck up to his friends while they mercilessly
hit on me, his silver spoon was shoved too far up his backside. With that
thought, and also with stubbornness taking over every inch of my fiber, I
continued to glare at him as I slowly took a sip of my beer. I waited until his
eyes glanced back, then widened in surprise, before I casually looked away.

Suck it! I thought. I was cranky,
tired, and had too much of that guy’s crap. All guys, actually. Every one of
them. So there.

Candace elbowed me. I hadn’t
switched my facial expression, so she got a blast of the same stubborn, hard
expression as William. Her face fell in shock.

“Sorry!” she said. “It is just that
Georgie asked you to dance and I was getting your attention...”

“Oh sorry, Candace. That wasn’t
directed at you--I was thinking about something else.” I stood up and faced
Georgie.

He had a big grin on his face, like
he won some sort of contest.

I was just about to say my
apologies in the nicest way I could, and go find a corner to hide in, when Tom
said, “Oh now Georgie, you may be the best bull rider around, save Ty of
course, but you need to work on your manners with young ladies. Candace,
Jessica--” He bowed to Candace and me in turn. “Would either of you ladies like
to dance?”

“I would love to, Tom,” I said,
winking at a relieved Candace. She didn’t want Tom to steal Ty’s thunder. I was
happy letting him steal Georgie’s.

I took Tom’s arm for the second
time that night. As soon as we got out of hearing he said, “Sorry to intrude,
but it seemed like you were in a tight spot.”

I couldn’t help but smile. “I am in
your debt, sir. I was trying to think of the nicest way to say ‘buzz off’.”

He laughed. “You‘ll have plenty of
time for that tonight. Looks as though Georgie has taken a liking to you. If I
might warn you of one thing: he can be a rascal sometimes. He tries to be a
gentleman most times, I think. But sometimes it isn’t as easy as others.”

“Spoken like a rascal.” I laughed
as we made the scuffed planking that would pass beautifully for a dance floor.

“We all have to grow up sometime.”
He faced me with a grin. “Do you know how to
Texas
two-step?”

“
Texas
two-step? Actually, no. I know the Fox Trot and Swing and a lot of ballroom
dances, but not the two-step.”

“No matter. It’s easy to learn.”

I grabbed his hand and stepped
closer, putting the other hand on his shoulder. He stepped toward me with a
quick step. I backed up. He stepped at me with the other foot, also a quick
beat. I backed up again, correlating feet with him.

“Step together, walk, walk. Step
together, walk, walk,” he helped.

Being a dancer, kinda of, I caught
on pretty quick. It wasn’t like there was much to remember. As soon as I got
the hang of it, he went faster to match the music. Before I knew it we were
headed around the floor with other people doing the same dance, going the same
way. It was all very organized!

When we got back to the table there
was a second round of beers waiting. Tom walked me to my seat, bowed his head a
fraction, and said, “Thank you for the dance.”

Seriously! What. A. Gentleman!

I smiled and tilted my head like a
dumb girl. As he walked away I looked around. It was then that I noticed two
things.

One. Every woman in that place was
eyeing my table. Usually they were staring at William or Adam, but Moose got
quite a few looks as well. Sometimes the women would glance my way in
indignation, as if I posed some sort of resistance just because I was at the
table.

My spirits wilted as I realized
Willie Davies could have any woman in this place. Hell, half of them would
probably agree to double up with another woman to share him.

Two. Dusty was here. He was on the
outskirts, loitering, keeping a low profile, but my face was often in his
sights. He was here for revenge, that was certain. I just didn’t know how he
was going to get it.

I had a strong urge to run for the
door.

“Care to dance?”

Moose was standing behind me
solemnly. In confusion, I accented, just to see why the frownie-face. And also
not to be rude, of course.

We started the two-step, which
seemed to be everyone’s dance of choice here, and I let my gaze travel up to
the heavens. I couldn’t get over his size! It was like dancing with a
Sasquatch. An attractive one with dark brown, liquid eyes that seemed kind and
deep. He had a largish nose, but it worked with his face, which was broad and
flat. Behind his easy smile was a set of white, straight teeth.

William had some good-looking
friends. Birds of a feather, as they say…

The dance was quiet. Something was
bothering him. Worried that it would be about William, or worse, he would ask
me out, I didn’t press.

As we were walking back, he said,
“If he gives you any trouble, you let one of us know, y’hear?”

“What?”

“Dusty. I saw him gawkin’ at ya. If
he gives you any trouble, any at all, you let one of us know. He is from bad
stock. We’ll sort him out.”

“Thanks, Moose. That guy seriously
creeps me out. How did I find him cute when I first saw him?”

“Well, now, he’s good-lookin’. He’s
got his sex appeal, and all the women fall for him one time or another.
Especially with alcohol. He takes advantage. Women just don’t know those type
of men are hangin’ around until you learn yer lesson. Then you steer clear.”

“Is that why you are single, Moose?
Women just haven’t learned their lesson yet?”

He looked like I had slapped his
face—something between shock and surprise. It must have been my smile that let
him know I was kidding, because he broke into a huge grin to top mine and
chuckled. “You had me going for a second there! You say things so dead pan when
you’s joking!” He laughed harder. “I suppose that is why I’m single, at that.
Just a big creep that all the ladies seen through already!”

As I reached my seat, guess who was
waiting for me. Freaking Georgie. Did the guy like being rejected that much?

I held up my hand in Georgie’s
face. He opened his mouth to ask me to dance, a bemused smile eating his
cheeks, and I just shook my head, reaffirming my “stop” gesture. I snatched my
beer and took a big swig. This dancing was getting in the way of my beer
drinking. I was behind.

He tried ducking around my hand.
“Do you wanna—“

“Nope. I need to drink some beer.”

His face dropped in a puppy dog
expression, with big eyes and his lip stuck out. “Please?” he whined, a little
grin messing up his perfect pout.

I shook my head, held up my beer,
and finished it up. I had another full one waiting, and it was starting to get
warm.

He crouched, intending to sit next
to me, no doubt trying to wait me out.

“Oh no! No way! This table is for
the Davies’ crew. Suitors must sit at another table...” I held up my nose in my
best interpretation of a snob, and drank another sip of beer.

Moose sat, instead, flashing Georgie
a crooked grin. Adam sat on the other side, leaned way back in his chair, and
put his arm on the back of my chair, sporting the same cock-eyed smirk.

“Sorry, man,” Adam said, “this side
of the table’s all full up.”

Moose chuckled.

I would have thought Georgie would
get in a huff and stock away. To his credit, he started laughing and slapped
the table. “Alright boys, have it your way. Help her play hard to get! I am on
it like a coon dog, though, and I always tree my coon!”

He looked at me, winked, and tipped
his big cowboy hat. “Ma’am, I’ll see you on the dance floor yet!” He walked
away laughing.

“Did he just call me a raccoon? I
mean really, do I look like a mean, rabid creature?” All the guys turned to me.
I paused. Then held up my finger. “Don’t answer that.”

About that time Candace bounded
back. She crinkled her eyebrows at the boys sitting next to me, then had a
moment of indecisiveness. She obviously wanted to talk to me but two lumps of
muscle blocked her way. She hovered for a moment, shifting on her feet.

“Here, sit right here,” Moose said,
jumping up. Adam was up just as fast.

“Jez, what do I stink or
something?” I huffed. “Don’t answer that, either!”

“Oh my God, Jessica! Oh. My. God!”
Candace exclaimed in a hushed voice, looking all around to make sure she wasn’t
heard. “He kissed me! He kissed me!”

“Wait. What?!”

“He kissed me!”

“Wait, wait, wait! What do you
mean? Where? When? Details, woman, details!”

She took a big breath. “Okay. Well,
we danced, right? Then we danced to the next song. We got a beer and talked. He
is so easy to talk to. I wouldn’t shut up! And we danced again. He is such a
great dancer. He wanted to go for a walk to have a smoke then, and I asked if I
could join him.”

She paused to take a dramatic
breath, pure excitement bubbling up. “Then,” she gushed, a smile taking over
her face, “we were walking outside and he smoked his cigarette. I didn’t smoke
one because...well...I don’t smoke. But he did. And we talked about nothing.
Everything, actually. But nothing important. And we were just about to turn to
come back in and he turned to me all serious. My heart was about to explode,
Jessica! He leaned in then and kissed me!”

She giggled a little and did an
excited squirm in her seat. I was grinning like a fool.

“I felt it from my head to my toes.
I did!” She giggled again, and I joined her. First kisses were so exciting!

She was about to go on when someone
took the other chair beside me. At first I wasn’t concerned because I half
thought it would be Ty coming for his beauty, but when I turned, my smile
twisted off my face.

Dusty’s brown eyes were kindled
with an unnatural light. A sickly smile wormed its way onto his face. “Hey ya,
darlin’. How’s the night goin’?”

Fear twisted in my gut.

“We were talking,” Candace said
haughtily, leaning forward to meet his eyes across me.

Dusty didn’t miss a beat. “You were
talking. Get lost now. I have some things I need to say to her.” He clutched my
shoulder with flesh covered claws. The knife of fear wrenched harder.

I pleaded Candace for help with my
eyes, not knowing what to do. She looked back, her eyes just as wild. Just as
fear streaked. Then her stare turned hard, assessing, and she was gone. I could
only hope it was to get help.