Chapter 59
CHAPTER 59
KAREN
I saw the way Cassidy looked at Earl and I braced myself for the worst. Cassidy, to his credit, was trying to keep cool. I saw it in the way he was taking deep breaths and keeping his hands at his sides. But Earl Hoyt had just pushed past all reasonable limits. I reached out, placing a hand on Cassidy’s arm in an effort to soothe him. His muscles were tense underneath my touch, vibrating like a coiled spring.
Cassidy shrugged me off. “Get the cops here now.”
I nodded and stepped back. My phone was upstairs. I walked to the landline and picked it up, quickly dialing. Earl got back in his car.
“Is he going to try and leave?” I asked more to myself than anyone else.
“He’s not going anywhere,” Ginny said. “Drunk fool.”
Earl was rummaging around in the car when the dispatcher came on the line. I tried to convey the chaos in as few words as possible while keeping my eye on Earl, who was back out of the car. “We need the police, quickly—someone just crashed a car into the lodge hall. Yes, it’s pretty bad.”
There was a glazed look in Earl’s eyes. Just as I thought he might try to make a run for it, his attention zeroed in on the bar.
“You might want to send an ambulance,” I said. “I know this guy is drunk, but he might have a concussion as well.”
Earl climbed over the bar and fell over the other side. He quickly stood, grinning like an idiot. He grabbed a bottle of whiskey, twisted off the cap, and took a long, defiant swig. The sharp reek of strong liquor hit my heightened olfactory senses from across the room. I shook off the wave of nausea that washed over me.
Cassidy glanced over his shoulder to check on me. I nodded at him, letting him know I was okay. It was because of him I was okay. I now understood the meaning of deer in the headlights because I froze when I saw Earl approaching. Cassidy was the one that moved me out of the way. He covered my body with his in an act of love and heroism.
Earl was spiraling, and fast. He was mumbling something about the shitty liquor and asking where the party was. I relayed as much information as I could to the operator and ended the call. I made sure they understood Earl was erratic and things were bad.
“They’re on the way,” I told Cassidy. “She told me to stay away from him and not to let him leave.”
“I don’t know if that’s possible,” Cassidy said. The tension in his body was rolling off him in powerful waves.
Just then, a loud groan sounded and then, like it was happening in slow motion, a piece of wood from the side of the wall slammed against the car. Ginny yelped and jumped back. I heard the muffled sounds of people coming down the stairs to see what was happening.
“Oh, my God!” one guest whispered, stepping into the hall with wide eyes. Within seconds, a small crowd had gathered, hushed whispers and gasps filling the space. Earl’s eyes darted to the onlookers and he sneered, then took another sloppy swig from the bottle.
“Enjoying the show?” he asked.
Uncle Don made his way through the crowd, his expression reflecting our shock. His hair was sticking up as he looked at the devastation, then at me. I saw the fear. “I’m okay,” I said. “Everyone is fine. No one is hurt.”
“What the hell happened?” His voice boomed through the hall.
Even Earl paused. “Oops,” he said before bursting into laughter. He took another drink from the bottle.
Uncle Don’s usually calm demeanor was nowhere to be seen as he surveyed the scene. Everyone was staring at Earl, his car, and the wreckage of the lodge. A couple of people were recording the disaster unfolding. Earl still managed to look utterly unconcerned.
Uncle Don was wearing his boots and his flannel pajama bottoms, telling me he had literally jumped out of bed and into his boots. He stomped across the lodge, being careful to avoid some of the larger pieces of debris.
“Earl, that’s enough,” Uncle Don said. To my surprise, he no longer sounded angry. He sounded empathetic, which I didn’t get. “You’ve done enough damage for one night. Just sit tight until the police get here.”
Earl blinked as he tried to focus on Don. For a second, I thought he was going to calm down. Maybe he would be apologetic. But a sudden surge of anger blazed in his eyes. “You don’t tell me what to do, old man,” he slurred, stepping forward. “None of you do.”
Earl stumbled toward Uncle Don. His eyes narrowed. It was clear he was intending to do something. Suddenly, Cassidy was there, stepping between them. “That’s enough, Earl,” he said. “No need to make this worse than it already is. You’re already in deep shit. Don’t add assault charges.”
Earl’s wild gaze focused on Cassidy. “Oh shit,” I murmured.
Dread gripped me. Everyone in the room knew how this would end. Earl looked manic. Something ugly was brewing in the air, something I wasn’t sure any of us could stop. Cassidy and Earl were two growling dogs. They’d had one go at each other, but that only stoked the hatred between them.
Earl was hammered. He was no match against Cassidy but that wasn’t a good thing. That was dangerous. If Cassidy gave in to the need to pummel Earl, he was going to be the one that ended up in jail.
“You,” Earl spat, pointing a finger at Cassidy. “You messed it all up, Scott!”
Cassidy’s jaw clenched. I saw his fists curl at his sides. His weight was on the balls of his feet like a fighter ready for the first swing. The whole room seemed to go silent, every person holding their breath.
“Let’s all just take it easy,” I said. “Only one person needs to get in trouble tonight.”
Earl didn’t seem to hear me. He tilted his head back and drained the rest of the whiskey from the bottle. And then, to my shock, he hurled the bottle across the room. It shattered against the floor, pieces of glass scattering like broken promises. Some of the smarter guests turned and rushed back upstairs, realizing this wasn’t a show, this was real life, and things were likely going to get dangerous. Earl swayed as he turned back to Cassidy, staggering out from behind the bar and closing in on him.
“You ruined everything,” Earl hissed, his voice dripping with venom. “Should’ve kept your nose out of my business. But no, you had to drag my ex-wife into it, didn’t you? Now she’s got me back in court, all because you thought you could play hero.”
“Whatever happened is on you, Earl.” Cassidy kept his position, unflinching as Earl stepped closer.
Cassidy was doing everything in his power to keep his composure, but there was a fire simmering just beneath the surface. His patience had limits. Earl was going to find out just how much Cassidy hated him if he didn’t back off.
Kenny stepped in, standing between Earl and Cassidy, and gently pushed Earl back. “Time to sit down, Earl,” he said. “Before you fall down. There’s glass everywhere. You’re going to get hurt. Your head is bleeding. You’re not thinking straight.”
Earl snarled, his lip curling in anger. He lunged but Kenny gave him a gentle shove to keep him away. Earl, too drunk and too dizzy to keep his balance, stumbled backward. He landed hard on his ass, fortunately in the one spot where there wasn’t glass covering the floor. His eyes rolled back as he slumped over, out cold.
The hall fell into a stunned silence, everyone watching as Earl lay sprawled on the floor, his loud snoring confirming he was alive.
“Holy shit,” Ginny said before bursting into laughter. “What a mess.”
“Everyone, please, go back to bed,” Uncle Don said. “Let us get this cleaned up so no one gets hurt.”
One by one, the onlookers retreated, leaving the hall to the Rocking Horse Ranch crew.
Kenny walked back to Ginny while Cassidy stood close to Earl, guarding him in case he clawed his way back to consciousness.
“Well, that was about as much excitement as I can handle for one night,” Ginny said.
“I could go for a bit more excitement actually,” Kenny said, looking at Ginny.
She took his hand. “Bunkhouse?” she whispered, her brows waggling.
Kenny looked at her, a goofy grin spreading across his face. “Yes, ma’am.” He looked at Cassidy. “You got this? There’s something I need to take care of.”
“Someone,” Ginny said with no shame.
Cassidy rolled his eyes. “Go, I’ve got this. I’ll be staying here tonight.”
“Good,” Kenny said.
The two of them walked out of the hall with a spring in their step that left no question about their plans. I stifled a laugh as I watched them go, grateful that not everyone’s night was ruined in the midst of the chaos. I was glad they weren’t going to let Earl’s stupid mistake get in their way of being happy.
Earl groaned, his leg moving. He started mumbling incoherently as he tried to push himself up. I was not looking forward to him being awake. He was going to try and start shit again and things were just going to get ugly.
Fortunately, I heard sirens approaching. The cavalry was coming. Moments later, the hall was bathed in blue and red lights. Two police officers strode into the hall. They saw Earl, groaning on the floor, and the car in the lodge and shook their heads.
“Mr. Hoyt,” one of them said. “Looks like you’ve had a rough night.”
“Fuck you,” Earl hissed.
“Yep, heard that before,” the cop said. “Let’s go.”
“We’ll have someone get your statements,” the other cop said. “I assume he was in the car when it came through the wall.”
“He was,” Cassidy said. “He downed about half a fifth after he got out.”
Both cops looked exasperated, telling me they were familiar with Earl’s bull shit.
“Let’s get you sobered up downtown,” the first cop said.
Earl didn’t put up much of a fight. They cuffed him and led him out, his head hanging in defeat. As the door swung shut behind them, a heavy silence settled over the room. Another two cops showed up shortly after.
We spent thirty minutes giving our statements. There wasn’t anything they could do. The destruction fell to us to clean up. The fire department arrived to check out the structure and remove the car.
Cassidy stood beside me, watching the scene. His expression was hard to read. I held his hand, doing my best to just be there for him.
Uncle Don finished up with the police and joined us in the corner. He let out a low whistle, shaking his head. “Well, this is going to cause a real heating problem.”
I bit back a laugh, my shoulders relaxing for the first time since Earl had crashed through the wall. But as I looked around at the devastation, reality settled over me. The Valentine’s Day ball had been our biggest fundraiser, our one chance to secure some much-needed funds for the ranch. Now, every penny we’d raised would likely go toward repairs.
“Damn,” Uncle Don said. “I hope he’s got good insurance.”
“This puts us back in the red,” Cassidy said. “We were so close.”
“We’ve survived worse,” Uncle Don said. “The ranch will pull through. It always does.”
“I’ll get my inheritance soon,” Cassidy said. “I’ll cover the damages.”
“We’ll talk later,” Uncle Don said. “You two go to bed. Karen needs her rest. There’s nothing we can do for now.”
“Are you sure?” I asked. “Do we need to cover the hole?”
“We’ll figure something out in the morning,” Uncle Don said. “Yes, it’s going to be cold in the morning, but standing here staring at the hole doesn’t change that.”
“Okay. Goodnight, Uncle Don.”