Chapter 6 #4
“Yeah. Colleen was from good stock, and you see what she did to me,” Jensen almost shouted.
“I don’t think that has anything to do with anything, Pop.
Shyanna had a rough time growing up. Parents were alcoholics, grandparents tried to raise her but were too old and sick, kids at school picked on her, teachers treated her like shit.
She went to community college and fought to get some kind of education.
And then she made the mistake of marrying a piece of trash who almost beat her to death.
” The longer he talked, the madder he got.
There’d always been this hard-and-fast rule in their family about not judging people without knowing them, and it appeared the general consensus had been changed.
Somehow, that rule no longer applied to them, or at least where Shyanna was concerned.
“She can’t help her upbringing, son. But your mama did some checking. Did you know she’s been in prison?” Roland asked, almost like it was the surprise revelation of the day.
“Of course I know she was in prison. He tried it again and she wouldn’t take it, so she stopped him.
For that, she did six years in a women’s medium security facility.
It was wrong for them to put her there, and it’s wrong for you to keep her there,” he stated, a fury growing in his gut.
How dare they judge her that way without knowing anything about her!
Roland sounded exasperated when he said, “Yeah, but almost beating a man to death with a ball bat is a lot different from being slapped a couple of times, son.”
That was all Jensen could take. “Slapped around a couple of times? Take a good, long look, Pop. She’s got a big scar along her left jawline and scars on her temple beside her right eye.
He beat her until he fractured her jaw and her occipital bone.
She went through hours of surgery, and she almost lost that eye.
You haven’t seen her undressed, but I have.
She’s covered in scars. I’m sure some of them are from rodeo, but some of them are from him beating her too, plus some are probably from horrible things her parents did to her.
‘This woman,’ as you seem to like to call her, has been to hell and back and fought her way out. She’s tough and determined and smart.”
“And trying to make it in men’s events. She’s tall, but she ain’t that tall, and she shore ain’t big. What makes her think she can do this?” Roland asked, and Jensen could tell he was being serious.
“You don’t have to be big to ride in rough stock. Matter of fact, the smaller you are, the less wear and tear on your wrist and arm. And as far as the events go, those are not men’s events, Pop. They’re open to everybody.”
“Why doesn’t she just do barrel racing and breakaway roping like the other ladies?”
“Because she doesn’t want to. She wants to ride rough stock. And I know enough from watching her to know she has a talent for it. I want to support her in that and help her all I can. She deserves to be able to do something she feels special for and can be proud of.”
Roland snorted. “The guys are going to give her shit.”
“Going to? They’ve already been doing that just because she’s riding in the roping events.
They chased off her heelers, and two of them roughed her up last weekend.
That’s how she got that bruise on her jaw.
But this is her dream, and she’s determined.
” He took a deep breath, then said, “I love her, Pop, and I’m pretty sure she loves me.
After what I went through with … After what I went through, can’t you just be happy for me?
Shyanna’s a good person who got a bad rap, but she’s fought her way back up.
She deserves respect for that, not criticism. ”
“I’m not sure your mama’s ever gonna feel that way,” Roland said, pulling out a bandana and wiping his brow with it.
“Well, she’d better start. Don’t make me choose between Shyanna and y’all.
You won’t like the outcome. She lives in my world.
I don’t live in yours anymore. I don’t think you want to lose me, but that’s a decision you’ll have to make.
Now I’ve got to get back.” Jensen picked up the pace as he made his way back to the four-wheelers.
“What’s the hurry, son?” Roland called after him.
“If Mama really dislikes Shy that much, I don’t want her coming back and having to be there with Mama alone,” Jensen barked as he climbed on the four-wheeler, started it, revved it, and took off. He didn’t know if Roland was behind him, and he didn’t care.
In just a few minutes he could see the house in the distance and someone on the dirt road. As he drew nearer, he couldn’t help but smile. “What are you doing out here?” he asked Shy as he pulled up beside her.
“Looking for you. You weren’t at the house and your mom said you had come out here with your dad. Everything okay?” she asked, her hand planted on her brow to shade her eyes from the late-day sun.
“Yeah. Got a couple of sickly calves, that’s all. I gave him some ideas. Hope it helps. Hop on and I’ll give you a lift back to the house,” he said and revved the engine. That made her grin, and she climbed on behind him, leaned into his back, and wrapped her arms around his waist.
As they rolled up to the house, Jensen’s phone rang. By the time he got stopped and could reach it, it had stopped ringing, so he called the number back. It was answered with a cheerful, “Hey-yo!”
“Roger! What’s up?”
“I wanted to talk to you about tomorrow.”
“Yeah?”
“Send Shyanna over here and you stay there.”
Jensen was confused. “Why on earth would I do that?”
“Because you’re a distraction. I think she needs a day to work without you looking on.”
Jensen thought about it for a few seconds. “How ’bout half a day?”
That made Roger laugh. “Okay. Half a day and we’ll see how it goes without you here.”
“Sounds good. I’ll sleep in,” Jensen said with a laugh.
“You do that. Bye now,” Roger replied and the phone went silent.
“Roger wants you to come by yourself.” Good. That’ll give me a chance to talk to Mama by herself, Jensen thought. He was looking forward to that conversation―and dreading it too.
“I don’t understand. Why does he want me to come alone?” Shyanna asked as they got ready for bed.
“He seems to think I’m a distraction,” Jensen answered, then fell across the bed and grabbed her around the waist as she sat brushing her hair. That got him a stern look from her, followed by a sexy smile.
“Maybe you are. A beautiful distraction,” she said and kept brushing.
“I’ve never been called beautiful before,” he said with a snort.
“I hadn’t until I met you. Hadn’t ever been called precious either,” she said, her voice dropping to a near-whisper.
“You are. At least you are to me,” he said, then sat up and gave her a little kiss on the side of her neck.
“You’re messing up my hair,” she snapped.
“I plan to mess it up a whole lot worse than that,” he said and snickered.
“What if I say no?” she asked.
He just laughed. “You won’t. You want me as much as I want you.”
“Well, aren’t you full of yourself?” she asked, mocking him.
“So you don’t want me. Say it,” he ordered. When she said nothing, he added, “That’s what I thought.”
“Does your mom hate me?” she asked out of the blue.
That threw Jensen into red alert again. “Why? Did she say something?”
Shyanna shrugged. “No. It’s just that I tried to talk to her, and she didn’t seem to have much to say to me.”
He sat up, then climbed up to the head of the bed and rested back into the pillows there. “What were you talking about?”
“Well, she asked me about my childhood, and I asked about yours.” Shyanna just kept brushing her hair, but he could see the gears turning in her head.
“What did you tell her about yours?”
“I just told her it was pretty horrible.” Then she turned to him. “She said she knew that. Did you tell her that?”
Oh, shit. What do I say now? He knew he couldn’t tell her, My mother’s been looking for reasons to dislike you by checking you out. Instead, he just said, “I might have mentioned it.”
Shyanna frowned. “She said it like she had something nasty in her mouth.”
“I’m sorry.” Jensen didn’t know what else to say. “I’m sure she didn’t mean for it to come out that way.”
She crawled on her hands and knees up to where he sat. “Doesn’t bother me if it doesn’t bother you. I’m used to people judging me and being ugly to me, but this is your family. I don’t want to cause trouble for you.”
“You’re not going to cause trouble for me,” he said, wrapping his arms around her and pulling her up against him. “Anybody doesn’t like you, they might as well not like me, because I sure as hell won’t stick around if you’re not welcome.”
“I’d say that’s good, except you have a nice family.
I don’t want to be the one who causes them to think less of you.
” Shyanna ran a finger down his chest before she looked up into his eyes, and what he saw in hers warmed him all over.
“I want to be with you, but not if it will hurt you,” she said, her voice subdued.
“You don’t worry about me. I can take care of myself.
” Jensen reached for the switch on the lamp and turned it off before scooting down under the covers, and Shyanna followed him down until her cheek rested on his chest. He stroked her hair and felt her relax against him.
“Are you worried about going to practice tomorrow without me?”
“No,” she answered. Then she quietly added, “Maybe.”
“You’re in good hands with Roger. If I didn’t believe that, I wouldn’t let you go over there by yourself.”
“Okay. And I can kinda see what he’s talking about, even though I don’t think you’re a distraction,” Shyanna said, then rose up on her hands and threw an arm across him to brace herself. “Even if you were, you’re the right kind of distraction.”