Chapter 9
9
SERENITY
" I don't know about this." I laugh, in spite of the dull ache inside me. "I feel kind of silly."
"But you look hot."
Singer Kelly gives a low wolf whistle as she looks me over, a grin on her face as wide as the mountain ranges that cage in the Slow River Valley.
"Ranger's a moron, sweetie, let's go get you a real cowboy."
Singer swings the driver side door of her pick up closed with an emphatic thunk and beckons me to follow her.
I'm feeling self-conscious in the cut-off jean shorts that Kimberly had insisted on tossing in with our day's loot, but Singer convinced me that I should get some use out of them before I leave the valley, so here I am, traipsing through a massive dirt parking lot toward the lights and sounds of a genuine, small town, country fair even though my heart is feeling like it's been run through mud.
It didn't take long after I arrived at the Kelly family's Walking Y Ranch, rolling my suitcase behind me, for Singer to deduce that I hadn't asked about staying at the beautifully remodeled bed and breakfast for the sake of mere research into the family history.
As predicted when Ranger first introduced us, Singer makes an easy friend. One who immediately recognized a broken heart and is now determined to show me that there's more than one single cowboy in this valley.
Her mood is infectious, so I find myself grinning as I follow her into the fair where Slow River is celebrating opening night with a live band playing classic country, all things deep fried and delicious, 4-H livestock up for auction, and the rodeo that Singer's eagerly dragging me toward.
She says I haven't met the Lazy P till I've seen them in action.
"You need a beer and a funnel cake," Singer informs me as we pass a concession stand that smells like fry oil.
"That sound awful," I laugh. "I want strawberries on mine."
The funnel cakes are good and go surprisingly well with the beer. Singer assures me that my first rodeo is a far cry from the big competitions, but watching the Pereira brothers ride into the arena on bulls intent on throwing them off is enough to convince me I could never be a rodeo cowboy's wife.
"Jasper's up next." Singer leans over and yells in my ear above the applause that breaks out in the stands around us. "He'll go all eight seconds here, but he's not a serious competitor like Beryl and Slate."
She's right. Jasper easily makes the buzzer and jumps free of the bull just as it goes into a spin.
"They make it look easy."
"Right up till they don't." Singer tips her plastic beer cup back and drains the last drop. "You met Beryl at the memorial, right? You should see the video of his last ride. He's still not sure when he'll be ready to get back on the circuit.
"Want another?" She holds up her empty and one eyebrow.
"I don't think so. I'm going to head for the bathroom."
"Still not feeling better?"
I sigh and shake my head apologetically. Singer takes our plates and cups in one hand and pats my shoulder with her other.
"Sorry sweetie. I really thought he was into you, but at least you met me! I'll make sure you get to talk to everyone around town. We'll impress the snot out of your boss back east."
"Thanks," I tell her, doing my best to drop the sad vibe. "But I don't think the Ralstons are going to talk to me. I've left a few messages on their office number and haven't gotten a call back at all."
Something clouds Singer's eyes momentarily when I mention the Ralston name. "Yeah, they're...they kinda keep to themselves, you know? It's a small town; grudges get held for generations out here."
"It was your ranch, right? So your families are still feuding?"
Singer's mention of the history between her family and the Flying R Ranch jogs my memory. I make a mental note to get the Kelly side of the story, at least, when we have a better chance to talk. Right now, I've had about enough of the fair and just want to go back to my room at Singer's ranch.
"It's...complicated." Singer's eyes track something over my shoulder and, for the first time since I've known her, her sunshine demeanor slips. "My brothers haven't really let it go."
"Your brothers who don't even live in Slow River anymore?"
"Small town politics, I guess. Like I said; it's complicated." Singer's face lights up suddenly and I start to turn around to see who she sees behind me, but she quickly reminds me that I was headed to the ladies room.
"I'm just going to toss these real quick and I'll meet you back at the truck if you're really ready to go. Okay? Gimme like-- fifteen."
Then she's hopping over bleachers, like she's in a rush to get to a trash can.
When I get to the ladies room, I'm relieved to see there's not a line, but when I stop at the sinks to wash my hands, I find myself standing next to the one person in Slow River Valley that I was hoping never to see again.
"You're welcome, by the way."
The blonde beside me winks at me in the mirror as she pulls a tube of lipstick out of her cleavage and touches up her make up.
"I'm sorry, what I supposed to thank you for that?"
Bernie's reflection eyes me from the mirror, a fleeting expression crossing her face like she's actually clueless to why my voice might be carrying just the slightest smidge of hostility.
"Well yeah-- it was pretty obvious you two were dying for an excuse to kiss each other."
She leans in to wipe a smudge.
"I've known Ranger since we were finger paintin' together in kindergarten, sweetie. The man doesn't do PDA. He hasn't taken his hands off you the whole time you've been here, but he wasn't kissin' on you. Even though it was clear you wanted him to.
"I thought I'd help you out. We girls gotta stick together, you know."
The bitch winks at me again.
"You thought you were helping me out by getting me to kiss Ranger before you stole him back?"
I have never been in a fight. God knows, Bernie seems like the sort of woman who knows how to use those nails in self-defense, but I've got close to a hundred pounds on her, so I'm doing the math and thinking I've got a fair shot at kicking her ass.
Before I can plot my first move, however, she stands up straight and looks directly at me. Her eyes widen and a gasp comes out of her perfectly stained lips that sounds slightly horrified.
"I don't want your man!"
"You...don't? But Kim said..."
Bernie leans a hip against the edge of the sink and gives me a long look.
"Look, Ranger and I have history between us, but it's not that kind. I know what people around here think was going on with us and I know I'm mostly the reason they think it, but I told Kimberly plain as day that there was nothing between me and Ranger. Never was, never will be. I've got my own thing going on. I just was hoping maybe Ranger might be willing to talk to me if his mother put in a word for me.
"He hasn't talked to me since my drama ran him out of town ten years back. I was hoping he'd give me a chance to patch things up now that he's coming back to the valley."
The woman in front of me sounds genuinely sad. I do wonder what the full story is, but it seems clear that it's not the one I've been told.
"Don't let him go, Seri," Bernie gives me a timid grin before reaching out to touch my shoulder gently. "I've known Ranger a long time and I've never seen him look at a woman the way he does you. If you want that man, I can promise you, he's yours."
Ranger
Singer's phone keeps going to voicemail, but I get a text back from Slate Pereira saying that the girls had stopped by the rodeo to wish them luck.
I get to the stands too late. The crowd's already dispersing and I'm swimming upstream, trying to get in while everyone else is trying to get out.
Rebel Ralston leans against one of the lighting poles and glowers at me as I push past him in time to pass Singer as she heads toward the trash can beside him.
"Singer!" I put a hand out to catch her before the current of people carry her past me. "Where's Seri? I need to talk to her."
"Who says she wants to talk to you back?"
"She doesn't have to, but I still have some things I need to say to her before she leaves. Are you gonna tell me where she went or do I have to come up to the Y and bust down your door?"
Singer rolls her eyes. "Depends, are you here to grovel? Or did you come down here so you do something stupid and make things worse?"
"I definitely don't want to make things worse."
With a nod of her head, Singer shakes loose of my hand, "Bathroom. Don't fuck up. I've got brothers, Ranger, I know where how to hurt you."
"Oh, Sing, you might want to head in that way," I point her toward a different exit, "Rebel's down thataway, figured you probably want to avoid running into him."
Anxiety washes over the girl's face as she casts a quick glance in the direction I saw the Ralston.
"Oh, yeah, thanks for the heads up."
There's been bad blood between the Ralstons and the Kellys for generations. I know it's been a long time since I was around, but Mom's kept me up-to-date on the local gossip. I know the Kelly boys are still not living around here, so Singer's got no kin in the area to back her up if the Ralstons decide to take up old grievances with her.
I'm still several paces from the ladies' room when I see a sight that turns my blood cold; Bernadine struts out from behind the cinderblock wall, all her usual big hair and low-cut top, she's grinning like a cheshire cat, chattin' it up with someone behind her. That someone comes into view a second behind Bernie and there's no room left in my head for rational thoughts.
If I thought Serenity was a knock-out in her sexy librarian outfits, I'm completely unprepared for the farmer's daughter look she's sporting tonight.
A feminine top stretches across those fabulous tits of hers, with a pair of Daisy Dukes wrapped around her ass that have me stopped in my tracks and sputtering for breath.
Suddenly, I'm less concerned about seeing Bernie and Seri chatting like neighbors who've run into each other at the store than I am about knowing that my girl's been down at the fairgrounds on opening night dressed like a country goddess and thinking she's available.
"Seri!"
Damn. It's early August, the nights don't drop below seventy degrees till after midnight this time of year. I'm not even wearing an undershirt, so there's no option available to get those curves covered up and keep the hungry eyes of half of Slow River off her.
"Told ya." Bernie grabs Seri's hands and squeezes her fingers. The girls break their contact and Bernie walks past me, pausing just long enough to quietly say a few words; "I expect to be hearing from you, O'Leary. You can't avoid me forever."
"What'd you tell her, Bern?"
I nervously glance up at Seri and I'm more than a little relieved to see she hasn't taken the opportunity to run off.
"Calm down, Range, I just set her straight on us is all."
The growl coming from the back of my throat is a warning. "The last time you set anyone 'straight about us' you got the whole town thinking I was the reason your marriage was breaking up."
Bernadine winces. "I've been trying to clear that up with you for ten years." She glances over to where Serenity is waiting, looking nervous, with her plush lower lip working between her teeth. "Maybe when you're finished convincing your fake girlfriend that you for-real love her, we can talk things through. It's been ten years, Range, a lot's different now."
I don't have time to wonder what she's talking about. Bernie walks off, pulling her phone from her back pocket like she's checking a message and I turn to face Serenity.
"You told her?"
Seri's head shakes side to side, dark curls shimmying around her shoulders with the movement.
"She knew."
A small smile teases at her lips, like she's just trying it on for size.
"She said you never went for the public displays of affection with any of your girlfriends and the way you were already touching me gave you away."
"So she was just testin' us yesterday at the bar, I take it?"
Seri's smile widens. "She said we were looking for an excuse to do it. She thought she'd help us out."
"Sounds like Bernie, all right. The girl's always been one for drama, stirring up shit any chance she gets."
"She seems okay," Seri says, "in small doses."
Swiping the hat off my head, I run my hand up the back of my neck, making a damn mess of my hair.
"My mom buy you them shorts?"
Seri giggles and shimmies her hips side to side in a motion that temporarily has me forgetting about the groveling part of the conversation and dead set on the tossing my girl over my shoulder and getting her into the nearest bed part.
"It's like she set out torture me," I grumble under my breath. "Ma's feeling pretty bad about steering you wrong, you know. I set her straight as soon as I knew what she told you. Me and Bernadine were never--"
"I know." Serenity answers quick, cutting me off and taking a tentative step in my direction. "She told me."
"Before I left Slow River, she was going through some stuff with her husband-- rumors got spread, she used them to her advantage. It put a pretty big wedge between me and her. Dad and I were already having differences of opinion on how to run things at the ranch. I had an offer to do dairy nutrition in the corporate sector down in Houston; I took it. Haven't been keen on coming back since.
"Bern's tried to chase me down a few times. Mom started hintin' around that Bernie was single when her divorce was final and... I'd been stressing coming back here."
Serenity shuffles her feet; the clipped toe boots scuffling in the dirt.
"I get it," she says in a small voice, "and you thought it'd make things easier if you could show up with a girlfriend. Just someone you could put between you and that drama while you dealt with your dad's service and working out things with your brothers about the ranch."
"So it makes sense to you?"
Seri shrugs, nonchalantly, like she's taking this all in stride and none of it is burning her inside like it is me.
"I may not have understood what the problem was, but I knew I was only a temporary solution to it when I agreed to your craziness." This time she laughs, a thin sound but painfully genuine. "I admit I was really excited about getting the inside track on the local history, but it was also really flattering-- the idea that you'd be willing to have people think we were connected that way. I mean...especially when I saw Bernie. I'd never be able to compete with that, you know?"
My eyes drag up her body, from the bared flesh of her thighs, over the ample swell of her hips, the full breasts straining at the buttons of the gauzy, floral blouse, all the way to the heart-shaped face with those hypnotic, aqua blue eyes.
She's right about that last bit-- there's absolutely no competition. Not against Bernadine, or any other female in this valley. Or anywhere at all, for that matter. Serenity wins, hands down, on all counts.
"Baby, if you think I'm the better half of this bargain, we need to get you in front of a mirror. I was gone for you the minute you sat down in that airport chair across from me." I can't help but draw a sharp breath at the memory of my first sight of her. "With your clothes all rumpled and your hair a mess, looking like you'd just gotten done with a good, hard, going-away fuck.
"I was sure you had some rich boyfriend with a corner office in one of those downtown city sky-rises who was going to miss you something fierce. Couldn't believe my luck when you turned out to be up for grabs."
This time when she laughs, it's more of a self-conscious giggle; a sound that goes through me and tugs at my dick.
"Definitely never had a going-away fuck," she tells me, dipping her head downward while a blush creeps into her face. With a nervous cough, she clears her throat and confesses, "I've never actually had any kind of...fuck."
If the fair is still going on around us, I've lost track. I can't hear the exhilarated screams from the midway, I can't see the flashing lights from the carnival rides, or smell the fried dough scents and roasting meats and vegetables from the open pit bar-b-ques in the concessions.
There's just Seri and me, and her words have thrown me for a loop while my brain was already spinning.
"Never any kind of...but last night when we were...you were full on..." My hat's in my hand while I scrub at the back of my neck again, trying to make sense of everything I know about the saucy little city girl that's got me all caught up in ideas about diamond rings and floor plans for the house I'll be building alongside my brothers out on the ranch.
"You kinda passed out before I had a chance to bring it up."
"Probably for the best." With my hat back where it belongs, I step up and run my hands down her arms. The night air's plenty warm, so I know the shiver that I feel move through her is from my touch and that's got me hungry to see just how badly I can get her shaking.
"That's something I want to be sober for."