Chapter 39 The Lonesome Cactus
Prince Lucas had lots of work to catch up on, but somehow his mind wasn’t on it. He was trying to crush the recurring feeling of boredom by having dinner with a woman he had picked up in a café that morning.
She had a cute smile and a slightly na?ve look. Dressed like a librarian in a cardigan and a long skirt, she piqued his interest.
But all through dinner, as she blathered on about her favorite hobby, photography, he somehow became even more bored than before.
His broken rib was aching, and his mind was still kind of dull from the concussion, but he didn’t regret any of it.
He missed the Royal Strait Ranch, the Mathews family. He missed Hallie, he even missed the smelly horses and cows.
It was some sort of strange mind control again! He didn’t even like the woman all that much. She was a hypocrite, getting upset with him for not revealing his princely title.
But nobody is perfect, he reasoned. Maybe he had simply come to like her as a friend, despite her many faults.
“...and that was when I got into more realistic photography,” his date, the woman in the cardigan, blathered on. “I have to show you these pictures of snails I took. They’re fascinating!”
“So, what’s your favorite pastry?” Luke suddenly asked.
“I don’t know,” she said indifferently, “Danish, maybe.”
“This is not going to work at all. I find myself extremely bored.” He stood up abruptly and left, ignoring the woman as she gaped in outrage. A clean break was always better, he believed.
Luke paid the bill on his way out but did not look back at the woman.
He decided to call his male friends instead. Most of the guys he was hanging out with that fateful evening when Hallie had picked him up were already out on the town, and it wasn’t long before he found himself in a crowded bar enjoying a cool beer with his pals.
“We haven’t seen you around in a while,” Rick, one of his most reliable drinking buddies, said.
“Yeah,” Connor joined in. “I thought you got kidnapped by those two smoking hot babes! Whatever happened with them?”
Yeah, what did happen? Luke wondered. Maybe he had gone too far, blaming Hallie for his accident. In fact, if he really thought about it, he shouldn’t have done it. It was kind of messed up. But he hated to admit he was wrong.
There would always be other ladies, he thought as he downed another glass of beer.
***
BEING BACK HOME WAS putting Hallie into a depressing state of déjà vu.
Everything seemed to go back to normal. Her parents didn’t even give her as many important tasks. They probably thought she wasn’t mature after all since she had chosen a boyfriend stupid enough to ride a wild horse and break all the bones in his body.
“How is your boyfriend, sweetheart?” her mama asked one day over breakfast.
It had been three days since that upsetting talk in the hospital, and Luke hadn’t called her at all. He probably went back to work and forgot about her.
“I don’t know,” Hallie shrugged. “We haven’t talked much since he’s gone back to work.”
“Did you break up?” Terry asked with poorly suppressed eagerness.
“No, he’s just busy,” Hallie said despondently.
Maybe she was going to go through life this way now, lying her way from one situation to another.
“Is everything okay?” Vivian asked, picking up on Hallie’s low vibe. “Did you two have a fight?”
“Maybe.”
“I’m sure if you call him, you’ll feel better,” Vivian said in a reassuring, motherly tone.
Hallie muttered something and made an excuse to leave the table.
Of course she wouldn’t feel better. Talking to Luke would involve more of his stupid smugness, and Hallie had had just about enough from him. But now Terry was getting smug too!
Hallie needed to decide whose smugness was worse, and quickly.
She drove to the Lonesome Cactus that evening, looking for some relief. It was always comforting to be in the relaxed atmosphere of the bar, and a few people she knew would likely be there.
Easy rock was playing in the neon-lit space, but customers were few. Hallie went up to the bar and ordered a shot of tequila.
“To drown your sorrows?” the bar tender asked. She was a tall woman with massive biceps, and Hallie was pretty sure she was the one who snitched on her to Terry.
“What do you care, you’re Terry’s friend?”
“I’m also your bartender,” the woman said coolly. “I can give you some free advice if you need it.”
“No thanks. I don’t need my sister knowing even more of my business.”
The bar tender propped one hand on her waist. “Oh, you’re still mad because I told Terry about your boyfriend running around with other women? Come on, you can’t blame me for that. It was too juicy not to share.”
Hallie decided not to be intimidated by the woman’s huge stature, even though she looked like she could wrestle a horse to the ground. “So you expect me to give you even more juicy details?”
“Fine, I can probably guess what’s going on with you anyways.”
“Oh, sure,” Hallie mocked, “the wise bar tender who can read people and know their innermost thoughts and desires.”
The woman wasn’t too annoyed at her comment. She smirked, saying, “You need to get out of here, you know.”
“Out of the bar?” Hallie said, frowning. “But I haven’t even had one drink.”
“You need to go to the city. Terry told me you were aiming to get a job, but you haven’t got one yet. So what’s holding you back?”
Suddenly, Hallie remembered: Luke had offered her a job!
“Here’s the thing,” the bar tender continued, finally pouring that tequila shot. “I saw you in here with that guy. I think you like him, but you’re too afraid to admit it. It’s the same with finding a job. Maybe if you just go for it, things will work out.”
Hallie downed the burning tequila, letting the alcohol and the advice sink in...