Steve turned to look at his brothers. “He kissed her again?”
“Yep,” Joey confirmed.
“Joe!” Adrian said. “When did you become a blabbermouth?”
“When?” Steve asked, ignoring Adrian.
“Night we left. Flossed her tonsils good. I thought she was going to get the vapors as we pulled off. I saw her through the side mirror,” Joey said.
Steve burst out laughing. “Let me guess. You kissed the hell out of the poor woman, and then hopped in the truck and sped off.”
“Yep,” Joey said.
“Ugh,” Adrian groaned.
“You didn’t even look back?” Steve asked with a smirk.
Adrian shrugged and looked down at his boots. “I might have glanced in the rearview mirror,” he mumbled.
Joey snickered.
Steve smiled. “Adrian, all three of us here know that life is too short. Swallow your pride and fear and tell the woman you like her. Ask her out on a date.”
Adrian’s ego kicked in. “I’m not afraid of anything,” he said darkly.
“Oh yeah? Prove it,” Steve said with a grin.
Chapter 16
Faith called Aunt Bea and told her she would be late coming home so she wouldn’t hold dinner for her. Aunt Bea had asked what her plans were. Faith had said that she wanted to hang out in town for a few hours. She felt like a sneak lying to Aunt Bea, but she couldn’t tell her the truth. Luckily, she was driving Joey’s jeep while he was out on the range. She didn’t want to drive Aunt Bea’s car while the guys were gone just in case she needed transportation.
Faith rang the doorbell at the back door of Drew’s Bar. A few moments passed before someone opened the door. It was Drew.
“Hey, honey, come on in,” Drew said.
Faith smiled and crossed the threshold. Drew walked her through the kitchen. A tall and slim black man was dumping a bag of wing dings into a bowl filled with herbs and spices. They stopped in front of the steel table the man was working at.
“Faith, this is Mark,” Drew said. “The best cook I’ve ever had.”
Mark smiled, showing his gold tooth. “Hi, Faith. Nice to meet you.”
“Nice to meet you, too. How long have you worked here?” she asked.
“Oh, I say about two years,” Mark said. “Drew’s a good guy. Gave me a chance to do what I love.”
Faith smiled.
“Are you hungry?” Drew said. “Mark can burn. We get all our beef from the Lone Wolf Ranch.”
Faith chuckled. “I know it’s good beef, but I’ve been bombarded with beef since I arrived in town. I guess that can happen when you live on a cattle ranch.”
“How about a club sandwich?” Mark asked. “The bacon we use is thick and tasty.”
“That sounds great,” Faith said. “I'll have that.”
“Good, I’ll bring it out to you in fifteen minutes,” Mark said with a smile.
“Thanks,” Faith said.
“Let’s go out to the bar,” Drew said.
They walked to the front of the bar. Faith stopped short when she saw Sheriff Langford sitting at the bar eating a cheeseburger and fries.
Drew swung open the swinging door for her. “Grab a stool, honey,” Drew said.
Faith walked out on the floor.
“How ya doin’, Faith? Drew said you were coming by,” the sheriff said with his mouth full.
“Fine. Any leads on the driver who hit me?” she asked as she approached him.
Sheriff Langford swallowed his food. “Afraid not,” he answered. “I’m still on it, but it’s going to take some time. I only got two deputies. Adrian told us what he could. He only got the first three letters of the license plates. It’s going to take some more time.”
“I understand,” Faith said.
“Have a seat next to me,” Sheriff Langford said. “Drew said that you came here for answers about another matter. The least I can do is help fill in the blanks for you.”
Faith’s eyebrows shot up. “You…told him...why I’m here?” she asked Drew.
“Yeah,” Drew said as he approached them from the other side of the bar. “Willie and I share things like brothers. We’re cousins really, but close enough. You want a beer?”
Faith liked beer, but she was getting tired of that, too. “I like to switch it up. You got any wine?”
“Not the kind you would want to drink,” Sheriff Langford scoffed.
“Shut up. My wine ain’t cheap,” Drew said.
Sheriff Langford laughed his head off.
Faith chuckled. “All right, what about a Tom Collins. Do you know how to make that?”
“I sure do,” Drew said proudly. “I’ll make it good and strong. You might need it strong during this story.”
Faith waited patiently as Drew made her drink. He sat it down in front of her. He put a straw it in. “Thank you,” she said and took a sip. Damn, it was strong.
“Now, I decided to tell you this story because I suspect you are sweet on Adrian. You wouldn’t be the first girl, but you are the first girl that Adrian might be interested in since Rosita. I saw how he looked at you last week before the fight broke out. He’s interested,” Drew said.
“How much do you know?” Sheriff Langford asked and ate a fry.
“Not much,” Faith answered. “I just know that Adrian was engaged to a girl named Rosita who is related to the Rodriguez family who owns the ranch twelve miles away.”
“The Matthews and Rodríguezes were close back in the day. Jose Rodriguez and Arn Matthews used to come in here every Saturday for a beer or two. Jose’s son, Antonio, is two years younger than Joey. Antonio used to hang out with Joey and Steve at the pool hall. It’s closed now. Anyway, Rosita Rodriguez, the cousin, moved here from Mexico six years ago. Of course, her family took her in. She was trying to become a legal citizen. She came here on a temporary citizenship,” Drew explained.
“Okay,” Faith said.
“I was at the Matthews Ranch the day Antonio brought Rosita over to meet the neighbors. I was canvassing the area because two guys had robbed the bank two towns over. My men and I were keeping an eye out for them. Adrian took one look at Rosita on that thoroughbred stallion she was riding and fell head over heels. What Arn Matthews and I saw was a conniving slut,” Sheriff Langford sneered.
Faith eyes widened at the sheriff’s last sentence. “How could you tell?”
“Grown men like us know an easy lay when we see one, honey,” Drew said. “Adrian started pursuing the girl. It wasn’t long until they started dating on the regular. A year later, a man from L.A., who owned a food company, was looking for a beef vendor for his frozen foods division had contacted Arn. Shit, what was his name?”
“Maurice Lewis,” Sheriff Langford answered.
“That’s right,” Drew said and continued. “Arn gave Maurice a tour of the ranch and showed them how they raised the cattle. Maurice was impressed and wanted to deal with Arn. They made a deal one month later.”
“After that, Rosita started showing the town her true colors. She had slept with one of my deputies, the bag boy at the grocery store, and a couple of tourists all behind Adrian’s back,” Sheriff Langford said with disgust.
“Adrian found out,” Faith guessed.
“Not at that point,” the sheriff said. “Everybody in town was afraid to tell Adrian. He was wild about the girl. No one thought he would believe it. Then, Rosita hit on someone that had no choice, but to tell Adrian.”
“Who?” Faith asked with intense interest.
Drew took a deep breath. “Steve.”
Faith’s head jerked back. “You mean she was so brazen that she tried to sleep with Adrian’s brother? Are you sure?”
“Hell, I’m positive because it happened right here in the bar,” Drew said flatly. “Rosita was already here boozing it up with some of the local girls. The girls didn’t want anything to do with her because of her duplicities nature, but they didn’t want to be rude either. She wasn’t drunk, but
she was tipsy. She knew exactly what she was doing. Rosita took her shirt off and started dancing on top of the tables. Normally, my customers would enjoy something like that, but everyone knew she was Adrian’s girl. We had some roughnecks in here that night and let’s say those guys….well, the nickname fits them. They started throwing money at her. I was about to call Jose to come get the girl before she got herself into a situation that she couldn’t get out of. That’s when Steve walked in. He snatched her off the table and shoved her shirt at her. Told her to put it on.”
Mark came out of the kitchen and sat Faith’s club sandwich in front of her. He put chips and a pickle on the side, too.
“Thanks,” she whispered.
“What are you guys talking about?” Mark asked.
“Rosita Rodriguez,” the sheriff answered.
Mark rolled his eyes. “I wasn’t living in Elliot at the time, but my sister told me about her. She sounded like a piece of work.”
“You have a sister?” Faith asked.
“Yeah, Linda, she owns and runs the clothing store in town,” Mark answered.
Faith didn’t know Linda had a brother. “I’ve been in there. Nice woman. What happened after Steve told Rosita to put her shirt on?”
Drew shook his head. “The little….lady and I use the word loosely, grabbed Steve’s cock in front of everyone and planted a kiss on him.”
Faith’s eyes widened with shock. “Geez,” she breathed.
“That was everyone else’s reaction. Women gasped. The men were shocked shitless. Steve pushed her off of him. I’ve seen Steve mad before, but not like that. That was the first time I thought he was going to hit a woman. He wiped Rosita’s lipstick away and grabbed her arm…presumably to take her home,” Drew said. “That’s when the real hell broke loose. The roughnecks took exception to Steve dragging the night’s fun time girl away. One of them punched Steve in the face. They started ganging up on him, but luckily, there were guys in the bar that were friends of his and helped him get the upper hand. Steve and his friends dragged the roughnecks out back and proceeded to beat the tar out of them.”
“I had to look into it,” the sheriff said. “They beat the roughnecks up pretty bad. One of them had a broken nose, and another one had a broken arm. The other four had scrapes and bruises. Steve ended up at the medical center, too. Before his friends got to him to help, the roughnecks had cracked one of his ribs.”
“My God,” Faith said and sipped her drink. Drew was right. I needed something strong for this story.
“I questioned Rosita, too,” the sheriff said. “I found her at the motel across the street in one of the rooms making out with a tourist only two hours after the fight.”
“Now this part is straight from the mouth of Arn Matthews himself. He came here a night later and told me about it over a beer. Steve left the medical center the same night - after Dr. Green wrapped him up. He headed straight home. His family asked him what happened, but he didn’t tell anyone until he spoke to Adrian in private first,” Drew said. “According to Arn, Adrian turned on Steve. Adrian called him a liar and a sneak and accused him of trying to sleep with Rosita himself. A fight broke out between the brothers. Joey and Arn had to break it up. Adrian threatened to kill Steve. Poor Ms. Dana. She watched with teary eyes as her sons went at it over a girl that wasn’t worth a quarter,” Drew said and shook his head. “Long story short, Adrian told his father that either Steve goes or he does. Arn said he couldn’t choose between them and that they were a family. Adrian chose for Arn. He packed up some clothes and moved out. He moved in with the Rodríguezes…to be with Rosita.”
“Arn was sad about Adrian working someone else’s ranch, but what could he do? Adrian was a grown man. He made his own choices. Ms. Dana was sick about the rift in the family,” the sheriff said. “A few months later, Rosita was pregnant. Adrian asked her to marry him. She accepted. The entire town was mortified because everyone liked Adrian. He deserved better, but no one interfered.”
“This part came from Jose Rodriguez. He came in and shared it over a beer. Rosita was about six months pregnant when she told Adrian that she didn’t want to marry him anymore. Rosita had the nerve to tell him that he was good in bed and he was handsome, but she never loved him. She agreed to marry him because she didn’t think she had a better option in her current condition. She confessed that the baby wasn’t Adrian’s and it was Maurice Lewis’s. The man was old enough to be her father,” Drew said as his upper lip turned up.
“Shit,” Mark whispered. “Linda told me some of this stuff, but I never heard every detail before. Adrian is a good dude. He didn’t deserve that.”
Faith was flabbergasted.
“Rosita said that Maurice had contacted her again and that’s when she told him about the baby. He was excited. He wanted her and their child. The old fart agreed to marry her. Rosita said goodbye to Adrian and her family and checked into the hotel on the outskirts of town to wait for the father of her child to pick her up,” Drew said. “Rosita had an eye for money, too. The Matthews are well off, but not like Maurice Lewis. Rumor was that he’s worth five hundred million.”
Faith took a long draw from her straw.
“Your food is getting cold,” Mark said.
Faith shook her head. “I know, but I…I’ve lost my appetite, I think.” She sipped through her straw again.
“Honey, do you need another drink?” Drew asked.
She shook her head.
Drew started preparing another Tom Collins.
“Get me another beer, too, Drew,” the sheriff said as he wiped his hands on a napkin. “While Drew gets us a refill, I’ll take it from here. When Lewis showed up at the hotel to pick Rosita up, someone else was waiting for him. Adrian. He pulled Lewis out of his limousine as soon as it pulled up outside of the hotel. The driver tried to stop Adrian from beating the holy hell out of the man; however, he got two of his teeth knocked out for his troubles. The hotel clerk saw what was going on through the windows. She called the station. One of my deputies and I headed out there. We had to pull Adrian off the guy. He damn near beat that man to death.”
Faith gasped. She’s never seen Adrian that mad before and she didn’t think she wanted to see it. Not that she blamed Adrian.
“I had no choice, but to arrest him,” the sheriff said with regret. “He was up for assault and battery. Because of the severity of the beating, he was looking at ten years.”
“Oh no,” Faith groaned.
Drew sat the drinks down. “Nasty business. For a guy in his early sixties, Maurice was in good shape – lucky for him. If he wasn’t, he never would have survived that beatdown. From what Arn told me, Adrian blackened Maurice’s eye, broke his nose, broke two of his ribs, and gave him a severe concussion.”
“How did Adrian get out of going to prison?” Faith asked and sipped her refill.
“I’ll tell you what I know. What I don’t know I never want to know,” the sheriff said seriously. “The hotel clerk changed her statement. She said that Adrian tried to talk to Lewis and Lewis swung on him; despite the fact that Adrian didn’t have a mark on him. Rosita was going to testify, but then she had refused. The paperwork had disappeared from the station, and to this day I still don’t know how that happened. Adrian’s arrest was even erased from the computer. I suspected one of the deputies, but I was never sure. It looked like an outside party hacked the system. Maurice tried to pull rich man rank, but he had pull in California, not here. Texas is different than all the states in this country. We look out for our own. The governor got involved, from what I understand. He called the Wichita County Courthouse. I don’t know what was said during that phone call, but I do know the district attorney dropped the entire matter and Adrian’s record is cleaner than a baby’s bottom.”
“Arn also canceled the contract he had with Maurice Lewis,” Drew added as he sat down their fresh drinks. “His boy was made to look like a fool. That was Arn’s way of being loyal to Adrian.”
“Wow,” F
aith murmured. “Poor Adrian. And after all that, a month or two later, his mother got cancer?”
“That’s right,” Drew said. “I take it you know how Arn died, too?”
Faith breathed in. “Yes, I do.”
“Don’t let this affect your affections for Adrian,” the sheriff said. “He’s a good guy. He just got really angry once and couldn’t control himself. Truth be told, I’m glad the boy didn’t get sent up the river for it.” The sheriff took a swing from his beer bottle.
“Like I said before,” Drew began. “I told you because I can tell you fancy Adrian. If it doesn’t work out, you’ll know it wasn’t you. Imagine falling in love with a woman, you think she’s pregnant with your child, you get engaged, and then she tells you it belongs to a guy that’s old enough to be her father…anybody would snap. A few weeks later, your momma gets sick and dies, and then your father commits suicide shortly after. An ordeal like that would scar any man, no matter how tough he is.”
“Damn, all that drama over a ho,” Mark said as he shook his head. “So, whatever happened to Rosita and the old man?”
“According to Jose, Maurice recovered. He and Rosita got married, and she had the baby. Rosita had the nerve to call Jose to come to the wedding to give her away. Jose had refused and told her that she had disgraced the family and to never contact them again,” Drew said.
Faith sipped her Tom Collins as her wheels turned. This was what she was up against. She wasn’t a counselor. Faith doubted she could heal Adrian’s scars. Perhaps the best thing was to forget about him.
“Honey, you better eat something,” Drew said as he watched her sip. “You don’t want to drink on an empty stomach.”
Chapter 17
The sun was setting by the time Sheriff Langford drove Faith to the ranch. She had eaten at Drew’s and gotten drunk. She left Joey’s jeep in Drew’s parking lot. Drew had said it would be fine there until morning. Faith figured she would get Aunt Bea to drive her into town tomorrow to pick it up, and then go to work.
The Rancher Page 7