Wild Cowboy Country

by Erin Marsh

The juvenile camel appeared just as happy as she practically pranced behind Abby. Her silly grin reminded Lacey of a pleased toddler’s.

  Katie appeared next. Everyone had expected her to lead Lulubelle, but instead, she pulled a red wagon festooned with hibiscuses, lavender, and pansies that matched the bouquets the bride and bridesmaids carried. Inside the Red Flyer under the careful watch of Sylvia the capybara were Katie and Bowie’s twins. The girl wore a lavender dress that matched Abby’s, and the boy sported a tiny tuxedo with a purple cummerbund. At the sight of the babies, the crowd gave a collective awwww.

  Next, June’s best friend from college, Josh, appeared herding two baby goats. The little kids bleated and bucked down the aisle. Laughter filled the tent, and even the solemn-faced groom cracked a wide smile. Though Lacey had known about the surprise, she couldn’t stop her own grin. The cheerful, bucking goats fit with June’s exuberant personality. Unfortunately, the sound of the chuckles overwhelmed the critters. Their breed had a tendency to “faint” when overexcited, and the poor little kids toppled over as their legs locked. Josh made a big display out of scooping them up and carrying one under each arm.

  The “Wedding March” began to play, and June’s father appeared leading Lulubelle, who was tethered to Hank. June rode on the male camel’s back, her train draped over his large hump. She looked radiant as she waved to the onlookers. Lacey turned her attention to Magnus and saw him watching his bride with unbridled love. His spellbound expression was made extra special by the fact that he normally showed little outward emotion. Even with his ironclad control, he couldn’t contain his affection for June. It just radiated from him.

  Suddenly, in the midst of all the joy and laughter, Lacey felt an unexpected punch of sadness. Not because she hadn’t seen a similar expression in Clay’s eyes when he gazed at her but because she didn’t know if she could trust its staying power. They had an unpleasant past behind them and a difficult future ahead. Could they ever reach a point where they could stand before the town of Sagebrush Flats and pledge their love?

  * * *

  Scamp ran as quickly as he could with the flowers in his mouth. The Gray-Eyed One pelted after him. She’d kicked off the ridiculous things strapped to her feet. Scamp did not understand why female bipeds, even one this young, wore pointy spikes under their heels. It forced their feet into odd angles, and it looked very painful.

  Scamp glanced behind him. The human had slowed, her hand on her waist. Her dress fluttered in the wind, and Scamp debated about grabbing it instead. But she seemed to want the collection of hibiscuses, lavender, and pansies that Scamp carried between his teeth. The Blond One, who had been dressed all in white with a sparkly object in her hair, had momentarily placed the collection of flowers on a bench while she stood in front of the fainting goat pen. Scamp had grabbed it, and the Gray-Eyed One had given chase. But the purple fabric of her dress did look so pretty and light. He could easily tear off a piece to bring back to his enclosure.

  Scamp was so busy focusing on the tantalizing material that he didn’t hear the footsteps behind him. Strong hands wrapped around his midsection, hoisting him into the air. Scamp cried out in surprise, dropping his prize. The Gray-Eyed One quickly scooped up the bouquet as Scamp twisted helplessly in the Blue-Eyed One’s grip.

  “Thanks for coming so quickly.” The Gray-Eyed One made breathy sounds as the bipeds walked in the direction of Scamp’s enclosure.

  The Blue-Eyed One jerked his head toward the limp, broken clump of posies in the female’s hands. “I don’t think the bride is going to want those anymore.”

  “Miss Winters—I mean Mrs. Gray—wants to throw her flowers into the goat pen instead of the traditional bouquet toss. I can add some flowers from my arrangement so it looks good in the photo.”

  “This is the weirdest wedding I’ve been to. Okay, it’s the only wedding I’ve been to, but I don’t think I’ll ever be to another one like this.”

  The Gray-Eyed One laughed, the sound bright. The Blue-Eyed One’s grip tightened slightly before he released Scamp into his home.

  “You’re a Sagebrushian now, so I’m sure you’ll be to another crazy wedding.”

  “A Sagebrushian? You’re willing to claim me as one of your own, huh?” The human’s voice had a funny note to it. Scamp eyed him curiously. The Blue-Eyed One wore a broad, cheeky smile that matched his tone.

  “Yup. Are you ready to be one of us?”

  “You know…” The Blue-Eyed One drew out the sounds he made as the bipeds walked in the direction of the human gathering. “I think I just might be.”

  Something in the Blue-Eyed One’s tone made Scamp grin his toothy smile. He liked seeing his biped happy.

  * * *

  Clay couldn’t help but feel on display as he sat beside Lacey in the smaller tent he’d helped set up outside the prairie dog enclosure. He tried to focus on the little rodents scurrying frantically about as they flashed warning signals with their tails. Despite concentrating on their antics, he could still feel angry gazes boring into him like a swarm of enraged wood bees. The only reprieve from the stares had been during the ceremony.

  The unseasonably warm day didn’t help his mood either. Lacey looked like a wilted poppy beside him in her red-orange sundress. This morning when he’d picked her up, she’d been radiant. He’d only seen her in jeans or her ranger’s uniform before, and the way the bright, soft fabric had clung to her curves had left him momentarily stunned. Between her excitement and the warm tones of her outfit, the gold in her topaz eyes had shimmered in the bright light.

  Now, that glow had been replaced by a bleariness he immediately recognized. Although she’d been steadily improving, an event like a wedding was bound to be hard. The heat had always aggravated his brother’s concussions, and the loud music and spinning dancers would be additional triggers. He leaned close, trying to ignore the death stares he received.

  “How are you feeling?”

  Her responding smile looked a little brittle. “Hanging in there.”

  “Do you want to go soon?”

  She winced. “No. It would look too much like a retreat. We need to stick this out.”

  His eyes narrowed as he reached for her hand. “How bad is your headache?”

  “Nothing a few aspirin won’t fix.”

  He momentarily considered hoisting her into his arms and carrying her back to the truck. She wouldn’t appreciate the gesture, and he didn’t want to cause a disruption.

  “Lacey, we’ve got plenty of time to get the good folks of Sagebrush acclimated to our relationship. It’s not like people are speaking to me anyway.”

  A worried crease appeared between her brows, and he felt like an ass. He hadn’t meant to make her worry more.

  “We have to try, Clay.” She squeezed his hand, but he didn’t know if she meant to give him or herself encouragement. “We can’t slink off at any sign of disapproval. We need to get used to the stares, and our relationship will just have to be strong enough to survive all the attention.”

  A raspy feeling scratched at Clay’s chest. Her last statement sounded ominous…almost as if she doubted they could weather the scrutiny. Ever since Lacey had learned about the missing wolves, a slight tear had formed in their relationship. Lacey must have sensed the fissure too, and hell if he knew how to repair it.

  “Lace—” he began before he heard the tinkling sound of a knife hitting crystal. Another guest had taken advantage of the slight lull between the songs to signal the couple to kiss. Since Magnus looked decidedly uncomfortable with the tradition, the townsfolk had gleefully taken every opportunity to clink glasses.

  The groom gave a gusty, beleaguered sigh that reminded Clay of the zoo’s grumpy grizzly. Just as he leaned over to give his laughing bride a kiss, a microphone screeched. Everyone jerked in the direction of the piercing squeal.

  In the middle of the dance floor stood a slo
ppily drunk Pete Thompson. Clay’s former foreman hadn’t even dressed for the wedding. He wore a wrinkled T-shirt and a pair of mud-splattered jeans. His cowboy boots oozed muck onto the dance floor, and his hat was lopsided.

  “Sorry to interrupt the festivities.” Pete slurred his words as he watched the crowd with bloodshot eyes. “But this couldn’t wait.”

  Clay shot to his feet with Lacey close behind him. Bowie, Josh, and June’s brother, August, who was wearing his Air Force dress blues, all moved toward Pete. The former foreman swiveled in the other men’s direction before his reddened eyes rested on Clay. His mouth instantly twisted in contempt.

  “Thought you’d get away with it, didn’t you?” Pete said. “Well, you don’t fire me.”

  “Uncle Pete, please,” Lacey said quietly, “this is June’s wedding day. Don’t do this to her when you’re really angry at Clay and me.”

  “He shot one of your wolves.” Pete’s voice had a chill to it as he stalked toward Lacey. “Since you won’t see reason, I gotta accuse him publicly before he poisons you with the snake-oil charm he inherited from his daddy.”

  Pete’s accusations seeped through Clay like liquid nitrogen, freezing everything in its path. He swung toward Lacey, desperate for her not to believe the lies. But her face had already gone chalky white. The confusion in her topaz eyes sliced Clay.

  “I didn’t harm any of the lobos, Lace.” Clay felt like someone had shoved a handful of gravel down his throat.

  Before he could say more, Pete yanked out his smartphone. The former foreman triumphantly held it aloft like he’d won a grand prize. No one could make out the picture, but that didn’t stop the murmurs. “I have proof of what I saw on your land. Land my family took care of for generations.”

  Lacey moved toward the older man. Clay wanted to reach out and stop her, but he didn’t. He couldn’t prevent her from looking at the doctored photos.

  But he couldn’t stay silent either. When he spoke, he tried to keep his voice steady when all he wanted was to outshout Thompson. “Lace, whatever is on that phone is a hoax. I’m telling you I didn’t hurt any of the pack. You need to believe me.”

  People were talking loudly now. He heard several rounds of “damn Stevenses” and even more of “she should’ve known better than to trust a Stevens.” Despite the fact that Pete Thompson had drunkenly crashed a wedding, the crowd clearly viewed Clay as the villain in this drama.

  * * *

  Denial came first. Then the pain arrived. Like an out-of-control burn, it seared every inch of Lacey’s heart. She’d trusted Clay. She’d shown him parts of herself that she’d kept closed off since her father’s and brother’s deaths. He’d told her, he’d sworn to her that he hadn’t been responsible for the missing wolves. It didn’t make sense that he’d lie and hurt her like this, but she couldn’t argue with the image on the screen. There was no refuting that one of the female lobos lay sprawled on his land. She recognized the canyon in Pete’s photo, the slope of the red cliffs as they reached for the sky, the ribbon of water snaking through the cottonwoods and aspens. And more importantly, she knew the wolf. Although she couldn’t spot any obvious wounds in the picture, no lobo would sleep in that position.

  Her brain buzzed, and she had trouble thinking. She could only feel. And in the firestorm of emotion, her mind had one single focus: the image of the motionless predator, its power and grace silenced forever.

  “You’re hunting them.” Her throat had tightened so much, the words physically hurt, but she couldn’t stop them.

  “He said he didn’t do it.”

  Lacey whirled in the direction of the new voice. She found Zach standing next to his uncle, his face white except two flags of color over his cheekbones. He swallowed and glanced up at Clay. “I’ve grown up around adults who lie all the time. I know how to spot bullshitters, and my uncle isn’t one of them.”

  The pressure in Lacey’s head built. Clay had promised he hadn’t killed the missing wolves, yet the photo seemed to prove otherwise. One thing was clear. She would not discover the truth with the whole town watching and her heart feeling like an eggshell crushed under the weight of a predator’s foot. She needed to get out of the bright, relentless sun and away from the noise of the crowd. She needed to think clearly.

  So she turned and left. She didn’t stop until she reached Main Street. She shoved her fingers into her purse and pulled out her key to the Prairie Dog Café. Her mother had closed down the restaurant for the wedding, and no one was inside. After she locked the door behind her, she collapsed into the nearest booth. Burying her head in her arms, she burst into tears.

  * * *

  “Are we going to look for Ms. Montgomery?” Zach asked as they climbed into Clay’s truck. After Lacey’s abrupt exit, Clay had apologized to Magnus and June and then had retreated before the police officers in attendance got over their shock and arrested him.

  “No,” Clay said tersely.

  “But she was really upset, and those photos were convincing, and—” Zach said, suddenly choosing to be chatty.

  “Zach, I said no.” The last word burst from Clay’s lips in a brusque shout. His nephew instantly quieted and deflated into his seat. The sight punched through Clay’s frustration, and he tried to force himself to calm. Too many adults had dumped on this kid when he hadn’t deserved any of it. And Zach…Zach had just defended him. He’d believed Clay. He’d trusted his word. Clay didn’t know if he could recall anyone else doing that. Ever. Even Lacey hadn’t had enough faith in him.

  Fresh pain ripped through Clay, but he ignored the fissures of heartache. He had to focus on Zach and on figuring out how a dead wolf had ended up on his land.

  “I’m sorry,” Clay said, pleased his voice sounded so damn normal. “I shouldn’t have snapped at you.”

  Zach shrugged one shoulder, and another burst of frustration exploded inside Clay. Had he messed up his relationship with his nephew while trying to internalize the fallout from the one he’d shared with Lacey?

  “I’m pissed off,” Clay said. “I feel so damn helpless about this mess. I’m sorry I took it out on you.”

  Zach straightened a little. “I don’t think you killed that lobo if that makes a difference.”

  Despite the dark emotions roaring inside him, Clay felt his lips quirk into a genuine smile. “It does, Zach. I should have thanked you for standing up for me back there. That was brave of you. It meant a lot.”

  Zach lifted his shoulder again and then dropped it, but this time, the gesture didn’t seem insolent. It was tinged with empathy instead. “Anytime. That was some crazy shi—stuff back there.”

  Clay nodded solemnly. He debated his next words and decided he needed to know. “Why do you believe me?”

  Zach’s blue eyes widened. Clearly, he hadn’t expected that question. Clay realized how often Zach had been asked to blindly trust adults who’d failed him, yet people kept asking him to do it again.

  His nephew was quiet as he gnawed on his lower lip. When he spoke, his voice was unusually thoughtful. “Because I think you may be the first person in my family who hasn’t lied to me. When you say something, you do it, even when I don’t make it easy.”

  Thickness banded around Clay’s throat. Zach’s words brought back a lot of his own childhood memories. The times his mother promised to take him into the city and then forgot to tell him she had a shopping trip with her friends planned instead. The endless summer days when his parents were off enjoying their separate vacations instead of taking him and Greg to the beach as they’d planned. The number of school holidays he spent with just Greg and their latest nanny.

  “I always hated when my parents promised they’d do something and then they didn’t,” Clay said. “I didn’t want to do that to you.”

  Zach nodded stiffly, and Clay could tell he was battling back his emotions. “I also don’t think you’d do something that cra
ppy to Lacey.”

  Clay felt his grip tighten on the steering wheel. “I wish she thought the same.”

  “The pictures were pretty bad.”

  “I know,” Clay admitted. “But this has been building. She’s been looking at me suspiciously ever since she found out a couple members of the pack had disappeared. Maybe part of her had already concluded that I was picking off the wolves one by one.”

  “You were pretty vocal about getting rid of them.”

  “I wanted them in a reputable zoo, not dead,” Clay said. “I was always clear on that.”

  “One time when my mom was lucid, I remember her telling me people only hear what they want to hear. Funny thing was it described her perfectly. My father too,” Zach said.

  “Is that why you’re not talkative?” Clay asked. “Because you don’t think anyone’s really listening?”

  “Yeah,” the teen admitted.

  “I promise to pay attention to what you say, Zach.”

  “You do okay most of the time. But Ms. Montgomery really listens. That’s why I think she’ll come around. She was just shocked and worried about the lobos.”

  Clay rubbed a hand over his mouth before returning it to the steering wheel. “Don’t get too upset if that doesn’t happen.” He hadn’t considered Zach’s feelings about his and Lacey’s apparent breakup. The kid was close to her, and he’d had enough adults walk away from him. Hopefully, Lacey wouldn’t lump him with Clay, and she’d maintain some sort of a friendship with Zach when they saw each other at the zoo.

  Suddenly, another worry twisted through him. He hadn’t thought through the full ramifications of Pete’s accusations. As Zach’s stand-in parent, he should’ve. If he ended up getting charged and convicted for killing the wolf, he didn’t know how it would impact his guardianship. The rumors had a real possibility of jeopardizing his nephew’s chances for getting a job at the zoo when his community service ended. If Bowie Wilson believed the accusation, he might not want to take his chances on Zach.

  “This is a fucking mess,” he said.