Lassoing The Last Dance (Double Dutch Ranch; Love At First Sight Book 4)

by Mary J. McCoy-Dressel

  “I have to get my horse over to Dane’s.” Randy attempted to get up but decided otherwise.

  “I’ll run home to get my trailer and take him back.” Tristan took Nora’s arm. “Let’s go get our daughters, Mama.” His hand went to her abdomen in front of everyone and he winked. “Got my son right here.”

  Nora gasped. She glanced at Roxanne and smiled. “We’re having a boy this time. I was going to tell you earlier. Seems Tristan is too proud to hold it inside.”

  Roxanne hugged her and shoved tears back—tears of joy for her friend.

  “Take care of him, Roxy. Like I have to tell you.” Nora took Tristan’s hand and they headed toward the door.

  Tristan put his hat on. “I’ll be back to get your horse. Stay settled.”

  “Appreciate it.” Randy pointed toward the door, “I’m going out on the porch to keep an eye on Spirit. I better call the vet just in case. His throat must be as raw as mine.” He rubbed his hand over his jaw and doubled over when he stood. “Ahh, man, I mean it, I might never be able to make love to you again.”

  “Sheriff Thompson will find them.”

  “Or I will.”

  Dear God. How could she blame him for wanting to handle the situation himself? “Can I call Zach?”

  “No.” Randy hobbled toward the door and went outside. She poured Randy a shot of whiskey and carried it out with an over-the-counter pain killer. Whiskey would burn going down a scorched throat, but he needed a drink. “Randy?” Dammit, where is he? “Randy?” she called louder.

  He came around the house from the barn. “I had to get my pistol.”

  “Come sit down.” He went back to unhitch his horse and brought him closer to the steps, tied him up, and half leaned against the porch rail. “I can’t go to your place tonight. Leaving my ranch unattended is too risky. I don’t want to lose my house, too.”

  His speech sounded nasally with his nose swollen, and his voice was scratchy. The dreadful smell of smoke reeked from their clothes. Peering at his face turned her stomach. Not for the horrific bruises and blood, but for the reason it happened—Kim’s jealousy. “I’ll get you a prescribed pain pill. By the looks of your face, I believe you need something stronger than what I brought. Should you get x-rays of your jaw and cheekbones? Your nose?”

  “I have pain pills left from the bite. The EMT said my nose wasn’t broken.” The tone of his voice was solemn. Why wouldn’t it be after all this?

  The fact Randy had changed his mind about leaving his ranch tonight didn’t come as news because he was right.

  The firemen came to the porch and said they’d be leaving and explained the situation, but told Randy to call them back if necessary.

  “Thanks.” Randy looked up at them. “Thanks a lot.” They bid farewell.

  In no time, Tristan returned with a trailer and made Randy stand aside while he loaded Spirit. “Take care of yourself. Forget about coming to work for a while.”

  Randy hugged himself. “No problem. You heard Roxanne. She’s taking care of me right here. I can’t leave tonight.”

  Roxanne caught him rolling his eyes. Randy wasn’t the taken-care-of kind of guy after living alone for so long. She observed him. His gaze veered off toward Tristan taking the shortcut back through the desert. Her heart twisted while her brain spun with a million questions zipping around. Inner turmoil and disgust must have dug at him.

  They went back into the house and Roxanne locked the door behind them. She lowered her gaze to the floor. Sighing, she stood at the door without moving into the room.

  “You’re awfully quiet,” he said from the living room.

  Roxanne moved to the doorway. “I’m trying to spare you from talking when you hurt so badly.”

  He released a breath slowly, his pain obvious by the way he flinched. “I’ll be hurt again.”

  She slammed the side of her fist against the doorway. “That doesn’t make it right! This is all my fault. I never should’ve stayed at your house that night.”

  He removed his shirt, came toward her, and tossed it out the door. “Do you mean it was a mistake, Roxanne? If you do, I’m taking you to get your truck and you can head home. I only agreed to let you help to satisfy you. I’ve been done with Kim for a long time.”

  “It is my fault this happened to you because I provoked her.” He had a decent, worry-free life until she came home. If only the devil on her shoulder would stop arguing with the logical workings of her inner brain. She’d never be able to deal with him being harmed because of her, again. Tonight wasn’t the night to lay a guilt trip upon herself. Kim’s rage against him blocked out any logic.

  Randy lowered himself to the sofa, but then attempted to get up. “I need some ice. Lots of it.”

  “Stay there. You need an ice bag for more than one place on your face alone.”

  “Including the boys.” He pointed to his groin. Randy lifted his shoulder in a half shrug. “You can’t blame yourself for this. Like I said earlier, Kim’s a lunatic. Looks like we both attract psychos. Hold me tonight, Rox. The same way I held you the night you needed it in Tulsa.”

  God almighty! She was so conflicted. Hold him. Walk away. Keep him safe and walk away. Why did the wrong answer make more sense? Then she understood what he’d been up to. Why he asked her to hold him. His plea would make her stay and he knew it. “If that’s what you want.”

  “Yeah, I do. Hope you don’t mind my body being wrapped in ice.”

  Roxanne gave a soulful smile. “Do you have an electric blanket for me?” He gave her a sidelong glance. He looked tired and worn out—so beaten down. The balance leaned in his favor. Don’t cry now, silly girl. “I’ll get your ice before taking a shower. I’ll need those PJs again.”

  “You know where to find them.”

  ***

  Randy lay awake long after Roxanne dozed off. The coconut scent of her hair floated around them. It ached with her pressed up against his side where he couldn’t change position, but he needed her touching him. He’d turned into that guy. The guy who needed a woman’s touch.

  He’d never been a guy who needed someone for anything. Not since he was fourteen when he caught his dad cheating with another woman—a secret he held onto until his mom died. The news, lying, and the act itself had built a wall between him and his dad.

  Sure, his mom suspected something, but he had protected her from the truth that would’ve killed her at the already weakened state of her health. On second thought, there was also a time he needed his Army buddies to have his back. Now he needed her. It disappointed him—made him feel weak.

  Now, he wondered how long it would be before the sheriff came to slap handcuffs on him. Lying there for as long as he could, he moved her arm off his body and rose from the bed. Upon standing, he observed each twinge in many different…everywhere. He went to the kitchen for more ice. Before easing into the chair next to the window, he opened the front door to look down his drive. Anxious, he sat and held the ice against his cheekbone. The god-awful bite was destined not to heal. Stupid-ass horse.

  He raised his t-shirt and lowered the ice to the ribs on the right side, but the shock from the cold straightened his back. Instead, he pulled the t-shirt back down to use as a buffer between skin and ice. Fifteen minutes later he silently padded into the bedroom, picked up his jeans, and backed through the bedroom door to land on the same chair in the living room. Before he had a chance to sit down, his phone rang and he couldn’t answer quick enough. “Yeah. Hello?”

  “Hey, Randy, it’s Steve. Just wanted to give you a heads’ up—”

  Randy sucked in a breath that hurt like hell.

  “I accompanied the sheriff to Kim’s. She denied ever saying that you had attacked her to anyone. Get some sleep, huh?”

  “I appreciate the call, Steve.” He hung up, then shuddered before taking a seat. Thank God. Randy believed she had said it to the three guys.

  Dawn lightened the sky a notch brighter than five minutes before. He removed a pill from
his jeans pocket and swallowed it, closed his eyes. Images of the previous night shot through his mind and he lived it again. Before he had passed out, the sound of his horse bucking in the stall was like a demon had reached into his chest and yanked his heart out. Struggling to get free was the last thing he’d remembered doing. Then, Roxanne’s hands touched his shoulders and he couldn’t breathe.

  Randy cleared his thoughts and pulled his sopping wet shirt over his head. He tossed it into the bathroom sink and dumped the ice in the tub, then collected a new shirt from the drawer before getting back into bed.

  Chapter 14

  “Randy, are you sleeping?”

  Her soft voice cruised into his dreams along with her warm touch. Yeah.

  “Randy?” she whispered.

  His eyes popped open. It wasn’t a dream. Clear blue eyes met his gaze. “Morning.” It hurt to talk.

  “Do you want some coffee?”

  “Uh, I don’t know.” He attempted to stand, but Rox slipped her arm around his waist to assist him to a sitting position first. Wasn’t that something? What had he turned into? “I can do it, Roxanne!”

  She backed away. “Your mug’s right here if you want it. Remember, I have to get my truck and you need to file a report.” He’d tell her later about Steve calling in the night.

  The pain pill had begun to wear off and he refused to pop another one. He’d learned his lesson a long time ago about addiction. “How about an aspirin or four?”

  “I came prepared.” She held out her palm where two sat in the center, and she left when he took them.

  He sat up straighter. Everything ached. Even his shoulders, which came close to being yanked out of their sockets. He needed more water, so he hauled himself out of bed. In the kitchen, she stood waiting at the sink sipping coffee. A bagel popped out of the toaster. “I didn’t mean to jump on you.”

  “I understand why you did.” Roxanne sat the bagel on a plate and lowered herself to the kitchen chair. She spread butter and jam on her bagel. “Want half?”

  Running his hand over his sore jaw, he shook his head no in reply. He went back to the bedroom for his mug and eased into a seat beside her. “You didn’t have your crutches last night. How’d it go?”

  “I managed.”

  Randy held his phone up after checking an email. “The sheriff wants me to do a photo array lineup sometime. How freaking ironic is it that both of us have had to do a lineup?”

  “You’re right. It is ironic and awful.”

  He picked up her hand from the table, and he paid attention to his bruised knuckles and wrists. If his hands looked this bad this morning, someone else’s face didn’t look too good, either. “I hope you aren’t still holding yourself responsible for this. How’d we know the bitch wouldn’t have done this anyway? I’ve rejected her every time she showed up at my place.”

  “I’m glad it wasn’t Nate.” She gave a furtive glance. “I mean, just that he didn’t do this to you.”

  “Well, say your prayers that he and Kim don’t connect or both of us will end up dead.” He looked away, but told her what Kim had said to the sheriff.

  “She was so intoxicated the night we took her home, that I’m surprised she knew who took her home.”

  If Kim had gone through with her accusation, and it came out she had spent the night here before, he’d have no alibi. Even Roxanne saw Kim’s panties in the sheets. “She knew. I dropped her to the bed, literally, but she grabbed my hair and begged me to stay. She tried to pull me down on top of her. In her mind, maybe something did happen, and that’s when she told those bastards.”

  Roxanne took a bite of her bagel, chewed and swallowed it, then said, “It makes it worse knowing she was aware of the consequences and horror those men could, and did, afflict on you. They meant to kill you, Randy. I despise her for being so cruel.”

  “I’m getting a shower. I should’ve done it last night.” Randy lumbered toward the bathroom but stopped. Turned. Faced her. “Care to join me?”

  She nodded. “You’ve been irresistible to me since our eyes met. My heart is broken to see you this way.” She set her cup down and gave him a smile. “You’ll need help washing your back.”

  In the bathroom, she was the one to bend over to turn on the water. A pleasant sight to his swollen eyes.

  “If I remodel my bathroom at home, I’ll have a shower stall added as well as a tub. It’s easier to get into a shower than it is a tub, but I love soaking in a bubble bath.” Roxanne helped to lift his t-shirt over his head.

  “Lazy showers take too long. I prefer in and out.” He reconsidered what he’d said. “But maybe not this time.”

  Roxanne undid his jeans and let them drop. She grasped the waistband of his Jockey’s and slowly pulled them down, sighing upon seeing more bruising, everywhere.

  His core hurt like hell, but with her gaze upon him like that, his heart thudded against his black and blue chest. Her eyes lifted to his. “Bruises there too?” he muttered.

  Roxanne gave a short nod.

  “Who knows, if I keep getting bitten by horses and beat up by thugs, I could get used to lazy showers.” He pulled her close. “Undress. You’re a much better pain reliever than aspirin.”

  “Shh, step inside. We can have a lazy shower without hurting you. Do you have a sponge?”

  He pointed to the linen closet.

  “I’ll get it.” Roxanne turned to get it out of the cupboard and rummaged around until she found a new one. “Here, soften this up under the water. I’ll be right back.”

  Randy stepped inside and left the shower door open a bit for her. He asked when she returned, “Will you be able to get in? Do you use a bath stool at home?”

  “I use a bath stool in and out of the shower. One inside and one outside to sit on while I take off and put on my prosthesis, or if not, I’ll just use my crutches to get back to my bedroom.”

  “I’ll have a stool delivered here for you. Show me what kind.” He stood under the shower to let the hot water soothe his body. It hurt to breathe and talk. The fine spray stung. That’s how sore he was. He opened his eyes when she took hold of his arm for leverage, and he steadied her while stepping into the tub. She had covered her prosthetic with a white trash bag, but she had nothing else on, which tempted him. Stop thinking, idiot.

  “I don’t ordinarily wear this in the shower because I need to clean and check my entire leg.”

  “I understand.”

  “They make covers—”

  Randy held her shoulders. “Honey, I don’t mind seeing your leg without the prosthesis on.”

  She soaped up the sponge and softly squeezed sudsy water over his body, using the sponge to wash the uninjured parts. Her soft touch and the heat from her warm fingers when she touched him to smooth body soap over the bruised areas gave him a comfortable feeling. He washed and rinsed his hair, twice to be sure the smell was gone.

  “This feels good.” He lifted his hands to her waist. She ran her fingers from his neck down and over his biceps, onward to his wrists. Then she took his hands from around her to tenderly entwine their fingers and slipped her fingers in and out from between his.

  “Turn around and let me wash your back.”

  Randy embraced her and leaned forward with his chin against the top of her head. “You’re good to me.”

  She turned him around and massaged his shoulders from behind. “Someone has to be. You deserve this kind of care. You’ve been neglected far too long. I promise you’ll—”

  “Don’t promise anything…please.” He pressed his palms against the wall.

  “I plan on you not being neglected—”

  Randy sighed while watching suds swirl down the drain. “That’ll work fine.” Now stick to what you say.

  ***

  Pain or not, he got in the passenger side of his truck without a rebuttal, and Roxanne drove to the sheriff’s department to file an official complaint. On the way, the sheriff’s office called and wanted him to do a lineup now. Perfe
ct timing.

  He didn’t get a good look at one of them in the barn. The scoundrel he slugged in the face remained clear in his mind. He had a good enough look to identify the other who held him from behind after he floored the other two of them. Not to mention one was stupid enough to wear a local baseball team hat—logo right out in the open with a big number seven on the side. Last night he read seventy-seven after being struck in the temple.

  By the time they arrived, the sheriff was ready, so he and Roxanne waited. He listened to what they had to say about looking at the photos. Yeah, yeah, blah, blah. To Randy, this meant they had at least one of the suspects in handcuffs.

  Randy said to Roxanne, “I want this all to be over so we can get on with our life. My jobs are getting behind. The—”

  “Shh, you said you were a patient man. This is important and has to be done, and you, my man, have to recuperate. How can this possibly happen to both of us?” She picked up his hand and gingerly stroked her thumb over his knuckles.

  Her touch warmed him, yet any pressure to the knuckles was like punching something all over again. “How come you’re always right?” Smiling was out of the question at the moment, but he did inside.

  “It isn’t about me always being right, but is more about us being a good team.”

  He managed a slight quirk to his mouth to show his approval. A deputy came for them.

  Roxanne waited in one of the offices, and they took Randy to another. They slapped down a photo array of six men. Maybe three of them were the ones who tried to kill him. He thoroughly examined each one. The light-haired guy had a big bruise near his temple. An ugly cuss he was. Hell, they were all bruised. Randy hadn’t taken aim when he threw either a right or left hook. This could’ve been the asshole wearing the baseball cap.

  It had been dark in the barn, but there was a moment when his light shone on a couple of them. Yet this guy looked familiar. He, as well as the others in the photos, appeared to be revolting enough to have done the deed. They all had on baseball caps, but not the cap the thug wore last night. The one who remained behind him might’ve had a back injury after Randy had brought him over his head and slammed him to the floor.