Texas Twist (Texas Montgomery Mavericks)

by Cynthia D'Alba

  Same as him. He was just getting a jump on the weekend.

  The music from the live band was ear-splitting, the sound blasting out the door the minute Cash swung it open. The dance floor was packed with couples gyrating and one-stepping to the music. He pushed his way through until he could see the back booth. Open. He tried to look nonchalant as he hurried to claim it.

  “What’ll it be, sugar?” a dark-haired waitress he didn’t know asked.

  “Whiskey. Jack Daniels. Bring the bottle.”

  “Sure thang, sugar.” She twisted and wiggled her hips as she walked away.

  As he sank into the cushions, memories of other nights and other bars and beautiful women cluttered his mind like paper thrown into the air. One memory landing on top on another. Each one different but similar.

  At one time, he’d been the draw in any bar he entered, unable to sit alone for longer than five minutes before women slid in the booth beside him, or men began shaking his hand, buying him all the drinks he could handle. The men wanted to be him and the women wanted to fuck him.

  He had been a somebody.

  That’d been then. Now, he was a nobody.

  Worse than a nobody, actually. The men felt sorry for him and the women wanted to mother him. Screw that.

  “Here ya go,” the waitress said, setting an unopened bottle of Jack Daniels and a glass on the table. “Leo started you a tab and said to get your keys.”

  “Fine.” He fished his keys from his jeans pocket before he cracked the top. “Wait a minute,” he said as she turned to leave. “Last night, there was a woman here. I’m trying to find her.”

  She laughed. “Honey, there are women here every night. What’d she look like?”

  A heat flushed his cheeks. “I don’t know. She was here alone, I know that. I need to talk to her.”

  “That’s a tough description to match. I wasn’t here last night.” She tilted her head toward the other side of the room. “Sally was though. I’ll ask her.”

  “Thanks.” He poured the highball glass to the rim, drained it in one gulp and refilled it.

  He’d made his way through about one-half of the bottle when Sally strode over. “Mae tells me you’re looking for someone from last night?”

  “Yeah. Single. I mean, she wasn’t here with anyone.”

  Sally shook her head. “Sorry. There weren’t any single women here last night. Just couples. You were pretty out of it. Maybe you just thought you met someone here.”

  “Never mind,” he growled. “Forget it.”

  “Sorry I couldn’t help,” she said with a smile and left.

  Just as well, he thought as he finished off another shot. What woman would want a broken-down has-been cowboy with a limp and no future?

  He poured another drink and rested his head against the back of the booth. His life wasn’t supposed to be like this. He’d had a master plan, a damn good one. Win the national bull riding championship for the third time, get a gig doing on-air commentary, maybe pick up a few endorsement contracts. He shouldn’t be a washed-up ex-bull rider before he was thirty. He should be at the top of his game, master of his world. Instead, he was master of nothing.

  Except, damned if he didn’t own half of the cattle being raised at Kickin’ Bull Ranch. The plan had been to become a stock contractor for the Professional Bull Riding association. What the hell had he been thinking going into business with Mitch Landry to raise bulls?

  God, he’d come to hate the smell of cattle, the sound of cattle…hell, everything about cattle except how they tasted. If he never had to be around cattle again, he’d be a happy man.

  “Hello, little brother.”

  Cash’s head snapped so quickly he banged into the booth wall. Travis stood there looking down at him, total disgust in reflected in his expression. Cash wasn’t surprised. Oh, he was surprised to see Travis in the bar, just not surprised to see the repugnance in Travis’s icy stare. Even his own brother recognized Cash as the failure he was.

  Cash’s upper lip curled into a snarl. “What are you doing here?” He snapped his fingers. “Let me guess. Someone called you.”

  Travis shrugged. “I think I might have used up all the allotted Montgomery drunk time when Susan died.”

  Susan, Travis’s first wife, had died when she and Travis had been twenty-six. He’d spent the next year so deep in a drunken haze the family had feared they would lose him. But somehow, he made it back out and had been sober for almost ten years. Now married to Dr. Caroline Graham, they were expecting their first child soon.

  “Shouldn’t you be home with your pregnant wife?”

  Travis slid into the booth across from Cash. His expression changed as he watched Cash drink. Was that pity in his brother’s face? Shit. That’d be worse than revulsion. He’d rather be hated than pitied. “She’s fine. She’s worried about you, however.”

  “I’m fine. Tell her not to worry. Now you can go home.”

  Travis crossed his arms on the table. “Drinking isn’t going to help.”

  “You’re just jealous because I can control my drinking while you never could.”

  Cash made a show of downing a full glass of whiskey. When Travis smiled, fresh raw annoyance chewed at Cash’s patience.

  “Just get out, Travis. It’s my life.”

  “Nope. I’ll just sit here and wait until you pass out so I can drive you home.”

  “You’re a bastard.”

  Travis leaned back and stretched his arm along the back of the booth’s cushion. “I’m a drunk, Cash. I know what it is to want to drink more than to live. And I’m your brother. I’ll always be here for you.”

  Cash glared at him. “You’re going to sit there and suck all the fun out of this, aren’t you?”

  His brother lifted an eyebrow. “You didn’t look like you were having much fun…not this morning and not when I walked in tonight.”

  “Fine. Let me pay my bill and get my keys.”

  “Bill’s paid and I have your keys in my pocket.”

  “Well, doesn’t big brother think of everything,” Cash said with a sneer. “Walk slow. You know I’m a crip.”

  “Enough, Cash.” Travis glared across at him. “You’re not a cripple. Your life’s not over. So your career plans have taken a turn. So what? You make the turn and see what’s there. Life isn’t over just because one thing didn’t work out for you.”

  Cash twisted the glass of whiskey around in circles. “You don’t understand.”

  “I don’t understand? Bullshit.” Travis pointed toward his own chest with his thumb. “You think my life plan didn’t go down the toilet with Susan’s death? Hell, man, life is about all the curves.”

  “I had a plan. It was a great plan.” He downed the booze in one swallow. “Now I don’t have shit. No life. A gimp leg. Hell, I don’t even have a house to call my own.” He refilled his glass and poured a little pity along with the liquor down his throat.

  Travis leaned across the table. “Tell you what. Go see the parents tonight. If that’s intolerable for you, I know of somewhere else to crash for a while.”

  “Fine.”

  “C’mon. Let’s get going.”

  The men stood, Cash weaving a little on his feet. “Still wish I could find that woman from last night,” he said.

  Travis laughed and slung an arm around Cash’s shoulders. “Good luck, bro.”

  As they zigzagged around dancing bar patrons, Cash thought he got a glimpse of long auburn hair behind the bar. His heart skipped a beat at the memory. He twisted around, tried to find the woman, but in the crush of bodies, it was impossible to see his own feet, much less a woman from his past.

  Hell, what would she be doing here? What were the chances? Absolutely none.

  He followed Travis out to a low-slung Porsche.

  “Hey,” Cash said with a laugh
. “How did you get this back from your wife?”

  Travis grinned as the engine growled. “She’s too pregnant to get in and out. Had to buy her a new SUV.”

  He pulled from Leo’s parking lot and headed out of Whispering Springs.

  “I had an idea. Can I run something past you?” Cash asked.

  “Sure.”

  “What about the old Fitzgerald ranch?”

  “What about it?”

  “Can I stay there for a while?” Cash’s heart clung to his ribs as he awaited his brother’s response. When he’d driven by Singing Springs Ranch today and seen the old house, the idea of living there had taken root in his head. If Travis said no, he wasn’t sure where he would end up.

  “I don’t see why not.” Travis glanced at Cash. “You realize the place has been empty for almost a year, right? Probably dust and dirt an inch thick.”

  “But it’s got furniture, right? And electricity and water?”

  “Yes. It’s pretty much as Angus left it when he died.”

  “And your wife won’t mind?”

  Travis’s wife, Caroline, had inherited Singing Springs Ranch when her great-uncle Angus Fitzgerald had died.

  “Doubt it. She’s got a soft spot in her heart for the old place. She’ll be glad to have someone in there. I’ll—”

  Whatever Travis was going to say was cut off by the ringing of his cell phone. He fished his cell from his front jeans pocket and checked the caller ID.

  “Hey, babe. I’m on my way. Need anything?”

  Cash could hear his sister-in-law’s voice coming from Travis’s phone but couldn’t understand what she was saying. But he noticed the rising tension in Travis’s voice.

  “When? Okay. Okay. I’m on my way. Hang on.” He slammed the accelerator to the floor. The sudden speed pressed Cash firmly into his seat back.

  “What happened?”

  “Caroline’s in labor. Her water broke.”

  “Crap. Is that bad?”

  Travis laughed. “I have no idea.” He took a corner sharply, throwing Cash into the passenger door. “But I don’t think so.”

  Cash grinned. “Can’t believe you’re going to be a father.”

  Travis let out a loud whoop. “Me neither.”

  They made it to Halo M Ranch in record time, flying down the drive to come to an abrupt stop in front of the house. Caroline’s SUV was parked in front, her hospital bag on the porch. Travis slammed the car into park and jumped from the car like it was on fire.

  “Caroline,” he shouted.

  A very pregnant Caroline Graham waddled out the door. “Calm down, honey. We have plenty of time.”

  Travis cleared the front steps in a hurdle. “Got everything?” he asked as he helped his wife down the stairs.

  She smiled and patted his cheek. “I’ve got you. That’s all I need right now.”

  Cash’s heart seized at the scene unfolding in front of him. His older, tougher, always-calm brother was totally losing his cool. He smiled. He’d never seen Travis so excited and scared at the same time. The only thing Cash could equate the feeling to was climbing on the back of a bull…adrenaline-driven fear. And damn if he didn’t miss it sometimes.

  “What can I do to help?” he asked. Cash was totally out of his league.

  “Hi, Cash,” Caroline said and headed in his direction.

  “Where are you going?” Travis asked, his voice laced with anxiety. “We can’t take the Porsche.”

  Caroline smiled and patted his arm. “I just wanted to give my brother-in-law a hug.”

  “Make it snappy,” Travis growled. “I do not want to have these babies here.”

  Caroline laughed and then hugged Cash. “So good to see you. I’ve been worried about you. You okay?”

  “Yes, ma’am,” Cash lied. “I’m doing just great.”

  “Now can we go?” Travis snapped.

  Caroline shook her head. “First-time deliveries take forever, Travis.” She turned to walk to her SUV then turned back to Cash. “Can you do me a favor?”

  “Anything.”

  “My brother. Can you get him to the hospital later?”

  “Sure. No problem.”

  “You might want to call Mom,” Travis said. “I’d tell you to call Olivia and Jason, but I suspect Mom’s dialing finger is much faster than yours.”

  Cash chuckled. “Glad to help.”

  A teenage boy with long brown hair stood on the porch watching all the activity in the drive. As soon as Travis and Caroline left, Cash walked up onto the porch.

  “You must be Caroline’s brother,” he said with a grin. “Noah, if I remember correctly.”

  The boy nodded. “Yep. And you’re Cash, the little brother.”

  “Well, now that we both know who we are, we’d better get to those phone calls.” Cash moved toward the door and then noticed Noah hadn’t moved. “Problem?”

  “No. Yes.”

  Cash looked at the teen’s ashen face. “Worried about your sister?”

  Noah let out a long breath of air. “Yes. What if something happens?”

  Cash knew a little about Caroline and Noah’s history…that their parents lived in a third-world country on a missionary trip and that Caroline and Noah had been raised by their maternal grandmother who’d died last year.

  He slung his arm around Noah. “She’ll be fine. And hey, we’re both going to be uncles.”

  Noah looked at him, his nostrils flaring. “Are you drunk? You smell like it.”

  “I’ve had a drink or two,” Cash lied. “No biggie.”

  “Well, I’m going to the hospital and one of us has to drive.” He shook off Cash’s arm. “And I’m not riding with a drunk driver. I’ll take my chances driving myself.”

  “No way, pal. I can drive. Let’s go make those phone calls.”

  By the time Cash had poured a couple of cups of coffee down his throat and called his parents and siblings, it was close to ten p.m. The effects of the alcohol were waning, but he decided Travis’s truck might be the safest vehicle to borrow should he bump the fender or something.

  When Noah flashed his restricted driver’s license, which gave him the right to drive with a licensed adult driver in the car, Cash handed over the keys with unexpressed relief. When they got to the hospital maternity waiting room, his entire family had already beaten them there.

  He hugged his sister. “Who’s got the kids?”

  “Magda. And I’m more than a little pissed at you. You haven’t even been by to see Eliza Grace.”

  Cash felt the flush as it climbed up his neck. He hung his head. “Yeah. Sorry.”

  “Cash.” His mother hugged him. “I’m glad you’re here.”

  “Have you heard anything?”

  “Hi, Noah,” Jackie Montgomery said. “No, nothing yet. Travis came out a couple of minutes ago to say everything was going fine.” She put her arm around the teen. “Come sit with me. I’m a nervous wreck. You can keep me company.”

  Jackie hauled Noah over to some chairs where her husband sat.

  “Where’s Lydia?” Cash asked his brother, Jason.

  Dr. Lydia Henson was Caroline Graham’s medical-practice partner and his brother’s long-term fiancée.

  Jason pointed with his chin toward a couple of doors. “In the back. We just got here and she wanted to check in with Olivia.”

  The Montgomery clan filled most of the chairs in the small waiting room, individual conversations floating around the room. Cash observed his family. He’d been on the rodeo road for years. Even his teenage years had been one junior rodeo after another. He’d loved his life, even though he now realized how much he’d missed.

  He’d made Olivia and Mitch’s wedding but only for the day, having to fly back to catch up with the PBR circuit. As his sister had pointed out, he hadn’t me
t his new niece yet, and Adam, Olivia and Mitch’s son, changed every time he saw the kid.

  The alcohol buzz was gone, leaving a pounding headache in its place. Resting his head on the wall, Cash shut his eyes and remembered the only girl who’d looked at him the way Caroline looked at Travis, or Mitch looked at Olivia. All that love displayed for the world to see.

  But she’d been too young. Hell, he’d been too young and too full of himself to admit how deeply she’d crawled into his soul. One night together and he’d run.

  No, what he’d done had been much worse than that. He squeezed his eyes tight as if that could dim the memory, but nothing could blunt the shame he still felt.

  The reality was he hadn’t run. Instead, he had treated her like every other buckle bunny on the circuit with flippant comments and a pat on the ass the next morning. He’d made sure never to find himself alone with her, always using one woman or another to serve as a buffer. He’d been overwhelmed by his feelings. He couldn’t face her or his damn reactions to that night together.

  But she’d been far from a woman who considered fucking a cowboy another notch on her belt. She’d been a beautiful young woman just reaching her maturity.

  Paige Ryan. The rodeo vet’s daughter. He’d watched Paige grow from gangly teen to a mature, stunning woman. Tall. Auburn hair. Piercing green eyes. A mouth made for kissing and a body made for sex.

  Cash had been her first lover. He hadn’t known that when they’d hit the sheets on her eighteen birthday. That’d been only the first shock of the evening.

  The second shock had been the feelings she’d evoked from him. An urge to protect her from the world and its ugliness. A rightness he’d never felt with another woman. A yearning to make her his. All that had scared him shitless and he’d bolted.

  His heart had skipped a beat when he’d thought he’d seen her tonight at Leo’s. He scoffed. Maybe Travis was right. Maybe the whiskey had dulled his head and his vision.

  The electronic swish of mechanical doors opening brought Cash back to the maternity delivery room. All gazes shot to Lydia when she walked through from the birthing suite doors.