That stung, but didn’t make it any less true. She’d been going through the motions in Dallas. Work. Sleep. Weekends that she largely spent by herself. Living in limbo. Waiting for…what?
A man like Tell to come into her life?
No. She didn’t need a man to make her complete.
If that was true, why had she felt so hollow? So incomplete? Didn’t she have what every college grad wanted—a job, a decent place to live and a little money in the bank?
Yes. Wasn’t that enough?
No. It never had been. Just like being Deck’s wife hadn’t been enough.
Being with Tell gave her something she’d never had from any person or place or job—a feeling of home. An intimate bond that grew stronger every day. The kind of connection she had been too afraid to forge, fearful she’d lose it once she found it.
That’s when Georgia knew she’d do whatever it took to keep the happiness she’d found here. Taking such a scary leap made her stomach roil, but if she didn’t have faith in her ability to choose her own path, she still was letting everyone else pull the strings. And she was done with that. Starting now. At least if she fell flat on her face this time, she’d know exactly who tripped her up.
She glanced up and saw Stephanie grinning at her.
“I knew you’d make the right choice. I’m here for you, whatever you need. Now go get your man and start your happily ever after.” Stephanie hugged her and left.
As Georgia headed toward the door, she caught a glimpse of a black-haired man on the outskirts of the dance floor. Her heart skipped a beat. Had Tell shown up looking for her after all?
But after watching the guy, she realized he was a McKay, just not her McKay.
It was Dalton. A drunk Dalton. He’d sway one way, catch himself, and snap his body straight. He was trying to pay attention to a slender brunette giving him the mother of all lectures.
He reached out to stroke the woman’s hair and she dodged his hand. When that motion sent him falling forward, she grabbed the front of his shirt and jerked him upright.
That’s when everything went to hell. Dalton trapped the brunette’s face in his hands and kissed her. Not a gentle peck, but a tonsil-scratching kiss.
She broke his hold and pushed him. Dalton’s arms flailed and he landed hard on his ass. She stepped over him before stomping away. A couple bar patrons helped Dalton to his feet, but he angrily waved them off and staggered down the hallway to the back door.
Concerned, Georgia followed him outside.
Dalton wasn’t leaning against the building or lying in a heap on the ground. And in the state he was in, he couldn’t have gotten far. She saw him standing beside a white pickup.
Surely he didn’t intend to drive home?
Despite three-inch heels, she ran. He had the driver’s-side door open by the time she reached him, but he’d dropped the keys on the ground.
She swooped down and plucked them up. “Looking for these?”
“Yeah. They musta fallen outta my hand.” He swayed and kept one eye shut as he looked at her. “Georgia! Hey. It’s the hot chick banging my brother, that lucky bastard.”
“So nice of you to point it out,” she retorted.
“You still got my keys?”
“Yep. But I’m keeping them because you are not driving.”
“Fuck that. I’m fine ta drive.”
“Bullshit.”
He loomed over her. “Gimme my goddamn keys.”
She lost her mind on him. She shoved him against the cab and stood on her toes to get in his face. “You don’t get to do this. It would destroy your brothers if something happened to you. You’re a fucking idiot to even think about getting behind the goddamn wheel when you’re drunk.” She stepped back, her breath coming in hot, angry bursts. One fist clenched around the keys, one fist ready to knock him the fuck out if he made a move for them.
“Shit.” Dalton’s belligerent stance vanished. He dropped his chin to his chest, probably to hide his embarrassment. “Sorry. I don’t know what I was thinkin’. I’d never…”
“You’re right you’d never. Get it through that thickheaded McKay skull of yours: you are not driving. I’ll call Tell to come and get you.”
Dalton’s head snapped up. “No. Keep my family out of it. I don’t want them to see me like this.”
“What? Drunk?”
He shook his head. “Like a fuckin’ chump.”
Confused, Georgia stared at him. “Dalton. Honey. You’re kind of a mess. Will you let me drive you home?”
“Really? You’d do that?”
“Of course.”
“Because of Tell?”
“No. Because of RJ.”
Another moment of silence passed between them, broken by the shouts of partyers exiting the bar.
He said, “Thanks. I’ll take you up on that ride.”
She eyed him. “I walked here from my place, so I don’t have my car. You’re a big guy and there’s no way I can help you into the cab of this monster truck.”
“S’okay. I can get in on my own.” He hoisted himself up. Then he slid across the bench seat to the passenger side.
Georgia had driven her fair share of pickups, but this one was jacked up, tricked out, and she could barely reach the pedals. With her luck, Dalton would pass out before he told her where he lived. Driving aimlessly around rural Wyoming at eleven o’clock at night with a brokenhearted drunk wasn’t her idea of fun.
So call Tell.
No. Dalton had asked her not to. Which left her with one choice.
She parked his rig at the curb in front of her house because she feared she’d take out the neighbor’s bushes if she attempted to park in the driveway.
Dalton staggered out of his pickup and into her house on his own. She directed him to the living room couch.
He yanked off his boots out of habit and flopped on the sofa with a weary sigh. He draped his arm over his eyes. “I’m gonna be payin’ for my damn pity party the rest of the night and most of tomorrow. Christ. My head is spinning like a fuckin’ tornado.”
“Do you want coffee?”
“Nah. Thanks. I’m just gonna sleep it off.”
She brought him a pillow and a blanket. “The bathroom is down the hall, across from the kitchen.”
“I ain’t gonna puke, if that’s what you’re worried about. I can hold my liquor.”
“Well, I’d prefer you didn’t pee on my sofa either. So you know where the toilet is in case you need to use it.”
He snorted. “You’re funny. And sweet. Not at all what I thought you’d be.”
Georgia perched on the edge of the coffee table. “I’m afraid to ask what Tell has told you about me.”
“Nothin’, really. That says a lot.”
“Why?”
“If my brother ain’t talkin’ about you, it means there’s something there to talk about.”
That made no sense.
“You ain’t playin’ him, are you?” Dalton said softly. “He deserves better.”
“Tell deserves the best because he’s the best man I’ve ever known.”
“Have you told him that?”
“Not yet. But I intend to.”
Dalton groaned. “Good. But fuck. I’m really gonna be the last single McKay standing, ain’t I?”
Yes, if Georgia had anything to say about it.
“Night, Dalton.”
“Night, John-Boy.”
She froze. “What did you say?”
“Nothin’. Drunk talk. Me’n Tell and Brandt and Luke always pretended it was stupid the way the Waltons said goodnight to everyone at the end of the show. But we really thought it was kinda cool ’cause we never did that in our family. So we started doin’ it as a joke.”
“You know what’s weird? RJ and I did the same thing. ’Cept he always wanted to be John-Boy.”
“So did Tell. Bastard made me be Mary Ellen.”
Georgia laughed. “Night, Mary Ellen.”
“You and T
ell are two peas in a pod.”
By the time she asked, “What do you mean?” she saw Dalton’s breathing had slowed and he’d passed out.
Chapter Twenty-Eight
Sunday morning, Tell feigned sickness and skipped helping with chores.
He’d spent Saturday night after the rodeo dozing off between shitty reality shows on the Discovery Channel. Point for him that he hadn’t drunk until he passed out. His mind had just shut down on its own and his body followed. He wondered if this was how his days and nights would be if Georgia was out of his life for good.
He couldn’t live like this. He couldn’t go back to the way he’d been. Well, he could, but his heart wouldn’t be in it, not since Georgia took ownership of that motherfucker before she’d stomped the piss out of it.
This brokenhearted shit sucked.
Being without Georgia sucked.
The rest of the day and all of the night sucked too.
Monday morning, Tell and Dalton started and finished chores without talking, which wasn’t unusual. Sometimes they’d go as long as a week without discussing anything besides ranch work. Working with the same people every day, and knowing that would continue for the rest of his life, made it easy to shove things aside, figuring they’d have lots of time to talk.
But that didn’t hold true with Luke, did it?
“So you didn’t get to help out with the bonfire yesterday,” Dalton said.
Tell’s gaze snapped to him. “What are you talkin’ about?”
“Colt, Kane, Ben and Brandt torched the bunkhouse yesterday morning. “
That floored him. “What? When was that decided?”
Dalton shrugged. “Spur of the moment. Colt showed up to do his check of the place and found a dozen kids passed out in there. Was the same kids everyone’s been seein’. Guess they got mouthy. Colby found trees they’d cut down and a fire pit out in the middle of the damn field. Appears everyone’s had enough. Kane and everyone else are kicking themselves because we shoulda listened to you sooner. They were gonna let you do the honors, but Brandt said you were sick and he’d take care of it.”
“Huh. Well, I‘m glad to hear they don’t think I’m always jokin’ around and they take my suggestions seriously sometimes.”
“None of ’em think you’re a clown. It was just an extreme solution to the problem. So points for you, bro, in the McKay hierarchy.”
Tell rolled his eyes. “Were you there yesterday morning?”
“For a little while. Then I had something else goin’ on.”
The way Dalton fidgeted, Tell knew something was up. “Spill it, D.”
“We got it.”
“Got what?”
“That parcel of Charlene’s land.” Dalton reached into his back pocket and pulled out a slip of paper. “Got her notarized intent to sell. We didn’t get it as cheap as I would’ve liked. Five hundred acres with highway access. Plus she’s giving us the option of buying some of the corrals and equipment.”
Tell just stared at his younger brother, a mix of pride and fear filling him. “But how?”
A sheepish grin stole over his face. “I’ve been takin’ advantage of your workhorse ways as much Brandt has. But it’s paid off for all us. We’ll own that land free and clear.”
“Free and clear? Where’d you get the money?”
“From poker tournaments. When you stopped goin’ with me, I upped my bets and stopped playin’ it safe. In the last year and a half I…ah—” he laughed self-consciously, “—been flyin’ to Vegas in addition to hitting all the big tournaments around here. And I’ve done well.”
Tell frowned. “But you didn’t take money out of our joint account.”
“Yes I did. I took out half over a long weekend. Used it as seed money and doubled it in three days. So I returned the money and have been usin’ the profit from that to gamble with.” Dalton held up his hand. “No, I ain’t addicted to gambling. It was a tool to get us what we needed. And a way to prove myself.”
“Dalton. You’ve gotta know…” How did he say this without getting his brother’s back up? “I never expected that from you.”
“Which was why I needed to do it. Look, Brandt is the oldest, you’re the smartest and I’ve always been the youngest. That’s how everyone sees me.” He kicked a clod of dirt. “I needed to prove to myself and to you guys that I could contribute something to the running of the ranch besides manual labor. Money is something we always need.”
“Amen to that.” Tell elbowed his brother. “Ya little lyin’ sack of shit. How much money you got squirreled away?”
Dalton grinned. “Plenty. Even after buyin’ the land. We’ll bring Brandt in on the plans for the feedlot, but I think we’d better keep it from everyone else until it’s a done deal.”
“I hear ya. But I gotta ask if Rory Wetzler has anything to do with your reason to keep it on the down low?”
“Partially. I just don’t want our cousins to get a jump on our new enterprise. But I did hear an interesting bit of gossip from Ben yesterday morning. I guess Rielle is scrambling to find another place to live because Gavin got sole custody of Sierra and he’s movin’ to Sundance. In the next couple weeks before school starts.”
“Holy shit. Really? That’s a shocker. It’s gotta make Ben and Quinn happy though.”
“We’ll see. Gavin ain’t exactly a McKay—in more ways than one. I guess Sierra has been runnin’ with a bad crowd and Gavin has had it.”
This was the opening Tell had been looking for. “Speaking of running with a bad crowd… I heard an interesting rumor about you awhile back.”
Dalton looked him in the eye as he swigged from the water jug. “What did you hear?”
“You were havin’ some sort of gang bang in a motel in Hulett, where you were the bang-ee. Rumor says you had thirteen women with you, and you fucked every single one while the other women watched.”
He rolled his eyes. “Christ. No wonder the McKays have such a bad reputation for bein’ man-whores with a taste for multiple partners. Not that them rumors weren’t partially based on fact. But the facts get distorted. Big-time. Yes, I was with some women in a motel room. But it sure as fuck wasn’t thirteen. It was only three.”
“Only?” Tell repeated.
“This is gonna sound really weird, but two of the chicks were lesbians.”
“And the third?”
“The woman I’d been seein’. Willa.”
Tell frowned. “This is the first time you’ve mentioned her.”
Dalton focused on digging a rock out of the dirt with the toe of his boot. “That’s because I ain’t exactly proud of her. I met her and her friends in a strip club. That right there shoulda been my tip-off they liked T and A a little too much. Willa had just gotten out of a relationship and was lookin’ to have some fun. Right up my alley. She pitched this foursome idea to me. The horny bastard that I am, I agreed.
“It was fuckin’ bizarre, bro. After I was with each one of them, then they were with each other. Doin’ stuff I ain’t ever seen even in porn. And then it was like I wasn’t even in the room. Willa dumped me Saturday night. I shoulda let it go but I didn’t. That’s when she told me she was goin’ back to her ex. Her ex-girlfriend.”
“No,” Tell breathed.
“Yep. Evidently I’m so fuckin’ bad in bed that I can turn a woman back into bein’ gay.”
“Come on. You don’t really believe that.”
He kicked a clump of clover. “I don’t know what to believe anymore. And as long as I’m confessing shit, you oughta know… I had a pretty good lyin’ streak goin’ there over the years about how many chicks I banged. Pretending to be a McKay stud who knew everything about sex backfired on me big-time. I ain’t gonna go into details about what happened, ’cause it’s the most embarrassing thing I’ve ever done and I have been forgiven by the person involved. In the meantime, I’ve been tryin’ to get all the sexual experience I’d been pretending to have. Which is how I ended up doin’ it with three lesb
ians. I should just stick to poker. I’m one helluva lot luckier in cards than I am in love.”
Seeing his little brother so dejected and his face so red from embarrassment, Tell attempted to lighten the mood. “So Dalton and three lesbians walk into a strip club…”
Dalton said, “Fuck you,” but he smiled. “That brings me to the next point. I was at the Golden Boot Saturday night. Georgia saw me make a drunken idiot of myself and she took my keys.”
“You were gonna drive?”
“I guess. She took me to her place to sleep it off.” Dalton looked him in the eye. “I take back the shitty things I said about her. She didn’t have to help me; she coulda let me sleep it off in my truck. But takin’ in a stupid cowboy like me showed her generous nature. That’s not the type of thing a user does. She’s sweet and fierce and smart and loyal. She is something special.”
Don’t I know it.
“You’re a lucky guy, bro. She’s perfect for you.”
“Did she say anything about me?”
“Just that you’re the greatest guy she’s ever known. She seemed sorta sad. Did I miss something? Why weren’t you guys together Saturday night after the rodeo?”
“No. We had a big blow-up when I found out she never intended to stay here permanently.”
Dalton raised his eyebrows. “You’re just gonna let her go?”
“It’s not like I’ve got a choice.”
“Bullshit. Don’t be a dumb-ass, Tell. Convince her to stay. Wow her with some of that McKay mojo I’m lacking.”
He snorted. “Right. Like that’ll work.”
“Then maybe you oughta tell her the truth.”
“Which is?”
“Christ. You’re really gonna make me say it? Tell her that you love her and can’t live without her.”
It couldn’t be that simple. Could it?
It was worth a shot.
Tell grinned at his brother. “Thanks, bro. You know, you’ve got a romantic streak. There may be hope for you yet. Now if you’ll excuse me, I’m goin’ to get my woman.”
Tell cleaned up and dressed in better clothing than he normally wore on a Monday afternoon. On the drive into town, he cautioned himself not to ask what the hell she’d been doing whoopin’ it up in the bar after the shit that’d gone down between them at the rodeo Saturday afternoon. He composed snappy comebacks—a mix of charm, snark and wit. Then he practiced keeping his face a blank mask when he imagining her saying it was a fling, I’m returning to Dallas and never coming back, but he knew he’d never pull it off because he’d be crushed beyond repair if she left.
Kissin' Tell: Rough Riders, Book 13 Page 33