by Flora Burgos
Courtney's stomach let out an angered snarl, and she was beyond happy that they weren't joining the line of people waiting for a place to sit. She almost kicked Ev when he spoke up and said, "You can go ahead and seat these other people, darlin'. We can wait our turn."
"No, no, that's alright. They can wait. I only get to see your handsome mug once or twice a year."
Ev grinned at her and put his hand at Courtney's back to lead her to their seats, and Courtney didn't kick him only because they weren't going to have to wait.
After they were seated and had placed their orders, Ev asked, "I see Mystery is still favoring that front leg. Did you rub it down with the liniment the vet gave you the other day? I rubbed it on her when I loaded them back up this morning."
"I did before we left last night for the bar and again when Bobby dropped me off. How was it looking this morning? The swelling had gone down the rest of the way last night. Is it still gone?"
"Yep, the leg looks good, and there isn't any heat in it."
"That's a huge relief, but she's going to be down for several weeks at least. I'm thinking of sending her to my parents' spread and getting Red for the rest of the season. I just hate to be away from her."
"I understand that. It's a tough position to be in, but you’re holding a really good spot, so you can't afford to take a chance on your last horse going lame and you not having a backup and losing your rank."
She sighed and said, "I know. I really hoped that Mystery would bounce back quickly, but I'm worried because she's getting up there in age, and I hate spending any time away from her, which is selfish, but you know me. I'll call my dad tonight and see about having one of the hands bring Red out to me and take Mystery back to recoup." The waitress showed up with their food, and the talking was sparse throughout their meal. When they were done, they rode back to camp in companionable silence, and when they got there, both went about their normal business.
Courtney placed third in her event, and after taking care of and putting Rambler in the trailer, she went back to hang around to watch Ev on the bull he drew that night named Satan's Finest. She was relieved when he rode almost a perfect ride that night and was able to get off the bull without any mishaps, going from the bull’s back to the pickup horse on a smooth move that had her on her feet cheering with the crowd. They stuck around until the end and made their way back to her trailer, both high on the night and laughing.
Neither noticed the black SUV parked behind her trailer as she pulled the keys out of her pocket to unlock her door. They were still laughing when she pulled the door open and climbed into the trailer. "I couldn't believe it when Bobby said that you pulled Satan's Finest tonight, but holy shit, you did it. And did you see when Bobby was in the barrel and that red bull came after him after throwing Darnell and kicking him on the way down? I was scared to death!"
"Yeah, darlin', Darnell is going to catch hell for that because he made a rookie mistake not tightening up on the rope enough. He could have had a perfect ride if he had paid attention to what he was doing." He slammed the door shut and scared her when he yanked her behind him and snarled out, "Who the hell are you?"
Courtney had no idea what was going on, so she peeked over Ev's shoulder. The man sitting on her couch caused such a harsh reaction in her body that she gasped so loud she choked while she wrapped her arms around Ev's chest subconsciously. After all, the last time she had seen Cole La Barron face-to-face, she was learning that he was married to another woman while she still wore his engagement ring. "C-cole, what the fuck are you doing here?" she managed to ask in a raspy voice.
For a moment, he didn't respond, only stared at the couple standing in front of him as the muscle in his cheek jerked and his face went hard. The silence drug on for several moments before Ev spoke again, "Gonna ask you again, man. Who the hell are you?"
Cole stood from the couch and held out a hand to Ev. "Cole La Barron. And you are?"
"Sean Everett."
"Nice to meet you. Look, man, I need to talk to Courtney about something personal. Do you mind taking a walk or going back to wherever you came from?"
Courtney didn't speak, but her arms tightened around Ev’s chest, so he looked at Cole and lifted an eyebrow. "You know, I would if Court wanted me to, but she's squeezing me so tight I can barely breathe. Court, you want me to step out?"
"No! God, no. Don't leave me alone, Ev."
"Ok, you heard the lady. So, what brought you all the way to New Mexico?"
Cole stepped back on his heels and shoved his hands into the front pockets of his jeans. "I have reason to believe that Courtney is in danger."
Ev straightened up then. "Courtney hasn't gotten a note in weeks, and she spoke to Devon, so I’m not real sure where you get your information from, friend, but I assure you that everything is ok here."
"What note?"
"Are you not talking about the two photos she got that had those threats on the back?"
"Goddammit, Courtney. For fuck's sake, you were getting threats and didn't call me?"
Finally, Courtney spoke up and shouted, "Why in the hell would I tell you? And why in the fuck are you here and not with your family?"
That caused the large, angry man to pause before he growled, "You are my fucking family, Courtney.”
Ouch. That hurt.
Worse than anything that she had felt in the last year, and she couldn't hide her emotions as she cried out, "I am not your family. Not anymore. You have a wife and a kid and a brother, and yes, my family still loves you, but I am not your family. Why. Are. You. Here?"
Wordlessly, Cole handed something to Ev. It was a photo of Courtney wearing a rodeo costume while walking Mystery in the sunset. Ev flipped the photo over and read the text. Tick tock, time's running out.
"That is just one of the ones I found."
"What do you mean, that you found?" Ev asked.
"My soon-to-be ex-wife must have been intercepting them and hiding them, because I found a bunch of these with similar threats on them hidden. I found them and called Court's folks to see where she was and grabbed a flight out here. I called Clint when I landed, and he and Devon are headed this way as well. We are going to get to the bottom of this and find out who is stalking you."
"Well, that's just fine and dandy, Cole La Barron, but where in the hell do you plan to stay? Because you aren't staying here."
"I had planned to stay with you and keep you safe until your brother could get here, but it looks like three would be a crowd. I don't want to intrude on your evening, so I'll just get out of your hair."
"Man, it's not—"
Courtney cut off Ev's sentence and said instead, "It's not that far of a drive to town, and I'm sure we saw a motel on the way home from dinner, didn't we, lover?"
Ev was silent for a moment, and Courtney was stiff as a board until he reached up and squeezed her hand in reassurance. "Yeah, man. There's a motel right as you cross into the city limits. Not sure what they run, but I wouldn't think too much."
Courtney dropped her forehead to Ev's back in relief that he had played along with her. Now, if only Cole would leave. If he would just get out, she could breathe again and figure out what in the hell she was going to do next.
Cole was staring at them. Sizing up the situation, trying to find a crack in her façade. She knew that if he so much as breathed at her the wrong way, her whole world was going to crumble, so she kept her head buried in Ev's back and prayed that Cole would leave.
It took years, maybe even ages, before he sighed and spoke again, "Ok, I'll head into town now and see about finding a room. I will be back here first thing in the morning. I need to know where you are headed next and what the plan is because we need protection on you constantly until we can get this resolved. Sean, can I talk to you outside for a moment?"
Courtney had started to relax, but when he asked to speak to Ev, she tensed again. Ev gave her hand a friendly, reassuring squeeze and said, "Sure. Court, I'll be right back." She had no choice
but to drop her arms from around him and step back, and doing so, she dropped her eyes and refused to look at Cole even though she felt his eyes on her as he made his way through her trailer and back toward the door. But she refused to look up at him. There was no way that she could take the chance of making eye contact.
She steadfastly stared at her feet even when he stopped directly in front of her. She absently noted that he was wearing a new pair of boots and his jeans appeared to be severely starched. Her breath was stuck in her lungs as she waited to see what he was going to do. She didn't even move when he pushed a piece of her hair behind her ear and whispered, "Christ, I'm sorry, Baby Girl." Then his hand dropped, and he walked away.
She had known heartbreak. She'd been living with it for the last year. It was her roommate, her constant companion, and her chief emotion, but with that little gesture, he shattered the rest of her being. There was nothing left of the heart she had managed to hold together through sheer will. He had finally managed to destroy her.
EV CAME BACK INTO THE trailer a few moments later and found her in the exact same position he had left her in. Her face was blanched and stricken. Looking at her was looking at a shell of the woman who had only moments before been animatedly reliving their latest show. Gently, as if she were made from the rarest of porcelain, Ev lifted her from her feet and carried her to the couch, holding her in his lap with one arm and stroking her hair with the other. "I'm going out on a limb here and assume that this is the same Cole you were engaged to, right?"
She couldn't speak, so she only nodded.
"And you wanted him to think we were in a relationship of some sort?"
She froze before nodding again.
"You do realize he said he was going through a divorce. That change things for you? I don't mind playing your buffer while he's around, but you gotta know he doesn't seem any happier about this situation than you do."
She lifted her head from his chest, and he saw her bloodshot, glassy eyes. "Ev, I can never forgive him. I'm sorry I used you like that. I just panicked. I never in a million years expected him to just show up here out of the blue. Honestly, I don't even know why he did. Obviously, I don't mean shit to him, so what is the point of trying to keep me safe?"
Ev blew out a breath before speaking. "There is no telling, Court. But if he was getting threats against you, that means you aren't as safe as we thought you were. So, I guess I'm back on your couch, since he's gone. Let me go grab a change of clothes, and I'll be right back."
Gently, he helped her up, and once she was off him, he climbed up to leave the trailer. She collapsed back onto the couch, so this time, he locked the door before he left and snagged her keys on his way out, so he would have a way back in. It was a good thing because, in her frame of mind, she would be lucky to move from the spot while he was gone.
She felt cold all the way to her bones. Seeing Cole after the last time she had seen him standing beside the striking brunette who he had married had shattered the pieces she held together. No matter how desperately she searched herself, she couldn't find the peace she had known only moments before. She was broken in a way she hadn't been before. The man who had sat on her couch and assumed that she was in a relationship with another man was a far cry from the boy who had taken her heart and her virginity. In her whole life, she had never imagined a time when Cole would be sitting opposite of her while she clung to another man. Yet it had just happened. And she had no idea how to handle that.
Thankfully, before she could dwell on it much further, she heard the key turn in the lock, and Ev opened the door and walked back in, this time in a pair of sweats and a hoodie that was faded and worn with the words "Wolfe Springs Lobos" embossed across the front and what she knew from him staying with her before to be a wolf howling. She did a double take to see that he was still wearing cowboy boots with the outfit. Only Ev would wear his boots with sweatpants and a hoodie. Still, she didn't move from where she lay on the couch. She felt Ev's eyes on her, but she didn't meet them. She couldn't bear to think about the pity he was probably feeling for her. She had more than enough for herself. She watched him as he opened the mini fridge to grab a couple of beers, and after taking the caps off, he walked over to the couch and held one out to her, forcing her to lift to a semi-sitting position, which freed up a few inches at the bottom of the couch. He went there and lifted her legs, then took a seat before setting her feet back on his lap. "Love fucking sucks, doesn't it?"
She couldn't hold back the half-hearted laugh, then she took a drink of her beer. "Fuck 'em, right? What did Merle say? I think I'll just stay here and drink." She tilted the bottle in his direction before tipping it up and drinking it all in one swig. "I have something perfect for tonight!" she declared and then rose from the couch and walked into the kitchen area, where she shuffled through the cabinets for a moment before coming back with a green bottle of liquor that was labeled The Glenlivet. "Scotch is good for a broken heart, right? Because unfortunately, it's all we got."
She shook the bottle in Ev's direction before plopping onto the couch, taking the top off, and swallowing straight from the neck. "S'almost a sin to drink twelve-year-old scotch like this, but I think today the need outweighs the impropriety of the situation." She tipped it up once more and then passed the bottle to Ev and was shocked when he took it and drank from it as well. Wordlessly, he passed it back. As she lifted it to her lips once more, she said, "You know what the worst part is? I don't even know why he did it, and I am too terrified to ask. Did he fall in love with her? Meet her on some exotic trip? And why are they getting a divorce now? But I can't ask. Ya know why? Because I am supposed to be the only Mrs. Cole La Barron in the world. I've known pretty much my whole life that I would be, but nope. It wasn't me after all. It was some brunette bimbo with a stupid French accent." Then she drank deep from the bottle, and when she came up for air, she was coughing and gagging from it.
"Court, I don't know what to say, darlin'. I can tell you that he looked as torn up as you, and I can tell you that we are stupid creatures when it comes to love. I walked out on the love of my life, and now she's out of my reach. I'll never get her back. And it was over the stupidest shit." Courtney handed Ev the bottle. This time, he took a long drink from it. Only he wasn't dramatic about it when he was done. He simply handed it back to her in silence.
Normally, an opening like that would have Courtney prying into Ev's life with a single-minded determination that bordered on annoying at times, but she didn't take the bait. She was lost in her own turmoil as the room began to swim and she felt as if her brain were on a merry-go-round while her body remained stationary. In silence, they passed the bottle back and forth until it was empty, and then she tossed it above her onto her bunk with a laugh before falling back against Ev, who lifted an arm to allow her to lie against his chest. Courtney nestled into his chest and closed her eyes before saying, "I wish I were in love with you, Sean Everett. I don't know why you beat yourself up, but you are the best man I know besides my daddy."
"Oh, darlin', if only you knew." But he was talking to himself because Courtney had drifted off as the words left her mouth. Sean shook his head and leaned it back against the couch. What a pair they were.
THEY WERE WOKEN UP when they heard men speaking to one another, not bothering to lower their voices, and Courtney and Ev looked up to see Cole and Devon standing in front of them, this side of the now open door. Courtney and Cole locked eyes, and she became hyper-aware of Ev's arm laid across her chest, but she didn't have the energy to give it any thought as she leaned back against Ev again and groaned, “Ugh, will you please tell them to go away? It’s too early.”
Ev chuckled lightly and said, “Darlin’, I can't be certain, but I'm thinking it's probably not too early anymore. We were up pretty late last night."
Without addressing either of them, Cole turned to Devon and said, "I'll be taking off now, but I'll be in touch. Keep an eye on her for me, will you?"
Devon nodded and was silent as
Cole made his way out the door and shut it behind him, then he spoke, "Ok, Court. Spill."
"God, Dev, I just woke up. Give me a damn minute. Jeez. Go start some coffee, will you? We killed your bottle of Glenlivet last night, and my head feels like it weighs two tons."
He made a scoffing sound but evidently took his sister at her word when he turned on his heel and stomped the couple of feet to the kitchenette and began pulling what he needed from the cabinets.
"Ok, asshole! Make some more noise, why don't you?"
"Little girl, you have a man in your bed who you still haven't introduced your big brother to, your ex-fiancé just walked out the door to follow a lead on who is threatening you, and Mom called ME to tell me she hasn't heard from you in ages and she's worried sick. You have no room to talk. You're lucky I haven't called Dad yet."
Clutching her head, she growled, "Devon, Sean Everett. Ev, Dev 'The Supreme Asshole' Kincade. Now, please shut UP!"
Devon looked back at them and gave Ev a chin tilt. "S’up, man. Gotta say I have mad respect for a man who would lie there cuddling another’s ex in front of him when that ex is ex-special forces. You got some brass balls, brother."
Courtney growled in anger once more and threw a pillow at her brother. "Head. Ache. Shut. Up!"
Devon chuckled lightly to himself and continued to make the coffee. He jumped to attention when there was pounding at the door of Courtney's trailer, but she only yelled, "Oh, for Pete's sake, WHAT?"
A red-faced Bobby poked his head in the door and said, "Ev, man, uh, you must have dropped your phone last night because when I got up to take a piss a minute ago, I heard it going off and found it on the ground. I answered it, and it was some old man named Sheriff. He said there's an emergency and you need to call home. Here's your phone. Sorry to interrupt."
Courtney felt the tremor that went through Ev's body as Bobby stood there awkwardly holding the phone out until Devon walked up to him and took it. He seemed to sense that something was off because he quietly said his thanks to the rodeo clown and shut the door when he walked away. Devon was the one who broke the silence. "Ev? You alright, brother?"