The bartender came up to her and asked, “What can I get you?”
“Um, do you have strawberry wine coolers?” she asked.
“Yes, we do.”
“I’d like one of those, please.” She pulled her money out of her wallet and laid it on the counter.
As she sipped her drink, she looked around and suddenly spotted Vincent’s ex-wife Tammie walking into the area with another man. They sat down at a table at the opposite end of the bar, and then Tammie got up and left the area.
“You new here?” asked a man who had sat down beside Char.
“Yes, I am,” she replied, turning her attention to him.
“Are you here with someone?”
“As a matter of fact, I am.”
“Oh, hello there,” Tammie’s high-pitched voice shrilled from behind her.
Char turned around and looked at her. “Hello,” she answered.
“I take it you’re here to see Vinnie,” she said in a sexy voice.
“Vincent invited me to come here, yes,” Char replied, looking Tammie up and down as if sizing her up.
“Well, just so you know, I realize what a terrible mistake I made two years ago in hurting Vincent and getting a divorce. I’m working to rekindle the love we once had, and I’d appreciate it if you would respect that and step aside.”
“You’re working on rekindling your relationship with Vincent yet you walked in here with another man?” Char looked at her, her head tilted sideways.
Tammie’s toothy smile faltered slightly and her eyebrows knitted together. “Oh, David is a good friend of Vincent and mine. We go back a long way. Anyway, I hope we can be adults about this and you can just nicely step aside.”
Never.
“Also—just so you’re aware—Vinnie did invite us down here tonight,” Tammie added.
When Tammie walked away, Char sat there looking down at her drink, hating the sound of the place. Maybe she should just get up and leave. The guy next to her interrupted her thoughts.
“Where’s the guy that you two are dickering about?”
“He’s one of the band members,” Char answered gloomily.
The band came out and took up their instruments, and the announcer introduced Jennifer Summers. The crowd went wild. Suddenly there were droves of people standing on the dance floor and in the surrounding area, yelling and clapping as she walked out on stage. Char looked over the band and recognized everyone, then her eyes drifted over to Vincent. Her heart skipped a beat. She couldn’t imagine anyone else in her life. But why would he invite her to come to the casino to see him play, and then have his ex-wife there too? Would he really take his ex-wife back if she wanted him to?
* * * *
As Vincent and the band played, he gazed around the area, smiling when he spotted Char sitting at the bar. She did come. He loved that she wore her beautiful auburn hair down her back and not in the braid he usually saw her with. One of these days he was going to get to run his hands through her hair, he promised himself.
What he didn’t like seeing though, was her talking to the man sitting next to her. Does she know him? They seemed to be having a lively conversation and she was laughing with him. Vincent knew instantly that he was jealous. When she came back to where they took their breaks, he planned to take her off to a private spot somewhere and kiss her and talk sexy to her so she’d be ready for tonight. He intended to take her home with him.
For the first time in what seemed like ages, he felt connected with someone. He really enjoyed her company, and he like her work ethic. He wondered if she felt the same connection as he did. He hoped so. He hoped that his feelings were not one-sided.
Vincent turned slightly and caught a warning look from Jake. He realized that he had zoned out thinking about Char and wasn’t paying attention to their performance. After a few numbers were played, Jennifer went about introducing the band, and when she came to Vincent, he took a bow and looked over and made eye contact with Char and smiled slightly at her.
He couldn’t see her facial expression well from the distance, but he sensed that something was wrong. He’d find out as soon as they took a break and he could talk to her. Maybe it was just that she wasn’t comfortable in a casino. Whatever it was, he didn’t have time to figure it out at the moment. They swung into the next song and Vincent brought his thoughts back to their performance.
* * * *
Char didn’t really like the man that was sitting next to her, but talking to him was better than sitting there like a bump on a log watching Vincent’s ex-wife flirt with some man after telling her that she’d be making a play for Vincent too. Char regretted that she came tonight and thought about just getting up and leaving. But she really wanted to see Vincent and find out if his ex-wife still had an opportunity to win him back.
Jennifer Summers and the band played until nine-thirty. When the band got ready to walk off the stage to take their twenty minute break, Char grabbed her purse and headed over to the security man standing near the stage with the red name badge on his chest. Before she could get there, Tammie stepped up and said something to him and he let her pass.
Char stopped dead in her tracks. People were all around her, pushing and shoving, because they still wanted to hear more from Jennifer Summers. Char turned around and walked past the bar and kept going.
She got to the main entrance and walked out into the night air and took a deep breath. She walked purposefully to her car and got in. Tears had started to well up in her eyes, and by the time she got the car on the road, they were streaming steadily down her face.
She didn’t have a snowball’s chance in hell of winning him over from his ex-wife. He probably didn’t even know she was there tonight, with the crowd being the way they were and the fact that it was standing room only.
Chapter 14
Vincent’s mood went from good to piss-assed in fifteen minutes. He was waiting on Char to come backstage when, instead, Tammie showed up.
“What do you want?” he asked her in a snarl.
“Oh Vinnie, I just wanted to spend a few minutes with you before you went back on stage.”
“I specifically arranged for Char to come backstage, not you,” he said angrily.
“Vinnie, let’s not spend this time squabbling about stuff,” Tammie said, putting her arms around him. “Let’s go over here and share some sweet kisses.”
Vincent reached around and grabbed Tammie’s hands and pulled them off him.
“I don’t know what kind of game you’re playing, and I don’t have time right now to figure it out, but I know you’re up to something. I’m not interested in playing your games, and I’m not interested in you. Did you see Char and say something to her?”
Tammie shrugged. “I just suggested that she step aside so we could work on a reconciliation.”
“You said what?” Vincent yelled at her.
Fake tears started to show in Tammie’s eyes. “Oh Vinnie, please don’t be angry at me again. I just wanted to try and make up for all the hurt I’ve caused you and prove to you that I love you.”
“I don’t believe you for one minute, Tammie,” Vincent said, his voice like steel.
Vincent was angry and wanted to put his fist through the wall. He cursed the day he met Tammie. They had been high school sweethearts. All the signs of her selfishness had been right there in front of him, but he’d chosen to ignore them and allowed his ego to rule his heart.
She had suddenly been in such a big hurry to take off and leave him, and he thought he’d gotten rid of her for good, but just as he was getting interested in someone else, she popped herself back into his life again.
“Time to get back on stage,” Jake hollered to Vincent.
Vincent turned and walked away from Tammie and headed back to the stage. He looked over to the area where he’d seen Char. She was gone. The man she had been talking to was still sitting there, so she hadn’t left with him. Vincent wondered if she might possibly be sitting somewhere else. He sca
nned the area several times but didn’t see her.
* * * *
By the time Char got home, the tears had dried up and her makeup ran down her face. She walked into her apartment and tore off her clothes and tossed them in the clothes hamper. She went to the bathroom and washed her makeup off, then threw her nightgown on. Too wide awake to settle down and sleep, she decided she’d try to read her Benjamin Marlowe book.
After reading several chapters, she started to drift off to sleep, when suddenly there was a knock at her door. She bolted straight up and looked at the clock. It was one-thirty. She couldn’t think who would be knocking at her door at that time of the night. She put her robe on and walked in the dark to the door and looked through the peephole. It looked like Vincent. She opened her door slightly and peeked out.
“Hi, Char. Can I come in for a few minutes?” Vincent asked.
“Um, yeah, it’s awfully late,” she commented as she opened the door wider.
“Yes, I know. I just wanted to clear some things up.” Vincent stepped inside Char’s apartment and closed the door.
“Not something that could have waited until the morning?” Char asked, somewhat groggily.
“I guess it could have, but since I was on my way home anyway, I stopped and saw that your light was on in the bedroom and figured you were still up.”
Vincent walked over with Char to the couch. “What’s up?” she asked, wiping the sleep critters in her eyes.
“I saw that you were at the casino tonight, but you didn’t come backstage.” He looked at her questioningly.
“Yeah, well, I went to walk up to the security guard and give him my name but your ex-wife beat me to it. Vincent, I have a question about this relationship with your ex-wife. Are you guys working on a reconciliation?” Char knew she was being rather blunt and to the point, but he should know better than to expect diplomacy and politeness when he’d awakened her out of a sound sleep.
“Is that what she said to you?”
Char took a deep breath and let it out slowly. “First of all, she walks in with this man, and they sit down at the other end of the bar, in the table and chairs section. She comes up to me and tells me that she realized what a terrible mistake she made in hurting you and getting a divorce. She said she was working to rekindle the love you two once had and she’d appreciate it if I would respect that and step aside. I said, ‘You’re working on rekindling your relationship with Vincent, yet you walk in with another man?’ She had a funny look on her face at first, and then she smiled and said his name was David and he was a good friend of the two of you and that you guys go way back. Secondly, she tells me that you invited her to come tonight.”
“I am not working on a reconciliation with her, and I did not invite her to come to the casino tonight. It would be a cold day in hell before I would ever take her back. She is the most selfish and self-centered person I’ve ever met, and I stupidly got involved with her when we were in high school. My testosterone and ego blinded me to her selfish ways. I will find out why she keeps popping back up on my radar and put an end to it. I don’t know a ‘David’ as she claims, and it looks like she’s added lying to her list of faults. I’m sorry you had that run-in with her. But I hope you believe me when I tell you that I am in no way interested in her or getting back together with her.”
“I take it her father is doing okay now?” Char said, remembering when Tammie had interrupted their time together on Wednesday.
“No, he’s not out of the woods yet. But he seems to be improving each day from what I understand. Despite how Tammie is, I do like her parents,” Vincent replied somberly.
Char felt relieved and happy, despite her desire to get back to bed and sleep.
“Anything else we should clear up?” Vincent asked.
“Your band sounded really, really good. I liked the music,” Char commented.
“Good, I’m glad you liked it. Maybe tomorrow you can come and stay the evening.”
“Vincent…” Char looked at him. “Are you, um, really interested in me, and us, or is this just a friends-only kind of thing?”
“Both, I think it’s important that we’re friends before starting anything more serious, and I am interested in getting more serious with you, Char,” Vincent replied, sincerity ringing through his voice. “But not tonight. You’re tired, and I’m tired, and we’ve got to get up early tomorrow to go to this Renaissance Festival, so I’m going to go now before I get into a situation with you that I can’t leave.” Vincent got up and started toward the door.
Char got up reluctantly and followed him.
“I’ll see you in the morning, Char,” Vincent said as he walked out.
She closed the door and leaned against it for a few minutes, thinking about what he’d said, and then locked the door and went back to bed.
* * * *
Saturday morning came too soon as Char awoke to the buzzing of her alarm clock. She slowly dragged herself out of bed and jumped in the shower. After her shower, she dried her hair and then pulled it back in a French braid to keep it off her neck and shoulders.
She heard a knock at her door and went to answer it. When she opened the door and saw Vincent she gave him a big smile. “Good morning, Vincent.”
He smiled back at her. “Good morning, beautiful. You ready to go?”
“Yep.” She grabbed her purse and they walked out to his SUV.
“I’m thinking we’ll want to stop at the Jarillo Café for some much-needed coffee before we head to Hobbs,” Vincent said as he backed the vehicle out of the parking spot.
“I think you’re right,” Char agreed.
He pulled his vehicle out of the apartment complex and took the road toward Jarillo. When he got to the stoplight, he turned right and went down two blocks, then pulled up in the parking place behind Jarillo Laundromat.
“I’ll be right back.” He got out and ran up the stairs and banged on the door. A few seconds later, Vincent came down with Rosie and Jonathan following behind him.
They all climbed into the SUV and said their greetings. Then Vincent backed out and pulled around to go to the Jarillo Café. They went inside and Rosie led them over to a table for four, and they all sat down.
“So, tell me why we didn’t just walk down here instead of having Vincent drive his expensive, gas-eating SUV down a half a block?” Jonathan said.
“Well, I didn’t think of it. I guess we should have walked,” Rosie answered, smiling.
“Hell, Char’s little car would have been less expensive to drive than Vincent’s SUV,” Jonathan continued.
“It would have been horribly uncomfortable. The seats in the back would have crunched your knees up to your chins,” Char answered.
“Well, look at you, suddenly getting all conscientious and caring about costs. What’s this new thing with you?” Rosie teased Jonathan.
The waitress came over and took their drink orders then went back and got four cups of coffee and four glasses of water. When she returned with the drinks, she took their food orders.
Jonathan looked at Vincent with a crooked smile. “We men have always been conscientious and caring about costs. It’s the women in our lives who like to spend the hard-earned money we make before we even get to see it.”
“I hope the fair is fun. I would like to see men in the chainmail armor. To me, that is sexy,” Rosie said.
Jonathan drilled her with a steady stare. It seemed Rosie was always baiting him about something.
“I find the jousting matches to be fun. I like looking at the knights,” Char said.
Jonathan then turned to Char and gave her a hard stare. Finally, he said with an appalled expression, “What the hell’s the matter with the two guys you have here?”
“Oh Jon, the men at the festival are all knights in shining armor that we girls have dreamed about since we were young and we still dream about today. You guys are just the everyday stuff we have to put up with.”
Vincent shot his sister a look, and the
n he sat back in his chair and splayed a palm to the nape of his neck, but didn’t say anything.
“Well, I don’t know about that. I like the everyday guys just as much as I like the knights in all their armor.” Char laughed.
Rosie wrinkled her nose then her gaze moved over to the door. “Guess who just walked in. Hey, Patrick.”
Vincent, Char, and Jonathan looked over at him as he gazed at them. He walked over and stood next to Vincent. “Hey, what’s going on?”
“We’re having breakfast before we take off to the Renaissance Festival. Want to join us for something to eat?”
“Naw, I’m with my partner. Don’t get yourselves in trouble while you’re there. You know, renegade things and obnoxious behaviors and all, although I know at least one person sitting at this table who would fit right in with that whole scene.”
Char was surprised to hear him talk. That’s probably the most I’ve ever heard him say.
“Just who are you referring to, Patrick?” Rosie asked bitingly.
“You, of course. Was there any doubt?” he replied just as crisply.
Char and Vincent looked at each other, and Vincent shook his head slightly in an I-can’t-believe-this-is-happening-again look.
Rosie knitted her eyebrows together. “Well, go sit down with your partner. If you can’t at least be civil, then I don’t have anything more to say to you.”
As if defying her, Patrick turned to Vincent. “Have you talked to or seen William lately?”
“Talked to him yesterday. He’s been busy with a couple of mares going into labor,” Vincent said.
“Oh, okay. I haven’t been able to get in touch with him. Have you talked to Debbie?”
“Yes, last night.”
“How’s she doing with the baby?” Patrick asked.
“Pretty good. Haven’t you seen Emily yet?” Vincent asked, his eyebrows arched.
“No, every time I go to see Debbie we end up having a spat, so I figured I’d just stay out of her hair,” Patrick replied, and gave Rosie a cynical look.
Char could cut the tension at the table with a knife and she looked around at Vincent, Rosie, and then Jonathan.
Jarillo Sunset Page 15