by Hall, Roni
“We need to stay close, he’s hit her in the past.”
“Oh, hell no!” Ben moved nearer to the door.
“Derrick! What are you doing here?” She could not contain her anger.
“I’ve been worried about you, sweetie. You just disappeared.” He feigned exaggerated concern.
“We’re done, remember?”
“I was never done, I told you that. You left town without even telling me. Of course I’d come looking for you.”
She was livid now. “I broke it off months ago. What are you doing here? You have no right! No right at all to come here. We’re done.” Tears of anger were erupting. How dare he come and jeopardize what I have!
His dark eyes simmered black with anger. “Nobody walks out on me! Nobody! Who do you think you are? Do you think you can humiliate me like that? Oh, no. Nobody walks out on me. Not even you.”
“What do you want?” she asked, anxious to find out just to be rid of him.
His eyes softened. “I want you, that’s all. I want you. And I want you to come home. DJ’s is almost finished, almost ready to open. I know you want to be there for that. It’s our place, remember? I need you.”
“That was never our place, Derrick. That was your place, never mine, and I told you that from the beginning.”
“But we named it DJs, Derrick and Jamie’s . . . remember?
“No, you named it and I told you to leave me out of it. What we had was long ago and we’re done . . . finished.”
“No, you don’t get to decide that. I never wanted it to end. I can be better. I’m sorry I hit you. I’m sorry I hurt you.” He looked sincere, but Jamie shook her head.
“You need to leave, Derrick, now. There is no us. We’re over. We’ve been over for a long time.” She stood firm.
His face hardened again and his black eyes grew cold. “Oh no, we’re not over. Not by a long shot.” His tone frightened her. As his anger grew, memories flooded back.
“Go. Get out of here and don’t ever come back. Do you hear me?” She raised her volume.
“Who do you think you’re talking to?” He approached her, grabbing her arm. Jack went nuts in his stall, rearing up on his hind legs and snorting.
“I’m talking to you, Derrick.” Scared shitless, she tried to jerk her arm free, but he pulled her close. With her face inches from his she could smell the liquor on his breath. His eyes narrowed as they shot daggers into hers and she pulled back in fear. Drawing her in with both arms, he kissed her on the lips hard as she shut her eyes tightly. Jamie’s first reaction was to resist but she didn’t, she let it happen. After he released her, he looked at her with a smug grin.
“Thank you.” Making eye contact, she steadied her voice. “I always wondered how I’d feel if you held me again and kissed me. Now I know. Want to know what I felt, Derrick?” She didn’t wait for him to answer. “Nothing, I felt absolutely nothing . . . at least nothing positive. Repulsed is the one word I would use to describe it.”
Derrick reached for Jamie’s arm again, his eyes glaring with rage. “Don’t touch me!” Jack reared, hitting the stall door with his front hooves.
“You heard her! Get your hands off her!” Kevin’s voice bellowed from the entrance as he marched toward them, putting his face inches from Derrick’s. Kevin pushed Jamie behind him and stood between her and Derrick with a clenched fist looking ready to pounce.
Derrick stopped cold and looked at Kevin who was now in his face. Smiling, he looked at Jamie, “Is this your new boyfriend, a cowboy?” Sizing Kevin up with his eyes, he sneered. “Oh, you’re going to stop me?” Derrick questioned with a smirk.
Ben and Rick walked out and stood behind Kevin as Derrick’s grin vanished. Rick’s size was intimidating, even for him.
“I’m done here.” As he passed Jamie, he whispered in her ear, “For now.” Derrick’s eyes met hers and her heart went cold. As the intruder walked away, Ben and Rick followed him. Kevin turned to Jamie.
“You okay?”
Shaking, she could not find her voice as Kevin put his hand on her shoulder. Avoiding eye contact, she excused herself to her cabin, wanting to be alone.
How could this be happening? How did Derrick find me? Why did he come? We are long over. What would Kevin think? Her mind raced wildly.
The only positive outcome of Derrick’s appearance here today were her feelings. Seeing him again had brought no positive feelings whatsoever. In fact, seeing him again confirmed that she had been right to end it. Looking at Kevin and Derrick side-by-side . . . there was no comparison. They were as different as night and day. She was over Derrick now, no question about that at all. However, it was clear that Derrick didn’t think it was over. He had always wanted her involved in the club . . . but why? Why was that so important to him? Once when he had been drinking, he told her that she made him look legit. Was that it? Once behind the safety of closed doors, Jamie broke down. She believed Derrick . . . he would be back.
Kevin was at a loss for what to do. He wanted to comfort Jamie but it was obvious that she wanted to be alone. What he wanted to do was kick some ass, kick Derrick’s ass. He wished he could beat the shit out of him, not just for his appearance today but for what he had done to Jamie in the past, especially after what Noah had told him. The thought of Derrick striking her set his blood boiling. He should have beaten the shit out of him in the barn. The three of them should have pummeled him good. Kevin had no patience for men who beat women, especially a woman he now loved.
Was Derrick gone for good? Kevin was not convinced. He’d come all this way to see her and it was difficult to believe that he was satisfied with the outcome of his visit today. And how long had he been in town? Kevin had seen him in the bar days ago. What had he been doing all this time? Kevin wanted to comfort Jamie, to hold her and assure her everything would be all right. But right now she wanted to be alone, and he felt totally helpless.
Once Jamie shed her tears, she was mad, mad as hell and she needed a physical outlet to vent her anger. Donning her track shoes she slipped out the door for a run. Taking a familiar riding trail she ran hard and fast, her feet pounding the rocky terrain. Needing to escape her emotional turmoil, she ran until her sides ached and her body pleaded for mercy. All sound was muffled by her own loud gasps as her lungs begged for oxygen. Her legs cramped with lactic acid and were as heavy as lead. When she thought she hit the wall, she pushed it farther and when she couldn’t take another step she collapsed to the ground. The carnal pain she could deal with, she welcomed the physical exhaustion. It distracted her from her emotional turmoil and heartache. She had this sixth sense of a dark storm coming and its name was Derrick. He was not through with her. Not fearful of physical harm from him, she was more worried that he would sabotage her relationship with Kevin. She wasn’t quite sure where she and Kevin would end up, but she did know that what they had was the most important thing in her life.
Jamie lay on the ground, her tears falling onto the dry dirt. Bolting upright, she felt ashamed of herself. What a sight I am, coated in dust on the ground, crying. Derrick is not worth this. I refuse to give him that power over me. She stood up, brushed herself off, and wiped away any residual tears. Physically drained, she summoned up the energy to jog back to the ranch. Once there she showered, dressed, straightened her stance, and walked to the mess hall for dinner.
When Jamie entered the mess hall, Kevin, Ben, and Rick all turned to her with expressions of concern. Looking surprised to see her there, she was overwhelmed with their obvious worry for her. Her heart swelled with affection and she smiled at all three of them. Wanting to give the impression that all was well, she headed straight to the buffet to make herself a plate and sat down with them.
“Hey, guys.” Forcing a smile they made small talk, knowing they would not talk about what transpired this afternoon in front of any of the ot
her ranch hands. Kevin made eye contact and locked his eyes with her. She held his gaze, gave him a small smile, then looked down at her plate, pretending to eat. Moving her food around without bringing any up to her mouth, she listened to the benign conversation at the table. The crowd began to thin until finally it was just the four of them.
Ben asked first. “You okay, Jamie?”
“Yes, I am. Thank you for asking. Thanks to all of you for being there. I appreciate it. I’m so sorry for the spectacle.” She looked down at her plate and moved her food around some more.
“You have nothing to apologize for. He should be apologizing, not you.” Kevin’s voice was full of anger.
“Yes, you’re right, but I’m sorry that any of my . . .” She searched for the right words, “baggage followed me to your home.”
“If that schmuck bothers you again, you let us know.” Rick sounded angry too.
“Thank you, Rick.”
“Seriously, if he comes around again, you let us know. That guy’s not one to fool with by yourself.” Rick pursued his case. “That guy’s bad news.”
Jamie nodded in agreement but said nothing. Kevin looked at her, not saying a word. The guys excused themselves, giving them some alone time.
“Wanna walk?” Kevin asked and Jamie nodded. She got up and bussed her plate, eating nothing. He followed her outside as they headed toward the barn.
“You okay?”
“I don’t know.” Upset by the whole Derrick situation, she was unsure if there was anything she could do, at least for the moment. She could only react to what he did next and she didn’t have a clue as to what that might be. Her gut told her he was not through with her. They walked in silence.
“Is there anything I can do?”
“Kevin.” She stopped walking and looked at him. “Derrick is out of my life, and that’s a fact. Why he came today I don’t know, but what we had is over.”
Kevin exhaled and his face visibly relaxed. They resumed walking and he reached for her hand which was a lifeline; he didn’t realize how much she needed his touch and his strength right now. They turned and headed back toward the ranch.
“Can we stop at the barn?” Jamie asked him.
“Sure.” They walked into the main barn and strode straight toward Jack. He must have heard her coming since he poked his large head out of the stall, nodding anxiously. Jamie stroked his neck and spoke to him softly.
“Hey, boy, how’re ya doing? Sorry I didn’t ride you today, but we’ll try to get one in tomorrow. You okay? Yes, you’re beautiful . . . or should I say handsome?” She chattered nonstop to the stallion who obviously liked the attention. He nuzzled up to her.
Kevin looked at Jack. “You mentioned before that Jack perceives the good and bad in people. You were right. He went ballistic when Derrick was here. He’s very protective of you.” He patted the horse’s tall neck. “Yep, you’re a good soul, Jack,” Kevin whispered.
Jamie was surprised at Kevin’s statement to the horse but said nothing. They both said goodnight to Jack and left the barn.
“Hey, how about you come to my place and we can find something to munch on? You didn’t eat anything tonight.”
“I’m not that hungry.”
“You need to eat something. C’mon.” He tugged at her hand. She looked at him and surrendered.
“Okay. You’re hard to say no to.”
“I’m going to remember that you said that.”
Walking to Kevin’s place hand in hand, the mood lightened. Once inside, he brought out some cheese and crackers, veggies and dip, then poured each of them some wine. As they sat at the counter, Kevin pushed the veggies toward her. She reached for one, then another as she realized she was hungrier than she thought. They talked about other things and Kevin even managed to get her laughing. With some food in her belly and wine to relax her, she felt better. They sat and talked for a while before the day’s events caught up with her.
“I need to turn in. I’m bushed.”
“You do look tired.” He stood up and walked over to her.
“Thank you for everything today. I felt safe knowing you were nearby.”
“I’ll always be here for you. You need to know that. I’m trying hard not to be in your business but know that I’m here for you.” Their eyes met. “I also want you to know that last night was important to me, but I don’t want to pressure you. You’ve got enough on your plate right now.”
“Thank you. It was important to me, too.” Standing close, she leaned in to him and he held her. Wanting to stay in his arms all night, she reluctantly pulled away. She knew she needed to be alone for some serious thinking. Heading to the door Kevin followed, walking her to her cabin.
“Good night.” He kissed her on her cheek.
“Good night, Kevin.” Before she entered her cabin, he pulled her into her arms one more time and held her close for several minutes. Feeling his strong arms around her, securing her, she relaxed and closed her eyes as they began to water. Tightening her arms around him, she whispered, “Thank you, I needed that.” She kissed him on the cheek and slipped into her cabin. As she closed the door, exhaustion hit, emotionally from Derrick and physically from her strenuous run. She changed into her pajamas, brushed her teeth, and turned down her bed. How could her life change so drastically from one day to the next?
She noticed her cell phone on her bedside stand flashing a voicemail alert. As she listened to the voicemail, Sting’s song “Every Breath You Take” played . . . with the obvious message I’ll be watching you . . . loud and clear. A chill went up Jamie’s spine. She didn’t recognize the number but it didn’t matter.
Derrick. It had begun.
Chapter 24
Needless to say, Jamie hardly slept. She knew Derrick would try to ruin any chances she had with Kevin. He wanted her back, and Jamie felt physically sick thinking about it. She finally drifted off to sleep by five in the morning. When she awoke, there was a text message waiting for her. Without looking, she knew it was from him.
Meet me in town if you know what’s good for your cowboy. Stages Restaurant at one o’clock. A vice tightened around her chest, making it difficult to breathe. Dreading the inevitable, she knew she had to face him. What did he mean by what’s good for your cowboy? She did not want Kevin to be involved in this. Filled with dread, she had to see what his plans were so she could orchestrate her opposing strategy. Jamie needed to go into town alone for that meeting, but how? Keeping to her routine, she got dressed and went to the mess hall for her tea. She needed a car and she could think of only one person.
Jamie made her tea, and then waited till the mess hall emptied.
“Consuelo, I need to go into town today alone . . . and I don’t have a car.”
“You take mine, no problem.”
“I need to keep this between you and me. I don’t want the guys to know.” She looked at Consuelo, her eyes pleading.
“Okay, Jamie. No problem. But are you okay? Are you in trouble?”
“I’m fine. Just something I need to do by myself. Thank you.” She hugged her. Consuelo retrieved her keys out of her purse and handed them to Jamie, who left quickly so she could avoid running into Kevin, Ben, or Rick. Unable to concentrate on her chores at hand, she approached Hector at 12:30.
“I need to run into town for a quick errand. I shouldn’t be too long.” She took a few steps then turned back to Hector. “I’d rather you not mention this to Kevin,” Jamie requested.
“No problem, Señorita.”
“Gracias.” Jamie exited the back of the barn and headed directly to Consuelo’s car. Her anger began to boil over as she drove. Pulling into the parking lot too fast, she got out, slammed the car door and strode into the Stage Restaurant with a deliberate gait. There would be no meekness here. Derrick sat at one of the bac
k booths with a cup of coffee. Dressed in an Armani suit, he looked totally out of place in this small Western town. But his uncanny good looks were what really made him a stand out.
Jamie threw her purse loudly on the bench seat and sat down hard. Looking across the table at Derrick, her eyes were blazing hot with fury.
“Okay. I’m here. I told you it was over. You knew that long ago, so what is it that you want?”
Derrick looked at her, eyes wide with surprise. “Wow darlin’. I like this fire in your belly.” Pursing his lips he continued, “It’s simple. I want you. Yes, it’s been a while but I now realize what I had and what I lost, and I want you back.”
Jamie was speechless, she couldn’t believe her ears. “You want me back? You want us back? Are you crazy?”
“No, I’m not crazy. I came to my senses. I need you. I want you home.”
“You have no problem attracting women, you cheated on me many times. Why would you want me back?”
“Because I love you, of course; those other women didn’t mean anything, and they weren’t in the same class as you . . . you’re good for me. You make me look legit.” He waited for her response.
“Too bad you didn’t think that way long ago.”
“I know. I was stupid, I was an idiot . . . I realize that now.” His face relaxed, his dark eyes softened, and for a moment she caught a glimpse of the caring Derrick that she had first been attracted to. “Seriously, Jamie, think about it. The club is about to open. I can run the business side and you could run the social part. You’re such a people person . . . so kind and beautiful. You’d do great. We could work together, as a team. We used to have fun together, remember?” He reached for her hand.
Jamie looked in his eyes; she did remember. They did have good times, they had fun together . . . but that was ages ago. He changed and she’d tried to get him back but he’d retreated farther and farther into a dark world. She had seen a side of him that was ugly and mean; despicable and cruel not only to her but others. Desperately, she had hoped he would return to his old self, but it was too late for her. She’d never go back.