COWBOY, INTERRUPTED

by MISSY HARPER

  Regina pulled her daughter into her arms and held her as she cried. Her heart was breaking right along with her daughter’s. Regina looked up, sensing her husband’s presence, and saw his pained face. Her gaze asked how long he’d been there and how much he’d heard. He looked at his wife and mouthed the words I already knew. Shaking his head he stared at the floor, disappointed at the turn of events and pained that his Baby Girl was hurting so much.

  “Please don’t tell dad or the boys, okay, Mom?” Rylee asked when she finally lifted her head after a good long cry. “It’s not Ethan’s fault he doesn’t love me. He shouldn’t have to lose Dad and Tanner because of me. He’s already lost his own father… it just wouldn’t be fair.” Her voice cracked and her mother pulled her back to her. The love her daughter had for this man was astounding. Ethan was a lucky man.

  “Shh, we’re not going to worry about any of that right now. I want you to listen to me, Rylee. I think you’re making a mistake here, baby. I think you should go talk to Ethan before it’s too late…”

  “No, Mom.” Rylee said standing. “It’s over, and it’s time for me to face it and find a way to make a life without him. I can’t be married to a man that doesn’t love me, and that’s the bottom line.” She squeezed her mother’s hand and walked from the room, looking more sad and alone than she ever had before.

  Chapter 24

  Education Can Be Tough On A Guy!

  Thor stepped up onto Ethan’s back porch just before daybreak and found Ethan standing in his kitchen, his arm leaned against the refrigerator with his forehead pressed to it. The man looked as if he was too sick or weak to stand on his own. Thor pulled the door open and stepped into the kitchen.

  “Get out!” Ethan demanded without even lifting his head to see who’d walked in his back door. He was seldom in a bad mood, but today he was fit for neither man nor beast. He’d spent all night trying to figure her out and really wasn’t in the mood to deal with anyone at the moment.

  “Hung over, much?” Thor asked as he walked over to the coffee pot sitting on the kitchen counter, opened the cupboard, removed a coffee mug and filled it. Startled, Ethan lifted his head off of his arm at the sound of his father-in-law’s voice. “You look like shit, Son.”

  Ethan closed his eyes for a second and turned toward the table, slumping down into one of the chairs. Thor was about the last person he wanted to see this morning, but out of respect, he’d take what the man was there to give him, however painful that may be. Thor grabbed another mug and filled it, too.

  “I could always count on you for a compliment, couldn’t I?” Ethan grumbled as Thor sat the mug in front of him. “Thanks.” Ethan sipped the coffee, but didn’t really taste it. He stared at his coffee and wondered if he’d ever taste anything again.

  “You may look like shit, but you don’t look hung over.” Thor made a big deal of giving the situation a little thought. “Ya know, ya do bear a striking resemblance to a certain blonde sitting at my kitchen table.” Thor informed him as he sat down and took his first sip from his coffee mug.

  “Thought that was the Runt’s kitchen? And I’m not blonde.” Ethan attempted to tease the man because it was what he would have done if his heart wasn’t scattered all across Montana.

  “No, it’s mine, I just learned to pick my battles with that little hell cat a long time ago.” Thor said toasting his coffee mug toward Ethan before taking another sip. “So, you wanta tell me why you both have that hound dog look on your faces this morning?” Thor asked setting down his mug.

  “Nothin to tell.” Ethan answered looking down into his coffee.

  “Is that so?” Thor faked a look of surprise. “So, you and Rylee just both seem to be sitting at the kitchen table nursing broken hearts this morning? One has nothin to do with the other? Just a coincidence?” Ethan made no effort to answer the man. He’d never lied to Thor, and he didn’t plan to start now.

  “Okay, if you don’t wanna tell me about this look on your face, not to mention my daughter’s, how about we talk about how I spent my afternoon yesterday.” Thor said, settling into his chair more comfortably. “It’s quite a story, I have to admit!” Ethan shook his head. He probably couldn’t be less interested, but he’d listen to the man’s story anyway.

  “Ya see, I knew Rylee would be home soon, and I really didn’t want to be found, so I went in the tack room and started piddling around so I wouldn’t be so easy to find. Then she come’s into the barn and starts talking to that ignorant horse of hers.” Thor raised his eyebrows at the younger man. “She says he’s a good listener. I say he’s just too stupid to know when to run and when not to.” Ethan chuckled.

  “He is one ignorant animal.” Ethan agreed as he toyed with his coffee mug, but didn’t look up.

  “Anyway, I decided to just keep quiet cause I knew there’d been something botherin my Baby Girl since we got back from Vegas.” Ethan stiffened with guilt at Thor’s words. “I realize it wasn’t the most upstanding thing to do, eavesdropping like that, but she ain’t exactly always easy to deal with. I learned a long time ago to take whatever advantage I could get where that one is concerned. That’s good advice, by the way.” Thor chuckled when Ethan humphed and shook his head, agreeing with the man, but still stared at his coffee.

  “Well, it was a mistake all around it turns out, cause she was talkin so low I couldn’t hear a word she was saying.” Ethan sensed Thor was prompting him to speak, and knowing the man well enough to know he wasn’t going to leave due to lack of conversation, he gave in.

  “Did you go talk to her?”

  “Hell no, she’d a just found something for me to do, so I stayed put. Turned out to be a blessing and a curse all the same.” Thor admitted rubbing his big hand on the back of his neck. Ethan cringed as realization dawned on him.

  Ethan leaned forward, rubbing his own hand over his pained face, then sighing heavily into his hands. After a few minutes of mentally yelling at himself, and a few really deep breaths, Ethan finally tried to speak. What the heck does a man say to his father-in-law after what happened in the barn yesterday, especially when the man didn’t even know he was a father-in-law!

  “Thor…”

  “You still got nothin to tell me, Son?” Thor sounded as if he were done messing around and ready to get to the bottom of things.

  “I don’t know where to start, Thor!” Ethan admitted, feeling ashamed and exasperated.

  “How bout I tell you what I know, and you can fill in the blanks. Then you and I are gonna have a little talk.” Thor said, leaning forward and looking Ethan directly in the eye.

  “I married her, Thor. I married her before I ever touched her.” Ethan adamantly assured his new father-in-law. “I didn’t lie to you, I respected her, and I married her first.” Ethan’s voice sounded strained when he spoke, pounding his finger into the table top. His eyes were wet and searching for signs of understanding. “I know she’s your daughter, and I should have asked you first. I know I should have come clean with you before we ever left Vegas, but I respected her, Thor. I’ve always respected her…”

  “I already know that, Ethan, and you’re damn right you should have asked me first. At the very least you should have let me know what was going on with my own damn daughter.” Thor looked at him hard and wanted to take a swing or two at him, but the kid looked so miserable he didn’t even have the heart to yell at him.

  “We were just having fun. It was so nice to see her letting her hair down and acting her age for a change. I let her drink too much, Thor.” He shamefully admitted. “After she rode that bull we started dancing, and… I just couldn’t fight it anymore!” His eyes pleaded with Thor. Ethan couldn’t seem to keep his seat any longer and jumped to his feet to begin pacing the kitchen.

  “Ever since I came home I’ve been trying to keep my hands off of her, and that night I just couldn’t do it anymore. I told her I wanted her and couldn’t fight it anymore. She decided she wanted to leave with me.”

  Thor rubbed his
hand across his face. This wasn’t exactly the talk he’d intended to have with the boy, but sensing Ethan needed to unburden himself, he kept quiet. It wasn’t like the boy had a father he could go to. It damn sure couldn’t be worse than what he’d gone through in the barn yesterday afternoon!

  “We were walkin back to the hotel, and I just kept thinkin about what I was about to do. I mean, this was my little Runt! I was planning to have sex with, Rylee, not some bunny I’d picked up in a bar somewhere! I kept tryin to talk myself out of it, but I couldn’t. Then she started that damn giggling. You know the one that just hits you right here in the chest.” Ethan asked, rubbing his fist in the center of his chest. Thor smiled, knowing exactly what he meant. Rylee didn’t allow herself to giggle often, but when she did it was a memorable thing.

  “I looked down at her and… Thor, she looked more beautiful than I’d ever seen her. You should have seen her, man. She was more beautiful than I’d ever seen any woman look in all my life!” Thor watched as the memory of that moment played out across his face.

  “She points across the street and says, ‘I wonder if it’s cupid or Elvis marrying people in there?’” Ethan looked Thor in the eye and shook his head. “The first thought that went through my head was that I didn’t care if he was ‘All Shook Up’ or had wings and a diaper. As long as he could make her mine, it was fine with me.”

  “Was that the booze talkin, makin you not think straight, Son?”

  “No.” Ethan shook his head without a moments delay. “I’d been drinking, but I was far from drunk. It just hit me like a ton of bricks, and I knew I couldn’t go on without her. I certainly couldn’t disrespect her… treat her like she was just another woman. I loved her too much to have it any other way.” Ethan shrugged his shoulders as if it was completely out of his control. “I needed her to be mine, permanently, as much as I needed her in my bed that night.” Ethan admitted.

  “I never thought I was good enough for her. To tell you the truth, I’ve really been struggling with the man I’ve become, Thor. But when I’m with Rylee, I don’t feel the need to be that guy anymore. I don’t feel dirty anymore. I’m home… I don’t need anything or anyone other than her.” He explained, and Thor knew the words were spoken from the man’s heart.

  “So, what’s the problem?” Thor asked, shrugging his shoulders and shaking off the thought of his little girl in any man’s bed.

  “I don’t know, Thor.” Ethan mimicked Thor’s shrugging. “She was pretty freaked out the next morning, but I talked her into waiting to make any decision about stayin together. I thought things were going okay. Other than yesterday, our time together has been real nice.” He lifted his hands like he just didn’t get it. “Hell, I even love fighting with her!”

  “Well, I’d say, considerin who you’re married to, that’s a good thing.” Thor grinned and sighed.

  “I know I was pretty pissed yesterday when I got to the barn, and I can’t even begin to tell you how sorry I am you had to witness that, Thor. I don’t think it’s possible for me to apologize enough. I had no idea you or anyone else was in that barn.” Ethan had most likely never looked more repentant. “That was no way for you to find out about us. I’m real sorry, Thor.”

  “Your sorry? There are some things a man should never have to witness, and his daughter learnin to ride a man is definitely one of them!” Thor assured him with a shutter as a chill ran down his spine. “I guess that’ll teach me about hidin in the barn tryin to avoid that little hell cat’s temper. You can bet I’ll make some noise from now on… and I won’t be hidin my truck anymore either!” Thor said, offering the man a smile that told him they were okay, on that front at least.

  “Thor, she already had the papers.” Ethan’s voice was just above a whisper, and he looked so hurt. Thor felt for the man.

  “I know she loves me. I can’t for the life of me understand why she’s doin this!” He slammed his hands into the front of his refrigerator. “I tried to call her, but she won’t even answer my calls. She won’t call me back either! I just don’t know what else I can do!”

  “You can go over there and be the cowboy that showed up in my damn barn yesterday! That’s what you can do!” Thor thundered at the man. “Even if I’da been in plain sight, it wouldn’t of stopped you yesterday. That’s the kinda man that girl needs, Ethan! She thinks you don’t love her. She’s under the impression you only want to be married to her because of something to do with facin up, whatever the hell that means.” Thor informed him, aggravated that the kid didn’t want to march right over there and straighten her out.

  “No way, it’s not possible that she doesn’t know I love her. There’s something else going on here, Thor. You know as well as I do, if I go over there demanding answers she’ll just shut me off like a leaky faucet.” Ethan shook his head and stared hard at Thor. “I’m gonna sit still, Thor. I’m gonna pick my battle and wait her out. But I can tell you two things I ain’t gonna be doing!”

  “What’s that?” Thor asked with a grin, realizing Ethan was hurt by Rylee’s desire to end their marriage, but he wasn’t down for the count.

  “I ain’t signing those papers, and I damn sure ain’t lettin that ass wipe, Bart Kyle, have my wife! She’s mine and she’s damn well gonna stay that way!”

  Chapter 25

  Fist Fights And Retail Therapy

  Rylee and Regina had taken the day off and gone into the nearest city for a bit of retail therapy. They’d spent the day shopping and had a nice lunch at a restaurant in the city. Regina had worked very hard at keeping her daughter’s attention away form anything that might remind her of her husband. It was a tall order and not one she’d been completely successful at accomplishing.

  Rylee had fallen off the wagon a few times during the day, but for the most part, they’d enjoyed their time together. They seldom had the opportunity to run away and spend the day in the city, so it had been a special time for them. When they returned home only Thor’s truck was in sight. Rylee was relieved that all three of her brother’s were gone. She didn’t look like herself today. Though she looked better than she had the night before, her eyes were still a bit red and puffy, and her smile didn’t even come close to reaching those puffy eyes.

  She headed up the stairs and sat her packages on her bed. Reaching into her purse, she pulled out her cell phone and turned it on for the first time in hours. She’d turned it off after the third time Ethan had tried to contact her, but was worried someone at the restaurant or nursing home might need her. There were four messages on her phone. She pushed the button to play the messages and pressed the phone against her ear.

  “Damn it, Rylee! Answer the phone! I’m worried about you. Call me.”

  The next message was from Ethan also.

  “Look, Rylee, I don’t pretend to know what’s going on in that pretty head of yours, but will you please call me? I’m not signing these damn papers. You’re still my wife, and I’m not gonna just go away. You mean to much to me for me to just walk away because you signed some damn papers saying you don’t want to be married to me anymore. I can’t believe this is what you want. We need to talk, baby.”

  The third message was also from Ethan.

  “Guess you’re still not ready to talk. I need you to understand that I’m not going to sign these papers. I want you back, Rylee. Please call me, Runt. I miss you so much it hurts.”

  After hearing Ethan’s voice crack in the last message, she almost didn’t even play the fourth and final message.

  “Rylee, this is Cheryl at Yesteryears Nursing Home. We seem to have a problem with Mr. Hawkins. He’s convinced that Mr. Kyle is trying to destroy your good name and is threatening to fight him if he doesn’t take back what he said. I really need for you to come up here and calm him down. Please call me.

  Rylee sighed, wiped the tears from her eyes as she took a deep cleansing breath. She knew Ethan could handle this, but that would mean she’d have to call him. Besides, if Mr. Kyle was involved, that meant Bart
would also be involved, and that did not bode well for the staff at Yesteryears. She thought about just calling Nick, but knew Papa J would never settle down if Nick showed up. If there was any hope of restoring order at the Yesteryears Nursing Home she would have to go there herself. She tossed her cell phone back in her purse and headed down the stairs.

  “You take that back, Anthony Kyle, and you do it now!” Rylee heard Papa J’s enraged voice booming as she entered the nursing home.

  “You ain’t nothin but a crazy ol coot, Hawkins!” Mr. Kyle yelled back.

  “You’re damn right about that! Just crazy enough to kick your sorry ass if you keep talking about our Rylee like that! My boy’s gonna kick your boy’s ass when he comes back home. You don’t mess with another man’s woman!” Papa J yelled back. “And I ain’t gonna have you helpin him to spread lies about my boy’s wife, either! I’m gonna take care of you right now!”

  “You’re crazy! That’s what you are, Hawkins!” Mr. Kyle was in Papa J’s face when Rylee rounded the corner. “She ain’t Ethan’s wife! She’s Bart’s girl, and they’re gettin married this weekend! Bart told me so!”

  “I’m gonna kick your ass…” Papa J’s voice was fury filled as he lunged for the other man. Thankfully, a large arm wrapped around Papa J’s chest and pulled him back. Rylee looked up to see Ethan pulling his father away from the other man.

  “What the hell’s goin on here, Pop?” Ethan demanded, looking between all the parties involved. His eyes settled on Rylee. He looked tired and as if he’d aged years over night.

  “Do you know anything about this?”

  “I just got here. My phone was turned off.” Rylee couldn’t quite meet his eyes when she spoke.

  “Really? I hadn’t noticed.” Ethan sarcastically replied as he struggled with his father.