Rodeo Rancher

by Lauren Wood

  “You don’t need to waste your time on me Casey. I am not biting. I told you before that our last time was before I found you with Cliff. Even if we weren’t together, I don’t want to share you with the likes of him. No thanks.”

  I saw her eyes flare and again I wondered if I was just setting myself up for failure. I knew messing with her was a problem, but the real problem was that I just didn’t want to keep it up. I wanted her to go away and I hoped that a clear answer and a little bluntness would go a long ways, but now I wasn’t so sure. She didn’t seem to be taking the hint, just getting more upset the more we talked.

  “You don’t have to be mean Dante.”

  “I am not trying to be mean Casey. I just want to drink my beer and be left alone. You can just keep it all to yourself. We are through. Never really were together and I have moved on. I suggest that you do the same thing. I don’t want to hurt your feelings, but you have to understand that I am not going to take this any further. I can’t and I don’t want to.”

  It was about as nice as I was going to get about it, but by the look on her face, that wasn’t an acceptable answer. I wanted to get my point across, but I still wasn’t trying to hurt her feelings. I also didn’t want her as an enemy. I had enough of those and since she still did work at the ranch, her exit never even discussed anymore, I knew that I was going to have to keep my cool, no matter how hard it seemed to be to manage.

  “Fine, Dante. It is your loss. I was trying to be nice to you, but since you want to be a jerk, I won’t bother you anymore.”

  I know that I was supposed to feel bad and maybe in a way I did, but now all I could feel was relief that she had finally moved on. The girl was walking trouble and it was better for me to know it.

  She was right though. I don’t know what I was doing here. I had never come for just a beer and after several more ladies came up to chat, I decided that I was just wasting my time here. Casey’s eyes followed me as I was leaving and I could feel the heat from them on the back of my neck. She was not a happy camper, but I hoped that tomorrow would be another day.

  I had to go home and face the music. I still felt like I was right about how I felt about Cliff, but at the same time, it just isn’t worth it, not really if it meant that Cece and I were on the outs. What was the worst that could happen? She wasn’t going to leave me for him, but she very well may leave me if I keep this up. Cece was complicated and viciously independent. I had always admired that about her. Now it was time to embrace it, no matter how hard it really was.

  Chapter 16

  Cecelia

  I cooled down not long after we got home from the airport. I saw the back taillights of Dante’s truck as he took off. I felt sadness wash over me seeing him leave, even though I knew he would be back. He worked here, of course he was going to be back. But I wanted to work this out. I hated the feeling in the pit of my stomach when we argued. I would rather this have all gone so differently.

  After a short bath, I looked outside and he was still nowhere in sight. I don’t know why that made me so sad, but it did. I wanted him to want to work it out and it wasn’t until a couple of hours later that I started to worry about where he was. This wasn’t something that he didn’t do, the man was always late for everything and stayed out late almost every night, but not since we had started seeing each other. We had slept together ever since and only when he was gone recently was I meant to stay alone at night.

  I don’t know why, but his absence was no sitting well with me at all. My mind went from one nefarious downfall to the other and I was convinced not too long later that he was either in the arms of another woman or he was dead in a ditch somewhere.

  Seeing lights coming up the driveway, I was ecstatic that he was finally home, but my hopes were dashed when I saw that it was just Casey coming back. I was on the porch and she was a little tipsy. She was the last person that I wanted to talk to, but I had to know if she knew anything. I just wanted to make sure that Dante was okay first. I am sure I was going to be mad at him later, but for now I just had to know.

  So I swallowed my pride, something that Casey had already made in short supply and moved to the woman that was walking slowly up the short staircase to the hand house.

  “Casey, wait up.”

  She turned around and smiled at me. I didn’t like her. There was something about her that didn’t sit well with me, but I had learned to deal with it. Every time I saw her, I thought of Cliff. Right now though, I was worried about Dante. He was the one I loved and Cliff was but a faint memory. Just because I worked with her and him, didn’t mean that I had to let it get to me.

  So instead I squared my shoulders and told myself that it was going to be okay. “Have you seen Dante?”

  Casey’s smile was quick and I could tell that she enjoyed me having to ask her. The bad feeling in the pit of my stomach was back and I just hoped that it was there for no reason. I was hoping that I had built it all up in my head and there was nothing to worry about. This was my hope anyways.

  “Yeah I saw him earlier at the bar. He looked like he was having a bad day. He was drinking heavy.”

  My heart sank and I didn’t like the idea of him at the bar. I knew what he went there for. Could he really be moving on from us after one little fight? So quickly?

  “Oh, I see.”

  Casey didn’t budge and I hated the smile on her face. “I think he was upset about something, but he wouldn’t talk to me about it.”

  She emphasized ‘me’ like he had talked to someone else about it. She had a buzz and she was enjoying toying with me. I should have just walked away right then and there. I knew that this conversation wasn’t going to get any better, but there was a hope that maybe, just maybe, I could get some information that would at least help me sleep tonight.

  “Was he there with someone else?” The question stuck in my throat and I hated the fact that I even had to ask. I was starting to think that this guy better be hurt in a ditch somewhere for making me worry and for making me find out about his whereabouts from Casey. This was a new low as far as I was concerned and I didn’t like it one bit.

  “There were a lot of someones with him. You know how Dante is. He is too handsome and charming to be alone for long.”

  My face must have flushed because she put her arm on my shoulder. “It’s going to be okay Cecelia. You know how guys are. As long as they come home eventually, right? I know from experience that he is worth a little extra drama. You have to know that too. Everyone around here knows that the two of you are going hot and heavy.”

  I pulled back from her touch and I can’t say that I had anything else on my mind but physically striking her. I didn’t want her to say such things to me, but what if she was right? Was I really just going to pretend that everything was the same? Nothing was the same. It was just that simple.

  “Well thank you for letting me know Casey. I am sure that he will turn up. I was just wondering if you had seen him. Was he still there at the bar when you left?”

  “No, he took off a little while after I talked to him.”

  I wanted so badly to ask her if he was alone or not, but I couldn’t force myself to say the words. What if he wasn’t alone? Did I really want to know?

  The answer was continuously a resounding no and I just couldn’t do it to myself. I had gotten enough bad news for one day. I don’t think that I could take anymore, so I just left it at that. I thanked her for her help and made my way back to the ranch house. I was just going to have to wait and see what happens. It was like a story that I didn’t know the ending too and I was too damn scared to look ahead and find out what happens. I needed to, truly, but what good would it do me in the end? There was nothing good that was going to come from me getting all worked up even worse than I was. I was just going to have to wait and see.

  ***

  It was a ridiculously long night and all I could think about was Dante and where he was. I was driving myself crazy and at some point I did call over to the bar to
see if I could find him, but he wasn’t there. He hadn’t been there in hours, just like Casey told me. I didn’t think that she was lying, although I really wished she had been. That meant that I wouldn’t have to worry as much. I could handle him drunk at a bar, I could go get him. But again I was just filled with all of these unknowns and it was killing me slowly.

  I went back to sleep and woke up again about five in the morning. It wasn’t like I kept up with him before, but when I did keep up with his coming and goings, I knew that he almost never stayed out this late. He was still gone and it just didn’t mesh well with me. Instead of trying to get anymore sleep and playing victim in some crazy mind games with my brain, I decided it was probably just best to get up and see about my day. Where ever he was, the ranch still had to keep going. Animals had to be fed and people had to get their assignments for the day.

  Thankful that I was the only one in the kitchen for a while, I took a minute to sit down with a cup of coffee once it had brewed. I was almost feeling normal again, until everyone started to pile in. The cook was in first to start breakfast and then the other employees moseyed their way in not too long after that. My moment of peace was gone.

  “Good to see you up so early boss. Have you see Dante around? I was looking for him earlier and he wasn’t in his room. Hoping he was with you.”

  I tried not to blush. It was obvious that we were together, but it was also obvious that he was nowhere to be found and I had no idea where he was. I was supposed to because we were together, I was his boss, but it was like he had just disappeared out of thin air and there was nothing I could do about it. I felt embarrassed on so many levels that I just didn’t know what to say about it.

  “No, I don’t know where he is Carl. Why don’t you take over for him today until he makes it in?”

  “He isn’t on the ranch at all?”

  I shook my head and didn’t say anymore. It was painful that he wasn’t here with me and I didn’t want to go over it again.

  “Did you ask Casey about it? She saw the two of them talking last night at the bar. Maybe she knows.”

  He was just trying to help, but his harmless comments was just pushing a knife into my stomach and twisting. Didn’t he know that it was horrible to think about him gone and bringing up his past lover did nothing to help where my mind gone. What if Casey did know where he was and just didn’t tell me?

  “Well speak of the devil. Casey, where is Dante?”

  Casey looked at me and then looked away. “I don’t know. I am not his keeper anymore.”

  Chapter 17

  Dante

  I should have known that the night was just going to get worse. I had a feeling and as I was leaving the bar, the feeling got worse. It was like a cold dread that came over me and the more I thought about it, the more I knew that I wasn’t going to be able to get home as I had planned.

  I had drunk a few beers. I wasn’t drunk, but I was certainly feeling no pain. The last thing I saw was this look from Casey as I was leaving. She gave me this little wave and considering the conversation we had, I knew that there was a reason. I don’t know what that reason was, but it set me on edge.

  That may have been why I was driving a little faster than I should have to get back to the ranch before her, but none of it mattered. What mattered next was that I was pulled over on the short eight mile drive and I wasn’t but a mile from the ranch when I saw the red and blue lights flashing behind me.

  It was one of those moments that I knew I was had and there was really nothing that I could do about it. I had messed up and I should have known that it was going to end badly. When I saw Officer Johnson walking up in the rearview mirror, I knew that it was going to be really bad. The man hated me. I banged his wife, not knowing she was married and he had had a hard on for me ever since. I didn’t blame him of course, but I did blame myself for how I reacted.

  “Dante, what are you doing out driving like that so late at night? You got another husband after you because he caught you with his wife?”

  I just shook my head and looked forward. There was no winning this fight. I knew it was pointless to hand him anything. It wouldn’t matter. I was going to jail.

  “You mind if I make a call first?”

  Darryl Johnson just smiled at me and clicked his tongue. It was a slow acting scoff and I sighed as I put my head back on the seat.

  It wasn’t long before I was getting out of the car. He could smell liquor on my breath and I was asked to get out. I knew what came next, so I blew in his little machine and he just clicked his tongue again. “You really just don’t learn, do you?”

  I hadn’t learned and tonight I wasn’t going to start. I was up to my eyes in crap and the last thing that I needed was for this guy to try to give me hell. It just wasn’t working for me and I proved once again that I was an idiot. I couldn’t blame it on anything else but myself.

  “No, I guess not. How is your wife doing? I haven’t seen her around in a while. Did you finally get a leash on her?”

  The cop’s face turned red and he was reaching for something on his belt. For a moment I thought I had really done it and he was going to shoot me. But instead I just got hit in the head with his flashlight. At that moment, I had to wonder which would have hurt more. He hit me with dead on accuracy and there was nothing that I could do to stop it.

  Everything went black and when I finally came to I was in a jail cell. It wasn’t the end of the world of course. I had been here before and now I didn’t have to worry about a silly fight with Cece. Now I had bigger fish to fry when I found out what they were trying to charge me for. I was being charged with assault on a police officer, even though there was no way that I had done the assaulting. I pissed the wrong guy off. I guess I hadn’t learned and I still hoped that I would be able to one day soon.

  I couldn’t see anybody, so I yelled out to a guard or an officer to help me. I wanted my phone call and I knew that there was only one person that I wanted to see. I hadn’t been late for work in over a year and now I was late. It was a shame and besides work, me and Cece had some unfinished business. I was looking for a way to get out, jail didn’t bother me. I was worried about what she was doing and I wanted her to know that I was here and I hadn’t run off on her. Even when I was facing serious charges and I didn’t know how it was all going to play out, I could still only think of Cece.

  The officer didn’t want to give me the phone, but I started blasting on about my rights and I was finally given the opportunity to call Cece. She didn’t pick up right away and I hurried up and called her again. This time I was sending up a silent prayer that she would answer. I just wanted to hear her voice more than anything else. It was like a balm to my soul that I needed desperately.

  “Hello?”

  “Cece.”

  “Dante, where are you?”

  I looked around the cell and decided that she didn’t need to know everything. Conroe was a small town and I knew that I was going to have to say something, but it was hard to come out with it. It was right now that I felt like a true idiot. I still don’t know how I had gotten myself into this mess. My damn mouth was going to be the death of me.

  “I am in jail Cece. I didn’t mean to miss the morning meeting, but they aren’t letting me go for a while.”

  “What, what do you mean you are in jail?”

  I didn’t want to have to explain it to her, but I knew that I had to. I had to figure out how I was going to tell her what happened. It was embarrassing and I had acted out. It was something that I hadn’t done in a while and I didn’t know what to say about it really.

  “I got into it with a police officer on the way home. I was drinking a little too much, so that took me in.”

  “Well that’s no big deal. We can get that taken care of in no time. Who was the officer? I know them all over there. I have lived here my whole life.”

  It wasn’t that simple, but I had to come clean and tell her the rest. She was asking about bond and at the moment I didn’t
have one.

  “There is no bond. They won’t have a bond for me until I see the judge on Monday. There are charges that are new and they want to hold me over the weekend.”

  “What charges?”

  She was getting anxious and I didn’t want to continue. I didn’t want to tell her that I popped off to the police officer. She certainly didn’t need to know the why.

  “Let’s just say that they are trying to get me for assault and resisting arrest.”

  “Oh, wow Dante. What the hell were you thinking?”

  “Hell Cece, I wasn’t thinking.”

  She sighed loudly on the phone and I felt bad for adding more to her loaded plate. “Well I can’t have you sitting in jail Dante. I need you here.”

  I didn’t know what to tell her because I didn’t see an easy way out of all of this. I don’t know how I was supposed to tell her that I was in here for a while. She didn’t want to hear that. Cece was the type that got what she wanted. I don’t think she knew how to say no to something.

  “I will take care of it. Which cop was it?”

  She wasn’t going to let it go so I knew that I had to say something. “Johnson.”

  “Oh? Really, he is such a nice guy.”

  I wasn’t going to argue and I didn’t want to tell her why we don’t get along, just that we didn’t.

  “Well not last night. I was being an idiot, I know that now.”

  “I will go down there and see what I can do. I know that you don’t think there is anything to do, but you would be surprised what happens if you ask nicely. I have known his wife for years. I think we can work this out.”

  I wanted to tell her not to. It would have been easier than if she found out about me and Johnson’s wife. Ashlea was a nice girl and we had fun together, but it felt like everything was going off the rails.

  “This isn’t your problem Cece. I will take care of this.”