Montana Wild (14 page)

Lola continued to look bored. “I’m hot and tired. I’d like to get out of here.”

Kevin looked at her and nodded in agreement. “Good idea. I’ll be back in a minute.” And with that he got up and walked toward the back of the bar, searching for someone.

“Jimmy, how’d you like to make a day’s pay right now?”

“Sure, Kev, you know me, I’m always looking for extra work. What’s up?”

“Can you drive?” Kevin asked. Everyone knew that Jimmy was not a big drinker.

“Sure, this’s my first beer and I’ve been milking it. Why?”

“I need you to take Lola back to the ranch. Take my truck. You can come back or not, I don’t care, just get her out of here. I’ll ride home with Ben.”

“That’s all? Sure. That’s easy.” He seemed eager.

“Okay, here are my keys. You know my truck, it’s right out front. Get in and I’ll bring her around. I’ll warn you that she may not be happy about this, but that’s okay. Her options are going to the airport or going back to the ranch. Got it?” Kevin explained.

“Yep. Understood.” Jimmy left.

Kevin went to the bar to get Lola. “Ready?”

“I’m so ready to blow this place.” She stood up eagerly and grabbed her purse. Kevin took her elbow and escorted her through the crowd, out the front door and to his truck. He opened the front door and she climbed in with a smug look on her face.

Kevin hit the lock on the door before he closed it. “Jimmy will take you straight home.”

Lola looked at the driver, and then back at Kevin, beginning to protest. He nodded to Jimmy and he took off, as Kevin exhaled with relief.

Jamie saw Kevin escorting Lola out without even a good-bye and her heart sank. So much for what Ben had told her on the ride over about hearing him out. She was warm and this wig was hot. Distracted by Kevin’s departure, she went into the single stall women’s restroom, removed her hair piece, and leaned over the sink to freshen her face.

Hearing the door open, without looking up, she offered, “Oh, excuse me. I’ll be out of your way in a second.”

“Oh hell yeah, bitch!”

Chapter 17

The voice was familiar, but Jamie wasn’t sure she’d heard right. Grabbing a paper towel to dry her face, she turned around only to find Crystal and two other women barely in their twenties.

“Crystal, what are you doing here?” Jamie asked in total surprise.

“I set him up for total humiliation, total failure, and you rescue him? Oh, no! I don’t think so.” Crystal waved her finger in front of Jamie’s face and then without warning brought her clenched fist up and landed a punch to Jamie’s right eye.

As her head jolted back with the surprising force of the hit, Crystal’s two sidekicks each grabbed one of Jamie’s arms and Crystal then sucker-punched Jamie in the gut causing her to double over and gasp for air.
What the hell?
She stayed down for just a minute to gather her wits. Jamie then leaned forward as far as she could and the girls on each side eased their grip, probably thinking she would pass out. Instead Jamie brought both arms forward and jabbed her elbows back quickly with as much force as she could muster into each girl’s upper gut, hard enough to cause them both to go down.

Crystal watched in disbelief and before she could gather her wits, Jamie sent her booted foot hard into Crystal’s gut and when she bent over, Jamie grabbed her long blond hair and directed her head into the toilet for a swirly. Jamie paused for just a nanosecond. Did she really want to do this?
Oh hell yes!
She didn’t let her conscience weigh in at all.

“First flush is for me and the second flush . . . is . . . for . . . Ben.” Stringy wet hair and all, Jamie pushed the dazed Crystal to the floor. The other two were still blubbering. “I guess your mommas didn’t tell you young girls not to mess with a woman from Brooklyn.” With that Jamie exited the restroom.
Those self-defense classes paid off after all!
Jamie smiled to herself.

A couple of guys outside the ladies room must have heard the commotion, but looking hesitant to come in, they stood at the door. Ben was there too.

“Don’t go in there, it ain’t pretty.” Jamie warned as she walked out the door. Ben looked at Jamie’s face and showed instant concern.

“What happened to your eye?” She almost forgot about the fist she’d taken to her eye that was already beginning to swell. Ben looked past Jamie and saw Crystal and her two friends on the floor of the bathroom. He smiled and closed the door.

“Jamie, are you okay? Come over here, let me take a look at you.” Ben looked worried and sat her down at one of the tables near the bar.

“Kenny, we need some ice here,” Ben yelled toward the bar.

“You, my dear, are going to have a shiner. What happened in there?”

“Crystal wasn’t happy that I bailed you out.”

“Bitch!” Ben muttered angrily, then laughed. “But how did you get the best of three of them?”

Jamie looked at Ben surprised at his question. “C’mon Ben. I’m from New York!”

“What the hell happened?” Kevin asked, taking a seat next to Jamie. He lightly fingered her cheek under the swollen eye.

“I guess Crystal didn’t care for the fact that Jamie helped me out tonight. But the best part is that there were three of them and Jamie was the only one that walked out on her own two feet.” Ben laughed.

“Ben, this isn’t funny! Where are they?” Kevin started to get up but Jamie grabbed his arm.

“No, let it go.” She looked at him. “It was my battle and it’s over. Let it go.”

Kevin shook his head no, but Jamie met his eyes.

“I’m okay. It’s okay. Let it go,” she said more softly, and he sat back down. “I thought you left.”

“No, I just arranged a taxi for Lola.”

His response confused her but she didn’t ask for details. Kenny brought the ice pack and Jamie applied it to her eye a little too roughly and flinched in pain.

“Kenny, do you have a towel or something to put this in? And crush the ice so it’s not so sharp.” Kevin was quick to notice.

“Sorry about that.” Kenny looked apologetic.

“No problem. Thank you.” Jamie looked at Kevin and thanked him too, surprised and touched by his attentiveness.

Ben, Rick, and a couple of the ranch hands sat around the table with them and began rehashing and humorously critiquing the night’s performance. Jamie forgot about her eye and laughed till her gut hurt. Kevin joined in on the laughter too, adding his own comments. It was wonderful to be able to sit comfortably and enjoy his friendship once again. They always did have fun together.
Maybe I’m past all that and we can go back to just being friends. I’d hate to lose that
. She caught Kevin’s eye and he winked at her. Smiling back, she couldn’t deny the tingle that traveled down her spine when their eyes met.
Stop that!

Ben bought her a couple of rounds of brandy, for medicinal and healing purposes. She didn’t believe a word of it but it felt good going down and she was not feeling any pain now. A few more guys and gals joined the table so they had to scoot their chairs closer together. Kevin physically sat very close to Jamie now and more than once their arms and shoulders touched. Even though she was feeling no pain, she was very aware every time her arm touched his. However, now instead of scolding herself, she decided to enjoy the sensation for what it was.

They all sat there talking, laughing, and enjoying the night. Jamie got up to use the restroom but locked the stall behind her, a little gun shy from her altercation earlier. She washed her hands and looked in the mirror.

“Oh my gosh, I look horrible!” Her eye was nearly swollen shut and an angry purple bruise surrounded it. Touching her eye softly, the flesh was tender but still cool from the ice. Jamie was embarrassed to go out there looking like this but reminded herself that she had been out there for two hours and everyone had already seen her. No wonder everyone had thrown her looks of shock and sympathy. She returned to her table a little sheepishly.

“What’s wrong?” Kevin must have picked up on her mood change.

“I didn’t realize I looked so horrible.” Jamie pointed to her disfigured eye.

“You don’t look horrible. Think of it as your badge of courage for what you did for Ben.” Kevin winked.

“Well, if you put it that way. Thank you for putting my vanity in check.” She laughed. The group sat at the table for another hour before people started to leave. Tomorrow was a working day.

“Well it was a great evening, except for a few moments.” Ben nodded toward Jamie’s injury. “But should we call it a night?”

“Yeah, I think I’m beginning to feel the effects of my medicine.” Jamie laughed, but suddenly felt tired.

“Ben, can I catch a ride home with you?”

“Sure, Kevin, but what happened to your truck?” Kevin shot Ben a look and didn’t answer. Jamie caught the verbal and nonverbal exchange between the two but didn’t let on that she was aware of anything.

The three walked outside toward Ben’s truck. “Oh, I forgot my clothes. I’ll be right back.” Kevin and Jamie kept walking.

“Jamie, what you did for Ben today was unbelievable. You’ve told me before that you don’t like being in front of crowds, so I know it took a lot of courage.”

“Ben would have done it for me.” Jamie shrugged off his compliment.

“Yeah, but what you did was . . .”

She cut him off again. “You help friends when they need it.”

“Damn it, woman! Let me give you a compliment, please.” He stopped walking, faced Jamie and softened his voice. “You single-handedly saved Ben from humiliation in front of his peers and strangers. He would’ve done the show solo, but it wouldn’t have been the same. You made it a huge success. The two of you were perfect, much better than if Crystal had done it because I’ve never seen her put much emotion into anything. But getting back to what you did. Ben is a good guy, kind-hearted and sensitive and I know women don’t think of men that way. He’s one of my best friends, so from the bottom of my heart, thank you for helping out my friend. I know it wasn’t a life and death situation, but believe me it was a big thing in his eyes. Just accept my gratitude, please.”

Jamie listened to Kevin word for word.

“You’re welcome. But I do believe that Ben would’ve done the same for me if the roles were reversed. I’m learning here that your friends have your back and that’s a wonderful thing.”

“Yes it is, especially if you don’t have much family. Friends become family.”

“I know you don’t have much family, but you’re so lucky to have this incredible network of friends here. I envy you.” She was thoughtful as she thought of her own lack of family.

“No need to be envious. You’re part of this now. Can’t you see that?”

His statement caught her off guard and hit home. It was true she did have deep feelings for so many people at the ranch but to think even for a minute that she was an accepted member of their family was more than she could ask for and she became overwhelmed with emotion. She turned away, not wanting him to see her tears.

“Jamie? Hey.”

She shook her head from side to side but didn’t speak. Kevin put his hands on her shoulders, turned her around, pulled her in close, and hugged her. She didn’t fight him but let his arms encircle her and hold her close.

They could hear Ben approaching and Kevin released her from his hold.

“Okay, guys. I’m back.” Ben looked at them quizzically but said nothing. Kevin opened the passenger door for Jamie to enter and climbed in after her. With the three of them in the front seat, it was tight. However, Jamie sat a little closer to Kevin.

Ben entertained them on the way home and the three shared laughter once again. At the ranch Ben parked and they exited the vehicle. He walked around the truck to face Jamie.

“How can I thank you, Cher, I mean, Jamie?” Ben asked and she laughed. He outstretched his arms and pulled her into a tight bear hug. Holding her tight, he spoke into her ear.

“I’ll never forget what you did for me tonight. I know we haven’t known each other long, but I consider you a true friend in every sense of the word. Thank you so much. Just know that I’ll be there for you when you need a friend.” He kissed her cheek. Ben let go of her, slapped Kevin’s back and bid them goodnight.

Jamie and Kevin stood there facing each other. Finally Kevin spoke.

“Jamie, do you have a minute? I’d like to talk to you.”

“Sure.” She followed him as he gestured to a picnic table a short distance away. Motioning for her to sit, he sat across from her.

“I’m hoping you’ll hear me out. I want to talk about the Lola situation.”

Jamie wasn’t expecting this but decided that if he felt the need to explain, as a friend she couldn’t refuse. She inhaled deeply. “Okay.”

Relief flooded his face. He started at the beginning with how he had met Lola and their history. Lola’s unexpected appearance at the ranch surprised him and all he could think about was Jamie and how this could sabotage anything that may be starting between them. Any relationship Lola and he had in any form was over. He’d explained this to Lola, but she refused to leave.

He told her that he’d moved out of the house within an hour of Lola’s arrival. He had not touched her physically and had no desire to. It was important to him that Jamie understood all of this. Consuelo had offered to bring Lola her meals to the house so she didn’t have to mingle with the hands or with Jamie.

Jamie listened intently and hid all signs of relief and joy when Kevin testified that he had no feelings of love or other attraction toward Lola. She couldn’t be mad at Kevin for women he had in his past.

“I wish she would leave, for her own sake and everyone else’s.” Kevin voiced frustration about the matter and took ownership of the whole messy situation.

“I don’t know Lola, but she’s obviously a beautiful woman and is probably not used to being rejected. I’m sure her pride is badly bruised.”

Kevin considered this. “Yeah, I guess you have a point there.”

“She needs a way out, she’s stuck. Let me think about this from a woman’s point of view,” Jamie offered.

Kevin’s eyes lit up. “Would you? I would appreciate any input or words of wisdom you can give me.”

“Okay, I’ll give it some thought and get back with you tomorrow. I know you want this resolved as soon as possible.”

“Thank you.” Kevin reached across the table and placed his hands on hers. “I want to put an end to this whole thing and make things right with you.”

“Don’t worry about me, Kevin. You have enough to think about right now.”

“Making it right with you is all I think about.” He paused and she met his eyes. “Thanks for listening. I feel much better now that you’ve heard me out. God knows what you may have been thinking.”

Jamie looked down and didn’t let on what her active imagination had come up with. His hands were still on hers. “I guess I should get some sleep,” Jamie said. “The ranch wakes up pretty early and it’s been quite a night.” She stood up.

Kevin stood up too. “Yes it has. How’s your eye?”

“It feels okay, not too bad. How does it look?”

“Sore. I’m not embarrassed to say I’ve had a few shiners in my day. The swelling should be down by tomorrow, but I’m afraid you’ll have some color there for a few days.”

“Well, the good side is I’m sure the guys will have a new respect for me.” She laughed as they walked back to her cabin, stopping in front of her door.

“Good night.”

“Good night.” Kevin bent down and kissed her on the cheek. She smiled at him and entered her cabin. Things were looking better. A few bumps, but definitely a good day.

True to Kevin’s words, the swelling was down by morning but purple and blue hues surrounded her eye.
Well, it’s not like the whole ranch doesn’t know about it,
she consoled herself as she dressed. She desperately needed her morning tea today and was surprised to see Kevin preparing it.