Seeing her wearing what Cassie probably
would have worn if she'd come with them, made him miss her, wish
that she was here with him. Luke had only been away from her for a
couple of hours and all he could think of was getting back home to
her.
When the woman lifted her head after showing
her ID to the man at the door, Luke's eyes widened and he
whispered, "Oh, shit." Sabrina walked toward the bar with a sashay
in her stride, and he saw men all over the bar turn and look, some
broke away from their group to trail behind her. Before Luke could
warn Cole, her eyes locked with his in the mirror and she headed
toward them. She wasn't smiling, and Luke swallowed hard knowing
trouble was about to visit them in the form of a 5'3" pissed off
woman with a gun.
But she surprised Luke when she walked up to
him after a cursory glance at Cole, who was still lip locked with
the blonde. "Having fun?" she asked with an edge to her voice
hidden beneath the wide smile she gave him.
"Yeah, but missing Cassie..." he told her
and drank down half of his fifth beer. "I thought ya'll would be
having a girl's night at the house."
"She made me come out...said I needed to
come party for her, since she wasn't able to celebrate her last
night being a single girl. Guess, I'm a one woman bachelorette
party," she chuckled.
Over her shoulder, Luke saw Cole come up for
air, dragging his lips from the blonde when he heard Sabrina's
voice. Cole's eyes widened when he saw her, right as a
medium-built, but stocky cowboy tapped her on her shoulder, and she
turned her head and smiled at him.
"Hi, sugar...you wanna dance?" he asked
leaning near her ear and sliding his hand to her lower back.
She turned away from Luke and faced the
cowboy, putting her hand on his shoulder. "I'd love to, sugar," she
purred and he took her hand and led her off through the crowd.
Cole's face turned so red, Luke thought his
friend might bust a blood vessel. A vein popped out on his forehead
and Luke saw his hands, which were no longer on the blonde, squeeze
into tight fists at his side, and he was grinding his teeth into
nubs.
The blonde, who was still standing beside
him looked up at him curiously. "You, okay, honey?" she asked
putting her hand on his arm.
He looked down at her as if he didn't even
see her then said, "Fine...get me another goddamned beer Luke," he
grated then he loosened his fists and put his arm back around the
blonde.
She pressed her body to him and put her hand
on his chest, then stood on tiptoe to whisper in his ear. Cole
shook his head and then moved away from her, "I'm sorry sugar, but
I'm not in the mood. I need to take a break for a few minutes," he
told her then sat down on the stool beside Luke again ignoring her
to lift the beer to his mouth and almost drink it down in one
swallow.
"Well you sure seemed to be in the mood on
the dance floor, darlin'," she spat sassily then went to walk away.
Cole jumped up off the stool and grabbed her arm, "You know, on
second thought, let's go dance again. Maybe I'll work up another
head of steam."
Luke saw indecision and desire at war with
each other on her pretty face, then she sighed and grabbed Cole's
hand to lead him to the floor. Luke watched Cole pull the blonde
tightly against him and move her to the edge of the floor, before
he spun her into a two-step, but his eyes were searching the floor
for Sabrina.
Cole hadn't spotted her yet, evidently, but
Luke had. She was belly rubbing in the center of the floor with the
cowboy who'd asked her to dance. Luke had a bad feeling this wasn't
going to turn out well when his friend finally spotted her. Why
Cassie had sent her here, and decked her out like she was, he
didn't know. She had to know Cole would go crazy.
Maybe she was stirring the pot trying to
play matchmaker to get them back on speaking terms. He definitely
planned to ask her when he got home, because it was obvious her
little scheme was backfiring...big time. All he needed was his best
man with a black eye in the wedding pictures. Cassie would kill
him, even though this was all her doing.
Luke drank the last of his beer and pushed
up from the bar stool, waited a second to get his feet firmly under
him, them walked toward the dance floor. It was time for him and
Cole to leave. Luke found him waltzing the pretty blonde around the
floor, holding her so tight you couldn't fit a piece of paper
between them, then watched Cole stop with her at the corner of the
floor where he put his hands on her ass to lift her higher against
him then made a show of kissing her hungrily. Her body was
suctioned to his as her arms went up around his neck and she rubbed
her hips against him like a cat on a scratching post.
Hurrying his steps across the dance floor,
Luke pushed people aside until he reached them then tapped Cole on
the shoulder. He probably should have brought a bucket of cold
water with him, he thought as Cole ignored him and continued
kissing the woman. He glanced to the center of the floor and saw
that Sabrina had quit dancing too and was staring at Cole and the
blonde with tears of anger in her eyes. The cowboy was pulling on
her arm trying to get her moving again, but she shrugged him off
then turned and stormed off the floor headed straight for the door.
The cowboy followed right behind her.
"C'mon let's go Cole. We need to go catch up
with Sabrina, she might be able to give us a ride home."
"Nah, I'm staying here, but you go ahead if
you want to ride with her," he said then looked down into the
blonde's eyes and smiled. "I saw that cowboy follow her out, he'll
probably be taking her home," there was pain beneath his nonchalant
words, Luke heard it.
"Fine," Luke said then added
'stubborn
dumbass fool
' under his breath as he headed for the front door
to catch up with Sabrina.
The breezy warm night air sobered him up a
little when he burst out through the front door of the bar and
stepped into the night. Luke stopped and looked up and down the
street for his truck. He knew Sabrina had to have driven it to
town, because there wasn't any other vehicles available to her at
the ranch. He finally found it parked across the street down a
block, and ran across the road to the sidewalk on the other
side.
When he got one foot on the sidewalk, Luke
saw her struggling with the cowboy who she'd been dancing with
earlier, while he tried to kiss her. The drunk bastard had his
hands all over her, and Luke took off at a dead run for them.
He stopped in his tracks through when he saw
her knee came up between the guys legs then in quick succession she
shoved the heel of her hand into his nose, then gave him a fist on
either side of his head near his ears, before stepping on his foot
pushing him back on his ass. The guy laid there rolling around
holding his balls curled in the fetal position while he bled from
the nose like a stuck pig. Luke wanted to laugh, but he wanted to
make sure she was okay first.
He walked up to her with a smile on his
face, "Good job, darlin'. You okay?" Sabrina might be a small
woman, but she evidently packed a wallop, he thought as he looked
down at the guy on the ground who was very near tears and chuckled.
"Stay here, I need a ride home. Let me go get Cole to clean up the
trash...I'll be right back."
"I don't want to see him," she said angrily
her eyes sparkling a dangerous sapphire blue.
"You don't have to, sugar...we'll leave as
soon as I tell him," Luke told her with understanding then headed
back to the bar.
When he got inside, he found Cole sitting at
the bar now drinking another beer. The blonde wasn't anywhere
around, and his friend looked like hell. His face was strained his
shoulders slumped, and his chin about touched his chest. Luke
walked over and slapped him on the back, "You need to call a unit
to come pick up the guy out on the sidewalk about a block
down."
Cole perked up a little and looked at him,
but his voice lacked luster when he asked Luke, "You kick someone's
ass again? Do I need to arrest you?"
Luke threw up his hands and laughed. "Not me
this time...Sabrina."
Cole vaulted up from the stool and got in
Luke's face, "What the fuck do you mean?"
"The cowboy got grabby, and she put him in
his place...and then some."
"Holy, shit!" he shouted then pushed Luke to
the side and ran for the door. He was across the street and down to
the truck, before Luke could catch him. Luke saw him reach down and
jerk the cowboy up by the shirt front, before he pulled back his
arm, about to plant his fist in the guys face. Luke got there just
in time to grab his elbow. Sabrina leaned against the truck with
her legs crossed and her arms folded over her chest.
"Get a grip on yourself man, or you'll be
the one in jail tonight," Luke hissed near his ear. Cole let go of
the man's shirt then pushed his shoulder causing him to stumble,
before the guy dropped to his knees and bent over. "Just call
someone to come pick him up."
"I wanna beat the fuck out of him," Cole
said in a slurred voice, before he walked over and roughly turned
the man on his stomach and pulled his arm up behind him then put
his knee in the center of the guy's back.
"Don't do it man, you've got to be in my
wedding tomorrow. Cassie would shoot you," Luke reminded him.
"Besides, I think Sabrina has pretty much already done that for
you," Luke told him then gave in to the laughter he'd been holding
back.
He wound up leaning against the truck,
snorting and gasping for breath, until he saw Sabrina push away
from the truck and sashay around to the driver's side with a
purposeful angry stride. She pushed the unlock button, then opened
the door and launched herself up into the seat and cranked the
truck.
Luke grabbed the passenger door and flung it
open, just managing to get himself seated before she hit the
accelerator. "Whoa, sugar...you're gonna throw me out," he said
unsteadily, as he reached to shut the door right before the big
truck launched down the street.
She had the seat shoved so far up to reach
the pedals, his knees were almost right under the dashboard, he
turned them sideways and sat against the door. Her breasts were
pressed against the wheel, and her chin was tilted up so she could
see over the steering wheel. Luke chuckled at the sight she made.
"Cassie should have given you a phone book to sit on."
She glanced at him then back to the road,
her hands tight on the wheel at ten and two. "I could probably use
two--this big truck compensating for something, honey?" she asked
sassily with a grin.
Luke sat up straighter, insulted. "You sure
have a smart mouth on you, honey, for someone driving
my
truck."
She snorted, then said, "I'm driving your
drunk ass home in this truck,
honey
. Be thankful that Cassie
won't have to kill you."
He folded his arms over his chest, and shut
up. He wasn't going to win a verbal war with this sharp witted
woman while his wits were steeped in alcohol.
"Nothing more to say?" she asked with a
chuckle. When he didn't say anything, she threw her head back and
laughed. "Didn't think so."
"Just drive," Luke told her sullenly. "And
don't wreck my truck."
A few minutes later, she pulled the truck to
a stop in the yard, then cut the engine and tossed him his keys.
"Here you go, stud. Now go answer to your wife."
With that, she opened her door and slid down
from the truck, leaving him behind her smiling. Yeah, she was more
than a match for Cole. Smart, sassy and more than capable...not to
mention beautiful. He hoped his friend could work it out with her.
Luke opened his door and got out, stumbling a bit in his alcohol
fog, then went inside to face the music.
***
Saturday, the day of her wedding, dawned
hot, humid and sticky with gray puffy clouds that threatened rain.
They desperately needed the rain, but she desperately didn't want
to see on her wedding day, even if the old wives tale said it meant
their love would withstand all weather. That was fine, but Cassie
just prayed it would hold off until
after
the ceremony, at
least. They had tents set up for the reception, so if it rained
then, it wouldn't really matter.
Cassie and Sabrina were busy attaching bows
to the innermost chairs skirting the aisle. They'd decorate the
gazebo next with the flowers the florist had delivered earlier.
"Okay, what's your something blue for
today?" Sabrina asked her fluffing out the loops on the bow she'd
just placed.
"My engagement ring...it has sapphires."
"Is it also your something new?" Sabrina
suggested.
Cassie shook her head and smiled. "That's my
dress, hat and boots."
"What about something old?"
"I'm wearing my mama's brooch. It looks
great with my dress," Cassie told her shoving baby's breath in her
bow's center then hesitating before she said with sentimental tears
choking her, "I wish my mama was here for today..."
She heard Sabrina suck in a breath, then
felt her kneel beside her, before she put her arms around Cassie's
shoulders. "I know how you feel Cassie...but I bet
your
mama
is looking down from heaven today with a smile. I didn't know her,
but I believe she'd be proud of all you've accomplished and gone
through to get here."