Red Velvet Revenge (13 page)

“What are you looking at, pretty boy?” Ty growled. “Didn’t you hear the crack of your woman’s whip?”

Mel huffed a breath and wished she’d hit him with a knee to his sensitive parts instead of just stepping on his foot. Still, she didn’t want Tate to get thumped because of a stupid misunderstanding.

“Listen, Mr. Stokes,” she said in her most placating tone. “We don’t want any trouble. We’re just here to enjoy the rodeo and sell some cupcakes.”

“You’re the cupcake people,” he said. Then he tipped his hat back and laughed. “Excellent. Then you can just trot your behind over to my trailer with a box of cupcakes, and we’ll consider this matter done.”

“I don’t think so,” Tate growled. Mel could see that his fists were clenched and he’d set his feet apart in a fighter stance. Uh-oh. As far as she knew, Tate had had only one fight in his entire life.

When they were freshmen in high school, a nasty bully named Dwight Smith had teased Mel, who had been a bit portly at the time, calling her “Melephant.”

It got so bad she started hiding in the girls’ bathroom to avoid him and was chronically late to class. Until, one day, he did it in front of Tate, who hauled off and clobbered him, making Dwight cry. Dwight got a shiner and a new nickname—“Dwight No Fight”—and Tate got two weeks’ detention.

Mel was pretty sure he hadn’t had a fight since, and if she remembered right, he’d spent the hour after the fight puking up his breakfast in the boys’ bathroom. She didn’t think Ty was going to go down quite as swiftly as Dwight had, however.

“What do you mean, you don’t think so, Cupcake Boy?”
Ty asked. “In case you haven’t noticed, I am the star of this rodeo. Why, without me, it would be nothing.”

“Ty!” a voice barked, and Mel spun around to see Slim and his wife, Tammy, headed their way. “I think you need to apologize to Mel and Tate.”

“What for?” he asked. He glared at Slim and wobbled on his feet. “Aren’t they here for me?”

Even in the dim light, Mel could see the red creep up Slim’s neck and settle in his cheeks. A vein throbbed in his temple as he strived to keep his voice even.

“No, they’re not,” he said. “They’re here to make money, same as anyone else.”

“Pfff.” Ty waved a dismissive hand at Slim and turned back to Mel. “A dozen chocolate at my trailer—got it?”

Slim moved so fast, Mel didn’t even see him coming until he had Ty up against the wall with his slinged arm pressing against his neck. Ty’s goons looked to be stepping forward, and Tate moved to stand between them and Slim, blocking their way.

“I said apologize, and I meant it,” Slim said.

Tammy pressed her fingers over her lips as if trying to keep from crying out. Mel was with her. The tension in the air crackled like lightning as the two men stared each other down.

“You’re making a mistake, old man,” Ty said.

“You’re right,” Slim said. “I should have done this years ago when you started getting too big for your britches. Now apologize.”

Ty looked like he would refuse, but Slim pushed his arm against Ty’s neck and his arms flapped at his sides as his airway was cut off.

“Sorry,” Ty choked out. Slim released him and he sagged to the ground.

Slim looked at Ty’s goons. “Take him to his trailer to sleep it off.”

The men stepped forward, and they each grabbed an elbow and hauled Ty up to his feet. They half carried, half dragged him out of the stable.

Slim looked at Mel and Tate. “I’m sorry about that. Ty’s become…Well, a horse’s ass would be about the best description.”

“I don’t know,” Mel said. “I think I’d rather hang out with a horse’s behind than with him.”

Tammy broke out in a nervous laugh that busted the tension and made them all stand down from high alert.

“Hey, Lily is about to ride. You all are going to miss it.” Jake Morgan appeared at the end of the tunnel.

“Come with us,” Tammy said to Mel and Tate. “We have room in our box.”

Mel and Tate followed the Hazards up into the arena. The stands were full, and there was a strong smell of popcorn in the air. Big overhead lights were on, illuminating the entire arena.

The Hazards had a box right behind the judges’ booth, and they hurriedly sat down with Mel taking the seat between Tate and Jake.

“Is everything okay?” Jake asked. “Slim looks tense. What happened down there?”

“We had a run-in with Ty Stokes,” Mel said. “He was drunk.”

“Oh, that’s not good. From what I’ve seen, Ty’s a mean drunk,” Jake said with a shake of his head.

“What’s the deal between him and Slim?” Mel asked. “There seemed to be an awful lot of hostility between them.”

“Slim was Ty’s mentor,” Jake said. “It was way before I started working here, so I don’t know firsthand, but according to most everyone, they were very close.”

“So, what happened?”

“As far as I can figure, stardom got to Ty,” Jake said. “He started believing his own press. He thinks he’s the only reason the Juniper Pass Rodeo has survived for the past ten years. He’s been after Slim for a while to give him partial ownership of the rodeo. So far, Slim has said no.”

“Is it true?” she asked. “Is he the only reason the rodeo has survived?”

Jake looked uncomfortable, and he was reluctant when he said, “He does draw a big crowd.”

“So Ty thinks the rodeo owes him, and he’s pretty mad,” Mel guessed.

“Like a rattler about to strike,” Jake said.

Mel didn’t much like that metaphor. She had a small phobia about snakes.

“Contestant number four, Lily Hazard!” the announcer called out, and Mel turned her gaze to the arena. She could see Lily atop Cocoa Bar just above the gate. The horse looked eager, dancing from foot to foot. The gate shot open, and Lily and Cocoa Bar streaked forward.

Jake leaned close to Mel. “She has to get around those three barrels, making a clover pattern.” Then he leaned back to yell, “Woo-hoo, look at her go!”

Mel held her breath as Lily and Cocoa Bar cut close around the second barrel. Cocoa Bar was practically sideways,
he was going so fast in the tight turn, before opening it up to dash to the third. Then it was a flat-out run to the finish line. Mel jumped to her feet to applaud with the others. Lily and Cocoa Bar were breathtaking together, and the crowd went wild.

Mel stayed to watch the next two contestants, but they didn’t hold a candle to the time Lily and Cocoa Bar had posted. She glanced at her watch and knew she had to get back to the van to help close up for the night. She rose to her feet, and Tate and Jake stood with her.

“Thank you,” she said to Slim and Tammy. “That was amazing.”

“Don’t go yet,” Slim said. “It’s not over.”

“I have to,” she said regretfully. “But do tell Lily I thought she was magnificent.”

“I’ll go with you,” Tate said.

“No, you stay and watch,” Mel said. She looked him up and down in his Western wear. He was enjoying this too much for her to take him away; besides, she still felt a bit guilty for letting him have it earlier. “You can represent us.”

Jake tipped his hat at her, and Mel grinned. She decided she could get used to that.

She slipped out of the arena and headed back to the truck. It was full dark now, and the evening air was cool with the scents of pine and campfires. When she passed the barbecue pit, both Billy and Bob gave her smarmy waves. She ignored them, and they hooted with laughter.

She was pleased to see a line at the truck. Marty and Angie were dishing out cupcakes and chatting up their customers with a nice dose of friendly.

Mel climbed into the back and asked, “Okay, who wants a break?”

“You go,” Angie said to Marty. “Delia has paced by the van fifteen times; she’s going to wear a trench in the ground waiting for you.”

“Really?” Marty poked his head out the window and scouted left and right. “I never saw her.”

“That’s because you’re a man,” Angie said with a shake of her head. “You can’t manage to do more than one thing at a time.”

“Hey, that’s not true,” Marty said. He looked down at the ten-dollar bill in his hand. “Where’d this come from?”

“The customer standing in front of you waiting for change,” Mel said.

“Oh, yeah.” Marty opened up the cashbox, dropped the ten in, and counted out the person’s change. He handed the bills through the window, and then he stripped off his blue apron. “Well, if you’re sure you’re okay with me going…see ya.”

“No grass growing under his feet,” Angie said.

Mel pulled on her pink apron and joined her friend in the window.

“So, how was the barrel riding?” Angie asked.

Fourteen

Mel gave Angie a sideways glance as she handed out one chocolate cupcake and one vanilla cupcake to two little boys, whose heads barely reached the service window.

Their mother took two Red Velvets for herself and put the change in the tip jar. Mel glanced up to see the line remaining steady. She had to admit, despite this morning’s rocky start, Oz and Marty had been right. The cupcake van was a brilliant idea.

“Well? How was it? Did Little Miss Wrangler win?” Angie asked. She looked miffy, and Mel wondered how much to say.

“It was…exciting,” Mel said.

Angie’s face darkened, and Mel realized she had definitely picked the wrong adjective.

“What I mean is we had this altercation with Ty Stokes in the stable that got my heart pounding quite a bit.”

“What happened?” Angie was immediately diverted from the Tate-Lily thing, whatever that was, thank goodness.

Mel gave her the down-and-dirty version, skipping the part where Ty called Tate a poser and her a cow. Angie never handled insults to her friends well.

“I kind of feel like it was my fault,” Mel said.

“Because you bumped into him in the dark? That’s ridiculous.”

“Well, no, but it escalated so fast. I think if I’d just agreed to bring over some cupcakes, then Slim wouldn’t have gotten so mad at him.”

“It wasn’t you,” Angie said as she dished out three Tinkerbells to a group of teenage girls. “He sounds like a real jerk.”

“Yeah, but I was thinking I should drop off a box of cupcakes at his trailer as a peace offering.”

“No,” Angie said. “You need to stay out of it.”

“But…”

“Look, just because we’re called Fairy Tale Cupcakes does not mean we can guarantee a happy-ever-after.”

“I suppose, but still, from what Jake Morgan told me, the rodeo needs Ty more than Ty needs the rodeo.”

“Financial trouble?” Angie asked.

“He wasn’t specific, but it sounded like it,” Mel said.

“Man, Slim is having a bad week,” Angie said. “First he’s shot, then his flaky daughter starts a protest, and now his star is making trouble for everyone. I think he needs a box of cupcakes more than the jackass.”

“True, but if we can get Ty to calm down, then maybe things will go better for Slim,” Mel said.

Angie heaved a huge sigh. “Fine, but I’m going with you. I don’t trust that guy to behave.”

“With any luck, he’ll be passed out and we can just leave the cupcakes and go,” Mel said.

It was thirty minutes later when Mel and Angie locked up the truck for the night, making sure the remaining unfrosted cupcakes were in the freezers, the tubs of frosting were in the fridge, and the cashbox was locked up in the mini-safe Sal had installed.

Mel had boxed up some leftover chocolate cupcakes, and they were on their way to Ty’s trailer when Billy and Bob stepped out from their barbecue pit.

“Evenin’, ladies,” Bob said.

“Oh, look the Bubbas got out of their pen,” Angie said. “We’d better get the pig handlers over here to corral them.”

“Funny,” Billy said in a tone that indicated it was not. “So, like, we’d better call out the…the…dog warden, so he can catch some strays.”

They were all silent for a beat.

“Lame,” Angie said.

Billy looked at Bob, who gave him a headshake that clearly indicated he should back away from the repartee.

“We had a line all day,” Angie said. “Why, I can’t even count how many cupcakes we sold. I noticed things weren’t quite that busy over at the BBQ.”

Billy and Bob exchanged chagrined looks.

“It’s not over yet,” Bob said.

Angie tipped her head and studied him. “Oh, don’t worry. I bet you look pretty in pink.”

Mel balanced the box of cupcakes in one hand and grabbed Angie’s arm with the other. “Come on, before you tease yourself into a pair of Daisy Dukes. Night, boys!”

Billy and Bob glowered at them as they passed, and as soon as they were out of earshot, Mel turned on Angie. “Are you nuts? This is supposed to be a friendly wager. Do not turn it ugly.”

“Puleeze, as if those two need any help in the ugly department,” Angie said. She sounded crankier than ever.

“That’s not what I meant,” Mel said. “And you know it. Now, I get that you and Roach—”

Angie held up her hand. “Not open for discussion.”

“Fine,” Mel said. “But if you’re concerned about Lily and Tate, you don’t—”

“It’s none of my business,” Angie interrupted. “Tate’s a free man. He can do whatever he wants.”

Mel heaved a sigh. Fine. If Angie didn’t want to talk about it, that was just dandy with her. She was fed up with the Tate and Angie show—honestly, just like that Fonzi on water skis episode on
Happy Days
, it had jumped the shark.