Rodeo Blues (21 page)

"What will this prove?" she asked, but her
words had no conviction. Mayor Dirkly wanted her to see it. There
had to be a reason, and she didn't believe it was so she could see
what a fool she'd been. Though, she was probably plenty of that
too. "We were plastered," she said, just in case he wanted to
change his mind and toss the DVD in the trash.

No such luck.

He slid the DVD closer toward her. "Take this
home. You tell me if I should have refused you."

She regarded the DVD case as if it would
bite. "I can't fathom what difference it will make. So I proclaimed
my love or some other nonsense."

"I deal with the facts, Jolie. You and Tye
came to me and asked me to marry you. You declared your love for
Tye and he did the same. Before you decide it's all been one big
mistake, I think you should take a look at the DVD, and then have
that well overdue chat with your husband." He reached for her hand
and placed the item firmly in her palm. "When you have the chance,
watch it. My grandpappy always told me: when making life-changing
decisions, sleep on it before making your demands. I'm giving you
the same advice. If you still want the annulment after watching
this, come tomorrow, I'll grant you and Tye an annulment without a
fuss."

She wanted to protest further, but really,
what difference did it make? "Fine." She nodded. "I'll take a look.
Might have myself some popcorn while I watch." Her statement
dripped with sarcasm, but Mayor Dirkly didn't seem to notice, or
maybe he just didn't care to acknowledge her surly mood a moment
longer.

"You do that. Have a good day, Jolie." He
headed for the door, obviously deciding his mission had been
accomplished.

She stared at the DVD then grabbed it and
shoved it in her purse beneath the counter.

"There you are."

She looked up as her father strode in wearing
his button up white shirt and slacks. He was probably on his way to
the medical tent. "Hi, Daddy." Then she remembered she was supposed
to meet with him, but with Tye and her mad rush to the hospital,
she'd forgotten all about it.

Her father looked around the store then
asked, "Are we alone?"

"Yes," she said slowly. "What's going
on?"

Her father placed a manila envelope on the
counter.

"What's this?" she asked.

"What Tye has been hiding from you. I think
you'll want to see this."

Chapter Twenty-Nine

Tye arrived back at his hotel room and
plugged his phone into the charger. As soon as it had enough of a
charge, the darn thing started beeping at him. He reached for it
and found he had a slew of messages. Mayor Dirkly had called ten
times. "What in the world," he murmured and decided to return his
call first. "Hello, Mayor. What's the urgency?"

"Thank goodness. I thought you'd never return
my calls. You haven't been by to see Jolie yet, have you?"

"No," he said as he removed his shirt. He
needed a shower and headed into the bathroom to start the water. "I
was at the hospital." He'd been there all night. Chris' wife
arrived at the hospital early this morning. Her flight had been
delayed, and he didn't want to leave her until the doctors came
back with the news about her husband's condition.

"You could have called sooner," Mayor Dirkly
said. "You do have one of those handy devices called a cell phone,
don't you?"

He sighed. "I didn't bring my charger and it
died on me."

Mayor Dirkly
harrumphed
. "You should
plan for these things."

Tye rolled his eyes, becoming more impatient
as the seconds ticked by. He was tired, wanted to clean up and then
lie down for a few hours. "Did you call me for a reason?"

"Oh yes. Had me a nice chat with Jolie
earlier."

Tye paused. The sound of the water spraying
against the tiles was the only thing he heard for a few seconds,
that and his heart pounding in his ears.

"Are you still there?" the Mayor asked.

"Yeah. What exactly did you talk about?"

"Not so much what I said, but what I gave her
to watch."

"No." Tye shook his head, as if this would
make it not so. "Tell me you didn't give her the DVD of our
wedding."

"I did."

"No, no, no," he whined as he made a fist and
brought it down, wanting so bad to hit something. "I told you not
to give it to her." He turned off the water and strode back into
the bedroom searching for a clean shirt in the pile he had on the
bed.

He had hurt Jolie when he left town all those
years ago. At the time, he'd believed he was doing what was best
for her, but he shouldn't have left her the way he had. He should
have done right by her and faced her like a man with the reasons
why he packed up his belongings and skedaddled out of town. He
should have faced her when he thought she'd decided Jhett was the
one for her. Just another one to add to the lists of mistakes he'd
made. It was no wonder she didn't want to give him another chance.
He didn't
deserve
one.

"Listen," the Mayor said, "you didn't give
her the DVD. I did. Give the woman some credit. So she had a few
drinks. What she said isn't a lie. I married enough folks to know
when the bride and groom truly love each other."

He wasn't going to argue with Mayor Dirkly.
He had the right to his opinions, even if they were flat out wrong
– well, half-wrong, anyway. He did love Jolie. He'd never stopped
loving her. "I gotta go." He ended the call then looked to see who
else had been trying to reach him. Buddy left a message and there
were two missed calls from Jolie.

She'd left a message, but when he listened to
it, he knew it had been left early this morning, since she wanted
to know if he'd gotten back to the hotel all right, and she wanted
to know if there had been any news about Chris' condition. The
second call, she didn't leave a message.

He glanced at the time. The Mayor had given
her the DVD hours ago. He couldn't dare to hope she hadn't seen it
yet. He rushed back into the bathroom and was about to splash some
water on his face, but one look in the mirror and he knew he
couldn't face Jolie looking like he'd been dragged behind a bull.
He turned on the shower again. Ten minutes later he was out, dried
off, had put on some deodorant, and grabbed the clean shirt,
shoving his arms into the sleeves.

Once he was seated in the truck, he called
Jolie back. He was half surprised she picked up. "Where are you?"
he asked. She told him she was at home and twenty minutes later, he
parked in her driveway. He stared at her quaint home with a
welcoming porch swing, just waiting for a couple to happen upon
it.

"You can do this," he murmured. He headed up
the walk, but before he could knock, the front door swung open,
revealing Jolie. She must have heard his truck pull up.

She wore her hair in a ponytail, and she'd
donned a vintage T-shirt and cutoff shorts. Oh, those legs of hers
– long and firm – and she was barefoot too. Ten polished toenails
peeked at him, and there was a frilly flower painted on each of her
big toes.

Without a word, she held open the screen.

He removed his hat as he stepped into her
house and placed it on the coat rack next to hers. She had the air
conditioner running. It proved a welcome reprieve from the
sweltering heat outside.

"Do you want a glass of ice tea?" she
asked.

"Uh…sure." He was trying to gauge her mood,
but had no luck. She appeared calm and collected, and she put on a
good show at being the good hostess too, but something told him
this was all a facade, and when she was good and ready, she'd let
him have it.

"Want lemon?" she asked as she poured the
brew into tall mugs filled with ice.

"No, I'm fine," he told her.

"Suit yourself." She shrugged. "By the way,
how's Chris Burns? Any news on his condition?" she asked and headed
to the table with the mugs.

He pulled out a chair for her, then took a
seat catty-cornered to hers. "He's going to be fine. He didn't
break his back. Cracked a few ribs, broke his leg, and fractured
his arm. Considering the alternative, he came out of this better
than expected. I would have called, but my phone died and…" he let
the feeble excuse fade into silence.

She sipped her tea, and then said, "I'm glad
he's going to be all right."

"Jolie…" She met his gaze and his heart
stuttered. She'd been crying. Her eyes were bloodshot and the
tender skin below looked puffy. He hadn't noticed that earlier, but
then her legs had been a distraction.

"Why did you come back to town again?" she
asked. "How about we go with the truth this time and not something
you think I want to hear."

He swallowed the lump in his throat. "You
know why."

Her gaze hardened. "That's all you're going
to say."

He didn't know what she was fishing for. Was
she talking about the DVD? Had she watched it? All of it? If so,
her question didn't make sense. "What you said at our wedding…I
know you meant it. Deep down you must have meant it."

She frowned, then shook her head. "I don't
give a damn about the DVD and what I said on it. We should have
never been there. It should have never happened."

"Don't say that," he said, but she opened her
mouth to say more. On impulse, he stood and leaned forward, taking
hold of her shoulders for support and kissed her, swallowing her
words beneath teeth and tongue. She didn't resist, but she didn't
wholeheartedly participate either.

Finally, their lips parted, but he didn't let
her go. Their breath mingled as one as the silence grew unbearable.
"Maybe I didn't stop you because it's what I wanted. It's what I've
dreamt about for years." She shook her head as she pushed him away.
He let her go and sat down again.

"Please, forgive me," she said, the sarcasm
ringing loud and clear, "if I think you're full of—"

"I love you," he blurted out, drowning out
her words.

Silence again, the real killer to a
relationship. Everyone believed arguing was the culprit, but it
wasn't. Silence meant there was nothing more to say, nothing to
fight for. Silence made it easier to turn your back on someone and
walk away.

"I love you," he said again, quieter, but
with enough conviction she couldn't deny he meant it. "I've always
loved you. I've never stopped loving you." He threw up his hands in
frustration.

She pushed her chair back and stood. "Stop
saying that. You lie, and you don't keep your word. So you sure in
the heck don't know what love is, 'cause you wouldn't do either of
those if you did." She strode over to the kitchen counter. She
reached for a manila envelope on the breadbox and immediately
returned and plopped it in front of him.

"What's this?" he asked.

"I've had a few special deliveries this
morning at the store. This among them."

"I take it they weren't from the Avon
lady."

Her hands fisted at her hips and her glare
was enough to make him shrink in his seat. He could be sarcastic
also, but now probably wasn't the time when he was scrambling to
make peace. He cleared his throat. "Who came by?" Though with one
peek of the legal jargon on the papers he had a pretty good idea
who the second visitor was, but he wanted her to say it.

"Doesn't really matter, does it?"

"Listen, I don't know what Jhett told you,
but—"

"You're shutting down Reeves Construction
Company," she spoke over him, and he closed his mouth. Trying to
make excuses wouldn't win him points. "You're the big shot
everyone's been talking about for ages," she accused. "The oil
drill on your daddy's land is yours." She chuckled bitterly as she
put all the pieces together. "Here I thought when your daddy died
that someone else took over the property. I thought you made your
money from the rodeo circuit. You let me believe you did."

"I was going to tell you about that."

"But you didn't. You're finally rich," she
said, as if the thought disgusted her. "How does it feel, Tye? Does
it feel great to be on top so you can crush those beneath you?"

He didn't like the way she viewed him. This
hadn't been part of his plan when he thought to come back home and
win her over. He didn't tell her about the oil drill, because then
she would know he was the one building the house there. That was
supposed to be a surprise, a wedding present, but how could he tell
her this when she didn't want to stay married?

Instead, he blurted out the first thing that
came to his mind. "Jhett had no business giving you those papers."
He should have kept his mouth shut.

"Is that all you have to say?" She threw up
her hands.

"No." He pushed the envelope away. He didn't
have to read what was inside to know how damaging the information
would look. He stood too, and tried to reach for her.