Authors: Jodi Thomas
“Aren’t you Reid Collins’s brother?” the only one of the boys who could still form a sentence without drooling asked. “You look like him. Taller, maybe a little older. Got that same reddish-brown hair he’s got. Red River mud color if you ask me.”
Before Charley could say anything, another drunk shook his head wildly. “No brother of Reid would be a bartender.” He burped. “Collinses are rich. Deep-pocket rich. They own more land than a cowboy can ride across in a day.”
Charley moved down the bar, hoping to slip out of being the topic of conversation. He hated the way they’d been talking about women all night, but that was better than listening to a conversation about him.
The sober one continued just loud enough for Charley to hear.
“I heard Reid had a big brother a couple of years older than him. Papa Collins disowned his oldest son. I remember Reid saying his dad had an armed guard escort his brother off the ranch like he was some kind of criminal. Collins told his own son that if he ever set foot on the land again, he’d have him shot for trespassing.”
Charley picked up the box of beer bottles and headed outside. He’d heard enough. He needed air.
It took several steps before the noise and smell of the bar cleared, but he walked all the way to the alley. He set the bottles down by the trash and stared at the open land behind the Two Step Bar as he took a deep breath. He needed clean air and space and silence. He was born for open country, and he had no idea how he’d survive working in a beer joint and living above it in a tiny two-room apartment.
Every time he swore things couldn’t get worse, they did.
Staring at the full moon, he felt like cussing or drinking his trouble away, but neither option was open. He couldn’t quit and he couldn’t run. Not without a stake to start over somewhere else. Charley had a feeling that
somewhere else
wouldn’t fit him anyway. This part of Texas was in his blood. He belonged here even if it did seem half the people for a hundred miles around were trying to run him out.
Like a miner taking one last breath before climbing back down the hole, Charley filled his lungs and turned around.
He saw a woman in the shadows near the back door. She was tall and perfectly built, even in silhouette. Long dark hair circled around her in the breeze. For a moment he hoped she was a ghost. Lately he’d been a lot less afraid of spirits than women.
As he got closer, he could make out her face, not that he needed more than the outline of her body to know who she was. “Hello, Lexie. You miss the turnoff to the ladies’ room?”
Her laugh was low and sexy. She had to be several years older than him, but nothing about Lexie had changed from the beauty queen she’d been in high school. He’d seen her come in an hour ago with some guy in a business suit and fancy boots.
“I followed you, Charley.” She waited like a spider waits for a fly to land on the web. “Anyone ever tell you you’re one hell of a handsome man? I was trying to concentrate on my new husband, but all I could do was stare at you. You got that mixture of Prince Charming and bad boy down pat. I can tell how good a man is in bed just by the way he moves and, honey, you are walking sex appeal.”
Charley thought about arguing. She must be blind. He was two months past due for a haircut, four days late on shaving, and he’d slept in the jeans and T-shirt he had on for the past two nights.
“Yeah, I’ve heard that line before,” he answered her question. “My last stepmother told me how irresistible I was about an hour before my father disowned me.”
Lexie moved closer. “Must have been one wild hour.”
He wasn’t about to go into detail. Half the town probably already knew the story. He’d been screwing up his life since high school. Bulls had more sense than he did when it came to sex.
“What time do you get off, Charley? We could have some fun after midnight. My sweetie has to head back to Dallas in a few minutes.”
“Thanks for the offer, but I’m not interested.” He unwound himself from her arm.
He almost ran through the open door, forcing himself back into the noise and the smells as if they were a lesser kind of hell than what she was offering.
A few hours later, the bar was quiet and all the drunks were gone. He washed the last of the shot glasses and headed upstairs, nodding good-night to the bar owner, Ike Perez, as he passed.
“Tell Daniela to hurry on down. I don’t want to wait on her.” Perez sounded gruffer than he really was. In truth he’d been one of the few in town to even give Charley a chance. He had lots of one-day part-time seasonal jobs, but he needed something regular. This job came with low pay for weekend work and a place to live.
Charley tapped on his own apartment door. Twelve-year-old Daniela Perez, rubbing her eyes, pulled the door open. “I know,” she mumbled. “Papa is ready to go.”
“My little princess asleep?” Charley asked. Daniela was young, but she made a good babysitter.
“Yeah. I got a new strategy.” Daniela giggled. “I let her watch TV until she nods off. Otherwise she never stops talking. That kid has an imagination that won’t quit.”
Charley handed Daniela her backpack. “Thanks.” He passed her a ten, half his tips money for the night.
“No problem. I’d rather be here than home alone.” She clomped down the stairs as he closed the door. “Good night, Mr. Collins. See you next weekend.”
Charley tugged off his boots and tiptoed into the bedroom. A tiny night-light lit the room just enough for him to see the bump in the bed. Carefully, he sat down beside Lillie and pulled his daughter’s small body close, loving the smell of her. Loving the soft feel of her hair.
“Good night, pumpkin,” he whispered. “I love you to the end of forever.”
Lillie stretched sleepily as her arm circled his neck. “I love you, too, Daddy.”
He rocked her small body until he knew she was fully asleep, then moved into the living room. Taking the blanket and pillow from behind the couch, he tried to make his long legs fit into the small space.
He smiled into the silence. Lillie was his only blessing in a life full of mistakes. His father had been furious when Charley had gotten his college girlfriend pregnant. Eventually, Davis Collins had gone along with them getting married and given Charley a small allowance, but he’d never invited Sharon or Lillie to the ranch. Collins had never even seen his only grandchild.
Then, a year after Lillie was born, Sharon left Charley, claiming motherhood wasn’t her thing. Charley had another fight with his dad when Davis found out Charley planned to keep the baby. He refused to increase Charley’s allowance to cover child care, so Charley worked thirty hours a week and carried a full course load. Sharon’s parents agreed to look after Lillie on Charley’s rare visits to his father’s ranch. Davis wanted no part of the youngest family member to carry the Collins name.
Charley survived almost two years taking care of Lillie alone...almost to graduation, when he’d have his degree and could forget about any family but Lillie. He’d thought his father would turn over the ranch to him and move to Dallas permanently. Maybe Davis would even eventually accept Lillie.
Then Charley messed up again. Big-time. Funny, looking back he’d had no thought of sleeping with his father’s very young, very attractive fourth wife until she walked into his room and his brain shut down.
At first he thought his father would cool down. After all, Davis bragged all the time about sleeping with other men’s wives. Even after his dad kicked him off the ranch, Charley thought he’d go back to school and finish his last semester. But no money came in for rent or tuition. His car was repossessed. He took incompletes in his courses, planning to return to college as soon as he got on his feet. But there was Lillie to take care of and a kid couldn’t live in the back of an old pickup and grow up on fast food.
He had finally given up trying to survive and stay in school. He’d borrowed enough to buy an old pickup and made it back to Crossroads. Now Lillie was five and he was no closer to finishing school. No closer to getting his life in order.
He’d sworn off women forever. He’d probably never live down what he’d done. Not in this town. Only he lived with the shame and got up every morning and did the same jobs he hated because of Lillie.
That first year after Sharon left she’d cried for her mother. Charley made up his mind that she’d never cry for him and vowed no matter what mistakes in life she made, she’d never stop being his daughter.
In the stillness of his little apartment over the bar, Charley counted the jobs he had lined up for the next week. Cowboying on two ranches for one day each, hauling for the hardware store on Wednesday, stocking at the grocery any morning he could.
His ex-wife’s parents, Ted and Emily, helped when they could. They’d take Lillie to preschool on the mornings he had to leave before dawn, and pick her up on the days he didn’t get off work early enough. But every night, Charley wanted to be the one to tuck her in.
Sharon’s folks were kind people. She’d apparently abandoned them as well when she’d left Lillie. They hadn’t heard from her in over a year and that had been only a postcard saying she was moving to LA. The old couple didn’t have much, but they were good to Lillie. Some days he thought the kid was their only sunshine.
He smiled as he drifted to sleep. He had a very special standing date come morning. Saturdays he made pancakes with Lillie and then they’d saddle up her pony and his quarter horse and ride down into Ransom Canyon while the air was still cold and the day was newborn. They’d ride and talk and laugh. He’d tell her stories his grandfather had told him about the early days when longhorn cattle and wild mustangs ran across the land.
When they stopped to rest, she’d beg him for real stories. Her favorite was all about the great buffalo herds and how, when they stampeded, they’d shake the ground.
She’d giggle when she put her hand on the earth and swear she could feel the herd headed toward them.
Charley would laugh with her and, just for a moment, he’d feel like the richest man alive.
Copyright © 2016 by Jodi Koumalats
ISBN-13: 9781460391914
Rustler’s Moon
Copyright © 2016 by Jodi Koumalats
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