Man of the West by Sadie Callahan

Author:Sadie Callahan
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Penguin Publishing Group
Published: 2010-09-15T00:00:00+00:00

17

Pat checked the time. Five p.m. Suzanne’s earlier visit had shattered his concentration. He had been unable to make himself spend the rest of the afternoon grappling with the mind of a knot-head horse. He had spent the time cleaning his barn instead. A simple physical task was all he could handle. Now he was filthy with barn dust and dirt. He returned to his house, showered and shampooed his hair, then put on old jeans and a T-shirt, all the while steeling himself against behaving like a jealous asshole when Suzanne showed up after work. The last thing he wanted to do was alienate her by being too possessive. At the same time, he was just plain pissed off that she would lie to him about where she had been all day Thursday.

He heard her truck at five fifteen. He walked outside and waited on the front porch. She parked in his driveway, slid out and came to him with a phony smile. She looked like hell. She had dark circles under her eyes and had been crying. He suspected she intended to kiss him, but he knew he couldn’t respond in the usual way, so he clutched her arms and held her away.

“What’s wrong?” she said, looking up at him.

Fury zinged through him. How dare she play with their future and be casual? “Can’t play this game anymore, Suzanne. Saw your old friend on TV a little earlier.”

With anger, emotions and his own insecurities riding at the forefront of good sense, the statement had just popped out of his mouth. He had intended to be a little more subtle.

He couldn’t describe all of the expressions that played across her face in a matter of a second. He saw a tiny twitch in a facial muscle, saw her eyes grow wet, but she didn’t cry.

“Can we to inside?” she said finally. “It’s hot out here.”

He released her arms and gestured toward the front door.

They entered his pleasantly cool living room. “Want a drink?” He walked toward the kitchen. Whether she wanted one or not, he needed one.

“Do you still have some Crown?” she asked from behind him.

“Jack Daniel’s.”

He reached into the cupboard, pulled out a half-full bottle of black label Jack and set it on the breakfast bar with a clunk. A couple of glasses followed. He poured a shot into his glass and threw it down without tasting it, grimacing as he felt the burn all the way down. He poured a second shot for himself, then poured one for her. “Want something with it?”

“Water, maybe.”

She placed her purse on the table, pulled out a chair and eased down to it as if she were exhausted. He thought about all the meals they had shared at that table, the laughs they’d had, the conversations they’d had, the plans they had made, the good times. He had shared everything with her. He turned on the tap, added a splash of water to her glass and handed it to her.

“Thanks.” She took a swallow that reddened her cheeks and made her cough.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.