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“What’s wrong?”
“Nothing.” She wiped her palms across her face. “I’m fine.”
“You don’t look fine. What happened?”
“Nothing. What are you doing here?”
“Dropping someone off.”
“Who? Tawnie?”
I frowned and looked up at the door on the second floor that she came out of. “Is this where Blake is staying?”
“I have to go. Lee-Anne’s going to be worried about me.”
“I’ll drive you.”
“No thanks.” She rushed across the parking lot headed towards the highway.
“Shae-Lynn, get in the truck. I’m not going to let you walk along a pitch black highway.”
She waved her arm over her head in a don’t-worry-about-me way and kept walking. I hopped in the truck and pulled out onto the highway. I drove slowly on the shoulder behind her with my head hanging out the window.
“Leave me alone, Billy.”
“I’m going to drive two kilometres an hour all the way back if you don’t get in the truck.”
She kept walking. A couple cars passed and honked.
“Uh, Shae-Lynn, I’m pretty sure it’s not all that safe for me to be driving like this.”
“Then go,” she snapped.
“I’m not leaving you here, so unless you want to witness me getting killed when a semi-truck rams up my ass, I suggest you get in the truck.”
She stopped and looked up at the sky. After an eighteen-wheeler honked at us, she shook her head in exasperation, then got in the passenger side.
“What happened?” I asked again as I shoulder checked and pulled out into the lane.
“None of your business.”
“Did Blake hurt you?”
She stared out the side window for a while before she mumbled, “No.”
“I’m going to beat the truth out of him if you don’t tell me.”
“It wasn’t that big of a deal. He wanted more from me than I felt like giving, so I left.”
“Didn’t he offer to drive you back?”
She didn’t answer.
“What an asshole. I’m going to beat his ass.”
“I didn’t give him a chance to offer to give me a ride. I just left.”
“I didn’t see him running after you.”
She shook her head, unimpressed. “What kind of guy expects a girl will sleep with him after one date? A girl doesn’t do that unless she is a complete slut. You know that, right?”
I glanced at her and gripped the steering wheel, wondering if she saw right through me and already knew what I’d done with Tawnie.
“Why would he even think I was like that?”
“He was just hoping you were. You did go back to his room with him.”
“So? He said we were going to watch a movie.” She glared at me and her lip curled. “You think it’s my fault.”
“No.”
“Is ‘let’s watch a movie’ code for ‘let’s have sex?’”
“No, not necessarily.”
“Do you hope that girls will be slutty enough to sleep with you after just one date?”
I winced, positive that she had already figured it out. What the hell. If she already knew I was a dirt bag, I might as well be honest with her. “If a girl is going to offer sex on the first date, I’m not going to turn it down. But I don’t expect it.”
“Do you ever end up liking the girls who give it away on the first date?”
I knew what the answer was, but I didn’t say anything. My non response obviously confirmed what she already suspected. She sat back and stared out the passenger side window. We drove for a while in silence before I said, “I’ll take care of him.”
“No.” She pointed at me in a threatening way. “I don’t want you talking to him about it.”
“I’m not going to talk to him about it.”
“I don’t want you fighting with him about it either.”
I turned into the arena grounds and drove over the grass field. Most of the participants had left, so there were only a few campers and trailers speckled around.
“I’m serious,” she said. “If you do anything, I will never speak to you again.”
“That’s too bad, but I guess that’s the way it’s going to have to be.”
She groaned and fought to hold back a scream. “Don’t be an asshole, Billy.”
“Making sure Blake knows that it’s not okay to treat you like that doesn’t make me an asshole.”
She stared at me, letting what I said sink in. Her expression fluctuated and I had trouble reading it before she said, “He didn’t do anything wrong. He was just too eager. I want to forget about it. Promise you won’t do anything.”
“What do you care what I do to him? You weren’t even into him in the first place.”
The crease deepened between her eyebrows. “What makes you say that?”
“I could tell.”
“How?”
“I just could. Turns out Cole might actually know as much about women as he claims to.”
She rolled her eyes to disagree. “You guys don’t know anything.”
“So, you did like Blake?”
“No, and I don’t want everyone knowing that I was stupid enough to go to the hotel room with him. It’s embarrassing and it makes me look bad. Please don’t make it into a big deal.” She started crying. “Promise?”
I didn’t like seeing her cry, so I nodded.
“Say it.”
Although Blake needed to be set straight, the hurt tone of her voice was killing me and I wanted to make her feel better, so I gave in. “I promise.”
Satisfied that I’d given her my word, she got out of the truck, swung the door shut, and ran over to the motorhome. There was a little red truck parked in front of our camper, which meant I had no place to sleep. I stretched out on the bench seat and spent the rest of the night thinking about Tawnie, Blake, and Shae-Lynn.
By the morning, the only thing I had figured out was how I was going to handle things with Blake, while still keeping my promise to Shae-Lynn. The door to the camper opened at about six and Cole kissed the curly haired girl goodbye. As she got into her little red truck, I walked over to the camper.
“Hey,” he said, still sounding half asleep. “Did you sleep in the truck?”
“I wouldn’t call it sleeping.” I stepped inside and undressed to take a shower. “You have to drive back to Saskatoon. I’m too tired.”
“I don’t want to go all the way home,” he whined. “Can’t we just go straight to Vancouver Island?”
“I’m not going with you. This was a one time deal.”
He frowned and sat at the dinette. “What happened with Tawnie?”
I leaned on the bathroom doorframe, not intending to answer. “How well do you know Blake?”
He shrugged. “Same as you do. Why?”
“He tried to take advantage of Shae-Lynn and left her to walk home by herself along the highway. I had to pick her up.”
“Is she all right?”
“I don’t know. She wouldn’t really talk about it.”
Cole shook his head and his fingers tightened into fists. I smiled because I knew my plan would work just fine. He glanced out the window in the direction of the Roberts’ motorhome, already plotting to defend her honour. There were a bunch of empty beer bottles on the table in front of him.
“You know you shouldn’t drink when you’re on that medication.”
“I didn’t,” he said as he cleared them off the table. “That chick was a lush.”
“She drank six beers all by herself?”
He smiled the kind of smile that made it hard to stay mad at him. I shook my head, tired of being his babysitter, then closed the bathroom door.
“Hey, you didn’t answer the question about Tawnie,” he shouted through the door.
I turned the water on so I couldn’t hear him.
Chapter 5 (#u0bc3ffe7-22df-521f-bc8e-9ae95e98ec54)
Cole drove for the first four hours back to Saskatoon, then we stopped for lunch. He went to the restroom in the restaurant and while I was sitting at the table waiting for the waitress, my phone rang.
“Hey, Mom.”
“You didn’t call yesterday. I was worried.”
“Sorry. We’re fine. Cole didn’t win any prize money.”
“I heard you bought a horse.”
Shit. I had seriously forgotten about that. It hadn’t occurred to me that it was going to be hard to never see Tawnie again if she was taking care of my damn horse. I rubbed the stress in my neck, cursing the rodeo gossip grape vine that worked at the speed of light. “How’d you hear that?”
“Doreen Roberts called yesterday. She’d been talking to Lee-Anne, so I got the whole story. What are you going to do with a horse?”
“I don’t know. She’s fast though. I can probably resell her for a profit if she does well in the next couple competitions.”
“Why don’t you get Shae to ride her? She’s better than that other girl.”
It was a good idea, but she’d never go for it. “Shae-Lynn’s got Harley.”
“How are those little Roberts girls doing?”
“Well, they’re not so little anymore.”
“I hope you’re keeping an eye on them around all those rowdy cowboys now that their mom’s not with them. Their dad doesn’t even know they’re touring.”
“They’re fine.”
“How’s your brother?”
I looked up and saw him coming back from the restroom. “He’s right here. You can talk to him yourself. Love you.” I handed the phone to Cole as he sat down across from me at the table.
“Hey, Ma.” He took his hat off and scratched his head as he listened to her. “Tell them to reschedule it…Why can’t they do it earlier?…I don’t care if that’s the only time the psychiatrist is available. I’m already registered for Luxton… I’ve been fine in case you hadn’t noticed…Whatever.” He sat back and slouched down. “No… It’s a waste of time…” He rolled his eyes and sat back up to lean his elbows on the table. “Listen, Mom, I know you’re just trying to help, but I’m twenty-two years old. I don’t need my mom confirming doctor’s appointments for me — especially when I’m not sick.” He shook his head while he listened. She talked for a long time then he said, “Yeah. Bye.” He hung up and handed the phone back to me. “Why’d you do that? You know I hate talking to her about that kind of stuff. Now I’m upset.” He stood, put his hat on, and left the restaurant.
I ate by myself to give him time to cool off. Then I ordered him a clubhouse sandwich and took it back to the truck. He was sitting in the passenger seat with earphones in, so I climbed into the driver’s seat and headed towards the Saskatchewan border.
