“What in damnation’s going on here!?”
“That’s not damnation,” said Teddy, already slightly drunk, “that’s Grayson and Samuel singing.”
“And you!” Wolf pointed an accusatory finger at Ruby. I could tell from the red gloss over his eyes that he’d been drinking. The finger he pointed at her wasn’t steady, either. It wavered and swayed, a bit like Wolf himself who had to hold on to the railing with his other hand lest he fall off the bleachers. “What did I tell you ‘bout coming round here?”
“She’s with me, Wolf,” I said. Those words sounded great to my ears; they sounded right: ‘She’s with me.’
His finger moved off of Ruby and he aimed it at me. “Fraternizing with the enemy!”
I chuckled. I indeed used to think of Ruby as ‘the enemy’ back in my racing days. But I knew Wolf meant it in a whole new way.
“She’s using you, you know?” said Wolf. “She’s in cahoots with the mayor. They’s lookin’ to stir up muck on us, get us shut down.”
“That’s not at all true,” said Ruby. “I’m not my grandmother. I make my own decisions.”
Grayson, Samuel, and I all looked at each other wide-eyed. It was surprising, and nice, to hear someone stand up to Wolf. That’s something we didn’t get to see much of unless it was Teddy. But when Teddy would stand up to Wolf it was usually with a witty quip to get Wolf to back away. But Ruby stood firm and called him out on his bullshit to his face.
Wolf, not used to someone talking back to him, was a bit flummoxed. He huffed and puffed and scowled then, finding no reply to her, he turned his ire on me. “You brought her here! This is your fault. If she’s not out of here immediately, I’ll fire the lot of you!”
I didn’t believe he’d fire us. Samuel was a crowd favorite—especially with the ladies. And Grayson, despite constantly cracking jokes (or perhaps thanks to it), was a hard worker. But Wolf looked drunk enough to do something he’d regret so I didn’t push him on his bluff. I turned to Ruby. “Come on, Ruby. I’ll drive you home.”
“You’re not going anywhere,” Wolf howled.
“What? But…”
“She’s got two legs, ain’t she?” said Wolf. “She can walk. You,” he pointed a shaky finger at me again, “you’re on muck out duty. That ought to teach you. I want all them stalls mucked out tonight.”
“Tonight?” I protested.
“Or you can go back to Magnolia Stables,” he said with a smirk. “Oh, I guess you can’t. Magnolia Stables don’t train horses no more.” He raised his voice. “So I guess you better get mucking!”
I might have decked him, knocked him right off the grandstands and onto his mean drunk ass. But Grayson stepped between us just as I’d clenched my hand into a fist and started for him.
Grayson put a hand on my chest and stopped my momentum. “We can take her home,” said Grayson nodding over to Samuel. Then he leaned in and whispered in my ear. “Live to fight another day, right? He’ll get his, don’t worry.”
Grayson was right—wise beyond his years—and cooler heads prevailed.
I realized, as Ruby and I made our quick goodbyes that, though our first date hadn’t ended the way I had imagined, the fact that mean old Wolf had come and broken us up, that added a certain forbidden and dangerous quality to our courtship. I felt it, and it felt good, exciting. And I thought I saw a similar recognition in her eyes when she turned to blow me a kiss as Grayson, with Samuel in tow, was leading her to his truck.
9
Ruby
Grayson’s truck was filled with junk—or, as he called it—an assortment of potentially useful brick and brack. “You never know when it will come in handy,” he’d said. And at the moment, I agreed with him. Because of all the clutter, there was nowhere for me to sit, except on the lap of a tall hunky cowboy. I don’t know if, without the ‘brick and brack’, I’d have been able to think of an excuse for getting onto Samuel’s lap so quickly. Come in handy, it did.
To add to my good fortune, the ride was quite bumpy and Samuel had to grip me with a tight arm around my waist so that I wasn’t knocked about. I felt somewhat guilty for enjoying it so much. I had just made out with Wyatt and now here I was relishing being in the grip of another cowboy. But I told myself I was a victim of circumstance, and I shouldn’t blame the victim.
“It’s too bad Wolf had to be such an ass,” said Samuel.
“Yeah, we’ve still got nearly two cases of beer left,” said Grayson.
“Couldn’t we go somewhere else?” I suggested. “The night’s still young. And, as you said, two cases of beer. It’d be a shame not to drink them.”