“None of that in here,” the bartender said from behind me, but a circle formed around me and Jake, anticipating a fight.
I took a second to think about what I was doing. I could be the mature adult and walk away, but the set of Jake’s jaw irritated me, and all those shots had me feeling reckless. Screw it. If my little brother wanted to make the dangerous choice to punch a drunk, heartbroken man with nothing to lose, then Jake was going to get the fight of his life.
I charged forward and swung an uppercut to Jake’s jaw. My brother’s head snapped back, but he returned with a sharp punch to my gut, making me grunt but not back away. We stood close together, exchanging blow for blow, neither one of us teetering.
I took another punch to the jaw and I laughed, embracing the pain. Jake was making it easier for me to walk away and I was okay with that. I threw a punch to his gut that made him double over and cough, but he was quickly back up and swinging.
Dimly, I was aware of the shouts of the crowd, but I didn’t let it distract me. Jake was tough, younger than me and seasoned from hard work on the ranch, but this wasn’t my first fight. Hell, it wasn’t my first barfight. I knew what I was doing. We circled each other, neither of us giving ground and both of us throwing punches that connected.
“Hey, break it up,” a voice called sharply before someone pulled me back and pinned my arms down. I struggled, but the man had size on me and an iron grip. I looked up at Jake and saw Brian, dressed in his uniform, holding his twin brother in place. “What the hell’s wrong with you two?” Brian snapped. “Get them outside.”
The beefy deputy pulled me toward the tavern door, the crowd parting in front of us. It was gratifying to see that Jake was being dragged out by Brian in the same fashion.
“Put them in the back.” Brian opened the door of his SUV.
“Together?” the deputy questioned, looking between me and Jake. “Shouldn’t we at least handcuff them?”
“They’ll behave.” Brian pinned us both with a steely look. “Isn’t that right,brothers?”
Jake held his twin’s gaze for a minute. “Shit, Brian,” he finally muttered and got in.
“Are you arresting us?” I demanded as the cool air brought some reason to me. I hadn’t had a brother until recently, but arresting me and Jake didn’t seem like a brotherly thing to do.
“Damn straight, I am.” Brian shot back. “Get in.”
I climbed into the SUV and dropped my head into my hands. I was already sore all over from the pummeling I’d taken, but all I could do was laugh grimly. For the first time in my life I was in the back of a police vehicle and my own damn brother was at the wheel.
Christ. I’d made a hell of a mess of things.
TWENTY-NINE
CAL
Iopened my eyes and immediately slammed them closed again when confronted with the light coming from a window above me. A minute later, after bracing myself, I tried again, cracking open one eye, and took in my surroundings. Metal cot, iron bars, concrete floor.
Jail.
I closed my lids again as it all came back in a rush. The heartache, the bar, and my fight with Jake. No wonder I felt like a bull had stomped on me. My head hurt and my stomach roiled. And none of that compared to the state of my heart. It was no more than I deserved. I tried to open my mouth to say something, but it was dry as the desert and my tongue felt thick.
Low spoken words reached me from nearby, and I held still, listening. The twins’ voices were nearly identical, but Jake’s was more gravelly so I could distinguish it.
“This sucks,” Jake said, sounding about as bad as I felt. “Cal throws a mean punch.”
“What the hell got into you?” Brian asked. “You’ve never been in a barfight in your life. Why would you pick a fight with Cal?”
“He hurt Amy,” Jake said, making me wince at the blunt appraisal.
“How? I thought they were getting along fine.”
“A little too fine. Amy loves him, but he’s leaving her for the rodeo.”Not totally true, I wanted to interject. It was more like we were leaving each other. She wouldn’t go and I couldn’t stay. “She was crying her eyes out in the kitchen last night when Mom and I found her.”
“So you drove into town to pick a fight? Can’t blame you, I guess.” They were both silent for a minute until Brian continued. “Was he toying with her?”
“I don’t know. Amy claimed that he loved her back, but I can’t figure that,” Jake said. “How could anybody love Amy and leave her? She’s the best of all of us.”
I was trying to stay still, but I wanted to respond to Jake’s question. Did they think it was easy to walk away from a woman like her? But I knew too well that I couldn’t stay in Poplar Springs. It wasn’t just that I didn’t want to be tied down. It was here. And them. I couldn’t make a life somewhere where I wasn’t wanted.
“Got me,” Brian said, several seconds passed. “But it’s not only about Amy, is it? You’re mad for yourself, too.”
