“No, Cash. I’ll see you tomorrow. I’m just tired. I started at Pete’s today. Can you help me move some stuff tomorrow or maybe Monday? To my apartment I mean.” The tone of her voice is agonizing to me. It’s not tiredness, something happened.
“I’ll be at Lizzie’s by eight am. I’ll meet you by the coffee.”
“Okay, Cowboy.” I’m happy to hear my nickname but the way her voice breaks on it freaks me out.
“Callie, tell me what’s wrong. Did I do something?”
“No, Cash. I did.” And with that, the line goes dead.
She did? What could she have possibly done?
I head to the tent and get my stuff before heading out to my truck. I don’t care what she says, I’m coming home tonight. If she needs me, I’ll be there. If not, then I’ll see her tomorrow.
“Hey, Ashley!” I turn my head at someone calling my name and see a group of women and a couple of riders. “We are heading out for a party. You coming?”
“Nah, not this time,” I answer, turning back around. Right as I get to my truck, a pretty girl in a western shirt tied above her belly button and skin-tight jeans comes up beside me. Her lips are pouty, and her eyes are smokey.
“Hey, Ashley, are you sure you don’t want to come? I would really like for you to come.” The way she wraps her lips around the wordcometells me exactly what she means.
“I’m sure,” I tell her, moving around her to climb in my truck.
“I could come with you then?” She attempts a seductive face, but her eyes are blue, not green and her hair isn’t blonde and doesn’t smell like strawberries.
“Darlin’ I appreciate the effort, I do. I respect the hell out of it too, but I got a girl waiting for me at home,” I tell her.
“I mean, she’s not here. She wouldn’t know.”
“But I would. Goodnight.” Climbing into my truck, I pull out of the lot, heading back toward Inspiration and my Hurricane.
I drive most of the night and get home around three o’clock in the morning. I haven’t gotten any texts or anything from Callie, so I drag myself into the house, still covered in dirt fromthe arena and get in the shower. I fall asleep before my head hits the pillow.
A few hours later, the dogs’ barking wakes me. I look over and realize it’s almost eight. I jump out of bed and start throwing clothes around, trying to find something, anything, to throw on so I don’t screw up my promise to Callie.
I’m dressed and out the door in record time and on the road to Lizzie’s. I have a gift for Callie sitting on the passenger seat.
I burst into the dining room at 8:15, gift bag in hand, and see Callie sitting there with her coffee. Lizzie sits across from her, looking at me with her mouth hanging open, her fork halfway to it.
“Sorry, Aunt Lizzie, I’m late. I promised a certain girl I would be here at eight.” I lean down and drop a kiss on the top of Callie’s head before moving around the table and giving Lizzie a kiss on the cheek. “Didn’t mean to alarm anyone.”
“Well, good morning to you too, Cash. Congratulations on the wins this week. It’s going to be a good season if this is how you’re showing already.”
“Thanks, it was a fun week but I’m glad I’m home.” Reaching over and grabbing a plate, I load it with potatoes, eggs, and a pastry. A half-eaten pastry sits on Callie’s plate as she sips her coffee. Something isn’t right. Something happened while I was gone.
“Hey, Hurricane. I brought you a present,” I tell her in a sing-song voice, hoping to cheer her up.
Her eyes lift to mine, and they lighten a little. “You did?”
“Yep, here you go, pretty girl.” I pass the pink bag to her, excited. I bounce a little in my seat and she laughs.
“You look like a little kid.”
“Just open it,” I almost yell. Lizzie laughs at our antics, her eyes full of love as they volley between us. Callie reaches into the bag and pulls out the tiny box. I have to control myself not to reach over and snatch it to open it faster.
“Stop bouncing in your chair, Cash. You’re a thirty-four-year-old man not a ten-year-old at a birthday party,” Aunt Lizzie scolds me.
Pulling the lid off the box, Callie’s eyes round and her mouth makes an adorable little O before she says, “ooh.” Pulling the delicate gold chain from the box, she holds it up for Lizzie to see.
Hanging on it is a tiny little cowboy hat, and a gold bar inscribed with ‘Cowboy Cash.’
