Total pages in book: 120
Estimated words: 112850 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 564(@200wpm)___ 451(@250wpm)___ 376(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 112850 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 564(@200wpm)___ 451(@250wpm)___ 376(@300wpm)
With my hands tucked into my vintage jeans pockets, I stuck to the dark sidewalk’s edge for as long as I could. The bar was jam-packed full of people both in and out of the building. Several waitresses weaved through the hordes.
Once I made it inside, I spotted Lori standing at the waitstaff post at the end of the bar, a small tray in hand. My gaze shifted to one of two men working feverishly, mixing drinks, and pouring beer. Mace concentrated on the drink he was preparing while also grinning at a customer seated in front of him. That smile always transformed his face into a rare kind of beauty.
Jeez, I had it bad. Then the cosmic cue that tugged Mace and I together cinched tight again as Mace’s gaze shifted to mine. His hands fumbled, spilling the drink he’d just finished.
“Way to go, Red. My customer’s been waitin’ five minutes for the drink,” Lori yelled. The little hellfire’s head shifted, seeking out what had caused Mace’s blunder. She spotted me. The frustration instantly evaporated. Lori grinned Mace’s grin at me.
She lifted a finger and left her post. I continued working my way to the bar.
“Watch out. Move.” Lori had a bark that mattered. She parted the sea of partiers with a barstool in hand. Her hand grabbed mine until she created a space and pushed the stool between two other patrons. I was now sitting next to Max, someone I knew, at the other end of the bar.
Thankfully, the placement came with easy viewing access of both bartenders. A drink, my usual whiskey on ice, slid across the bar into my hand. Mace didn’t stop working, never glancing my way, but had taken care of me, nonetheless.
I liked to believe that was due to our connection, but he seemed to be that way with everyone. His circle of familiarity was obviously huge, but his ready smile and easy greetings were something I hadn’t seen before. Meaning Mace’s natural contrariness was only with me.
“You settlin’ in okay?” Lori asked.
“Yeah, good enough,” I said, using Mace’s answer to just about everything, taking a sip of the straight alcohol. It was harsh going down every single time.
“At this end of the bar, we can hear each other better,” Max said. “Lori told me she thinks Mace’s been out to see you again.”
All right. How did I answer that? How would anyone know if he had come to see me? I lifted the glass, taking a larger drink this time, scrunching my face, stalling for time and a proper answer.
My silence had Max continuing, “She passed him a couple of times on the highway after pickin’ up the kids.”
Not sure that Mace or I considered that possibility.
I gave a nod. “It’s a small town. Everyone knows everything. It’s like the small town I grew up in. It was hard to escape the gossip.”
Max couldn’t be swayed from the topic. His head tilted my way, the smell of heavy alcohol consumption on his breath. There was no way to tell Max’s current state of drunkenness, but he was headed for a hangover in the morning. His voice was low, causing me to bend in to hear.
“The only thing people know about Mace anymore is the accident, but Lori thinks she knows what’s goin’ on with him now. Those two are usually at odds, but Lori would battle a feral bobcat to keep Mace safe.”
I nodded, taking in the information. My gaze shifted to Mace, who ignored me completely. I shouldn’t ask Max. If I were smart, I wouldn’t. Mace battled with his barriers all the time. He’d tell me if he wanted me to know.
“What accident?” I asked. Yeah, my desire to know everything about Mace won over.
“He didn’t tell you? He doesn’t share much, never has. Maybe five years ago, no seven, maybe eight. Yeah, eight, we’d just graduated.” I could tell Max was swerving off course with the way his gaze glazed over, trying to figure out exactly the timeframe, not the guts of the story.
“What happened?” I asked.
“Yeah,” Max came back to the story. “Mace did rodeo for as long as I remember, he was damned good at it too. It was a thing he did with his dad until he got older then handled everything himself.”
I suspected we were in another veering of the conversation, so I asked again, “What accident?”
“Yeah,” he lifted his beer mug and took a long drink, bracing himself as if the story caused a wave of grief. “Red had a girlfriend named Natalie all through high school. Between her and Wildflower, his mare, he was a happy guy. It wasn’t abnormal to see Wildflower tied to the post outside. Those two were inseparable.”
Max lifted his beer, draining its contents before continuing. “They were drivin’ home from a rodeo, the road was under construction and they had an accident. It’s sketchy what happened. They blamed Mace, but I think that was because the other driver was from the Dunn family. They’re legendary in Texas. The Dunn kid was drunk and tried to pass a car that was slowin’ down for a curve. The driver tried one way and couldn’t pass then went the other. Chain reaction, dude. There were bikers there. Like bicyclists. Mace was in the vehicle comin’ into the turn. There were only two lanes. The Dunn kid veered into Mace’s lane, goin’ at least fifty miles an hour. The way it all came together caused mangled deaths. Mace was the only one to survive.”