A Dark & Stormy Knight: A McKnight Romance (McKnight Romances) (16 page)

Georgia
hadn’t planned on doing any dating while she stayed with her parents, so her
selection of “date” clothes was pathetically slim. Not that a drive-in movie
required anything fancy, but she didn’t want Missy thinking she hadn’t made any
effort at all. Whatever sort of husband Tommy had been, no one deserved to be
treated the way Missy was treating him.

She decided a pair of snug-fitting jeans,
cowboy boots, and an off-the-shoulder peasant blouse would do. A spritz of
Estee Lauder’s Beautiful that Eden had given her for her birthday, and Georgia was ready to meet Tommy at his place.

“Don’t stay out too late,” her daddy said
when she walked out the door.

What was it about coming home? It didn’t
matter how old she was or that she had a daughter of her own, her parents still
treated her as if she had a curfew. “It’s the drive-in, Daddy. The movie doesn’t
start till dark.”

“Who’re you going with?”

“A friend.” She came back and kissed him
on the cheek. Her parents drove her crazy, but she loved them. “I’ll be up in
time to fix breakfast before we go to church. Promise.” She held out her hand,
pinkie finger extended. She saw a flash of surprise on her father’s face before
he twined his finger with hers, the way he’d done when she was young.

“You be careful,” he said as she turned
to go. “Oh, and Georgia?”

She turned back at the door.

“You look real nice.”

She was touched by the words and his
proud smile. “Thanks, Daddy.”

Tommy echoed her father’s compliment when
he opened the door of the house he’d shared with Missy.

His place wasn’t a palace by any stretch
of the imagination. The simple one-bedroom, frame house with secondhand
furniture and a scraggly lawn sat on the edge of town. Cheap rent, Georgia thought. But it was clean and tidier than she’d expected.

“You don’t look half bad yourself,” she
said. He’d topped his jeans and cowboy boots with a western shirt that fastened
with pearlized snaps. He’d even gotten a haircut. “Are you ready?”

“Oh, hang on a sec.” He turned away to
grab some cellophane-wrapped flowers. “Here. These are for you.”

“Oh.” Georgia held the bouquet of day
lilies he’d thrust into her hand. A seed of panic threatened to sprout. “I—uh . . .
Thank you.” She looked up and met his eyes. “You know this isn’t a real date,
right?”

“Yeah. But I know you didn’t really want
to do this, so I thought . . . well, I wanted you to know how
much I appreciate it.”

The panic eased off. She stuck her nose
in them and sniffed. “They smell lovely but I don’t have anything to put them
in.” She softened her words with a smile.

Tommy looked at her with a blank
expression for a few seconds then shook his head. “I didn’t think this through
very well, did I?”

Georgia
laughed. “I don’t suppose you have a vase?”

“Probably not but maybe I can find
something that’ll serve.”

He found an empty mayonnaise jar. Georgia rinsed it out and put the flowers in it. “We can leave them here until after the
movie, okay?”

Tommy nodded. “You wanna stop someplace
and grab some grub first?” he asked as they walked out to his truck.

“No, I want drive-in food. Chili cheese
dogs. Double-buttered popcorn. Coke.”

“You got it.”

“What’s playing?” Georgia asked as he opened the passenger door for her.

“Does it matter? It’s the only drive-in
around.” He went around and got in the truck. “Besides, when did you ever go to
the drive-in to watch the movie?”

“In high school.”

“Oh, yeah.” Tommy snapped his fingers. “I
remember now. You barely let me kiss you on our one and only date.”

“And you sulked when I wouldn’t let you
feel me up.”

“Yeah, well, drive-ins have certain
traditions.” He steered the car into the street.

“And you’re such a traditionalist.”

“Yup.”

“Just remember—we’re only going as
friends,” Georgia said, “so no necking unless we have an audience.”

“Does that mean you’re still not going to
respect the tradition where the boy gets to feel up the girl?”

Georgia
laughed. “I think that’s the tradition where the boy
tries
to feel up
the girl. You’re welcome to continue that tradition, but remember the tradition
where the girl slaps him silly.”

“Damn those traditions.” But he was
smiling as he said it.

They got lucky with the movie. One
weekend a month, the drive-in resurrected a classic. Tonight,
Butch Cassidy
and the Sundance Kid
would fill the screen, which only proved that every
silver lining also came with a cloud. Unless she hid out in Tommy’s car, the
odds were good she’d run into at least one McKnight at the snack bar.

She had to remind herself that she was
mad at Sol. More than mad. But she wasn’t sure if inciting his jealousy was the
best way to handle the situation.

“Where do you think they’ll park?” Georgia asked.

“Well, unlike you, Missy don’t come to
watch the movie, so they’ll be toward the back but not too far from the
concession stand.”

“You don’t want to park too near them,” Georgia said. “We’d look too obvious.”

“I know. There.” Tommy pointed. “That’s
his truck.”

Tommy had called it right. He parked
several rows in front of Missy and her boyfriend in a spot where Tommy could
watch the comings and goings at the concession stand in his side mirror.

“So what did Sol say when you told him?”
Tommy asked as he tuned the radio to the drive-in’s frequency.

Georgia
grimaced. “I didn’t exactly tell him.”

“Oh?”

“I was going to tell him last night, but
we had a fight and I got sidetracked.”

“What was the fight about?”

“Our daughter.”

He hooked an eyebrow at her, encouraging
her to talk but not pressing.

“He’s decided she can compete in the
barrel racing at some rodeo.”

“And you don’t want her to.”

“No, I don’t.”

“How come?”

“I don’t want her sucked into the
McKnight obsession.”

“Barrel racing’s pretty tame, though. I
mean, sure, there are risks, but walking across a street’s risky. Compared to
other events at the rodeo, barrel racing’s pretty safe.”

“I don’t care.” He was missing the point
entirely.

“Hmm.”

“Hmm, what?”

“My little sister barrel raced. Did you
know that?”

“No.”

“My mama encouraged her. Said girls who
are into horses don’t get all wild and boy crazy.”

“No, they get cowboy crazy instead.” Even
she heard the bitter tone in her voice.

Tommy winced. “Ow. So you don’t want her
going with boys like her dear old dad.”

“God, no.” That sounded bad. “I mean . . .
Sol’s got his good qualities. He’s responsible. Most of the time. And he loves Eden. He’s an honorable man, and he’s loyal as all get-out. But he’s also stubborn as hell,
and he can be reckless.”

“Like when he gets on a bull.” Tommy
looked amused.

Georgia
scowled.

“You gotta let a man be a man, Georgia.”
His eyes were laughing at her. “So is he letting your daughter—Eden, right? Is he letting her ride just to piss you off?”

Georgia
sighed. She had to be fair. “No. I told him he wasn’t acting like a parent. I
wanted him to make decisions about her instead of making me play the heavy all the
time.”

Tommy laughed as if that were the
funniest thing he’d heard in a while. “Geez, Georgia. You set him up. He’s
damned if he does and damned if he doesn’t.” He scratched his chin. “You know,
I always felt kinda sorry for you, having ol’ Sol as an ex, but I think maybe
Sol’s deserving of some sympathy, too.”

Georgia
stared at him, a small, offended sound issuing from her gaping mouth. She’d
started thinking of Tommy as a friend. Having him take Sol’s side felt . . .
well, maybe not like a betrayal, but not supportive either.

“Oh, c’mon,” Tommy said. “You’re not
telling Sol what we’re really doin’ because you’re punishing him.”

“I am not.”

“Sure you are. You like making all the
decisions. You just don’t like being the one who says no all the time. You want
Sol to say no, too, so you don’t have to do it. ‘Cept he called your bluff. He
said yes and you can’t stand it.”

She had a sinking feeling in her gut. Was
that what had happened? Except it hadn’t been a bluff. Had it? Did she really
just want Sol to take some of the heat for her decisions? She understood how it
could look that way, but that wasn’t what she’d meant. At least, she didn’t
think so. The possibility made her feel like the worst kind of self-righteous
hypocrite.

“So you gonna override Sol and tell your
kid she can’t ride?”

It sounded so mean the way he put it, but
that was what she had to do. “Yes. As soon as I figure out how to do it without
feeling like an ogre.” She’d been thinking all day about what she could offer Eden to ease the sting. Damn Sol for putting her in a position where she felt like she had
to bribe her own daughter.

Tommy gave her a look that was a cross
between sympathy and disgust, but he didn’t comment.

They waited to go to the concession
stand, hoping they’d be able to make their trip coincide with Missy’s, but by
the time the previews started and Tommy’s ex still hadn’t made a move in that
direction, they went anyway. Their path took them several rows in front of
where Missy and her date were parked. They walked holding hands, just in case
she noticed.

Life never let her down, Georgia thought. Sol and Gideon were two people ahead of her and Tommy when they stepped
into line. Georgia had thought she was ready to flaunt Tommy at Sol, but
instead she stayed quiet, breathing in the smell of hot, buttery popcorn and
trying to figure out if she could fade into the woodwork when the McKnight
brothers passed her on the way out. She might have managed it, if Gideon hadn’t
looked behind him as though he felt her presence. She smiled thinly.

The brim of his cowboy hat tipped with
his nod of acknowledgment. She didn’t see him nudge Sol, but a second later,
Sol looked back as well. Georgia sidled half a step, putting her shoulder
against Tommy’s chest, as if his presence would protect her.
Why hadn’t she
told Sol this was a fake date?
As if sensing her need, Tommy slung his arm
over her shoulder. Sol’s gaze flickered over Tommy then slid back to Georgia. When she didn’t react to Tommy’s action, Sol’s eyes narrowed. He glared harder at
Tommy.

Their turn to order came, and Gideon
nudged Sol toward the counter. Sol turned away but his back was stiff as Gideon
ordered enough chili dogs, cheesy nachos, popcorn, licorice whips, and Cokes to
feed an army on the march. Or at least a truck full of McKnight kids.

Georgia
slid her arm around Tommy’s waist.

“He don’t look happy,” Tommy murmured.

She hadn’t expected he would.

When Sol turned away from the concession
stand, he was loaded down with food. Behind him, Gideon balanced a flat of
Cokes. Sol stepped aside to let Gideon pass him.

“Hey, Georgia,” Gideon said, but he didn’t
stop.

“Where are you parked?” Sol asked, his
face a mask. He ignored Tommy.

Georgia
pointed toward the east end of the drive-in. “Three rows up from here.”

Sol nodded. “I’ll tell Eden you’re here.
She’ll want to say hello. You in your tin can?”

“No.”

Something flared in Sol’s eyes, but he
damped it down before Georgia could figure out what it was.

“I’ll tell her,” he said and was gone,
walking past them and out the door with those long strides of his as their turn
at the counter came around.

###

“Take a deep breath, Sol.”

Sol swung around, popcorn slewing over
the edge of the buckets. Gideon pushed away from the stucco wall of the
concession stand, careful not to spill the Cokes.

“What’s she doing here?” Sol demanded.

“Hey, Sol,” Missy said as she walked past
with some guy. Sol’s hands were full, so he tipped his head in acknowledgment
before they disappeared inside.

Gideon said, “Georgia’s doin’ the same
thing we’re doin’. Seeing a movie.”

“No. She’s on a date. With Tommy. Shit.
Shit, shit, shit. I knew he was trying to make time with her.”

“Maybe they’re friends,” Gideon said in a
tone so reasonable Sol wanted to strangle him with a licorice rope.

“When’s the last time you took a woman ‘friend’
to a drive-in?”

Gideon shook his head as though Sol was
too dumb for words. “C’mon. The kids are waiting.”