Happy Hour (22 page)

“Shannon, please.”

“Please, what?  This is my life. My son. And I’m sorry if you don’t agree
with it.” Shannon shook her head. “I’m going to lie down.”

“Wait, honey. I’m sorry. I want to talk about this.”

Shannon headed for the stairs and didn’t turn around.

Danielle put her face in her hands. Her mind racing. Why couldn’t she
talk to her daughters any longer? Maybe Shannon had been right. What did
Danielle expect her to do about it now anyway? She should be proud of the kid.
She had fallen back on her faith and how many times recently had Danielle
wished her youngest would do that these days? Danielle was a hypocrite. That’s
all there was to it. Confession. She would go to confession. She would talk to
her priest. Now there was something she hadn’t done in ages. Yes, she was
definitely a hypocrite. This whole situation was going to take far more than a
few Hail Marys and saying the rosary. This was huge. Had she expected Shannon
to abort this baby? No. She shook her head. But the life that both of them
would have now… What was it going to be like?

“Smooth, Mom.”

Danielle wiped the tears away and looked up to see Cassie standing over
her, her arms crossed in front of her. “What?”

“Nice going. You’re scoring all sorts of points these days.”

This was the last thing she needed. “You heard that?”

“Yes, I heard.”

“Then could you please leave me alone?”

“Sure.” Cassie let her arms dangle to her sides. “But has it occurred to
you that this life-changing event might be the best thing that’s ever happened
to Shannon? It might be what makes her into the person she’s supposed to be.
Like maybe having sex with different guys might make me the person I am
supposed to be.” Her smile was as sarcastic as her tone.

If Danielle had the strength she would have stood up and smacked the kid
across the face. “Cassie, for once just shut up. Please,” she said quietly.

“No. I’m serious. And how do you know that taking the pill won’t be the best
thing in the world for me? Obviously Shannon didn’t take it and look what
happened there.” She rolled her eyes.

“Cassie, shut up! You don’t know when to stop, do you? You just keep
going and going? Is this the way you speak to your father and
Stacey
?”

“Get over it. You’re so bitter about Dad and Stacey. Let it go.”

“Let it go. Yeah. You know what, Cass? I think it’s time you go. I think
you should head on upstairs, pack your things, and call your dad and let him
know that you’re moving in with him and his wife and your two baby sisters. I
will no longer take your abuse in my home.”

Cassie stood there stunned. “What? That place is a madhouse with freaking
Elmo crap everywhere. No. I’m not moving there.”

Danielle got up and took Cassie’s keys from the counter, then walked to
the kitchen and picked up the phone.

“What are you doing?” Cassie yelled. “You can’t take my keys! Dad gave me
that car. Give them back.”

Danielle dialed Al’s cell phone while Cassie continued to rant. When he
answered, she calmly told him. “Your daughter needs you.”

“What? Is it Shannon? Is she okay?” Al asked.

“Not that one. The little banshee in the background screaming that I
can’t take her car keys away or tell her to move in with you. Well, she’s
wrong. Here’s the deal, Al, Cassandra will be moving in with you and Stacey for
the rest of the summer. We can reassess the situation in September.”

“You can’t do that. We have to go back to court for that kind of
decision.”

“Bullshit! Listen here, Cassandra is disrespectful, obnoxious, and
downright mean to me. I won’t tolerate it any longer.”

“Put her on the phone. I’ll talk to her.”

“No. You’ll talk to her tonight over dinner at your house. You better
call your wife and ask her to make up a room for Cassie, and then you better
have your ass here to pick her up in one hour, or else I’ll bring her myself.”

“I’ll be there,” he said. “But we’re not finished discussing this.”

She hung up the phone. She didn’t want to do this. She didn’t want to
send her child over there, but she knew that if she didn’t do it, things would
not change. Cassie needed to see the chaos and the dysfunction on the other
side of the fence. But still. Was she being too harsh?

“You’re a bitch! I’m never coming home!” Cassie stormed up the stairs and
slammed her door.

Well, then. There was her answer. Tears blurred her vision. She
momentarily wondered if she’d done the wrong thing. What if Cassie never did
come home again?

Wednesdays had become Jamie’s favorite day. It was the day she left work
fifteen minutes early and went out to the ranch for a riding lesson. She told
herself that the real reason she liked Wednesdays so much was because she loved
the horses and going riding. She also liked Saturdays because that was when
Maddie took her lesson and Jamie helped with the horsemanship for the
handicapped.

So far she’d done a decent job convincing herself that her good mood on
Wednesdays had nothing to do with her riding instructor. Nothing at all to do
with Tyler Meeks. Nothing to do with his amazing teal eyes, or his strong arms,
or that wavy blond hair that she wanted to run her fingers through, or the soft
voice he used with his horses and with her.

She cringed, twisting from side to side in her swivel chair behind her
desk and chewing on her pencil. She was almost finished editing the last
article for the September issue of the magazine. This one was about the
resurgence of Bordeaux wines and how the traditional red wines coming from
California were taking on more of the French style—less jammy, fruity rather
smoother, with less alcohol content. It was a trend Jamie appreciated. That was
the kind of husband Nate had been—complex, smooth, understated in a way. Not
like prettyboy Tyler who had a way with animals and, by all appearances, women
too. Not that she’d ever witnessed Tyler come on to anyone. He was always
respectful and polite and the occasional comment or look that she took for
possible flirtation, she chalked up to Tyler just being his charming self.

“Blah,” she grunted. She finished her article and scooped her things into
her briefcase.

On her way out to the ranch she called to check on Maddie. Fortunately,
Maddie had made a good friend at the ranch named Skylar, and they lived close
by. Jamie liked the little girl’s mom, Beth, and they had scheduled regular
play dates. Beth picked Maddie up after horse camp for her and kept her while
Jamie planned to take her riding lesson.

She dialed Beth’s number on the Bluetooth and a moment later she was
talking with Maddie. “Hi, Mommy. Can I spend the night with Skylar?”

“Did her mom ask you?”

“Yes. She said it was okay. Please.”

Beth’s voice came over the blue tooth. “It’s fine with me, Jamie. I’m
running some errands right now and then we’ll head home so they can play. Why
don’t you take the night off? Skylar has some clothes that’ll fit Maddie and
I’ll drop them at camp in the morning.”

“You sure?”

“Positive.”

As much as Jamie wanted to have dinner with Maddie and spend time with
her, in some ways it was a relief. She’d just been able to cover the overdrafts
from the past week only two days ago. After paying a bazillion dollars in
overdraft charges, she immediately went to the grocery store and rationed for
the week. Dorothy wasn’t too complicated and would be happy with PB&J and
some carrot sticks. This would work fine for Jamie too, and that way they could
have the hamburger tomorrow night and she’d be able to slide one more dinner in
there. The budget and rationing thing sucked but so far she’d kept it from
affecting Maddie. However, Nora had upped the ante and had her husband, who
spoke better Spanglish with Jamie, call her and tell her that she needed more
money if she was going to continue watching Dorothy. There hadn’t been much of
a choice. Dorothy’s escape to the coffee shop to hang out with Sammy Davis Jr. had
made both Nora and Jamie nervous wrecks. The good news was that Nora stopped
watching her daily soaps and followed Dorothy around like a warden.

But to meet that higher wage for Nora, Jamie was down to taking cash
advances from her Visa card. She knew she should see some type of financial
counselor. She made a decent living, but it didn’t cut it any longer. Medical
bills, mortgage, credit cards, and the plain old cost of living was causing her
a great deal of grief and sleepless nights these days. Being out with the
horses gave her a couple of hours of reprieve.

Once at the ranch, she used the bathroom to change into her jeans and
boots. She hurried up and took out the horse she rode, Dune. He was a gorgeous
palomino Quarter horse that had been one of Tyler’s champion working cow horses
a half a dozen years ago, and now, at fifteen, he spent the better part of his
days teaching beginners like herself.

Tyler spotted her and waved. “Hey, Jamie. How’s it going?”

“Good and you?”

“I’m good. Listen you’re going to ride Washington today. Dune had some
chiropractic work done this morning and could use the day off and I think you
can handle Washington.”

“You really think so?” Jamie had seen others ride Washington and he was a
nice horse, but she had noticed he would occasionally spook. Tyler usually only
put the intermediate riders on him and she didn’t know if she was quite ready.

“I do think. You’ve got good balance and, sure, he can be a pill
sometimes, do a little jig, but don’t give off any fear, keep your seat in the
saddle, heels down and contact on the reins, and you’ll be good. I already got
him tied up on the ties, so go ahead groom him up and get the saddle on.”

“Okay.” That was part of riding. Tyler’s place was not one of those fancy
places where grooms and stable hands did all the work and all she had to do was
get up on the horse and ride.  The grounds were pristine, the barns gorgeous,
but riders were expected to work and Jamie had found that to be a major part of
the fun and relaxation for her.  Plus, in only a few weeks she’d built up some
biceps and lost a few pounds. She was able to fit into her size fours again and
liked that very much.

Horse groomed, saddle and helmet on, Jamie led Washington over to the
step stool and got on the horse. Tyler was already at the arena waiting for
her.

“Today, since you’re on a new horse, what I want you to do is start by
breathing and relaxing up there. Let him walk both directions on a semi-loose
rein and let him stretch his legs a bit while you allow yourself to get a solid
feel for him. Sit back on your pockets.”

After a few minutes, Jamie began to relax some. The horse moved smoothly
and she got fairly comfortable with him.

“Good job,” Tyler said. “Get your heels down a bit more. Yup. Now steady
your hand. Beautiful.”

The way he said the word
beautiful
. Hmmm. No daydreaming on the
horse. But for a few seconds, Jamie couldn’t help thinking he was calling her
beautiful. It was a nice little daydream but before she got carried away with
it, someone ran into the back of one of the metal sheds with the water truck.
Washington spooked, lurched to one side, and Jamie lost her balance and came
off, landing first on her right elbow and then onto her rear. “Damn,” she
shrieked.

Tyler dashed into the arena. “Whoa, whoa.” Jamie pulled herself up,
rubbing the sore elbow that was already swelling and managed to get to the side
of the ring. It was then that she noticed that her hip smarted, too. Tyler
quickly got a hold of the loose horse and came over to her. “You okay?”

“Smarts a bit.”

“Let me look.”

She showed him the elbow, a bruise already appearing.

“Gonna be black and blue. Let’s get some ice on it. Raul!” He yelled out
for one of the stable hands who quickly came running over. “Put him up for me.
I’ve got to get some ice for Jamie here.”

Raul nodded and took hold of Washington’s reins, leading him away. The
horse had a truly remorseful look on his eye. Jamie gave him a pat on the face
with her good hand and told him that she knew he didn’t mean it.

Walking back to Tyler’s office, Jamie said, “See? I told you that I
wasn’t ready for that horse.”

“You were ready. That was a fluke thing. Anyway, it looked to me like
you’d lost your focus for a minute. Like you were off in another world. I’ve
told you that you can’t ever lose your focus.”

She knew her cheeks were turning pink. If he’d only known what world she’d
been lost in. Maybe taking these riding lessons wasn’t such a grand idea.

Once inside the office, he looked at her arm and elbow again. “I don’t
think it’s broken, but you might want to have an X-ray. It hurt?”

“Like hell.”

“Hang on.” He went over to a cabinet above his desk and took out a bottle
of whiskey and poured her a shot. “Here.” He held it out to her.

“Thanks.” She took it. Normally whiskey wouldn’t be her thing, but the
elbow throbbed and maybe it would ease the pain.

Tyler then went over to his fridge, got a scoopful of ice from the
freezer and placed it in a plastic bag. “Sit down.” He pointed to the sofa that
had seen better days and sat down next to her. He took her hand gently and with
his fingers, lightly went up and down the arm. Even through the throbbing pain,
his touch sent all sorts of sensations all over her body. Ones she hadn’t had
in a very long time. Maybe it was the whiskey. That seemed safe to chalk it up
to.  She was afraid to ask what he was doing. His fingertips reached the elbow
joint and his eyes met her. “Hurts here, huh?” He frowned.

“Oh, yeah.”

“I’ve seen a lot of broken bones. I think you bruised it up pretty bad,
but I don’t think it’s broken.” He took the ice pack and set it on her elbow.
She flinched. “I know it’s cold. But you have to keep it on for twenty
minutes.” Again his blue eyes met hers, and her stomach danced around.