Van, Becca - Slick Rock Cowboys [Slick Rock 1] (Siren Publishing Ménage Everlasting)

Slick Rock 1

BECCA VAN

Copyright © 2011

Chapter One

Tara got off the bus after a long, hard day. Her feet were aching and so was her lower back after spending eight hours on her feet behind the counter of the delicatessen in her local supermarket. It didn’t pay much, but at least it was a job. Tara turned the corner of her street and froze in her tracks. She saw fire trucks, flashing lights, and smelled the stench of smoke in the air. She gave a cry of alarm and began to run. She didn’t even register that her flat slip-on shoes flew from her feet in her panic.

Tara Rustle stood outside in the street, staring at her apartment building. Flames erupted from the windows of the building, and glass and fire exploded out, making her jump as the whooshing and roaring of the fire reached her ears. She was thankful she was too far away to get hurt from the flying shards of glass. She remembered all the good times she and her mom had after they had moved from the small rural town of Slick Rock to Denver, Colorado. Her mind drifted back over that morning and the previous years of her life as she stood watching her life and what little of her mom’s life she had kept go up in flames and smoke.

Tara had woken that morning to realize it was her birthday and gave a sigh of resignation knowing she would be spending her twenty-third birthday alone. Not that this birthday was any different from the last five, but she was sick and tired of being lonely. Sure, she had lots of acquaintances and even went out every now and then with some of the girls from work, but she didn’t have any true best friends. Not anymore, anyway. She had left her only true friends behind at the tender age of fifteen.

When her dad had up and left her and her mom, Tara’s mom had sold their ranch in Slick Rock, Colorado, and moved them both to Denver. Tara had felt as if her heart had been ripped out of her chest, broken in two, at having to leave her two best friends, Clay and Johnny Morten, behind. They had been neighbors ever since she could remember, and she had followed those two boys around like a lost puppy. Most of the time they tolerated her presence and had treated her like a kid sister, but as they had been quite a few years older than her, by the time she had left they were spending less and less time with her.

Clay had been twenty years old and Johnny eighteen. They had been chasing girls and had girls chasing them, much to Tara’s dismay. Tara had had a crush on the two boys ever since she was twelve years old, and the day she had wandered over to the Double M Ranch and found the two young men in the barn sharing a woman was the day Tara had felt her heart break in two. They had never even known she was there. She had crept into the barn and seen them with that slutty Chantal from the diner. Tara had gone over to tell her friends she was leaving Slick Rock in less than a week, but she never got the chance. In fact, she had never seen those two boys again.

Tara’s mom had sold their run-down ranch, and since most of their stuff had been pawned off for food and bills, there had not been much to do in the way of packing. Tara and her mom had left their home three days later. They had ended up in Denver, Colorado, and two years later, Tara’s mom was dead. She had been struck by a car on her way home from work one night. Tara had been in the process of cooking dinner, waiting for her mom to come home so she could serve it up, when there had been a knock on the door.

Tara had been so scared to find the law on her doorstep, and when they had asked to come inside, she knew, deep down, something had happened to her mom. Tara had been thankful her mom had paid a little each week for life insurance, which had been enough to cover the expenses for her mom’s funeral and all of the other incidentals that had been involved. Tara had never really had the time to grieve properly for her mom. She’d had to push everything to the back of her mind and search for a job to keep a roof over her head, food in her belly, and some clothes on her back.

As much as Tara loved Colorado, Denver had never felt like home to her. She missed her childhood home of Slick Rock. She wanted nothing more than to pack up and go back to her childhood roots. She had saved a little money each week, enough to live on for about a month if necessary, but nowhere near enough to move home from Denver to Slick Rock.

Tara had blown out the candle on the small cupcake she had bought the previous evening on her way home from work and had made a heartfelt wish. She was too old and cynical to believe wishes came true anymore, but her inner child would not let go of her childhood dreams. Tara had wiped the tears from her cheeks and eaten her small cake for breakfast then gone to shower and gotten ready for work.

* * * *

“Miss, are you all right? Did you have any family inside?” the officer asked in concern.

The sound of the police officer’s voice pulled her from her reverie. How long Tara had stood there staring in shock, she had no idea. It wasn’t until the young police officer walked over to her and asked her if she was all right that she finally came out of her stupor.

Tara stared in horror as a grumbling, roaring noise drew her attention back to her burning home. She was just in time to see her apartment building’s roof cave in, flames billowing high into the night sky. Then the whole building came tumbling down to the ground. .

“No. No family,” Tara replied in a croaky voice.

“Are you sure you’re all right? Can I call someone for you?”

“No. There’s no one,” Tara replied then turned around after one last look at her burning home and disappeared into the night.

* * * *

Tara jolted awake as the bus she was on slowed and then stopped with a hiss of air brakes. She rubbed her tired, sore eyes and hoped she didn’t look as bad as she felt. She had no idea where she was. She couldn’t remember getting on a bus.
What the hell am I doing here?
Tara picked up her purse and stood up. It was only then she realized her feet were cold and bare.
Where the hell are my shoes?
She rubbed her forehead as she tried to remember what she was doing, but for the life of her she couldn’t remember. She got off the bus, moved across the parking lot and through the small bus terminal.

Tara stood out on the sidewalk and stared about her. Some of the shops and the town looked familiar, but she couldn’t place where she had seen it before. She rubbed a hand across her eyes and took a few more steps. She was going to have to cross the street to get to the cafe on the other side for some much-needed food. She couldn’t remember the last time she had eaten.

Tara stood in the middle of the road as she waited for the traffic to clear. She felt so dizzy she thought she was going to throw up and pass out. She tried to clear the fog from her eyes but was not successful. She could hear a roaring sound in her ears, and a cold sweat popped out all over her body. She could feel herself falling, but couldn’t seem to do a thing about it. Darkness formed in front of her eyes, and her ears were ringing. She pitched forward and slid into unconsciousness.