clear spot several feet away, then she extended her arms out to her sides and slowly bowed like a swan until her forehead almost touched the ground.
Sadie looked up from Deeann’s flowing red hair to Vince, who watched with one brow cocked. He set the chalk on the edge of the table, then moved to the other side. He leaned his big body over the table and lined up a shot. The long cue slid between his knuckles as the Christmas lights shone in his dark hair and black shirt. She couldn’t tell if he was impressed with Deeann or not.
Deeann rejoined them and took her cue. “I can still dip.”
“Wow, I wasn’t even that limber at seventeen. Very impressive.”
“Remember when you tripped on your train at the Cotton Cotillion and your rose headdress fell off?” Pammy reminded Sadie, like she’d ever forget. After that, she hadn’t really bothered to pile and pin and spray her hair into a headdress of any kind. She’d just worn her hair straight, which had caused a bigger scandal than the headdress debacle.
“That was tragic.” Both sisters laughed as they had years ago, and Sadie guessed they hadn’t changed much over the past ten years. What the women didn’t know was that Sadie didn’t care. They no longer had the power to make her feel bad about herself.
“But you were always so pretty it didn’t matter,” Deeann said, genuinely trying to make Sadie feel better.
“Thank you, Deeann,” she said, and thought to return the favor. “I parked my car in front of your shop. It looks like you have some real nice stuff. I’ll have to stop by before I leave town.”
“I hope you do. I make my own jewelry, and if you decide to stay in Lovett, and don’t want to live out there at the ranch, let me know. I sell real estate, too.”
Her interest piqued, she said, “I’m an agent in Phoenix. How’s the market around here?”
“I’m not getting rich, but it’s picking up slightly. Brokering a lot of short sales.”
Short sales weren’t what agents bragged about the most. “Me too.” Sadie liked that about Deeann.
“Goodness, are you going to bore us with shop talk?” Pammy asked.
Sadie glanced at her watch and pretended she had somewhere to be. Just because she didn’t care what the sisters said, didn’t mean she wanted to hang out with them. “It sure was great to see y’all.” Lord, had she just said “y’all”? It had taken years to extract that contraction from her vocabulary. She looked at Vince, who lined up another shot. “Good night, Vince.”
He shot the six ball in the side pocket and rose. “See ya around, Sadie,” he said, more interested in his game than in her.
She said good-bye to Lloyd and Cain and headed toward the beer vendor. Overhead, dark blue and orange streaked across the night sky. She ran into JH employees and former employees, and by the time she made it to the vendor, it was full dark and Tom and the Armadillos took the stage at one end of the parking lot. She was tired but didn’t want to go home. She didn’t always mind being alone. She’d been raised on a ranch filled with people, but she’d always been alone. But lately she’d either been in a hospital room alone or listening to her grumpy daddy.
She was Sadie Jo Hollowell. Most people knew her name. Knew she was Clive’s daughter, but they didn’t know her. Her whole life, people either loved or hated her depending on how they felt about her daddy.
She took a drink from her Lone Star bottle and turned, almost running into a massive chest. She instantly recognized those defined muscles and big biceps. He grabbed the top of her arm to keep her from toppling over.
“How many of those have you had?” he asked.
“Not enough.” She looked up past Vince’s square chin and mouth into his eyes staring straight back into hers. “This is my second.” She glanced about. “Where are your friends?”
“What friends?”
“The Young sisters and Deeann.”
“Don’t know.” He slid his hand down her arm and took her beer from her hand. He swallowed a big drink, then gave it back. “Where are yours?”
“Friends?” She took a much smaller drink, then handed it back. “I haven’t seen Winnie since she went to the bathroom a while ago.”
“Not her. The cowboy with the tight Wranglers choking his nuts.”
What? “Oh, Cain. I don’t know. Are you worried about his nuts?”
“More like disturbed.”
She grinned. “Why aren’t you playing pool?” They moved a few feet from beneath the vendor tent.
“I got knocked out of the tournament by a skinny fifteen-year-old wearing a Texas flag shirt.”
She tilted her head back and looked up at him. At the light illuminating half of his face and casting a shadow over the other half. “You’re a big bad SEAL. Aren’t you supposed to kick ass?”
He chuckled, low and masculine and completely secure with himself. “Guess it isn’t my ass-kicking day if I got whooped by a kid with acne.”
“Do you mean that geeky boy with the big hat?”
“That sounds like him.”
“Seriously? You lost to him?”
“Don’t let the pimples fool you. He was a shark.”
“That’s just embarrassing.” She took a drink, then handed Vince the bottle. “He wasn’t much bigger than the pool cue.”
“Usually I’m better with my hands.” His gaze slid to hers and he raised the bottle to his lips. “But you know that.”
Yeah, she knew that. “Hey, Sadie Jo. How’s your daddy?” someone called out to her.
“Good. Thank you,” she hollered back. She put her hands in the pockets of her jacket and moved farther away from the vendor and Tom and the Armadillos’ version of “Free Bird.” The first time she’d met Vince, she’d been under the impression that he wasn’t staying in town long. “Are you still working for your aunt?”
“No. I work for myself.”
He handed her the bottle and she took a sip.
“Luraleen sold me the Gas and Go.”
She choked on the mouthful of beer. Vince hit her back with the heel of his hand as she coughed and gasped and sputtered. “No shit?”
“No shit. Just signed the papers yesterday.” He grabbed the near-empty bottle, drained it, then tossed it in the garbage behind her.
She wiped her nose and mouth with the back of her arm. “Congratulations.” She guessed.
“How are you doing?”
She blinked. “Better. I just had a little beer go down the wrong pipe.”
He placed a hand beneath her chin and raised her face to the light. “I heard about your dad. How are you holding up?”
She looked into the eyes of this man she hardly knew and realized that he was the first person to ask after her. Really ask after her. “I’m doing good.” Her gaze slid to his chin, and her stomach kind of felt weird. Maybe it was chugging that beer.
He tilted her face a bit more. “You look tired.”
“Last time I saw you, you said I looked like shit.”
He smiled with one corner of his mouth. “I might have been a little annoyed with you.”
Her gaze returned to his. “And you’re not now?”
“Not as much.” His thumb brushed her cheek. “Take off the hat, Sadie.”
Her hair appointment wasn’t scheduled for several more days and the hat nicely covered her darker roots. “I have bad roots.”
“Me too. You met Luraleen.”
Sadie laughed. “I’m talking about my hair.”
“I know. Take it off.”
“Why?”
“I want to see your eyes.” He took the hat from her head and handed it to her. “That’s been irritating me all night. I don’t want to talk to your chin.”
