Rescue Me

Vince’s truck parked on the side of the building on her way through town that morning when she drove to the lawyer’s in Amarillo. Her heart had sped up and stopped all at the same time. A painful pound and dull thud. A pain that stung the backs of her eyes, and she’d tried really really hard to hate him. “I don’t know when he’ll open the Gas and Go.”
    “Aren’t you two dating?”
    Dating? “No. We’re not together. He’s free to see whomever he wants.” She took a drink and swallowed past the hurt in her chest. “You can date him.” Although she should probably warn Deeann that Vince would get bored and move on. Possibly on the worst day of her life. The day she buried her daddy and had to put up with his aunt’s Frito pie. Asshole.
    Deeann shook her head, and her brows lowered over her brown eyes. “I’d never date a friend’s ex. Vince is a good-lookin’ guy and all, but that’s just wrong. It’s against the rules. The girl code.”
    Sadie knew there was a reason she liked Deeann.
    “Although . . .” Deeann stirred her drink. “I did date Jane Young’s former boyfriend.” She lifted one hand to the side of her mouth. “But she casts a wide net, if you know what I mean.”
    Sadie leaned forward. It had been so long since she’d sat around with girlfriends, she’d forgotten how much she missed it. And, yes . . . gossip. As long as it was about someone she didn’t like. “Jane gets around?” Which she normally wouldn’t hold against a girl. But Jane had a bad soul.
    “Well, as my grandmama used to say, ‘She lets her hair down and everything else.’ ” She dropped her hand to the table. “And she took up with my ex Ricky for a time.”
    Sadie gasped. Deeann had been friends with the Young girls since charm school. “That’s against the rules.”
    “She thinks I don’t know.” Deeann shrugged and toyed with her silver necklace. “If she didn’t buy jewelry from me, I’d freeze her out.”
    Ah, Deeann didn’t let the friend code get in the way of her mercenary heart. Good for her.
    “Her old boyfriend was way better in the sack than Ricky. It’s a miracle I got two boys out of that man.”
    Sadie laughed and the two ordered another round. She sipped it as the Road Kill filled with people she’d known most of her life. She played pool in the back room against Cain Stokes and Cordell Parton and managed to lose to both. She had a good time, but by eleven she was ready to leave. The veterinarian was coming out to the JH in the morning to check out Maribell and give her a Pneumabort shot. Tyrus was capable of taking care of the mare, but Maribell was getting older and this would be her last foal. The last of her daddy’s foals, and Sadie just wanted a second opinion that everything was progressing as it should.
    She put her cue away and headed out of the back room to find Deeann.
    “I was just coming to find you,” Deeann said from the middle of the bar. “Vince is here.”
    Sadie lifted her gaze above the pouf in Deeann’s hair to the defined pecs in a T-shirt several feet behind her. He wore his customary brown T-shirt and cargo pants, and the sight of him made her heart squeeze. She lifted her gaze up his wide neck and chin to his green eyes looking back at her.
    “Do you want to go?” Deeann asked.
    “No.” She shook her head even though she’d been planning on leaving. In a town the size of Lovett, she was bound to run into him. Best to get it over with. He moved toward her and she forced herself to stand perfectly still. Not run away or swing at him or wrap her arms around his big chest.
    He tilted his head to one side and looked into her face. “How are you, Sadie?” he said above the noisy bar.
    The sound of his voice brushed against her and tugged at her insides. “Getting by.”
    He crossed his arms over his chest. “Are you staying in Lovett?”
    “For now.” Small talk. With Vince? She couldn’t do it. Not without falling apart.
    “This is my buddy Blake,” he said, and motioned to the man standing beside him. “He’s helping me with the counters at the Gas and Go.”
    Sadie turned to the man she hadn’t noticed before and wondered how she could have missed him. He was big and blond and obviously military. She stuck out her hand. “It’s a pleasure to meet you, Blake.”
    Blake grinned and took her hand. “Pleasure’s mine, sweetheart.”
    Vince stuck his arm out and placed a palm on his friend’s chest. They exchanged looks,