Page 24 of The Cowboy's Temporary Solution

The woman in front of me sounds genuinely sad. I do wonder what the full story is, but it seems clear that it's not the one I've been told.

"Don't let him go, Seri," Bernie gives me a timid grin before reaching out to touch my shoulder gently. "I've known Ranger a long time and I've never seen him look at a woman the way he does you. If you want that man, I can promise you, he's yours."

Ranger

Singer's phonekeeps going to voicemail, but I get a text back from Slate Pereira saying that the girls had stopped by the rodeo to wish them luck.

I get to the stands too late. The crowd's already dispersing and I'm swimming upstream, trying to get in while everyone else is trying to get out.

Rebel Ralston leans against one of the lighting poles and glowers at me as I push past him in time to pass Singer as she heads toward the trash can beside him.

"Singer!" I put a hand out to catch her before the current of people carry her past me. "Where's Seri? I need to talk to her."

"Who says she wants to talk to you back?"

"She doesn't have to, but I still have some things I need to say to her before she leaves. Are you gonna tell me where she went or do I have to come up to the Y and bust down your door?"

Singer rolls her eyes. "Depends, are you here to grovel? Or did you come down here so you do something stupid and make things worse?"

"I definitely don't want to make things worse."

With a nod of her head, Singer shakes loose of my hand, "Bathroom. Don't fuck up. I've got brothers, Ranger, I know where how to hurt you."

"Oh, Sing, you might want to head in that way," I point her toward a different exit, "Rebel's down thataway, figured you probably want to avoid running into him."

Anxiety washes over the girl's face as she casts a quick glance in the direction I saw the Ralston.

"Oh, yeah, thanks for the heads up."

There's been bad blood between the Ralstons and the Kellys for generations. I know it's been a long time since I was around, but Mom's kept me up-to-date on the local gossip. I know the Kelly boys are still not living around here, so Singer's got no kin in the area to back her up if the Ralstons decide to take up old grievances with her.

I'm still several paces from the ladies' room when I see a sight that turns my blood cold; Bernadine struts out from behind thecinderblock wall, all her usual big hair and low-cut top, she's grinning like a cheshire cat, chattin' it up with someone behind her. That someone comes into view a second behind Bernie and there's no room left in my head for rational thoughts.

If I thought Serenity was a knock-out in her sexy librarian outfits, I'm completely unprepared for the farmer's daughter look she's sporting tonight.

A feminine top stretches across those fabulous tits of hers, with a pair of Daisy Dukes wrapped around her ass that have me stopped in my tracks and sputtering for breath.

Suddenly, I'm less concerned about seeing Bernie and Seri chatting like neighbors who've run into each other at the store than I am about knowing that my girl's been down at the fairgrounds on opening night dressed like a country goddess and thinking she's available.

"Seri!"

Damn. It's early August, the nights don't drop below seventy degrees till after midnight this time of year. I'm not even wearing an undershirt, so there's no option available to get those curves covered up and keep the hungry eyes of half of Slow River off her.

"Told ya." Bernie grabs Seri's hands and squeezes her fingers. The girls break their contact and Bernie walks past me, pausing just long enough to quietly say a few words; "I expect to be hearing from you, O'Leary. You can't avoid me forever."

"What'd you tell her, Bern?"

I nervously glance up at Seri and I'm more than a little relieved to see she hasn't taken the opportunity to run off.

"Calm down, Range, I just set her straight on us is all."

The growl coming from the back of my throat is a warning. "The last time you set anyone 'straight about us' you got the whole town thinking I was the reason your marriage was breaking up."

Bernadine winces. "I've been trying to clear that up with you for ten years." She glances over to where Serenity is waiting, looking nervous, with her plush lower lip working between her teeth. "Maybe when you're finished convincing your fake girlfriend that you for-real love her, we can talk things through. It's been ten years, Range, a lot's different now."

I don't have time to wonder what she's talking about. Bernie walks off, pulling her phone from her back pocket like she's checking a message and I turn to face Serenity.

"You told her?"

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