Shoulda Been A Cowboy (2 page)

Domestic disturbance calls weren't a mystery or
all that unusual. Most incidents were cleared up fairly quickly once
the participants were forced to talk to each other in front of an
unbiased third party.

It also helped that Cam wore a gun.

But Opal and Ralph were too busy shouting to listen to
each other, let alone him.

Cam let loose an ear-piercing whistle. “I'm
out of patience. Ralph, since you're injured, you can ride up
front with me. Opal, I'm gonna have to cuff you and you'll
ride in the back.”

More silence. Then a meek, “You mean, you're
gonna arrest us? Both of us?”

“
Yep.” Cam waited. Rumor in the Crook County
Sheriff's office was Opal and Ralph repeated this same row on
their anniversary, every summer, going back fifty-four years. But as
there were no arrest records, none of his fellow officers would
confirm or deny. They'd just laughed when the call came in on
his rotation.

“
I can't stomach the idea of her goin'
to the hoosegow.” Ralph lowered the ice pack and dropped his
double chin to his chest. “Aw, Opal, you know I didn't
mean it when I said I wished I woulda married Marion Lutter. She
ain't never held a candle to you in the looks department.”

“
And she can't cook worth a damn either,”
Opal said.

“
Makes you wonder how she's so gol-durned,
fat, huh?” Ralph peeped at her, wearing a hangdog look.

Opal cackled. “You're so bad, C-bear.”

“
I'm sorry, snooker-pie. I shoulda stayed
outta the whiskey on our special night,” Ralph said.

C-bear? Snooker-pie? Sweet baby Jesus. He'd rather
jam sticks in his ears than listen to geriatric foreplay.

“
Good thing my aim ain't what it used to
be.”

“
Amen to that.” Ralph squinted at Cam. “I
reckon you can let her go now, Deputy, since I ain't pressing
charges.”

“
You sure?”

“
Yep.” Ralph patted the floral couch
cushion. “Why don't you come on over here, my
bee-yoo-ti-ful blushin' bride, so we can kiss and make up
proper?”

Opal blew Ralph a kiss. “Give me a minute to see
him out.” She practically shoved Cam off the porch. “Sorry
to trouble you, Deputy. Say hello to your folks from us.”

Then she slammed the door in his face.

Stunned, Cam stood on the steps. But when giggles,
grunts and the sounds of slapping flesh drifted through the living
room window, he practically ran to his patrol car.

Dust kicked up behind him as he drove away. Fast. His
radio crackled before he'd gone too far. “McKay.”

“
Deputy, this is dispatch. Do you need backup
for…snooker-pie and C-bear?” Deep belly laughs and
kissing noises echoed in the background.

Assholes.

Mindful of being on the radio where anyone with a
scanner could hear his response, Cam said, “That's a
ten-four,” rather than his usual, “Fuck off.”

“
One other thing. This just came in.”

“
What?”

“
There's a situation over at the Twin
Pines.”

“
What kind of situation?”

“
Looks like a bar fight.”

It figured. Nothing cowboys liked better than a good
fight. “I'm on it.” Cam spun a U-turn. Maybe he'd
stick around for a stiff drink after he broke up the brawl. God knew
he needed one now.

 

***

 

“
Let's toast.” Keely McKay held her
bottle of Bud Light to the center of the table. “To Hudson
McKay, the newest addition to the family. The darling boy of Colt and
Indy. He's beautiful and healthy, but damn, do I wish one of
ya'll would birth me a niece.”

Laughter rang out as bottles and glasses chinked
together.

“
The last thing we need is another wild McKay
girl,” Skylar said dryly.

“
But nine boys in a row? Ten, if I count Chassie's
precious Westin? Come on. There's something in the water in
Sundance for sure.” Keely skewered her sisters in law,
Channing, Macie and AJ, with a look. “Maybe ya'll oughta
grab your collective spouses—my beloved brothers—and head
over to Moorcroft for a night or two when you plan on getting knocked
up again.”

“
Bite your tongue, Keely McKay,” AJ replied
haughtily.

“
Uh-huh. We're done for a while,”
Macie said. “A
long
while.”

Channing piped in, “Us too.”

“
Right. If you three aren't pregnant again
by the end of the year I'll kiss a pig.”

“
Is that a challenge?”

“
Yep. Remember not all pigs are of the bovine
variety.” Keely grinned and downed her beer.

Domini sipped her rum and Coke, secretly pleased to be
included in the first annual “Cowgirl's Night Out”,
the brainchild of wild child Keely.

Keely had arranged the shindig at a semi-private table
in the back room, inviting her brother's wives, Channing,
Macie, AJ and India, as well as her cousin Kade's wife, Skylar.
Domini didn't know Quinn McKay's wife, Libby, or Luke's
wife, Jessie. Poor Jessie appeared as wide-eyed as Domini felt.

In addition to Keely's cousins, Chassie West
Glanzer and Ramona West, the group included Ginger Paulson, a local
attorney who was pals with Libby and Dr. Joely Monroe. Domini was
grateful the chatty doc sat on the other side of the table. The woman
had rubbed her the wrong way from the first time they'd met.

Wrong. You're just jealous because you think
she's been rubbing on Cam McKay, not in an official medical
capacity, even when he claims they're just friends.

Yeah, Cam was friends with everyone it seemed.

Cam. He'd rocked her world with that stunningly
passionate kiss months ago. Since then? Nothing. Deputy McKay still
showed up at Dewey's every day, friendly as ever. Her own
hide-in-the-kitchen reaction bothered her more than his nonchalance.
Why couldn't she just buck up and proposition him?

Because you made the first move last time and he
scampered away like a scalded cat. Obviously he's not
interested in you. Get over it and move on.

Stupid voice of reason. She scowled at her drink,
wishing it were pure rum.

India warned, “Slap on a happy face, Domini, or
Keely will whip out the party games.”

“
Oh no.”

“
Oh
yes
.
Keely and Carolyn have this bizarre fixation on forcing everyone to
play games at family gatherings. God save us from suffering though
another round of ‘pin the dick on the cowboy'.”

“
They really play that?”

“
If Keely's in charge we do.”

Domini beamed a totally fake smile at India. “Better?”

“
Uh-huh. Just keep it up.”

“
Who are you guys conspiring against?” Macie
demanded.

“
No one. Just having a rip roarin' good 'ol
time,” India answered.

Domini's toothy grin widened and she gave Macie
two thumbs up.

“
I don't care what you two are up to. This
is fun.” Macie downed her drink. “It's been ages
since I've been out with adults.”

“
In a place without placemats to color on and
balloons bobbing everywhere,” Channing added.

“
Oh pooh, you guys wouldn't have it any
other way,” Keely inserted. “Am I right?” She
elbowed AJ, who'd just knocked back another shot.

“
Totally. I love my guys, but I forced myself not
to skip out the door because I was
so
looking forward to this girl's night. Damn this is good. What
is it?”

“
A cherry bomb. Blake got me hooked on them over
at the Rusty Spur.”

“
Does Blake like living in Nebraska?” Doc
Monroe asked Keely.

“
Yep. He's bought into his buddy's
bar. He's head over heels in love with Willow. She's a
real firecracker. When he returned to load up his stuff, I've
never seen him more…content. He deserves it.”

“
Amen,” Ramona West said, lifting her glass.

Keely ordered another round in Blake's honor and
insisted everyone but India drink up.

Everyone bowed to Keely's will. Keely McKay was a
force to be reckoned with, a whirlwind of fun, a woman who seized
life by the balls and did whatever struck her fancy. Not for the
first time Domini wished she could be more like Keely. Freer. Looser.
Bolder. Willing to go after what she wanted.

Willing to go after Cam.

Right. Like that'd ever happen. Domini had
overcome many things in her life; unfortunately, shyness wasn't
one of them.

Someone cranked the music. They all got up and danced,
the booze and the laughter flowed freely as they cut loose. But even
a semi-private room didn't stop every cowboy in the place from
sauntering over to flirt with Keely, who flirted right back. Easily.
With complete confidence. Domini could hate her if she wasn't
so much fun.

When Keely tucked away yet another hot cowboy's
phone number into her jeans pocket, Chassie said, “You're
so bad.”

The bad girl batted her eyelashes. “Why, whatever
do you mean?”

“
How many men do you have on a string right now?”

“
That's rich, coming from a woman who lives
with two guys,” Keely shot back.

“
Ooh. Ouch,” Ramona said with a wince.

Chassie bumped Keely with her shoulder. “I'm
living with
three
guys
if you count my sweet baby Westin. He's at such a cute stage
right now. Trev and Ed are always—”

“
Can it, Chass. No baby talk tonight. Remember?”

“
Fine. But most of us here do have babies.”

“
What about you, Jessie?” Skylar asked. “You
and Luke talked about kids?”

Jessie shrugged. “Off and on. We're ‘off'
right now. We've got some really cute baby llamas. You should
bring the girls over to see them.”

“
Llamas?” Domini repeated.

“
Jessie was the saving grace for the llamas Chase
won in some rodeo last fall. He dumped them off with his folks and
expected Charlie and Vi to take care of them.” Libby pointed
with her beer bottle. “Good thing your father-in-law didn't
get his way. Quinn said he was pissed you kept them.”

“
Casper is always pissed off at me about something
I've done. Or not done.” She frowned, dipping her head
toward her drink so her hair obscured her face.

As the time and drinks passed, Domini couldn't
remember when she'd had such a blast. Even India, who rarely
set foot in a bar/supper club, was still hanging out two hours later.

Domini heard her name and broke her conversation with
Jessie to focus on Skylar and India.

“
Even if you are my sister, and I love your
offbeat sense of humor, you can be mean.”

“
When am I ever mean?” India demanded.

“
What you did to Kade was mean,” Skylar
chided. “Kade actually told people that Domini was a refugee
because she was kicked out of Bosnia for political persecution.”

“
But Kade embellished it, claiming she barely
spoke English, so any shit he got for sharing misinformation was well
deserved,” India retorted. “And people around here don't
know the difference between Bosnia, the Ukraine and Timbuktu. A
foreigner is a foreigner.”

How true that was. Because Domini had shared a house
with her friend Nadia, who'd emigrated from Bosnia, everyone
assumed they were from the same country. Everyone except for Cam. Cam
had pegged Domini's accent and country of origin right away.
Not that it meant anything.

“
Kade wasn't the only one India pranked. She
told Lettie from the Golden Boot that Domini was a dethroned Russian
princess and to never say the word
vodka
in front of her or she'd burst into tears and go on a bloody
rampage.”

Domini smiled. That'd been a good one. In fact,
that's why Cam had taken to calling her princess—a
nickname that'd stuck even after he'd ferreted out the
truth.

“
That wasn't as bad as what she told Dewey.”
Macie leaned forward. “India swore Domini was a former Soviet
spy posing as a chef. And she was in Wyoming hiding from her
checkered, murderous past with the Russian mob.”

India snorted. “Come on, can you blame me? People
were gossiping about her. I just made the gossip more…colorful.
I added a virtual tattoo to her, if you will.”