Chapter Seven

 

 

Messing with her hair, putting it up then down then up again, Elle finally gave up, left it in a ponytail and sat down on the bed to put on her boots. One on and one off, her cell phone rang with the Addams Family theme song as it signaled Jodie was calling.

Hitting the speakerphone button, she teased, “Yo Demon Woman, how goes the writing?”

“I’ll have you know I’m writin’ about Witches and Warlocks this week.” The sound of her blowing a raspberry through the phone made Elle laugh out loud as her best friend added, “And I am wonderful, thank you for asking. What about you, Miss Thang? How’s tricks?”

“Well, I’m going out to dinner with Junior then we’re goin’ to the Cadillac. They have a live band tonight and after the day I’ve had I need to shake my booty and knock back a couple.”

“Girl, your accent came back with a vengeance and you’ve barely been there forty-eight hours,” Jodie chuckled. “Reminds me of the old days.” She paused for just a second then added, “Well, have fun. Don’t do anything I wouldn’t do, and call if you need bail.”

“Oh, hell no,” Elle whooped. “I’m ridin’ with the law tonight. That’s a Get-Outta-Jail-Free card, don’tcha know?”

“Well, go get ‘em. I just wanted to check in and see how it was goin’.”

“Thanks, Jodes. I’ll call tomorrow evening.”

“Alright, Girlie. Show them Cowboys how it’s done.”

Disconnecting the call, Elle jumped up from the bed, looked in the mirror one last time then shoved her ID, debit card, room key, and some cash in her back pocket and headed out of her room. Into the elevator without having to wait, she rode down with a sweet older couple who explained they were from Canada and had come to Valentine to celebrate their fiftieth wedding anniversary.

“That’s great,” she bubbled. “What’s the secret to fifty happy years together?”

“The wife is always right, even when she’s wrong, and never go to bed mad,” the gentleman laughed right before his wife swatted his chest with the back of her hand and added, “And never laugh at his jokes, Honey, it’ll only encourage him.”

Chuckling along, Elle couldn’t help but feel a little twinge in the center of her heart. She imagined that’s what her mom and dad would’ve been like had they lived long enough to be together to celebrate their golden wedding anniversary. As it was, they still remained the role model for what she wanted her relationship to be – each person having their own interests, as well as sharing in their partner’s.

There was zero disillusion on Elle’s part. She knew she was strong, independent, outspoken, and got be a serious pain in the ass who wanted what she wanted when she wanted it. She also knew whoever the Universe and the Great Creator had designed to be her mate would have to know when to hold ‘em, know when to fold ‘em, know when to walk away, and damn sure know when to run. Essentially be perfect.

HA! Fat chance. Perfection went to Heaven alongside my momma…

The ding of the bell indicating the elevator had reached the Lobby thankfully pulled Elle from her thoughts in time to say goodbye to her new acquaintances and once again wish them a happy anniversary. Waving to the woman behind the Front Desk who she’d gone to high school with but couldn’t think of her name, her boots had just hit the asphalt when Junior pulled up and hooted his horn.

Jogging around to the passenger side of his truck, she climbed into the cab and teased, “Seriously? You couldn’t have brought a step ladder? I damn near had to take a running start.”

“Aww, hush. You got up here just fine,” he laughed. “And ya’ gave those old guys in business suits a little show.”

Clicking the buckle of her seatbelt into place, Elle leaned over the console and punched Junior in the arm as she sassed, “Oh, they’re gonna get a show alright. It’s ‘bout to be a prize fight, Buster Brown. Lady Lawyer versus Shithead Sherriff in a no-holds-barred grudge match to the death.”

Unable to keep from laughing as Junior’s rumbling guffaws filled the cab of the truck, Elle leaned back in the seat feeling relaxed and more than ready to have a good time. Then it occurred to her that someone was missing. Snapping her head back towards Junior while he was still chuckling, she asked, “Where’s your friend? Did I scare him off already?”

Waiting as he stopped at a traffic light before looking towards her, Elle knew Junior was jerking her chain as he scratched at his five ‘o’clock shadow and narrowed his eyes. “Well, he did say somethin’ about lady lawyers makin’ his skin crawl, but I told him I was sure you’d had all your shots and a flea bath in the last month or so.”

“Why I oughta…” She growled, picking up the book he had in the cup holder and throwing it at him. “I swear to God, Junior Mesa, if you embarrass me tonight I will call Bedinger Costigan and tell her that it was you who put the crickets in her gym bag.”

Turning back to face front as the car behind them honked, Junior was cracking up as he begged, “Oh please, oh please, oh please, don’t do that. She still stops by the station every week or two to see if I have a girlfriend. You tell her that and I’ll never get rid of her.”

“Would serve you right, ya’ big meanie,” Elle huffed, crossing her arms over her chest and pretending to pout.

“You really don’t think that act is gonna work on me, do ya’?” Junior barked with laughter. “Remember me? I’m the one who watched you pull that crap on most of the football team and half the wrestlers.”

“I do like a man with muscles,” Elle played up the purr in her voice just to mess with her old friend.

Flexing his right arm as he slowed and flipped on the turn signal with his other hand, Junior teased, “How about these guns?”

“Pfft! What guns? All I see’s a broken slingshot and a worn-out BB gun,” she laughed out loud while her friend groaned.

“Always breakin’ my heart, Elle. Always breakin’ my heart.”

“Whatever,” she scoffed with a snicker. Unbuckling her seatbelt and opening the door, she slid to the ground as she went on, “Besides, you like your women tall, blond, and boob-a-licious.”

Speeding around the car so fast she almost lost sight of him, Junior’s growl, more Wolf than man, shocked her into complete silence. With everything that was going on she’d completely forgotten that his alter-ego was an extremely large, charcoal gray Timber Wolf.

Backing up almost as fast as he approached, awoken from her stupor, Elle squealed as Junior’s fingers touched her sides, tickling her with the wild abandon that only a ‘brother’ could inflict. “Stop! Stop! Stoooopppp!” Grabbing his hands and pushing as hard as she could, Elle took another step back as quickly as she could move. Holding her hands out in front of her, she warned, “I swear to the Great Creator, I’ll get all ‘beaked out’ and peck the fur off your mangy hide, Junior Mesa.”

“Whoa, whoa, whoa, Killer Canary, don’t you dare zap me with your Cherokee Voodoo.”

Throwing her nose in the air and snorting as if he’d insulted her delicate sensibilities, Elle listened for the crunch of rocks against asphalt signaling Junior was turning around before taking off towards the door like a streak of lightning and hollering, “I’m not offended, but you better hope Chevyo doesn’t get wind of what you just said. You know how pissed off he gets when you make fun of Cherokee Magic. It’ll suck for you if I happen to let it slip.”

“Not fair, Elle. Not fair at all,” he hollered from somewhere behind her, his last words inaudible as she slipped through the huge double doors – exact replicas of barn doors off an old red barn – and sat down in the foyer, crossed her legs, and batted her eyes like she’d done nothing wrong.

Busting through the door, Junior tripped over his own two big feet, grabbed the door to stay standing, and in the process bumped into the meanest, nastiest school teacher the great state of Texas had ever seen - Mrs. Geraldine Furity. Raising his hands, he immediately groveled, “I am so very sorry, Mrs. Furity. Please excuse my clumsiness.”

Holding her hand over her mouth to keep from laughing out loud, Elle watched as her old friend became the target of the exact same speech every child in Valentine Elementary School had been subjected to nearly every day of every school term since the beginning of time, because that’s how old Mrs Furity really was.

It was widely accepted that Mrs. Furity- not so affectionately known as Purity Furity the Ferret Face – had been Methuselah’s first grade teacher based solely on her ability to sound like an old English Governess along with the fact that no one had ever seen her with anything but white hair, age-creased skin, and half-mooned lens in her gold, wire-framed glasses.

Looking over those very same spectacles, her watery blue eyes staring a hole right into Junior’s forehead, Mrs. Furity preached, “Junior Mesa, I always expected better of you. However, I am never sure why since you never cease to disappoint me.”

Lifting her cane, the one with the silver eagle on top, she poked him in the leg as she continued, “I think it was the fact that you always stood so tall and because your older brother was an avid pupil.” Tsking as she lowered her walking stick, leaned just a tad forward, and lowered her chin so that her eyes looked right into his with laser primed accuracy, ready to fire, she added, “Please do try to not embarrass yourself or the Sherriff’s Department, will you?”

Without waiting for an answer, the old widow took a step to the left, lifted her chin, and pursed her lips. “I see you over there, Eleanor Burntwing.” She took a step forward. “You would do well to remember your manners, all the same. It would not do for a lady of your stature to act like a common tomboy.” Again, without so much as a backward glance, the old battleax turned away and strode up to the front of the line to bother the hostess.

Getting up from her seat, glad everyone in the tri-county area knew about Mrs. Furity and gave her no notice, Elle slunk over to Junior and while biting the inside of her cheeks to keep from laughing at the blush on his cheeks, bowed her head and apologized. “Damn, I’m sorry. I didn’t see her there. I…” Having to work hard not to chuckle as the Wolf’s neck turned a brilliant shade of red, she leaned into his arm and whispered, “Drinks are on me, but ya’ gotta forgive me first.”

Raising her eyes to see if she was making any headway in charming Junior, the warm scent of fresh cut mesquite, the cool aroma of pine, and a hot blast of pure male heat climbed up her spine and whipped through her body like a bucking bull straight outta the shoot. Unable to focus on Junior, Elle’s head whipped up and to the left and her eyes landed on the biggest, broadest Cowboy she’d ever seen.

Dark curls that kissed the top of the collar of his light blue button down, eyes the color of Puget Sound in the early hours of the morning, and a smile that damn near knocked her on her butt, the man walking towards them was not only all Texan but he was the perfect blend of Dragon and Wolf that made both woman and Rain Bird coo and think about shaking their tail feathers.

Bumping her with his elbow and whispering, “Stop drooling, Birdbrain. You’re embarrassing me in front of my friend. I’m tryin’ to look cool,” Junior stepped forward and shook the man’s hand before turning back to her with a smirk and half-snickered, “And this is Elle Burntwing, one of my best friends and at the moment, tongue-tied and mute.”

Odds are, I’m gonna kill that mangy Wolf before the nights over…