t on his lap. Vic placed his arm around her shoulder as they sat on the large bench and looked out across the water.
“You seem awfully quiet. Is everything okay?” he asked.
She was silent a moment, and then she squeezed their hands.
“I haven’t told you much about my life, before I came to Delite.”
“Well, we haven’t shared too much about our lives either,” Tommy stated.
“Sure you have. You told me about your parents and grandparents and about visiting them in a week or so. You’ve told me about your time serving in the Middle East and of course about your jobs. I haven’t told either of you anything.”
“So tell us now,” Tommy stated.
“Well, this is where the problem lies. It took a lot for me to get involved with you two. Not just because of the whole ménage thing, but because I haven’t made love with a man since I was nineteen.” She swallowed hard. Vic heard her. The thought of her with another man made his stomach hurt and anger fill him, but then he realized that she was with him and Tommy now, so it didn’t matter. Plus she said “made love.” She didn’t say “have sex.” So there must have been a commitment of some sort, even though she was so young.
“I was nineteen and Devlon was twenty.”
“That’s young,” Tommy stated.
“It may seem so, but not at the time and not while we both suffered difficult childhoods and had such a strong bond. You see, I was living in an orphanage since birth.”
“What?” Tommy asked as he turned toward her and so did Vic. He was shocked. She was such a gorgeous woman. He could only imagine how beautiful of a baby she was.
“I was and no one adopted me and things were getting bad at the orphanage. I mean, the people who took care of us were nice, but then the older boys started to try and sneak into the girls’ rooms and make them do things. They were a lot bigger and stronger and it was scary.”
“Why didn’t the adults do anything about it?”
“It happened at night and if a girl tried to tell, then the boys would torment them, and they were ruthless. I guess it was the whole peer-pressure thing and not wanting to stand out as an oddball. I wasn’t going to lose my virginity like that. I wanted more in life and I wanted freedom. Anyway, I took off.”
“How did you survive?”
“Well, it was kind of funny, but I met another group of young men and women who did the same thing. They found odd jobs working on farms and ranches and so I did the same. I learned about the bulls really fast and I liked them. A year into working I started barrel racing and doing some small events at places like Dudley’s here. I was offered a job, full time at eighteen, caring for the horses, helping the bull riders and organizing events.”
“How did you learn how to ride the electric bull?” Tommy asked.
“I would train with the cowboys and then sneak on at night for extra hours. That’s how I met Devlon and we hit it off. We started doing everything together and within a year we were making plans.”
Vic heard the sadness in her voice, and he had a feeling the plans meant marriage.
“You were going to get married?” Tommy asked, and she nodded her head.
“Devlon was a bit set on making it big. One night he was carrying on with a bunch of cowboys about his riding capabilities and one thing led to the next and I was saying that he was a great trainer and even I could ride a bull. Before long the bets were going and I got onto a real bull and rode it.”
“What? Were you out of your mind?” Vic asked.
“I was trying to prove that Devlon was a great teacher and also help him to win the thousand dollars that was on the table if I survived the ride. Turns out, I was pretty damn good and that wasn’t the last time I got to ride a real bull.”
“Holy shit, Elise. Well, you ain’t ever riding a real bull again,” Vic scolded and she smiled.
“I don’t want to. The electric bull is fine with me. I like my bones intact. It was when I was young and stupid.”
“So what happened to Devlon?” Tommy asked, and she got quiet.
“He wasn’t happy about being on the bottom, and his desire to be on top made him get involved with some pretty bad stuff. He gambled, he bet on races and bull-riding matches, but ultimately what cost him was betting on a match he won but wasn’t supposed to.”
“What do you mean?”
She was quiet and her voice lowered to a whisper.