Turn and Burn (Blacktop Cowboys 5)

Tanna picked up the popcorn bowls and took them to the kitchen.

“Randy? Hey, it’s Fletch. No, that’s all right. It’s why I have an answering service. What’s up with Bluebell? Uh-huh. Uh-huh.” He listened. “If you’ve tried all that and it hasn’t helped then I’d better come take a look. It’ll be forty-five minutes. Tell Annabeth to put on a pot of coffee.” He hung up and sighed.

If this were a relationship, Tanna would run her hands up his back and curl her arms around his neck. Instead she said, “Duty calls, huh?”

“Yep.”

“How often does this happen?”

He stood. “Depends on the time of year. Calls have dropped off in the last three weeks. The place I’m goin’ tonight . . . the guy’s daughter competes in cutting horse competitions. The daughter is easily panicked. Her daddy calls me. Usually it’s nothin’ major. But there’s always that first time.”

“I know a little something about being panicked around horses lately.”

Fletch stared at her. “You ever gonna tell me what happened at Eli’s?”

“I already did. I don’t know what good it’ll do to rehash it.”

“Guess you’d never know unless you tried.” He ran his hands through his hair and snagged his ball cap off the coffee table. At the door he turned and gave her a sheepish smile. “Sorry I fell asleep.”

“Blame it on the company.”

“I could blame it on a lot of things, sugar twang, but never on that. Good night.”

“Tanna?” someone said behind her and she jumped, immediately ending the flashback.

She whirled around and smiled at Vivien. “Sorry. I’m spacey today.”

“No worries. Just so you know, we were serious about meeting up with you for a drink or ten at Buckeye Joe’s.”

“But there are stipulations,” Tilda said, peering around Vivien’s shoulder.

“Like what?”

“Like nothing,” Miz Maybelle said, giving Tilda the stink eye. “If you show up, we’ll initiate you.”

Tanna looked from face to face, each staring at her earnestly and she realized they weren’t joking. “If I show up?”

“Hard to believe that not everyone wants to hang out with us, ain’t it?” Pearl said with a sigh. “We do scare people off.”

“Well, ladies, I’m from Texas. I’m made of much sterner stuff than that. Maybe y’all will learn some new tricks from me.”

“I like her already,” Garnet said. “But I gotta be honest, if we’re teaching this young pup new tricks, I’ll need a few hours’ beauty sleep.”

Tanna was starting to feel like a regular at the Buckeye, given she’d been in four times in two weeks. But since this was the only bar in town, chances were high everyone felt that way. And she’d always considered her hometown small.

After they’d gotten settled and ordered drinks, Tanna said, “If I buy the first round of shots, I’ve got everyone’s promise you’ll knock it back no matter what?”

Miz Maybelle leaned forward, her eyes a steely blue behind her thick glasses. “Bring it on, Texas.”

Tanna’s gaze moved from Miz Maybelle, to Tilda, to Garnet, to Pearl, to Vivien, to Bernice. “All right. Clear the table, I’ll be back.”

Sherry Gilchrist grinned at Tanna as she walked up to the bar. “They’ve already got you playing fetch and carry for them?”

“No. This round is on me. So I’ll need seven shots of tequila.”

“Coming right up.” Sherry set seven shot glasses on a tray and filled each one without spilling a drop. “Anything else?”

“A bottle of Tabasco sauce.”

“Tanna, darlin’, you sure you wanna taunt them with this?”

“Yep.” She couldn’t admit the Mud Lilies had been taunting her. She shook the hot sauce until a layer of reddish-orange formed on the top of each glass. She handed the bottle back to Sherry and dug in her jeans pocket for some cash. “How much do I owe you?”

“Nothin’.”

Tanna leaned forward. “Bull. I already got my free drink from you last week.”

“Don’t get your back up. These shots aren’t on the house. But they are paid for and that’s all I’m allowed to say.” She smiled. “Enjoy.”

She carried the tray to the table. The ladies looked at the shots, each other, then at Tanna. Pearl said, “What is this?”

“A Texas prairie fire.” After everyone had a shot glass, Tanna raised hers for a toast. “God bless my home state of Texas.” She downed the breath-stealing shot quickly. Her eyes watered. Her throat closed up. Her nasal passages protested. She sniffed with gusto and said, “Now that’s what I’m talkin’ about.”

When she glanced around the group, she saw empty shot glasses. None of them reached for an icy cold beer to stop the fire trail to the stomach. And how in the hell had they finished the shots faster than she had? She must’ve worn a confused look because Vivien offered her a grandmotherly pat on the arm.

“That was really a sweet toast, Tanna dear. Thank you.”

Sweet? “But . . .”

“Not the reaction you expected?” Miz Maybelle asked.

“No! My mouth is still burning. Isn’t yours?”

Six heads shook in unison.