Saddled and Spurred (Blacktop Cowboys 2)

Janie sidestepped Renner and poked Abe in the chest again. “Wife? I haven’t been your wife for a long damn time, Abe Lawson, so you can just back off.”

Bran caught movement out of the corner of his eye and turned to see Harper—his Harper—whispering in Renner’s ear.

Renner smiled at whatever Harper had said and turned his head, so their mouths were a kiss apart. They stared at each other for a beat or two, as if sharing some secret, and then grinned.

First of all, what was Harper doing here? Second of all, when the hell had she gotten so freakin’ chummy with that smoothtalking bastard? Bran had an overwhelming urge to punch Renner right in the kisser.

Then Renner wrapped his arms around Janie’s middle, picked her up, and carted her off the dance floor. Harper followed, laughing, ducking Janie’s legs and arms.

Abe emitted a primitive growl that Bran had never heard before, which matched the possessive yowl in Bran’s head. When Abe started after Renner, both Bran and Ike held him back.

“Let me f**kin’ go, right now. He has no right—”

“No, you have no right. You need to chill out,” Ike said.

“I agree,” Bran said. “I think it’s time to call it a night.”

“Fuck that,” Abe snapped. “We just got here.”

Bran stood nose to nose with Abe. “Sit your ass down and forget about her.”

Abe moved his head and stared over Bran’s shoulder with such a look of longing that Bran felt it as surely as a punch in the gut. No need for Abe to say, “I can’t,” because Bran knew. He’d always known that Abe had never gotten over Janie.

Christ. What a f**king mess.

Ike clapped Abe on the back. “Come on. Let’s sit down and get another drink, if we’re stayin’.”

Finally Abe nodded and sauntered off the dance floor, his death glare focused on the table where Janie and Harper were cozied up to Renner.

Before they sat, Nancy grabbed Abe’s arm. “I said I’m ready to go home, Abe.”

“So go,” Abe shot back.

“What is wrong with you?” Nancy demanded. “You’re acting like a complete idiot. In public, no less. And what’s that garbage about you calling that woman your wife?”

“She’s my ex-wife.”

That seemed to further incense Nancy. “I want to leave right now.”

“So leave. I ain’t stoppin’ you.”

Yeah, Hank was gonna be damn sorry he missed this. Too bad the bar didn’t serve popcorn.

Nancy’s mouth tightened. “I rode here with you, remember?”

“Then I guess you’re stayin’ if you’re waiting on me for a ride home, aren’t you?”

“No. I will not stand here and watch you make a fool of yourself and make a fool of me.”

“Your choice. But I am sitting down. And I am staying.” Abe sat, which he never did when Nancy was still standing.

“I mean it, Abe. This is not a joke to me. If you don’t take me home right now, we’re done. For good.”

Abe shrugged, almost absentmindedly. “I understand. To be honest, I’m tired of fighting with everybody in my life that matters about . . .” You went unsaid. “It’s probably best we call it quits anyway.”

The pinched look left her face and her mouth dropped open in shock. “What? You’re serious. After all I did—”

“To try to destroy his family relationships?” Bran supplied. “Yeah, he’s serious.”

“I wasn’t speaking to you,” Nancy snapped.

Ike grabbed his coat. “Enough. I’ll take you home, Nancy, but we’re leaving right now.”

“Fine.” She took her time buttoning her coat, glaring at Abe, who was too busy glaring at Janie’s table to notice.

When Nancy realized Abe really didn’t give a shit if she left or not, she whirled around and stomped away.

Ike drained his beer before he followed her.

The waitress brought a fresh round. Abe contemplated his bottle for a long time.

“What’s up?” Bran asked.

“Besides havin’ my head up my ass?” He snorted. “Was Nancy always such a manipulative bitch?”

“Yes. And I can safely speak for all of us when I say I’m glad you finally saw the light. I ain’t gonna claim she’s not your type, but we never understood what you saw in her.”

Abe sighed. “Eight years I’ve been divorced from Janie. Eight years I’ve been f**ked up by it. I was happy to find a willing woman and get laid a couple of times a year, until Hank and Lainie . . .” He sighed again. “I don’t begrudge Hank his happiness and I love Lainie like a sister. Seein’ them happy reminded me that I want that happiness for myself. A wife and kids. A woman wasn’t gonna fall in my lap, so I started looking for one.”

“And you found Nancy.”

“She really is different when it’s just the two of us. Anyway, I was gonna ask Nancy to move in with me. Then I see Janie for the first time in two years . . . and it’s like . . . what are the f**king odds? The night I decide to carve out a new life for myself, my ex-wife shows up. Talk about a cosmic clusterfuck.”

Bran frowned. “I figured it’d been a lot longer than two years since you’d seen Janie.”

“At first. I didn’t talk to her for years after the divorce was final. She called me outta the blue about two years ago, wanting to meet, and like an idiot I agreed to . . . Never mind.”