Free Rodeo Blues by Karen Michelle Nutt Page A

who likes to get down to business,"
Jhett said with a nod and pushed back his expensive brown cowboy
hat. Looked brand new, as did the snakeskin boots he wore. "Good,"
Jhett added and his pretense of a smile dropped. "Let me just say
it to you straight. You better stay away from Jolie Lockhart while
you're here. You have no claims to her."
    "I don't think Jolie would like being thought
of as an item to claim. She's funny like that."
    "You were always a wiseacre weren't you, Tye?
Just stay away from my gal ."
    "Your gal?" Tye's eyebrows rose in
surprise.
    Jhett took a deep breath, inflating his
chest. "That's right. We're planning on getting married."
    "Is that so?" He guessed last night's news of
Jolie and his nuptials hadn't spread through town yet. He'd take
great pleasure in being the first to let Jhett in on the
secret.
    "Yep. So I would appreciate it if you'd leave
Jolie be," Jhett continued his long-winded demands. "I don't like
to see her unhappy."
    "You want to see Jolie happy? Should have
been at Big Bob's Saloon last night," he casually said.
    Jhett blinked as if he were trying to
decipher Tye's angle. When he couldn't figure it out, he said,
"Just another Lady's Night, same as every Thursday." His shoulder
lifted in a shrug and his nostrils flared as his gaze wavered over
him in an I'm-sizing-you-up moment. "Jolie
never goes to those things," he added.
    "So of course you don't either," Tye said.
Jhett and his gambling had turned into a full time job, so he was
probably posting a bet in the next town over for some event or
other.
    "I don't make it a habit to hang out where my
gal isn't going to be," he snapped. "Besides, what difference does
it make if I was there or not? Get to your point, Casper. If'n
there is one. You're boring me." He faked a yawn.
    "Jolie was there at Big Bob's Saloon. Must
have changed her mind on going once she knew I was in town. Got
ourselves hitched too."
    "What…no… To each other?" Jhett sputtered,
his expression worthy of a snapshot moment.
    Tye forced his twitching lips not to indulge
in a full out grin. "Yes, to each other," he confirmed his claim,
"and I would appreciate it if you'd stop coveting my wife. If you
recall, there's a commandment about such things."
    "Well, I never— I don't believe you."
    "Then you haven't been listening to your
Bible studies." How he kept a straight face, he'd never know. It
took Jhett an extra second to realize he was messing with him, but
when he did, Jhett's hatred for him shone brighter than ever
through his narrowed eyes of contempt.
    "I'll speak to Jolie myself," he hissed as if
he were sure he could prove his claim a boldface lie.
    "You do that. While you're at it, send her my
love."
    Jhett's hands balled into fists and his face
turned a nice crimson color, flaming from his neck up to his
hairline. "Why you—"
    "Watch it, Jhett. I don't want to fight you,
but mark my words, I will. And if you haven't noticed, I'm not the
scrawny teen you and your buddies liked to use as a punching bag
just for the fun of it." He hadn't been all that scrawny, but Jhett
usually had two or three others with him when he decided to teach him a lesson – as he liked to say
right before his buddies held his arms and Jhett tried to rearrange
his face.
    Jhett's gaze slid over him again, and not in
a complimentary way, but this time coming to the conclusion he
might not be able to beat him without back up. "Well, well...
you're a tough guy now, aren't ya?" Jhett did another once over,
this time his face puckered as if he smelled something offensive
and needed to take it to the garbage.
    "I can hold my own…" He shrugged. "Guess
without your buds, you can't take a swing at me." He wouldn't throw
the first punch, but God, if the man so much as touched him, he'd
let him have it good.
    Jhett settled on pointing his finger at him.
"Watch it, Tye Casper. You don't belong here anymore – not that you
ever did."
    He pursed his lips and tried his best to let
the insult slide