Page 49 of A Cowboy's Trust
Jake
Short. Not sweet, but not mean. Before he could start second guessing himself, Jake sealed the envelope, addressed it, and deliberately left the return address blank.
Any futureGeneral Deliverymail could go straight into the garbage.
Speaking of garbage…
He rooted in the closet until he found the wad of previous mail from Melissa. It was time for a clean break, once and for all. Shoving the newest letter under the elastic, he turned toward the door and got a full body slam from Tansy.
“Finally. You ever answer your texts?” Tansy stole the bundle from his hand and threw it toward the bed. “Never mind. Hurry up, Petra and Aiden need help.”
“What?” Jake raced for the door and his boots. “Accident?”
“No, don’t panic. Sorry, I said that wrong. They’re healthy and breathing, but there’s a glitch with the wedding stuff, so Petra sent me an SOS. I need you there to—” She caught his shirtfront and pulled, hard, jerking him toward the door. “Dammit, screw the details. Let’sgo. I’ll explain as we drive.”
Steps outside the door, Jake stole her keys from her fingers, pointing at his truck. “You’re in no state to drive, especially not in that death rattle of an SUV. Tell me where I’m going, then start explaining what the hell could turn a simple wedding into a call for help?”
“Rough Cut pub. Go to the back alley.”
He waited until she’d put on her seatbelt to put the truck in Drive.
She waited until he’d pulled out on to the highway to start talking.
“We’re slim on details, but for sentimental reasons, Petra asked the owner of Rough Cut if they could use the dance floor for their wedding. Ryan agreed since the place is closed today until six. My dad is the officiant, and they set up the camera and were ready to roll when some sort of security system went off that Ryan didn’t warn them about. They’re locked in, and they can’t get a hold of him or his main staff and need me to help.”
“You know how to turn off the pub’s security system?” Which made zero sense until he remembered she used to live a few doors down above Buns and Roses.
“Sort of? Turn here.”
Jake turned then pumped the brakes to stop on time. He twisted to face Tansy. “Why do you need me?”
She shoved her door open then offered a nervous smile as she slid her feet to the snowy ground. “Heavy lifting? Or I might need you as a character witness.”
She was gone.
Jake cursed under his breath as he chased after her, clicking the doors locked behind him with the key fob as he rushed around the edge of the truck.
The way she stood blocking the door made it hard to see what she was doing. Tansy suddenly stepped to the right, twisted the door handle, then bumped toward the wall with her hip. She pulled, and the door swung outward, and suddenly the faint beat of music he’d heard swelled to near deafening levels.
In front of them was the long corridor that held the bathrooms and a storage room access. The space was filled with bright lights that flashed along the walls, glancing off Tansy as she sprinted ahead of him toward the main room.
“Wait,” he shouted, not a jot hopeful she’d heard.
It was like being tossed inside an arcade game where he and Tansy were two of the characters racing for the prizes. Music blared, lights whirled. He swore glitter floated in the air.
Jake had been inside Rough Cut dozens of times, but that final step onto the dance floor had never looked like this. His gaze whizzed from spot to spot, taking in what could be still-life tableaux in the seconds when blinding white spotlights paused for long enough to let his eyes focus.
To one side of the dance floor, a tripod lay tipped over on the floor.
A few feet from there, Tansy’s dad, Malachi, sat in a chair. He had his eyes squeezed closed and his hands pressed over his ears. Petra stood next to him, her hands over his, as if trying to help dampen the sound.
The next flash revealed Aiden by the front door, banging on the hinges with his boot heel. Which struck Jake as equal parts useless and hysterically funny since—well, a boot as hammer was part of it, but also no matter how hard Aiden hit his target, Jake didn’t hear a single thump.
The entire time an epic soundtrack blared in their ears. Like a science fiction movie gone wild, it had the epic booms of evil overlords mixed with the occasionalwhizz-zip-boopof a ride at the fair.
Chaos.
Tansy laid a hand on her father’s shoulder. Malachi lifted his chin and met her gaze steadily for a two count before nodding.
