Page 136 of My UnTrue Love
He cringed. “I told you, I never feel vulnerable.” Now, Bill sounded a lot like his brother, when Luke denied wanting a mother. “No. I just don’t like losing control over a situation.”
“Sometimes art means letting go, honey.” Clem kissed him lightly. “You can do this. I believe in you.”
“Ya do, huh?”
“Yes! So, believe in yourself.”
Bill sighed, as if it wassucha hard decision to go on the most popular television program in the world. “All or nothin’.” He murmured. “Alright, then. I guess I’m goin’ onHome on the Range.”
Clem wrinkled her nose in delight. “Really?” She squealed.
“Why not? Hank’ll support us, if we go bankrupt. Him and me are becoming close as cattle in a crush…” Bill broke off with a grunt, as Clementine threw herself into his arms. A wide grin spread across his face and he held her close. “If I do make all the fucking money, I’m gonnabuyus that damn ranch, though.” He kissed her temple. “It’s got trees.”
Johnny tuned out whatever else they said to each other. He didn’t want to hear their jubilant plans. He had plans of his own to make.
Bill would never stop. He’d get Johnny’s fans. Johnny’s muse. Johnny’s spot onHome on the Range. Johnny’s chicken and dumplings.Everything. Bill thought he could just mosey in and usurp Johnny’s entire destiny.
But he was dead wrong.
If Johnny couldn’t have the spotlight, he’d make sure Bill didn’t have it either. It was the only choice, now. He couldn’t lose. Not to Pecos Bill. Maybe he was backed into a corner, but Johnny was a creative genius. He could still come out with top billing, just like he was supposed to.
If the show was ending, Johnny Jacobs was leaving the stage with a bang.
Chapter Twenty-Eight
But much too late, to now undeal,
A hand already played,
The cy’ote knew this whole ordeal,
Came from his heartless ways.
Lyrics from the folk song “Crossroads Coyote”
“Luke is adapting to being here a lot better than I thought he would.” Clem murmured to Bill, as they lay in bed that night. “He fell right to sleep.”
“Right to sleep” was a relative measure, given the amount of energy Clem put into getting him settled, but Bill supposed Luke did take to her fussing pretty well.
They’d packed up the kid’s few belongings from his old apartment and arranged them in the spare room. Luke only seemed to care about his pages of sheet music. He’d looked quietly amused by all Clem’s pretty, girly stuff surrounding him, as she’d literally tucked him into bed.
“The coyote’s always been inside the boy, but now it’s fully awake.” Bill explained softly. “It trusts you. Luke’s human mind has got no chance against animal instincts, so he trusts you, too.”
“The coyote isn’t forcing Luke to move faster with us than he’s comfortable with, is it?”
“The coyoteisLuke. The two of them are one being. The kid’s smart, so he’s paying attention to what his coyote-self says. And it says he’s safe with you forever.”
Clem stacked her hands on his bare chest, resting her chin on top of them. “What doesyourcoyote-self say about me?”
“That you’re my future. My partner. My mate, even though my kind doesn’t have them.” Bill played with the ends of her hair. “I’m smart, so I listen to it, too.”
Clementine stared at him, her eyes huge. “Bill?”
“Hmmm?”
“Can I ask you something?”
“Of course you can, darlin’.” And he would do his very best to pay attention, even though having her so warm and close was a powerful distraction.
