Page 46 of Brett and Rowdy
There was nothing else said except for that single no. And then Rowdy stepped up into the big man’s personal space. One fist shot out, connecting with Avery’s jaw, and he could hear the snap, like the cracking of a whip.
It happened so fast that Brett wasn’t sure he saw it, except that Coach Avery was suddenly laid flat-out on the ground, moaning and barely conscious.
Rowdy took a breath, then said, “Madison is my daughter, and you don’t deserve to hold her name in your mouth. You lousy fuckpig.”
Then Rowdy came back, took Barney’s harness, and smiled toward Ashley. “I don’t know about y’all, but I think that I’m not interested in going to the dance. Let’s go. I want a steak.”
“I would love that,” Dan said.
“And I want something decadent for dessert.” Ashley was shaking, her face pale as milk.
“Cool.” Brett looked from one of them to the other. “Just tell me where and Rowdy and I will come on.”
Dan smiled, even if it was strained, and stepped over the guy on the ground. “Want to run down to Pixie and Bill’s, baby?”
“I do.” Ashley took Dan’s arm. “Clemson is perfect. Fewer people from the reunion.”
“I’ll call on the way. You know where it is, Brett?”
“Yep. And I have a shirt in my truck I can change into.” Thank God he’d just picked up his dry cleaning. He was no cowboy, but he liked the way they pressed his dress shirts.
“Good deal.”
They split back up to go to their vehicles, and he waited until they were closed up with the air on before he asked Rowdy. “What did I just see?”
“That was a snake mean son of a bitch who had no right dinking around with students,” Rowdy said, calm as a flat lake.
“So wait. That was?—”
“Yep. You can see why we never said.”
He got them moving, his brain rabbiting around. “Jesus, Rowdy. I’m surprised no one has killed him.”
“You and me both. I talked about it, but Ash thought that would make it worse.”
“But is he still working at the school?”
“Yeah. No longer a coach, though, and I think he’s probably kept it in his pants, pretty much. His wife knows. The principal knows. The school board knows. Not about Ash, necessarily, but?—”
“But he’s not harassing any other girls, you mean.”
“That’s the idea.” Rowdy’s face hardened, and for a second, Brett could see it—this cold, hard man, this person who would literally do anything he had to protect his child. It was a little terrifying. It was a lot hot. And Brett was going to have to explore that emotion. “And I tell you what. That son of a bitch so much as takes one more step out of line. I’ll take him out to the desert. Nobody will find him, not even the vultures.”
“Well, Dan can protect Ash for sure. And then you’re taking Madison home with you.”
“I am.” There was a wealth of satisfaction in those words.
“So tell me about your home. Really.”
Rowdy turned his face toward Brett. “What? Why?”
He shrugged, getting out on the interstate. “I’m curious, I guess? I want to know where you’re going?”
“We’re a working ranch, and then we also do hunting and fishing trips. A lot of photo safari type things, too, in that ‘let’s go out and take pictures of the birds in the Bosque,’ and ‘let’s go take pictures of the elk or the mustangs’. We get a lot of people who come up in the winter for cross-country skiing or just enjoying the space and the snow and all. It’s not a resort, by any stretch of the imagination, but it’s high-end. For hunting, fishing, that kind of thing.”
“What’s your house look like?” He wasn’t sure why he was asking, why he was torturing himself.
Rowdy grinned. “Like I would know.” He held up one hand. “No, no, seriously, I grew up there. It’s big and mostly wood—real rustic. It’s this big old rambling adobe, and we keep adding on, but it’s just basically a home. It’s a fancy house, but I think the most indulgent thing I have is one of those infinity pools inside because I like to swim, and it’s super safe and easy. You know, I can’t get lost, there’s nowhere to go, and I can also make it warm and bubbly, which I love. We’ve got a game room with a pool table. We have a big kitchen.” Rowdy shrugged. “It’s a house. I mean, it’s a big house, but it’s just a house. Got barns, workshops, places for the cowboys, places for the guests that come in to pay. Nobody stays at the house except for family. That is about it.”
