“She’s running herself ragged in this place Cash,” Dalton said sipping at his beer.
“Yeah, I know it. Billy was a great guy, but he couldn’t run the place for shit. From what I understand, when he got sick and Blue took over, they were in the red, pretty badly. She is just starting to put a dent in that debt. She refused to lay anybody off even though they all would have understood. Thankfully, she finally agreed to get extra help on the weekends.”
I watched her deliver beer to a nearby table. She smiled and chatted with the two couples sitting at the table near the dance floor. She was a little on the plump side, but shapely and agile. Her curly red hair was twisted up, held in a bun by a pencil. Her porcelain white skin damn near glowed in the dim lights, but her cheeks were flushed rosy. The jeans she had on fit her like a glove and she filled out the black t-shirt she wore nicely.
She turned, her baby blue gaze colliding with mine. She gave me that pretty little smile that I found myself thinking about throughout the day. She was beautiful in a very female way and most men took a second look. Lord knows I did when I first met her. She was cute and so damn sweet she’d give you a toothache. There was something about her that kept grabbing my attention although she’d brush off my weak attempts at flirting. Lately, I found myself feeling mighty protective of her, and not in a brotherly way. Before I got to thinking too much about Blue and my attraction to her, I turned back to Dalton.
“So why the hell are you chasing wild horses on your birthday when you should be sitting on a tropical beach in the sun, sipping a Mai-Tai, and watching bikini clad women run around.”
Dalton barked with laughter. “Yeah right. That’s so me, tanning on the beach. Hey, you don’t become one of the most successful horse ranchers in the state of Montana if you vacation on tropical islands every time your birthday comes around.”
I couldn’t argue that logic. Dalton was one of the hardest working, and most hard headed people I knew. If he didn’t stop flirting with Blue though, I was going to have to give him what-for.
“Well, if you want to play Sheriff for a while, I’ll go sit on that beach, play the rich horse rancher, and watch the bikini clad women.”
Blue came by just as I was sharing my bright idea. She placed Dalton’s food in front of him, then hip checked me. She wrapped her arm around my shoulders and laughed.
“Sorry Cash honey, but Dalton here is just too damn cute to play Sheriff. He doesn’t have that perpetual “cop scowl” you do, so no one would take him seriously.”
Dalton roared with laughter as Blue scurried off before I could grab a hold of her. She stuck her tongue out at me when I threatened to arrest her for insulting an officer of the law. She was such a smart ass little brat and I enjoyed the hell out of her.
Dalton dug into his food as we continued to talk. He grinned at me when he noticed that I continued to watch Blue work, even after her bartender and other waitress arrived. She was determined to turn this place around and worked hard at it. It worried me though. Day by day, she was looking more and more worn out. I didn’t know how much longer she could keep up this pace. Dalton was right, she was running herself ragged and it was starting to show.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I brought another pitcher of beer to the dart league guys and picked up the empties from around the pool tables. I was headed back to the bar when one of the guys at the pool table turned right into me. The tray of empty bottles, along with an almost empty pitcher of beer, went crashing to the floor, spilling beer all over the guy that bumped me.
“Son of a bitch! Watch where the fuck you are going, you stupid cunt!”
The hand that grabbed my arm was tight and mean. I looked up at the pissed off customer. He was dressed in all black, a rope chain hanging from his belt. His arms were covered in ugly homemade type tattoos. A nasty scar ran from his left eye down to his lip. He wasn’t anyone I recognized.
“Did you just call me a cunt?” I asked angrily and a little shocked.
“No, I called you a stupid cunt! You spilled beer all over me. Now you had better fucking apologize.”
“Apologize? I don’t think so. You can get your sorry ass out of my bar. You bumped into me. Maybe you need to watch where you are going, asshole.” I had never been known to hold my tongue. It didn’t occur to me at that moment, that the biker outweighed me and stood almost a foot taller than I did. The guys around us laughed, which just pissed off the biker even more. His grip tightened.
“Let go of me,” I hissed, tugging on my arm.
“Someone needs to put you in your place, little girl.” He said gruffly, meanly.
“Really? And you probably think you are the man to do it, you impotent jack-ass,” I said, as I made a tight fist with my free hand. I automatically opened my stance, readying my body to defend myself.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
“Sheriff, I’m thinking Blue is going to need your assistance any minute now,” Davey, the bartender said glancing toward the corner of the bar where the pool tables where. “Or actually, knowing that girl, the jerk who has her wrist in a vice grip is going to need your help.”
I turned around, just in time to see the biker slap Blue across the face. I jumped off the stool and ran, determined to get there before the biker hit her again. Son of a bitch! I was going to kill the fucker.
My mouth popped open at what I saw and heard just as I reached her. Blue kicked out with her foot, connecting with the big bruiser's balls. He fell to his knees and she kicked him again, for good measure, and when he tried to rise, clutching his crotch, she balled her fist and aimed for his nose. The impact had to have hurt her hand, but she seemed satisfied at hearing what sounded like bone crunching. The big biker stopped gripping his crotch to grab his bloody nose. His bellow was cringe worthy.
“Maybe your momma didn’t teach you any better, but you should never hit a woman or call her a cunt. Don’t you ever step foot in my bar again, asshole,” Blue hissed over the fallen man. He was moaning, now lying flat on the floor. She cradled her wrist and turned to find me and Dalton standing there, gaping at her.
“Sheriff, could you escort this man out of my bar please? He may need to go to the hospital. I think I may have, no, I hope I broke his nose.” She stepped around the man and headed for the bar.
I couldn’t believe my eyes. She’d laid that asshole flat on his ass. I’d gotten there just as she delivered the second kick to the guy’s balls. I’d cringed in sympathy. There was broken glass all around, and the guy lying on the floor looked like he was soaked in beer. “Holy shit.” I murmured.
I shook my head, then reached down to pull the biker to his feet. I grabbed the towel that Davey handed me and put it to the guy’s nose. “Come on you idiot. You’ll wait in my car till the ambulance shows up, but then you are headed for a cell.”
“I guess what they say about calling a woman that particular word is true,” Davey said laughingly.
“Dalton, can you go check on Blue? Make sure her wrist isn’t too badly damaged. I’ll get this guy squared away, then I’ll come back to check on her,” I said as I led the guy to the front of the bar.
“You need to arrest that bitch! She broke my fucking nose!” The biker yelled.
“I think the lady was defending herself. I saw you slap her first,” Dalton informed the biker with a smile.”
“I’ll go check on her, Cash,” he said to me and headed toward the bar.