Loving You: A Cowboy Romance (Texas Hill Country Romance Book 1) (26 page)

A few moments later the house grew quiet again and they headed back to the party, but not before she made a quick stop in the hall bathroom to fix herself up.

Shane’s eyes were the first they saw when they came out of the house. He had a knowing look on his face and Annie blushed.

Cord squeezed her hand.

“Whatcha been up to?” Shane asked, ragging on them, as he looked from Annie to Cord and back to Annie again, clearly he enjoyed watching her go red in the face.

“Nothing, what’s going on?” Cord asked.

“Looking for you. Dad’s with Rodger. Said to come find you.”

“Not going this year. I don’t want to leave Annie.”

Annie looked from Shane to Cord. “What are you talking about?” she asked.

“Nothing,” Cord said.

“Every year, the McCreedy men meet behind the barn with our ranching neighbors and do Jack shots and talk about business. Rory’s already there. Come on, man. It’ll only be a half hour, an hour at most.”

“No.”

“Cord, why don’t you go? I’ll go find Calista and hang out with her.”

Cord looked from Annie then to Shane, who was encouraging him to go.

“Yeah? I promised I wouldn’t leave you,” he said as he turned back to her.

“I know, but this is tradition. I wouldn’t want you to break it on my account, and it’s only an hour.”

Cord seemed to contemplate what to do.

“Okay. Shane, tell dad I’ll be right there, I’m going to walk Annie over to Calista.”

Annie and Calista were in the large tent with the stage and dance floor, listening to a famous country music band as they watched people dance while they sipped a drink. Jake and Jennie came in after a while and sat with them.

Dan and the girl he was with sat at a table nearby, and he watched Annie who noticed he was drinking straight out of a bottle.

People came over to talk with the gang. Some even came over to chat with Annie, mostly men in uniform that Cord introduced her to earlier. Some of them asked her and Calista to dance which they obliged. It was hard to refuse them.

More than an hour and a half later, still no Cord. Annie was on her second glass of wine and she needed to use the bathroom. Calista and she went up to the house.

They walked up the back steps leading to the back door. Calista showed Annie where the bathroom was on the first floor and waited in the kitchen.

When Annie was done, it was Calista’s turn. Annie chose to wait outside on the porch. She saw Dan at the bottom of the steps taking a swig from the bottle he had earlier.

“Well, well,” he said. “If it ain’t Cord’s whore.”

Annie was taken aback. She looked around and realized that no one was close by.

“Dan, what the hell is your problem?” she asked.

“I don’t have a problem, sweetheart. I want what you give Cord. My buddy always shares with me and so I’m sharing.”

Then she made a fatal mistake. Outraged, she walked down the steps to him. “Will you stop it, you’re not even making sense, you’re so drunk.”

“Sweetheart, do you think I spent all those nights at Roxy’s teaching you to dance and not want something in return. Watching your smokin’ body on the dance floor is hot, Annie. I want to see what Cord won’t share with me. Must be some hot pussy.”

She raised her hand to slap him. but he grabbed it and squeezed it hard.

“Not fucking doing that shit again,” he said.

“Oww, Dan, stop, you’re hurting me.” And instead of easing up, he squeezed her hand tighter. “Stop it-”

He grabbed the back of her head with his other hand to hold her still as he mashed his lips to hers.

She wanted to bite him but he held her lips taut.

He abruptly broke the kiss. “Come on, Annie, don’t be shy. Cord won’t mind.”

He let go of her hand and pulled her tight to his chest. He rubbed himself against her and Annie felt like she couldn’t breathe.

It was dark and as he pawed her, he dragged her further away from the back of the house and the hordes of people.

She tried to pull back, but she was no match for him, he was too strong. She panicked and tried to kick him, but he tightened his grip on her and the air went out of her.

He threw her down to the ground and quickly climbed on top of her.

She’d managed to get a hand free and clawed the side of his face. She felt warm liquid on her fingers and knew she drew blood.

That only fueled his rage, and he grabbed her hand again and squeezed hard.

“No-” she tried to yell, but he brutally took her lips with his own as he ripped her blouse to get to her breasts.

She bucked wildly to try to throw him off. She didn’t know it, but her actions just turned him on more.

She felt so much pain as he harshly pawed at her breasts. He moaned and Annie felt nauseous.

Dan moved his hand down to between her legs and brought up her skirt. He moved her panties to the side and stuck a finger in her sex.

Annie began to cry as she stilled from struggling. The tears flowed. She didn’t know what to do. Then she realized she needed to get a level head about her if she were to have any chance of getting control of the situation.

Borne out of frustration, her adrenaline began to grow and just as she began to kick wildly and bite down on his mouth, she felt the heaviness ease from her chest and saw that Jake was there and he had Dan by the collar and he threw him off her. She breathed a sigh of relief.

“What the fuck, Dan? What the fuck are you doing?”

“What? Cord and I always share. He’s cool, man,” he said, clearly sounding drunk.

“Get the fuck out of here,” Jake said and when Dan didn’t move, he screamed, “Now!”

And it was at that point that Dan figured out he fucked up. As he realized what he had done, he had a look of horror on his face. He was disgusted with himself and turned and ran.

Evelyn came upon the scene just as Jake was screaming for Dan to leave. He pulled Annie to her feet and held her to his chest and felt her trembling.

“Annie was attacked,” he said to Evelyn,” Let’s get her inside-”

“No, get her out of here. She is nothing but trouble for my Cord.”

“Evelyn,” Jake said, stunned that she refused to help.

“Jake, please, just get me out of here,” Annie pleaded.

“No, Annie, we have to find Cord.” He turned to Evelyn, “Do you know where he is? I have to find him.”

“No, now get her out of here,” Evelyn said and with one final look at Annie she walked away.

Jake shook his head, he was shocked. Cord’s mom was the sweetest woman around these parts. He wasn’t sure what fueled her anger, but he didn’t have time to dwell on it, Annie was still trembling.

Calista heard the commotion on the side of the house and found Jake hugging Annie, and her blouse was ripped.

“Jake? What happened?”

“Dan just attacked Annie. Come on, let’s get her home.”

They walked Annie to his car. He put her in it and called Cord’s cell phone. It went straight to voice mail, then he texted him.

Need you. Dan attacked Annie.

Taking her home. Bad scene.

Sent: Sat. 9:25 pm

By: Jake

Then he called Jennie and told her Annie was attacked. He told her he and Calista were taking her home and for her to stay there and wait for Cord. Then he called Rory, who told him that Cord was with Shane, they drove Storm back to his house. He was feeling buzzed from the whiskey shots and was probably going to drink some more and he didn’t want to have to take Storm back later that night with Annie.

Not going into much detail, Jake told Rory that Annie was attacked and Cord wasn’t picking up his cell phone.

Calista sat with Annie in the back of Jake’s car.

“Oh, honey, we should go to the hospital.”

“No….no, I don’t need to go there, please, please just take me home,” Annie said frantically.

“Okay, okay, Jake is taking us there now.”

“Cord is going to fucking flip,” Jake said, more to himself, but Annie heard him and she trembled again.

He’d probably be mad at her, especially when she told him Dan’s finger was inside of her.
Oh God, I’m going to be sick,
she thought and sobbed loudly.

By the time they got to the B&B, Annie calmed down and anger and humiliation set in. Cord said he would be by her side all night, but she encouraged him to go so she couldn’t be mad at him. His mother though, she was flabbergasted that the woman didn’t offer any assistance what so ever.

She managed to calm herself down a bit, maybe just being in familiar surroundings helped, she couldn’t be sure, but all she knew was that she wanted to be alone.

“Thank you, Jake, for taking me home. I’m all right now. Go on back to the party, you too, C. I’m okay, really.”

They just looked at her like she had two heads.

“Please, I really need to be alone right now. Jennie’s alone,” she said to Jake. “And Rory will be upset you’re not there,” she said to Calista.

Needless to say, they didn’t leave her.

****

Cord searched for Annie. He saw Jennie and Rory. He was just about to go to them when his mother and father came up to him.

“Cord we need a word with you,” his father said.

“Yeah, dad, can it wait, I gotta find Annie.” And he started to walk away.

“It’s about Annie,” his father said and Cord stopped dead in his tracks and turned around with a questioning gaze.

“I sent her home-” his mother began.

“You sent her home? Why?”

“She was carrying on with Dan and things got out of-”

“What? Mom, what are you talking about, carrying on with Dan?”             

“Evelyn, according to Rory, she was attacked by Dan,” Cal said.

“What? Tell me what the hell went on, and where is Annie?”

“We think Dan attacked her. Jake came by and told him to leave and then he asked your mother for help but-”

“But, I didn’t want her ruining the party or you Cord. So I told her to leave. She’s been nothing but trouble for you since she got here,” Evelyn stated defiantly.

Cord fisted his hands by his sides, his jaw muscle ticked and he wanted to punch something or someone if he didn’t get answers. He couldn’t believe what he was hearing.

“Holy shit, are you telling me my woman needed your help and you refused her?”

His mother was taken aback and became nervous at the way Cord seemed ready to lose it.

“Cord, honey,” she began as she went to put a hand on his arm.

He shrugged her off. “Stay away from me.” He turned and went to find Rory.

“Cord!” his father yelled.

Cord stopped walking but didn’t turn around.

“Don’t ever talk to your mother like that again,” Cal growled.

Cord continued walking.

He found Rory, who told him what he knew and Rory drove him and Jennie to the B&B. Cord was quiet, too quiet.

Even before the car rolled to a stop in front of the B&B, Cord jumped out. He ran up the steps and into the inn shouting her name. He ran up the stairs to her bedroom. The door was unlocked and he went in. She wasn’t there.

Out the window, he saw the pool lights on. He flew out of the bedroom, down the stairs and out the back door. He got closer to the pool and saw Jake and Calista standing on the side of the pool, watching Annie swim vigorously from the deep end to the shallow end.

She made her way back to the deep end. When she got there, she had paused and placed a hand on the concrete to hold steady while she wiped her eyes.

Cord squatted down and swiftly placed his hands under her armpits and brought her up out of the pool and into his arms. That action tore his broken arm and he felt a shot of pain, but he manned up and wrapped his arms around her.

In the shadows, as they had just pulled up and got out of the car, were Cord’s parents. “Oh, dear, he’s going to hurt his arm, Cal,” Evelyn said.

“Shush, Evy. He’ll cowboy up. He’ll be fine.”

Annie fought Cord. She fisted her hands and brought them up to his chest and pounded.

“Where were you?” She cried. “You left me. You were supposed to be gone an hour the most. Where were you?” She repeated as he held her tight while taking her punches.

Eventually she tired out and stopped pounding. She wrapped her arms around his waist and trembled as she continued to cry.

“Baby, I’m so sorry. I’m so sorry.” His heart ached for what she went through and he didn’t know how to console her except for repeating how sorry he was. He held her tight to him.

Jake, Calista, Rory and Jennie all moved further back in the shadows when they saw Cord’s parents walk up to them.

“Cord,” his mother said behind him and he froze and felt Annie stiffen. Cord squeezed her tight and turned his head.

“Get the hell out of here.”

“Cord, you watch how you talk to your mom.” His father warned again.

He looked to his father then back to his mother. “Leave,” he said.

“I’m so sorry, Cord. I didn’t mean to-”

“You didn’t mean to? My girl got attacked at your house, needed help and you couldn’t even help her….not even for me? What did she do to you to warrant your impeccable southern hospitality?” he spat out sarcastically.

“It’s just that you were ignoring Lisa ever since she got here, and you don’t really know her-”

Now Annie felt him tremble. He turned around.

“I know her, and I’ve waited four long God damned years for her.”

Annie looked up into his face in confusion.

“Cord, don’t be ridiculous. You just met her,” his mother said.

Cord ignored his mother and looked into Annie’s eyes. Not how he planned on telling her but that was as good a time as any. He just hoped she wouldn’t think he was creepy.

“The first time I saw you, you and Calista were Skyping. Jake and I had just walked into C’s room,” he said, talking softly to her. “I heard you laugh and was intrigued, so I looked over C’s shoulder and saw you. I didn’t expect it to happen but I couldn’t get you out of my mind. That was four years ago and hell, I still can’t. I don’t think I ever will.”

Annie took in a breath and gazed into Cord’s eyes.

“I saw you one other time on Skype. You had a black eye and I vowed that night if I ever met Tyler Russo, I was going to beat the shit out of him.”

“Cord?” she said stunned. She was speechless with her jaw open.

“I didn’t know, Cord,” his mother said. “We thought you were going to settle down once you went out with Lisa. She could make you a good wife. She loves you, you know.”

“Lisa-” he spat out, “-is being arrested as we speak, for accessory to attempted murder.”

Both his mother and father gasped.

“What?” his father asked.

“That accident I had was no accident. My brake line was cut and she ordered it.”

“No, no, that can’t be true,” his mother said. “She would never hurt you.”

“No, huh. The guy who cut them already confessed and is in custody now.” He paused and looked at Annie. “Annie was supposed to drive the car that day…but plans changed and I had the car.”

Annie knew he was recalling their fight, which led him to take the car, but he didn’t relay that to his parents.

He silently thanked God he was behind the wheel and not her at the time.

“She also had him kill Frederick. He confessed this too,” he said, more quietly, addressing Annie only.

“Oh God,” Annie said and she covered her mouth with her hand.

His mother felt like a brick hit her stomach and her eyes welled up with tears.

“Oh Cord, I’m so sorry. I didn’t know. I don’t know what came over me. Annie, please, can you forgive me?” she asked in between sobbing.

It tore him up to hear his mother cry, but he wasn’t ready to forgive and he certainly didn’t want Annie to either.

Annie looked from Cord to his mother to his father then to Cord again, contemplating what to do. That was Cord’s mother. She knew she was falling hard for Cord and knew he loved his parents. She had to forgive that woman if only for Cord’s sake.

Cord watched Annie’s shoulders relax and he knew she was going to accept his mom’s forgiveness and he was in awe of how far she would go for him.

“You don’t have to do this,” he whispered to her.

“I know,” she whispered back, then turned to Evelyn.

“Evelyn, it’s okay.”

Evelyn’s body relaxed as she leaned into her husband. “Thank you,” she said. “What can I do? I want to help my son’s girl.”

“Thank you, but I’m okay now that Cord is here.”

Cord gently squeezed her to him. He liked hearing that he made her feel protected, even though he felt he let her down by not being there earlier, when she needed him. All he wanted to do was to protect this woman for the rest of her life.

“But, to be honest, no matter if you like the person or not, if someone needs your help, and you are able to, you really should help that person out. You never know when the shoe is on the other foot.” Annie said to Evelyn, not caring if the woman was hurt or not by her comment.

Evelyn sucked in a breath and nodded her head.

“I know, dear, I don’t know what came over me. I hope you will give me the chance for you to get to know me. I’d also like to get to know you,” she said and Annie smiled and nodded her head.

Cal said as hosts of the fundraiser, they needed to get back to the house and wanted Cord and Annie to go back with them.

“Nah,” Cord said. “We’re going to stay here.

Annie wasn’t going to argue with that.

After Cord’s parents left, he and Annie and the gang went into the pool house. Calista gave her a sleeping pill and Cord took her to the bedroom and helped her out of her wet bathing suit then had her climb into bed.

He stripped down and got into bed with her and reached for her. He pulled her onto his chest and held her. They stood like that, quiet for some time.

“Did he hurt you?” Cord hated to ask her but he had to know.

“Yes.”

Cord’s jaw began to tic. “Did he touch you?”

“Yes,” she said and he took in a breath.

“Did he…uh…did he…um.” He kept stammering. He couldn’t find the right words. She helped him out.

“Penetrate me?”

“Yeah.”

She nervously tapped her fingers on his chest. “He put a finger in me.” The tears flowed down her face. She lifted off him to look at his face. “I’m so sorry, Cord. I tried to fight him off. He was too strong. I couldn’t breathe, he was crushing me.” She began to hyperventilate.

“Shhhh. It’s okay, it’s okay,” he said over and over again as he brought her back down to his chest and held her tight.

Eventually, her breathing slowed and the sleeping pill kicked in. She fell asleep.

He quietly got out of bed and got dressed. He walked out to the living room to find everyone still there.

“C., keep an eye on her, I’ll be back soon.”

“Okay.”             

“Where you going, buddy?” Rory asked.

Cord didn’t answer. He just pulled his keys out of his pocket.

“Cord, where you going, man?” Jake asked.

Cord just walked out the door.

Jake looked at Jennie. “Wait here for me.” She nodded, and he walked out the door.

“Go back inside, Warner,” Cord said.

“Nah, I’m going with you,” he said as he looked around not meeting Cord’s eyes.

“Don’t want you there, Jake.”

“I know. But somebody’s got to stop you from killing him,” he said quietly.