Controlled Burn

Chapter 7

"I know you won't like me saying this," Patsy Wade told her daughter, "but I never did like Richard."

Montana laughed and spread jam on a piece of toast. "Mom, you've been saying that since the day I introduced you to him."

"And I was right." Patsy sat down across from her with her mug of coffee. "Admit it."

Montana sighed. She'd known she would be having this conversation. It had been building for twelve years. She was only grateful she'd had last night to give her fortitude.

Last night!

Holy mother!

Sure, her s****l experience had been limited to Richard Havilland and two or three others. After all, she'd met him at the beginning of her junior year in college and everyone else had ceased to exist. But even she knew last night had been extraordinary. Off the charts. The kind of s*x she read about and drooled over. The kind she'd waited all these years to find with Richard Havilland, only it had never materialized. How could he make great love to her when he was so fixated on himself?

Last night, the stranger had been totally focused on her in a way she'd never experienced. Today, she couldn't get him out of her mind. Yes, they'd been two people with a desperate need. But beneath all the s****l intensity, something else simmered. Would she ever see him again? Ever find out if there was really something there beyond the off-the-charts s*x?

"Montana?" Patsy's voice nudged her out of her musings.

"Um, yeah, sorry. Guess my mind must have taken a detour for a minute."

"Please don't tell me you're regretting anything," Patsy snapped. "You're not too old for me to put you over my knee."

The words conjured up an image of the stranger slapping her ass and telling her he'd love to spank her.

Stop it!

She made herself laugh. "No, Mom, not regretting anything at all. Just wondering how I could have been so stupid in the first place."

"You wanted a world beyond Winslow. Beyond the county. I can understand that." Patsy sighed. "I wish you hadn't thought you had to marry the dickhead to get it."

"Mom!" Montana's mouth dropped open.

"What? You think I don't know words like dickhead? You hang around cowboys long enough, you pick up a whole new vocabulary."

"I thought you only hung around their wives," Montana teased. "Dad's the one who spends time with the guys."

Patsy Wade ran a specialty shop in town offering handcrafted purses, jewelry, and accessories. Over the years, she'd made it into an established success. Chuck Wade, her father, was a veterinarian who tended to the horses and cattle at most of the ranches in the area.

"I hear my share," Patsy joked. Her smile disappeared. "Seriously, honey. I'd throw a party to celebrate your liberation if you'd let me. I ache for you because your decision came at such a high price."

Yeah. Like finding out he'd screwed three of the interns in his law office, not to mention a few of his clients. Apparently, in Los Angeles, nobody thought anything of it.

Montana sighed. "I feel like such a failure."

"Do not even use that word in my presence. You are not a failure. You're a smart woman who's come to her senses."

"And needs to find something to do with the rest of her life." She took a sip of her tea. "By the way, in case you're worried, I don't plan to hang around and sponge off you and Dad."

"Another horseshit word." Anger flashed in Patsy's eyes. You take as long as you want to decide your next move. Your attorney got you a nice settlement from the dickhead. You just take your time. You've got a degree in hospitality and ten years' experience at the big hotel in Los Angeles. I'll bet there're dozens of places in San Antonio or Dallas or Houston where they'd jump at the chance to hire you."

Montana shoved her fingers through the tangled mess of her hair. "You know, I'm sure this will surprise you, but I think I might have had enough of big cities for a while."

Patsy stared at her. "Really? You couldn't get away from here fast enough, before."

"I know, I know. I was young and stupid."

"No. You were young and adventurous. Do you have any idea what you might want to do?"

Montana shook her head. "Not yet. But I am going to hang out for a while and see what my options are."

"And it's not sponging," her mother pointed out. "This is your home. You stay as long as you want to." She glanced at her watch. "I need to get dressed and get into the shop. If you go into town, you might stop into the Sunrise Diner. Say hello to the Royals. They had a bad night last night."

Montana leaned forward. "Why? What happened?"

"Someone burned down the barn. Thank the lord, the fire department kept it from reaching their house."

"Burned the barn? You mean, someone deliberately set it on fire?"

"Uh huh. As a matter of fact, we've had a rash of barn burnings lately. We always worry about lightning strikes during storm season or prairie fires when it's so dry. But this is deliberate."

"I can't believe someone around here would do something so mean and destructive."