The Cinderella Hoedown Read online

  Luckily, her phone rang.

  “Sorry,” said Kelly.

  “Take it,” said Will. “We have all night.”

  Kelly answered her phone.

  “Hello?” asked Kelly.

  “Kelly Dean…I’m watching you,” said a creepy voice.

  “Who is this?” asked Kelly angrily.

  “Kelly Dean…you’re in a black car…with flames on the front…” said the voice. “You’re going to seal the deal tonight…or else!” Then, there was a muffled giggle.

  “Kelly?” said a voice into the phone, a regular male voice.

  “Who the fuck is this?” asked Kelly.

  “Sorry. This is Mace. Savina thought it’d be funny to prank you,” said Mason Scoville. “Blame it on the pregnancy hormones…or the sugar I’m sure she snuck into her green juice.”

  “Are you guys here?” asked Kelly.

  “Yeah, look for us waving,” said Mason, hanging the phone up.

  Kelly looked around. In a luxury vehicle a few cars forward and to the side, there was a tall polar shifter and his highly pregnant, highly giggly wife.

  “Friends of yours?” asked Will.

  “Yeah, come on,” said Kelly.

  Kelly walked with Will to the Quincy-Scoville caravan.

  “What the heck was that?” asked Kelly, a hand on her hip. “I thought there was real trouble for a second!”

  “I really, really, really wanted to prank you,” said Savina with a pout. “Hey, Will.”

  “Hey, Cayenne, right?” asked Will.

  “Fuck you, Will!” shouted Savina, hitting Will with her purse.

  “Hey, hey, I’m just busting your chops,” said Will, shielding himself from the girl’s light blows. “I know you hate it when people get y’all confused. There’s what, the serious one, the really serious one, the nerdy one, the Southern Belle, and the cool one?”

  “You’re just calling me cool to get on Kelly’s good side,” said Savina. “You two having a fun date?”

  “Yeah, I am,” said Will.

  “I am, too,” said Kelly. “It’s so nice that Mace takes you on these little walks, Savina.”

  Before Savina could reply with something snappy, Kelly heard someone calling her name. She turned and looked to see who it could be.

  Chapter Eight

  “Oh, shit,” said Kelly, under her breath.

  She’d forgotten that anytime anything happened in Fallowedirt, pretty much the whole town would show up, and now, that included cowboys from a certain dude ranch.

  Jeff was walking her way and he had someone in tow: Tom.

  Savina looked to Kelly, who was stunned by the prospect of having to explain what the heck was going on to three burly bear shifters who didn’t seem to get what was happening either.

  “Kelly,” said Jeff. “I’m surprised to see you here tonight. I thought you were busy.”

  “Wait, why are you surprised?” said Tom. “I told you I saw my girlfriend here and wanted to go say hello.”

  “You’re dating the Scoville’s bride?” asked Jeff, confused.

  “Uhm, no, I’m dating Kelly,” said Tom. “Are you and Kelly friends?”

  “No. I’m dating Kelly,” said Jeff. “And Will, what the Hell are you doing here?”

  “I’m on a date,” said Will.

  “Then you best get back to it, because Tom and I are going to have settle some business,” said Jeff, tilting his cowboy hat. “Man business.”

  “Did I stutter? I said I’m on a date,” said Will, wrapping an arm around Kelly’s waist.

  “Is this true?” asked Jeff.

  “Yes, but it’s not what any of you think,” said Kelly.

  “What is it then?” asked Tom.

  “I haven’t made my choice yet,” said Kelly.

  “Your choice?” asked Tom. “It’s obvious, Kelly. You’re my fated mate. You’re the only woman for me.”

  “Your fated mate?” asked Jeff. “Now I know you’re delusional. I know that Kelly and I are fated.”

  “I’ve been in love with Kelly since high school,” said Will. “You two can go find someone else because she’s mine. We’re fated.”

  Will shoved Jeff, and that was the spark that set off the powder keg.

  Jeff didn’t bother to push Will back. His inner bear roared, telling him to let the beast guide him, and Jeff, in his rage, couldn’t resist letting his animal take over. He shifted, right then and there, while still stumbling from the impact of Will’s shove, reeling into Tom and elbowing Tom in the stomach on accident.

  “Why, you jackass,” cursed Tom. He threw down his hat and, without even bothering to kick off his boots, shifted. His bear roared, driven by the ball of anger that had grown in Tom upon him realizing he had two competitors for Kelly’s heart, competitors with shifts like his own, which made them all the more formidable.

  As soon as Will saw Jeff starting to shift, he shifted in kind.

  Soon, in front of Kelly, there were three big, burly beasts, nearly identical to the casual observer, but Kelly could tell them apart. There was Jeff, his shift keeping his human forms’ brown hair and chocolate eyes flecked with gold. Tom was the bear with dark fur and brilliant glowing green eyes. Will, with dirty blond hair between yellow and brown had piercing blue eyes that made him look like he could pass for part polar, was in the fray as well.

  This was no ordinary shifter fight. Usually, shifters might team up against one another, the key word being ‘team.’ There were no teams here. All three bears were solitary beasts, just like their shifts, and all their shifts wanted the same thing: Kelly. Kelly. Kelly.

  Tom barreled into Jeff, but Jeff bounced Tom right off of his body with a shake of his strong body. In any other context, it’d be an impressive feat of strength, but all it did was disappoint Kelly. As she watched Tom’s body roll into the milkshake stand and topple it, sending cups of ice cream flying as people moved out of the way of the brawling shifters, she just felt embarrassed.

  Tom roared and, catching sight of Will, he remembered Will was also a threat to his future with his fated mate. After all, Will was the one on the date with Kelly that night, and he knew Will had a reputation. The bad boy cowboy played the part of the strong silent type well, but Tom had seen women falling over him at the local bar. He knew there was no way a man like Will could be serious about Kelly. His bear told him to follow through and take Will down, have that bear running for the hills and out of Fallowedirt proper forever, so Tom had no choice but to obey his bear. He ran at Will, pushing him back.

  Will tried to shrug Tom off but couldn’t. Tom’s paws, sticky with milkshake residue, kept a grip on him. Will changed his strategy. He flipped the script: Will wasn’t stuck to Tom. Tom was stuck to Will. Will pulled Tom toward the front of the parking lot, and Tom tried to pull away but his sticky paws kept a grip on Will. Once Tom had managed to pull away from Will, they were already near the movie screen. Will swiped to pull Tom back, but instead, ended up cutting the screen. As Tom scampered off, Will thought, for a second, he must be leaving…but then he saw that Will was going to fight Jeff instead.

  Jeff had been stalking them up to the movie screen and wasn’t about to let them be the only two bears competing for Kelly’s heart, especially when he and his bear knew that the only bear for Kelly was Jeff. Jeff had known, from the very first speed date with Kelly, that he was meant to be with her. These two obviously didn’t realize that a fated mate was a special thing, a sacred thing, and that Kelly wasn’t meant for them. She was hers. He was the only man’s man of the lot of them.

  Jeff lunged, swiping at Tom and nearly getting him in the face. Tom swiped back, catching Jeff on the ear. Once he’d sensed his ear getting cut, Jeff released the rage that had built in inside of him and roared, prepared to bite Tom…

  …But out of seemingly nowhere, Will pounced on Jeff, his mouth already open and ready to latch onto Jeff. Jeff moved, not quite in time, so Will still managed to bite Jeff on the tail!

&nbs
p; Through this all, Kelly watched. It was all she could do. Was this what the bears thought she wanted? Was this the sort of thing they thought would win her heart?

  Kelly looked around. Most people had left the event. The bears had ripped the movie screen, turned over the food stands, and scratched various cars up in their fighting. There was no way that the town would be able to keep the funds for the fundraiser. People would be demanding money back, and justly, given how the bear shifters had ruined the night and nobody who had come there to have a good time would have left having had one…including Kelly Dean.

  “Enough!” yelled Kelly. “Enough!”

  All three bears, who had been fighting in the mud formed by the tipped over milkshake stand’s spilled product, looked up at Kelly. For a set of three big, bad predators, the bears looked pathetic.

  “I’m leaving, now,” said Kelly. “Don’t any of you follow me. Congratulations: you ruined a fundraiser for firefighters, you embarrassed me, and none of you are getting rewarded for that. None of you deserve these curves. It’s obvious none of you know what I want. It’s all about Fate, right? Well, meet Karma. I’m not going to sit around while three bear shifters fight over me. I’m not a trophy. I’m a person. I wasn’t sure which of you three I was going to pick together. Now, my choice is obvious. I’m not picking any of you three. I’m picking myself, and I’m picking myself up and going home.”

  Kelly got into Savina and Mace’s car, and they drove off, back to the Mesquite Manor where Kelly stayed the night as Savina dried her tears, which were three times as salty, for she had had her heart broken three times over in a single night.

  Chapter Nine

  The next day, Kelly painted like she never had before. She’d heard the advice about pouring one’s emotions into the canvas, and although the plywood structures being set up for the hoedown weren’t exactly French linen canvases, she had tried her darnedest to use the paints as a way to pour out what was in her heart. The only problem is, it looked like shit. How was Kelly so sure of that?”

  “It looks like shit,” said Savina. “I’m sorry, but you don’t want me lying to you, now do you?”

  “You’re right,” said Kelly, her arms crossed as she looked over the structure. It was just supposed to be a simple bottle of hot sauce that would have lights attached to it for the hot sauce eating contest, signifying what heat level a contestant had been able to handle without needing milk, but it looked like an infected penis, red and patchy. It didn’t even look sexy enough to be called a dick, cock, or even a prick. There was no way they could use this for tomorrow’s promotion of the hoedown. They were selling tickets to the event on the sidewalk, taking it to the people, and were planning on hosting a hot sauce tolerance competition, but the sign was awful. Now, there was no way they would be able to use it as an advertising tool. It’d get made fun of on social media and creep out the parents. After all, parents were the demographic they were trying to target, given parents with big families meant selling lots of tickets and selling lots and lots of food and tickets to activities.

  “What’s gotten into you?” asked Savina.

  “You know what’s gotten into me,” said Kelly.

  “I guess the question is, what hasn’t gotten into you?” asked Savina.

  “You think I’ll take either of those three back after the antics they pulled last week?” asked Kelly. “That better be your pregnancy hormones talking, given the Savina I know isn’t usually that much of a sap. They ruined their chance of being with me. It’d take a fuckin’ miracle to get them back into my good graces. Plus, I lost another shoe. I know you never liked those ugly sneakers, but damn it, Savina, I’m running out of shoes!” Kelly motioned down to her feet. She had on a pair of very ugly rubbery mules that she wouldn’t regret ruining with paint, but she was already regretting being seen in public wearing the monstrosities.

  “A miracle like…them showing up to apologize in person?” asked Savina.

  “It’d take much more than that,” said Kelly.

  “Then don’t turn around, because that’s exactly what’s behind you,” said Savina

  “Ha-ha, real funny, and behind you is a raw sushi bar with free sake,” said Kelly.

  “I’m not kidding,” said Savina. “Those boys are back, and they look sorry.”

  Kelly turned around. The last three men on Earth that she’d ever want to see were standing right there, behind her, each with a bouquet of generic flowers wrapped in plastic and foil, hats in hand.

  “Kelly?” said Jeff. “I’m here to apologize for my behavior last week.”

  “Me, too,” said Tom.

  “Make that three,” said Will. “Our behavior was…well, it was anything but appropriate.”

  “It was downright embarrassing,” said Tom. “We’re sorry you saw that happen. It should never happen in front of a lady. We should’ve handled our business behind closed doors. It shouldn’t have been public, and it certainly shouldn’t have been in front of you.”

  “We understand if you don’t want to choose one of us now, but we’re willing to share,” said Jeff.

  “Oh, you’re ‘willing’ to share?” asked Kelly, slapping a hand to her hip before staring Jeff down. “You’re ‘willing’? Well, who said anything about me being willing to take y’all back?”

  “What?” asked Will.

  “That’s right, ‘what’ is what you should be asking yourselves,” said Kelly. “Specifically, ‘What on Earth gave us the idea that this was an adequate apology for what happened? What on Earth made us think that this is the sort of thing Kelly wants from us?’”

  “So you don’t want an apology?” asked Tom.

  “I do, but a real one,” said Kelly. “Any jackass can go buy flowers at the grocery store. Ask any man who’s cheated on his wife and bought her flowers to make it up to her. Ask any junkie ex-boyfriend who gives his girl flowers to try and get her back. Flowers are cheap. Easy. And I’m not cheap or easy, and neither is a real apology. Change, making things right? That’s hard. None of you three are up to the task of undoing the damage you did, and it’s probably best y’all leave.”

  “We won’t fight in front of you again,” promised Tom.

  “It’s not about fighting in front of me,” said Kelly. “I don’t want to be fought over at all. I’m trying to have an easy, simple summer. I’m looking for a job. I’m trying to figure out my life. I’m not looking for drama, and there’s no way to make sure that drama doesn’t seep underneath a door and out into the real world. You can’t lock drama in a closet under the stairs and expect it to disappear. It’s best y’all leave. Now.”

  Will started to argue, but Jeff put his hand on the younger man’s shoulder. Will shrugged it off and sighed, and as Tom started to talk, Will shook his head. The three of them headed back the way they’d come, flowers and hats still in their hands.

  “Whoa,” said Savina.

  “Sorry you had to see that,” said Kelly. “Heck, I’m sorry I had to do that.’

  “But…did you have to do that?’ asked Savina.

  “What do you mean?” asked Kelly.

  “You could’ve accepted their apologies,” said Savina.

  “I would, Savina…if they were real, true apologies,” said Kelly. “They’re trying to put a bandage on a broken leg…or in this case, a broken heart.”

  “Oh, it’s that bad?” asked Savina.

  “Yeah, okay? It is,” said Kelly.

  “You just don’t want to get hurt again,” said Savina.

  “Well…I guess you could put it that way,” said Kelly. “It wouldn’t be entirely inaccurate.”

  “I’m right,” said Savina. “Well. What could those three do to show you they’re sorry? That they’ve changed? That you won’t get hurt again?”

  “They’d have to unfuck the situation they’ve put me in,” said Kelly. “First off, I’m embarrassed about what happened. Call me proud, but I don’t want that sort of spectacle associated with me again. Secondly? I need th
em to show they understand how important this town is to me, how important what I’m doing with the community is. And finally…I need to see them work together, not just act like they’re working together. They need to show me that they can get along.”

  “And after that?” asked Savina.

  “After that…I’d probably reconsider my stance on not dating them,” admitted Kelly. “But it doesn’t solve the problem of which man I should pick. Right now, luckily, I don’t want any of them. Guess that makes that decision real easy.”

  “For now,” said Savina. “Real easy…for now.”

  “You have too much faith in people, Savina,” said Kelly. “That was a side of you that always surprised me.”

  “I’m not the one who has too much faith in people,” said Savina. “You’re the one that doesn’t have enough.”

  Chapter Ten

  Jeff’s bear ran wild and free through the mountains bordering Texas and Louisiana. They weren’t that far from Fallowedirt, Texas, especially for a bear in his shift. He couldn’t run as fast as a stallion, but he could handle the wild mountain terrain better than any horse. The feeling of the raw forest soil, of bits of leaves left over from the previous autumn, the scent of other wild animals, shifter and pure beast, overwhelmed his senses…but even the sensation of running wild through his shift’s natural habitat wasn’t enough to push the thoughts of Kelly out of his head. His eyes flashed, glowing amber in the dark woods, as he remembered the soft feeling of Kelly’s skin underneath his rough, working man’s hands…and as he remembered their last meeting.

  Will felt wet sand through his paws as he splashed in the salty ocean waves, the surf illuminated by the glow of his blue eyes. The drive down to the Gulf Coast hadn’t been worth it. The smell of the sea, the softness of the beach, the fried shrimp bucket he’d bought on the way down, none of it was enough to drive away the anger Will felt at Jeff and Tom for having driven Kelly away. The only thing he was going to get out of this trip was a sandy coat of fur.