Sweet and Wild - Carmen Jenner Page 0,33
that should all be off, being a Friday night. My brothers are home, and I know they had plans to meet girls at the carnival. I grip Colt’s hand as he turns to open the door with his free one.
“Everyone knows.”
He swallows and gives my hand a squeeze, but I can feel how he’s shaking.
“Let’s just go,” I blurt. “Just you and me. We’ll take your truck and we’ll just leave, make a life somewhere new.”
He gives me a sad smile. “As much as I love that idea, we can’t. If I don’t look your daddy in the eye and promise to take care of you and our baby for the rest of our lives, then I don’t deserve you, Lemonade.”
“At least you’d be alive.”
“We’re not runnin’, Lemon. We made our bed, and now we gotta lie in it.” He releases my hand and opens his door before stepping out onto the lawn. Colt crosses in front of the truck, comes around to my side and opens my door. He takes my hand and helps me from the cab, and then we walk toward the front porch. I’m already crying just anticipating my daddy’s disappointment in us both.
We climb the stairs and then the screen door bangs back on its hinges and West comes flying out of the house. “You dirty fucking bastard.”
Colt backs us up a step and lets go of my hand as he shifts me out of the way, and not a second later, West slams into him, tackling him to the ground.
“West. No!” I shout, pummeling my brother’s back as his fist connects with Colt’s cheek over and over.
“You got my sister pregnant,” West roars. “What the fuck were you thinking?”
“West,” Daddy warns.
“Daddy, do somethin’,” I beg, staring at my father. He just glares right on back. Wade and Wyatt have joined him on the porch and all three of them just watch on as West beats the father of my child to within an inch of his life. Just like the time they found us by the red oak tree, Colt doesn’t fight back and I know he thinks he deserves this punishment. “Help him!”
“William Winchester,” Mama reprimands from the doorway. “What the devil is the matter with you?” Mama is down the steps and yanking West off Colt’s prone body by the ear.
I burst into tears and run to Colt’s side. Kneeling over him, I press my hand to his bloody cheek. His eyes meet mine. There is so much shame in that one look he gives me, that I crumble inside and lay my head on his chest. His arm comes around my body and he holds me tight as if I were the one who’d just been beaten.
“Shame on both of you,” Mama says, and for a moment I freeze, thinking she’s talking to me and Colt. But when I turn and glance at her, she’s addressing Daddy and West. “On all of you,” she continues, pointing her finger at Wade and Wyatt too. “Standing there while Colt is beaten bloody in front of her. Stress is not good for the baby.”
Daddy and the boys have the good sense to look chagrinned, but Daddy merely sits in his rocking chair and swigs his whiskey straight from the bottle. There are two things I know for certain about my daddy. One, it’s never good when he has nothing to say. And two, he’d do just about anything my mama asked of him, including forgiving his only daughter who got herself knocked up fresh out of high school.
“Come on inside now, you two. Let’s get you cleaned up,” Mama says holding out a hand to help me stand. “Then we’re all gonna talk this out. West, you help Colt to his feet.”
West shakes his head and he opens his mouth to protest, but Mama shuts down the remonstration before it can even begin. “Don’t make me tell you twice, boy.”
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
Colt
Friday nights mean dinner and beers with the boys at Earl’s. It’s the one night Mama Winchester doesn’t bother cooking a big meal, and instead curls up with a good book, fully taking advantage of an empty house. So we all head out to the local bar to blow off some steam. The cheap meal and even cheaper drinks make up for the fact that it’s the shittiest run-down bar in all of the Lone Star State.
I’m already in town sorting out a new bit for my horse so I agree to meet West