Ambush Before Sunrise: Bonus Story (Cardwell Ranch Book12; Montana Legacy

the bathroom mirror inspecting her throat. It was still red in spots and bruised in others. She could make out T.D.’s fingerprints where he’d choked her. She touched the spot tenderly and cursed Jinx. Just the mention of her name sent T.D. in a tailspin. Until he was done with that woman, he wasn’t himself. She had to remember that.
Stepping out of the bathroom, she thought she heard a vehicle. T.D. would come back. He’d be all apologetic and loving. He’d done it before another time when he’d gotten rough with her. And like tonight, it had been over Jinx McCallahan.
Oh, how she hated that woman, she thought, fisting her hands, fingernails biting into her palms. She’d give anything to get that woman out of their lives.
And now T.D. had gone out to her ranch to see her as if he could talk her into giving him another chance. The damned fool. It would serve him right if he got himself arrested—or shot. She wouldn’t put it past Jinx to shoot him. Maybe then he’d realize that she didn’t give two hoots about him.
Tears burned her eyes. What was wrong with the man? He had a woman who loved him unconditionally and still he couldn’t stay away from that...ranch woman. He’d left her to go to Jinx. It burned at her insides. What if he didn’t come back tonight? What if Jinx gave him a second chance? The thought made her sick to her stomach. Why couldn’t she just let T.D. go?
She felt bitterness roiling in her stomach. If only Jinx would sell her ranch and leave town like most people thought she would after her father died. Let her move far away. Then T.D. would come to his senses. As long as Jinx was around, she’d keep him stirred up.
Her phone rang. For a moment she thought it would be T.D. Maybe he’d gone down to the bar and had started feeling guilty about their fight and was now calling to apologize. Or maybe invite her down to the bar to have a drink with him. Wouldn’t it be something to be able to go out in public together? That would show Jinx.
She checked her cell phone, instantly disappointed. It was only Wyatt, T.D.’s friend, probably calling to ask if she knew where the man was. “Hey,” she said, picking up. Maybe T.D. had asked him to call her.
“Are you all right? I saw T.D.’s truck down at the bar. Figured you’d be alone. You two have a fight?”
Patty’s heart dropped. If T.D. was at the bar, then maybe he wasn’t planning to come back tonight.
“You okay?” Wyatt asked.
She felt touched by his concern. The shy cowboy was so sweet. Too bad she couldn’t fall for him instead of T.D. “Wyatt, you have to stop worrying about me.” He’d found her sobbing her eyes out the last time she and T.D. had had a bad fight. He’d run a clean washcloth under the cold-water faucet in the bathroom, wrung it out and handed it to her. He’d asked if he could get her anything to eat, something to drink.
He was so thoughtful. She wished T.D. was more like him. And while she appreciated the fact that Wyatt cared, at the same time, it felt a little creepy. Sometimes she wondered if he watched her apartment just waiting for T.D. to leave in one of his moods.
“I could come over,” Wyatt said now.
She touched her throat. It still hurt. Wyatt would notice the bruises and the dark spots that looked like fingertips. “I don’t think that’s a good idea. You know how T.D. is. He wouldn’t like it.” Who was she kidding? T.D. wouldn’t care.
“Was he alone at the bar?” she asked.
“I don’t know. I didn’t go inside. Patty, what do you see in him?”
It was a question she’d asked herself many times over the year she’d been seeing T.D. He’d never made it a secret that he loved his wife and yet, she’d been convinced that one day he would leave Jinx and marry her. Instead, Jinx had thrown him out and now T.D. was determined to get the woman back.
“I’m in love with him,” she said simply. “You know that.”
“I know. It’s just that...he doesn’t treat you right, Patty. You need a man who values you for who you are. You have so much to offer a man. A man who deserves it.”
She couldn’t argue that. Like tonight, she didn’t need Wyatt to tell her that it was mean of T.D. to come by only to leave right after they’d had sex. She knew he was using her and it broke her heart, but what could she do? The alternative was to not see him at all.
“You have to know how I feel about you. What can I do to show you? Just name it, Patty,” Wyatt pleaded. “I would do anything for you.”
She walked back into the bathroom and stared at her reflection in the mirror for a moment. Wyatt was right. She deserved better. “There is something you could do. Where are you now?”
“Just down the street.” His voice sounded hopeful and she knew he’d meant it about doing anything for her. With a little persuasion, she thought she could get Wyatt to do the one thing she might ask.
“Come on up. But make it quick. T.D. will be coming back soon.”
AFTER LEAVING THE RANCH, T.D. had considered going back to Patty’s. But he wasn’t up for another fight. Nor was he up for apologizing. Patty just didn’t get it. He wanted Jinx, as much as he hated her right now. His wife thought she had the upper hand at the moment. Maybe she did. Maybe that was why he was so angry.
He’d driven straight to the bar, telling himself that maybe he would sneak back out to the ranch later tonight and surprise Jinx. A need stirred in him like none he’d ever felt, and he kept reminding himself that she was still his