One Night Rodeo Read Online Free PDF

to say to her. About my father. Christ.” He chugged the rest of his beer. “Talk about bizarre.”
    She patted his thigh. “Kyle. It has to be hard for her too. Talk to her.”
    “This oughta be fun.” He answered his phone. “Mom. Yeah, I am sorry. No. I don’t understand. Why now?” After a minute or so, Kyle stood and paced, holding the phone with one hand, gesturing wildly with the other. “If you think I’m gonna haul ass all the way to Wyoming so you can have the dramatic edge of dropping his name on me in person, think again. Either give me his name right freakin’ now or I’m hanging up.”
    Kyle froze. Every bit of blood drained from his face. Then he aimed his focus on the carpet, listening to whatever his mother was saying without argument.
    Celia watched his hand curl into a fist, his knuckles turning white. She had the strangest compulsion to open that tight fist and thread her fingersthrough his. To ease his tension. To let him know she was right there if he needed her.
    “Yeah. I understand. I’m sure. No. I get it. Probably a few hours. Okay. Love you too. Bye.” Without another word he locked himself in the bathroom.
    Great. What was she supposed to do now? Beat on the door and make him talk to her?
    Use his distraction to push for an annulment?
    Celia’s cell phone vibrated with a text message from Tanna. Good afternoon, Mrs. Gilchrist! Call me. I just hit the road for TX and wanna know your plans.
    Tanna could shed light on what had happened last night. Celia put the security latch in the door to keep it from shutting and snuck into the hallway.
    Tanna answered immediately, busted out “Single Ladies,” and then laughed. “But that doesn’t fit you anymore, does it, Mrs. Gilchrist?”
    “Ha ha, T.”
    “Can I just do my I-told-you-so dance? I knew it was only a matter of the right timing before you and Kyle publicly admitted your feelings for each other.”
    The right timing? After way too many tequila shooters?
    “Despite the fact you were both pretty hammered, it was romantic how he swept you off the dance floor and yelled, ‘I’m marryin’ this woman right now before any of you bastards try to take her away from me’ and then ran with you to the chapel.”
    Oh no. Oh no, no, no. Kyle had yelled that? And they’d been dancing?
    Tanna kept blathering on, as she was prone to do. “I couldn’t believe you guys already had the paperwork filled out and the rings chosen by the time I tracked Devin down and we showed up to be your witnesses. The whole thing, from Kyle’s declaration on the dance floor to the official pronunciation of man and wife, took twenty minutes tops. And I’m impressed you still had time to write your own wedding vows.”
    She’d written her own wedding vows? She sank to the floor in the hallway, tempted to beat her head into her knees, until she remembered she had stitches in her forehead.
    “Although your love and dove rhyme wasn’t particularly original, nor was Kyle’s use of ass and class appropriate, the rest was really sweet and heartfelt. Like you’d both been holding your feelings inside for a long time. And that kiss.” Tanna sighed. “It was beautiful, but surprisingly raunchy. I’ve never seen you so happy, Celia. God. You were giddy with joy.”
    How was it she couldn’t remember anything? And was it lucky or unlucky that Tanna did?
    “Cele? You there?”
    “Ah. Yeah.” Celia changed the subject, lest Tanna figure out just how much she didn’t remember from her own damn wedding. “Just wondering what you and Devin did after Kyle and I took off?”
    “Drank some. Then two fan-girl chicks horned in and offered to blow him, so the man-whore whisked them to his tour bus. For all I know they might be on their way to Portland with him right now.”
    “As you can imagine, I’ve been out of it today. Did you call Lainie and tell her that me and Kyle…?”
    “Yes! She’s so excited for you guys. But I made her promise to wait to tell