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going to bother us with Grey tending bar. 
Besides, you taught me to defend myself.”
    “That doesn’t make me feel
any better,” he remarked.  “There are four of them.  Wild dogs always travel in
packs.  Besides, I’m still allowed to worry.  You’re my little girl.  If
something happened to you--”
    “Nothing’s going to happen
to me.”
    “Yes, you’re a know-it-all
twenty-something,” he remarked with a defeated sigh.  “I’m sure your
invincibility button will protect you from harm.”
    Casey laughed at him,
kissed his cheek, and offered a warm smile.  “That’s right, so stop worrying. 
I’ll be home by midnight as usual.”
    He attempted to mask his
smile with a frown.  “Why’d you have to turn out so much like your mother?”
    Casey laughed softly.  “Why
does she always say I’m too much like you?”
    “Well, you know your
mother,” he replied.  “She likes to believe she’s a lady.  There’s a side of
her no one would believe if I told them.”
    “Wow,” Casey teased. 
“Between you and Mom, it’s amazing Grey and I turned out so normal.”
    “Real funny, young lady.”
    Casey mounted her horse,
saluted him, and rode away.  Brandon stared after her, smiled, and shook his
head.

Chapter Four
     
    T he two-story tavern was
located in a clearing along a back road just outside town.  It resembled an old
farmhouse that had been converted into a bar and was often mistaken for a bed
and breakfast.  It was around nine o’clock that night, and the tavern appeared
alive with activity.  The dirt parking lot was already filled with mainly
pick-up trucks.  There was a long, sturdy hitching post alongside the building
with several horses tied to it.  Casey’s gray horse was among them.  The town
was small enough and rural enough that horses were a common mode of
transportation, particularly among drunk patrons.  Most times, the horses would
get their intoxicated riders home safely.  On some occasions, the horses would
make the journey back alone and some poor drunken cowboy wannabe would wake up
in a field somewhere.  Country music was heard pulsating through the walls from
within the tavern.  The rustic interior reflected the farming lifestyle of the
town.  The old, hardwood dance floor was crowded with men and women line
dancing to the country music. 
    The tavern was a
multi-purpose entertainment complex.  There were those who came to dance the
night away, while others came to drink, socialize, and pick up overnight
companionship, and still others who came to play pool, darts, and make a few
side bets.  Waitresses dressed in jeans and low-cut tops hustled pitchers of
beer to the filled tables within the smoky rooms.  There were several pool
tables in the back that seemed to remain filled throughout the night.  The
crowd varied in age from early twenties to late sixties.  There was always something
for everyone at the tavern.  Grey busily tended bar and seemed to enjoy the
excitement of it.  Grey, like Casey, had attended college, but lost interest in
his major after his second year.  He took time off from college to reconsider
his major and lacked enthusiasm to return.  With their father’s intent to run
for mayor, Grey assumed he’d take over at the antique store to help his
mother.  Casey unenthusiastically put in her time just to appease their
parents.  Someone had to take over, so Grey appointed himself. 
    A moderately attractive
waitress in her twenties, Melanie Ridgeway, waited for Grey to refill her
pitchers of beer.  Melanie, the mayor’s daughter, seemed out of place as a
waitress in the smoke-filled tavern.  With the sort of money her family had, it
didn’t seem as if she needed to work.  Abby certainly couldn’t approve of her
daughter waiting tables in a bar, so her reason for working there remained a
mystery to most.  A handsome deputy in his late twenties, Deputy Tucker
Kennedy, approached Melanie from behind, spun her in his arms,