Page 23 of The Only Seconds that Matter
Jade nodded and headed for her car.Victor went to the truck and reached across the back seat to shake Taylor’s leg.She woke with a start, then blearily looked around.
“Is Johnny here?”she mumbled.
“Nope.I couldn’t get a hold of him, so you’ll be sleeping in the house.I’ll try to reach him tomorrow.Well, today.Later today.”
With a sleepy groan, Taylor pushed herself across the seat and carefully descended from the truck.
“What about the horses?Are they okay?”
“Yup, they’re all unloaded and eating.Don’t worry about them, they’ll be fine.”
“Can I go see?”
“I think you need to get some sleep.Come on.”
Taylor yawned and nodded, and she followed Victor to the house.The dogs on the porch greeted him with much licking and tail wagging, then provided the same to Taylor, who giggled and pushed them away.Victor led her through the house and to the guest bedroom.
“I’m sleeping here?”Taylor asked.
“Yup.Is that okay?”
“Yeah, I guess.”
“I’ll keep trying to get a hold of Johnny.Do you know your mother’s number?”
Taylor gave it to him, and Victor plugged it in.It went to voicemail, so he left a message, explaining exactly what had happened.He assumed she might call him back quickly, but his phone remained silent, and Victor was out of ideas.So he gave Taylor a new toothbrush from his stash and after she brushed her teeth, he put the dogs in the room with her to keep her company through the night.Once she was all set up, he went to his own room, tossed off his dusty shirt and dirt-smeared jeans, and collapsed into bed.The last thing he saw were the red numbers of his clock reading2:30 ambefore he fell asleep.
CHAPTER 7
Victor was woken up by a phone ringing at 5 am.He felt around in the pitch dark for his phone, accidentally knocked it to the floor, then spent another few seconds searching for it.When he finally got a hold of it, he glanced briefly at the number before answering.
“Hello?”Victor asked blearily.
“I just got off work.You tellin’ me Johnny wouldn’t pick up his phone?Where’s Taylor now?”demanded Kayla’s irritated voice.
Victor rubbed his face to wake himself up.“I put her up in my guest room.She’s asleep with my dogs.”
“Goddamnit!What the fuck is Johnny playin’ at?Bet you he went to the bar after work and got himself pissing drunk.He could be anywhere.Lemme fucking call him.”Then she abruptly hung up.
“Well,” Victor said to himself, still staring at his phone.With a sigh, he dropped it onto his nightstand and rolled back under his covers.This wasn’t going to be his problem until the sun came up.
However, shortly after Victor had drifted back to sleep, his phone rang again.This time it was Johnny.
“You would notbelievethe night I had,” Johnny began.“I just got off the phone with my sister.”
“What is going on?”Victor asked groggily.
“I went to the bar after work, thinkin’ I’d just have a few before I headed home.Well, then I heard some shoutin’ so I went outside to investigate and it was some man screamin’ at his girlfriend.I mean, they were kinda yellin’ at each other.Anyway, he started shovin’ her and I stepped in cuz this girl was maybe 120 pounds soakin’ wet, and the guy punched me right in the chin.Then we got to fightin’, and someone called the police, and so long story short, I spent the night in jail.”
Victor was speechless.As shocked as he was by the story, it also seemed like something that would happen to Johnny.He had tons of stories about the colorful people he met and how they got involved in his life.Traveling to rodeos across the country meant you spent a lot of time in seedy places with wild men willing to crawl on top of a feral animal for a chance at a couple thousand dollars.
“You’re joking,” Victor said, because he couldn’t think of what else to say.
“Ain’t jokin’.I wouldn’t have left you high and dry like that.I ain’t the most responsible, but I pride myself on takin’ good care of Taylor.My sister’s real pissed at me, but I promised to make it up to her by pickin’ Taylor up this mornin’.I gotta thank ya for lookin’ after her.She alright there by herself?”
“Seems okay.I gave her the dogs to sleep with.”
“Sorry ‘bout all this.I’ll make it up to ya somehow.”Then Johnny hung up, and Victor groaned, dropping the phone on the empty side of the bed and deciding to try to attempt some sleep in the next hour before he had to be up again.
