"Me?" Pappy's news about Martin thinking I was the one involved with Olivia had me completely baffled. "He thought it was me?"
Pappy merely nodded. "So it seems."
"I guess that makes a little more sense." If he thought I was the threat, his doggin' my steps did make sense, but why he thought it was still a mystery. Whose arm did he think she was always on? I guess I'll never understand Martin Langley, and that's just fine. All's well that ends well, I guess, and I wish them both the best. Although I am hoping when we leave New Orleans behind, we leave them behind too. For good.
That raised the real burning question though. Pappy may be a little melancholy about all this, but he isn't exactly broken up over it. So just what had gone on between him and Olivia? I almost didn't voice my next question but then decided to plow ahead. My curiosity was too strong to forget about all this. "And that's all this ever was? Olivia wasn't lookin' for an older gentleman to take care of her? And you weren't lookin' for a sweet young thing to light your fires on a cold winter night?"
Bart briefly glanced over at me like he couldn't believe what I'd just said and then Pappy turned around. A genuine Beauregard glare was now coming my way and I'll admit, being on the receiving end of that look isn't all that comfortable. It's definitely not something I'm used to. If I wasn't already well out of Pappy's reach I would have been tempted to step back just a bit. I guess I could have worded that a little better.
It took me a minute to recover, but when I did I shrugged and did my best to look repentant. "You were spendin' an awful lot of time with her."
Pappy scoffed in disgust and turned back around but not before I caught a brief glimpse of the smile he was trying hard to fight. Maybe I'd proved my point about the impression he was giving with Olivia, or maybe Pappy had figured it out on his own. Maybe he just thought his sons were crazy. Either way, I knew he wasn't really upset about any of it and couldn't stop a smile of my own. All this was nothing more than a big misunderstanding between pretty much everyone involved. I couldn't help but laugh at the absurdity of the whole situation. When I heard Pappy start to chuckle, I knew all was forgiven for anything I might have said.
The more I thought about it all, the funnier it became and the harder I laughed; Pappy laughed right along with me. When I was finally able to compose myself, I found Bart staring at both of us like we had lost our minds.
"I'm glad y'all find this all so funny," he said sounding a little disgruntled.
"You have to admit, there's something funny about how ridiculous this all is."
"I guess so. I guess it's a lot funnier when you don't look like you ran into a door too."
So that's what this was about. Langley packed quite a punch, especially when you weren't expecting it, and Bart certainly hadn't seen that first one coming. The end result had been an impressive shiner on his left eye, a very impressive shiner. We had both taken several good hits from the man, but we'd been more prepared after seeing what he was capable of. I had a shiner of my own on my cheek, but the hit I'd taken hadn't been nearly as hard. The slight discoloration on my cheek was nothing compared to Bart's black eye.
"Come on, Brother Bart," I told him sitting back down. "That beautiful face of yours will be back to normal in no time."
"That thought doesn't make it hurt any less."
I grimaced. The dark bruise coloring his face did have to be tender. "At least he didn't break your pretty nose," I offered. There is nothing pleasant about that experience.
Bart winced at the thought. "You got a point there. Alright, it could have been worse, but I'm still not in a hurry to run into him again."
"Literally?"
Bart rolled his eyes at my bad joke, but he did smile.
"Speaking of running into Martin," Pappy broke in. "Anyone care to explain last night to me?"
We both froze and exchanged a look. I'd been sort of hoping Pappy would just forget all that. Yeah, it was a stupid thought, but hope springs eternal. Me and Bart may be grown, something Pappy willingly acknowledges, but we are still his sons. When he asks a question, he expects an answer.
"Well?" he asked when neither of us said anything.
Bart finally spoke up. "He really did start it, Pappy."
"So he said, but he didn't wreck that casino by himself. I'm sure the two of you have something to say for yourselves." Pappy wasn't angry, but he wasn't happy either.
"It's like I told you last night, Pappy," I offered. "He hauled off and hit Bart. I wasn't going to let my brother get beat up on for no good reason."
Pappy turned to Bart. "That how it happened, Bartley? You were mindin' your own business and he hit you."
Bart sighed, and I leaned back in my chair crossing my arms. I knew my brother had picked up on the same thing I had. Pappy already had the story, thanks to Martin most likely, and now he wanted to hear it from us, and he expected it to be the truth. Not that either one of us would try to give him anything else. Neither one of us has ever been able to lie to Pappy; funny how some things never change.
"No, sir, that's not exactly how it happened," Bart answered. Pappy just raised an eyebrow, much like Bart is known to do. "Well, Bret tried to walk away from him and Langley grabbed him. I wasn't going to let my brother get manhandled for no good reason."
"That what happened, Breton?"
"Yes, sir. Langley grabbed me and the next thing I knew Bart was on the floor. I figured if he wanted a fight I'd give him one."
"And you jumped in to help him once the real fight started?" That was directed at Bart.
"Yes, sir. And given the way we both look I'd say two to one was just about fair."
Pappy sighed, and I couldn't tell if he was amused or exasperated. "Having looked at all three of you, I'd say that's just about right." Pappy shook his head. "I can't say I blame either one of you for jumping in to help the other, I'd do the same thing for Ben, but did you have to tear the gaming salon up to do it?"
Bart and I both made a face, probably the same one. The damage to the hotel hadn't even crossed my mind when I threw my first punch at Langley. I'd stupidly assumed I'd be able to take him, and pretty quickly, but Langley had turned out to be a wildcat. I wasn't entirely sure how much damage we'd done, and I really didn't want to know, but the fight had gone on much longer than I'd expected. Who knows how long it would have continued or how much worse off me and Bart would have ended up if the police hadn't come in and ended things.
"He moved faster than I thought he would," I offered lamely.
"Obviously," Pappy commented dryly.
"We are sorry about that, Pappy," Bart chimed in and just like I expected he got that puppy dog look in his eyes. Sometimes I don't even think he realizes he does it anymore, but it's still a pretty effective tactic.
"Nothing to be done about it now," Pappy muttered. I guess the puppy dog stare still works.
"We weren't drunk either," Bart offered again.
"Ah, I know that, Bartley. I know what a drunk man looks like. I know what a hangover looks like too. Neither one of you have fit either description over the last several hours. Still, it's not a charge a man likes to hear laid against his boys."
"We wouldn't do that," I told him, still a little put out for how he'd jumped on Bart at the jail earlier.
"I know you wouldn't. No more than either one of you would jump a man for no good reason. But finishing off an evening with a delightful young lady by being told you have to bail your boys out of jail isn't what most men dream about."
"Having to ask your father to bail you out of jail isn't something most men dream about either."
"I suppose not," Pappy conceded smiling slightly. He looked between the two of us. "I'm sorry this trip hasn't gone quite the way you boys planned for it to."
"That makes three of us," Bart said.
"At least it's a birthday you'll never forget," I added helpfully.
Pappy laughed. "That's undeniable." He shook his head and then slapped Bart's knee and pushed to his feet. "Well, I'm gonna go get packed up. Remember, we're on a schedule now."
Bart rolled his eyes, and I felt about the same. Yes, I was ready to go home and had talked about it for the last couple of days, but it would be nice if I didn't feel like we had to leave. "That sounds like a good idea, Pappy. We don't want to give the marshal any call to come see us again."
"Wouldn't that be fun?" Bart grumbled as he stood too.
I agreed. Another run in with the man wasn't something I was in a hurry for. Granted, he'd been polite enough about last night, we've all been kicked out of towns with a lot less ceremony, but that was no reason to push the man.
We were almost to our respective rooms when Pappy spoke again. "By the way, boys."
We both came to a halt and faced him again. "Yes, Sir?" I said.
Pappy was in the middle of lighting another cigar. He took a draw off of it and blew out a mouthful of smoke before looking at us with a grin. "You both owe me a thousand dollars now."
With that he went into his room and closed the door, leaving me and Bart staring after him in dumbfounded silence. We exchanged a look and Bart sighed. "We should have seen that comin'," he said before going into his own room. I let out a sigh of my own. Yep; we really should have.