At First Sight. Tamara Sneed

towards the bar. Graham mentally thanked her for leaving him to this humiliation in private. He spat out a bit of blood swimming in his mouth and briefly wondered if his jaw was broken. That pain hadn’t felt natural. He managed to duck Earl’s next compact swing at his face and then get off a swing of his own.

      There was a satisfying crunch as Graham’s fist connected with Earl’s chin. Earl mildly shook his head, but to Graham’s utter disbelief and horror, seemed relatively unfazed. And then Graham felt the pain in his own hand from the punch. He barely managed to hold back his own scream. That didn’t happen on television when the good guy hit the bad guy.

      Graham heard several female screams. Charlie was running out of the bar followed by her two sisters and every other patron. Graham’s distraction ended as Earl plowed a fist into his stomach followed by another one. Charlie screamed his name and Graham felt a burst of energy as he gave up trading punches and talked Earl to the ground.

      Earl and Graham rolled around as the men from The Bar began hollering and whistling, forming a circle around them, just like kids in an elementary schoolyard. Graham deflected Earl’s powerful blows and landed a few of his own that at least slowed Earl down a little bit. The two men scrambled to their feet and Earl managed to land a few more punches. The crowd cheered in approval as one of Graham’s fists plowed into Earl’s nose and blood spewed in one direction. Earl stumbled several steps backwards, prompting a round of applause. For the first time since the fight began, Earl hesitated.

      The sound of sirens suddenly rang in the air, and Graham caught a glimpse of the town’s two police cars speeding towards The Bar. Like cockroaches, people began to scatter. Graham held up his fists, prepared to continue, as Earl looked from the approaching police to Graham. Wyatt suddenly ran to Graham’s side, and Graham refused to acknowledge the relief he felt that he wouldn’t have to face the giant by himself again.

      “Graham, what the hell is going on? I go to the bathroom and come out to find the bar empty…” Wyatt’s voice trailed off, as he followed Graham’s glare in the direction of Earl and cursed. “Your first fight in twenty years and you pick Earl McPhee?”

      Earl abruptly ran towards a parked truck filled with a group of men who looked at each other with horror at the thought of giving Earl a ride. Graham didn’t lower his fists until Earl ordered the driver to drive and the truck sped down the road, away from the police cars. Graham released the breath he hadn’t known he was holding, then collapsed to his knees, drawing in the air that he had been deprived of during the last several seconds.

      “Graham, my God, are you all right?” Quinn screeched, running to his side.

      “He’ll live. It’s just a few scrapes,” Wyatt muttered, sounding suspiciously annoyed as he watched Quinn check Graham’s injuries.

      “Scrapes, my ass. That man could have killed him,” Kendra chimed in, running to his other side.

      Graham never thought it would have been possible, but he barely noticed the two women as he stared up at Charlie, who stood next to Wyatt. She sent him a small smile then walked towards the horse. And dammit if that wasn’t all Graham needed to see to make the whole thing worth it.