by Becky McGraw
“What’s the difference between tie-down and this team roping thing?”
“Tie-down is an individual event, and she’ll have to rope the calf, then get off her horse and flank him, and string three legs together with a pigging string, as fast as she can.”
“Why’d she quit, if she was so good?” Jess asked him curiously.
“Her ex-boyfriend…it’s a long story, and it’s a shame she’s not competing anymore, but I’m glad she wound up at the Double B, she’s a big help.”
Wade had ridden almost last in his competition, but it looked like Karlie and Katie Upton were riding first. Their names flashed on the big board by the announcer, then he called their names, and she saw the redheads move their horses back in the chutes, and twirl their ropes a few times, then hold them at their sides.
One of them, she didn’t know which because she couldn’t tell them apart, nodded her head and a small metal chute opened and a calf took off into the arena. They leaned forward and their horses shot out on either side of the chute. The head was roped in three rotations of the rope, and then Karlie pulled off to the left and Katie looped the feet then they pulled the rope and a buzzer sounded. It all happened so fast, Jess was amazed.
“That was awesome…wow,” she said in a reverent voice.
Wade looked up at the board to see their time, and when it posted, Beau shot to his feet and yelled, which must mean it was good, she thought and yelled encouragement too. They loosened the tension on their ropes and jerked them off the calf, then wound them back up, looking up at the scoreboard with big grins. As they rode back to the gate by the chutes, they took off their hats and waved to the crowd.
“They did good, huh?” Jess asked Wade and bounced in her seat with excitement pouring through her. God, if she could do that kind of stuff, maybe she’d hear that kind of respect for her in Wade’s voice too…but she couldn’t. She didn’t know a damned thing about rodeos, she wasn’t a cowgirl, and hadn’t ever even ridden a horse in her life. But she had a feeling her daughter was going to be one, if her daddy had anything to do with it, so maybe she should at least get Wade to teach her to ride.
“They’re gonna be hard to beat…that time was outstanding,” he told her with a wide grin that displayed the dimple that set her heart racing.
“You think you could teach me to ride a horse after I get this cast off?” she asked him self-consciously.
Wade’s eyebrows shot up, and he asked incredulously, “You don’t know how to ride, sugar?”
“Nope, haven’t ever been on a horse before…I’m a pretend cowgirl,” she told him with a forced chuckle.
Wade put his arm around her shoulders and leaned down to kiss her tenderly, then said in a low sexy voice, “There’s not a damned thing pretend about you, sugar…you are the real deal…but yeah, I’ll teach you to ride.”
She gave him a big smile, then kissed his cheek. “Thanks, I can’t wait.” And she couldn’t, because that meant she got to spend more time with him, and do something he enjoyed doing. Who knew, maybe she’d like it too.
After all the team ropers had done their rounds and the totals were tallied, Karlie and Katie were number one going into the finals tomorrow, as Wade had predicted, and the tie-down roping competition was next. She was interested in seeing that, and what made Karlie Upton Kelley so good at it.
She saw Beau say something to Gabe then elbow him in the ribs and start laughing, but Gabe didn’t laugh, his face turned red, so she assumed it had something to do with the story Wade had told them at lunch. It was pretty funny, but she was sure Gabe was still catching hell for being left hog-tied by the road by his wife, when he pulled her over for speeding. Beau, being Gabe’s brother, and a Texas Ranger to boot, probably couldn’t help teasing him about it.
A horn blast sounded over the loud speaker, and Jess jumped in her seat then laughed. “That damned thing sure will get your attention, huh?” she said to Wade, then rocked the car seat with her foot to quiet Angel, who squirmed around and fussed when it woke her up.
“Yeah, it’s pretty loud…” he agreed then looked down at Angel. “She probably could use a change, I’ll go take her,” he said then stood up and picked up the car seat. “I don’t think Karlie’s gonna be first in this one.” Leaning down, he put a quick kiss on her lips then told her he’d be right back and headed to the truck. When Wade walked through the back door of the arena, it was almost sundown and he hurried across the parking lot. He’d just gotten the truck door open, and Angel laid on the seat when his phone rang in his pocket. Hoping it was Travis with good news, he pulled it out and answered, then put one hand on Angel’s stomach to hold her still.
“Wade, this is Doug…” his former accountant announced, then told him, “I’ve got some interesting news about those files Travis sent me.”
Wade’s heartbeat ratcheted up a few notches and he said, “Oh, yeah?”
“The second file that was password protected had a road map to what this guy was doing to Jess Sparks…all of the account numbers where he transferred money, and the bogus company names he transferred it to. On the surface in the other file, what looked like legitimate transfers, were actually transfers to these other accounts. All of these companies are under the same umbrella, and owned by RTE Holdings…I looked it up and guess who the owner of record is?”
Although nobody, but Angel could see him, Wade grinned and said, “Ray Turner?”
“Yep, and it looks a helluva lot like money laundering. I’m sure the authorities would be interested to see this…let me go, I’m going to call Travis and see what he came up with on that computer. I’ll call you on Monday, and get a report to you.”
“Thanks, Doug…great job, man,” he told him, then disconnected, with excitement building inside of him. It looked like that smug bastard was going to get his comeuppance after all, and Jess was going to get justice for what he’d done to her for so many years.
Wade quickly changed Angel, and redressed her and picked her up, then shut the door and headed back to the arena. Right outside the door, he saw Cam Jessup leaning against the wall smoking a cigarette, which he flicked to the ground when he saw Wade walk up.
“Who’s brat?” he asked gruffly then shoved off the wall and blocked Wade’s path to the door.
“She’s my daughter, and she’s not a brat, asshole,” Wade told him, then went to walk around. He didn’t want trouble right now, especially since he had Angel with him. “I’m not looking for trouble Jessup, just get out of my way.”
“You might not be looking for it, but you sure found it,” he said and pushed Wade.
“Here’s the deal, fucker…I have my daughter with me, a baby, someone I love and don’t want to see hurt. I’m not going to fight you right now, or ever. You just take those bull balls of yours somewhere else and leave me the hell alone.”
“I don’t think so…your wife embarrassed me today, and somebody is gonna pay for that,” Jessup told him with another push. “Either you or her,” he threatened.
Wade snorted, then grabbed the door handle, “You better leave her alone, or she’ll kick your ass worse than I would.” Without giving him another minute, Wade flung the door open and walked inside. That guy really had some ego problems…and that was gonna be his downfall on the circuit, Wade knew.
Most of the guys were laid back, and friendly. They messed with each other in the spirit of friendly competition, but you could always count on any one of them having your back. Everyone got along well, and were almost like a family. You had to have that, because you were gone so much from your real family. Cam Jessup might be a good rider, but he wouldn’t last long, because someone was going to kick his ass, or the admin would.
When he got back to his seat, Jess was on the edge of hers watching the tie-down competition. He could almost feel the excitement pouring off of her, and he was glad she was enjoying herself. She needed some distraction from the crap going on with Ray Turner…and him. Wade sat the car seat down by his leg and chu
cked Angel under the chin, and she smiled up at him, and he smiled back.
His baby girl really was the most precious thing in his life…and her mama. Wade would do anything in this world to protect them, and that meant he was going to win tomorrow and get Ray Turner out of their lives. Then he was going to send that fucker to jail for a long time to make sure he stayed out.
Right now though, he was going to enjoy the closest thing to a date he’d had with Jess, and not worry about it…and she didn’t need to worry either, so he was gonna wait to tell her about what Doug found, until tomorrow after the competition. He’d have the whole picture then, anyway.
About half-way through the group of tie-down roping competitors, the announcer called Karlie’s name, and she led her horse into the gate and backed JoJo until his butt touched the back of the pen, then leaned forward at the ready, with the pigging string between her teeth, and her lariat in her right hand. He could see JoJo’s flesh twitch in anticipation of chasing the calf. Karlie gave a quick nod of her head, and the doors of the metal chute opened and the calf shot out into the arena.
JoJo lit out of that pen like a flash and Karlie’s lariat was a blur, as she hooked it over the calf’s head, then slid off of JoJo and ran down the rope that JoJo had tightened for her, to the calf. She tossed the calf to its side, strung three legs together, and had her hands in the air, before he could even process it all. She ran back and hopped on JoJo, then he moved forward and loosened the rope. The calf stayed tied and a buzzer sounded.
Karlie looked up at the timer and smiled when she saw the seven flat, which was a very competitive time…better than those before her by a tenth of a second. She let out a whoop and gave a fist pump, then pulled off her hat and pointed it at Gabe, twirled it, then tossed it to the ground. Wade saw him leaning over the rail yelling for her, and he threw her a kiss, across the arena, and she caught it, then got off JoJo and untied the calf and got her hat.
Wade yelled down at Gabe, “She did good, man!”
“She’s fricking amazing…now I know how I wound up hog-tied in more ways than one!” he yelled back, his face lit with pride and excitement.
“That was amazing,” Jess agreed with a big smile. “I wish I could do that…totally amazing.”
“You want to learn to rope too, darlin’? I could try to teach you, but I suck at it…maybe Karlie would give you lessons, then you could teach me,” he suggested with a waggle of his eyebrows.
Jess nudged his shoulder then laughed, “You don’t like to rope?”
“It’s not that I don’t like it…my roping skills suck. I am pretty talented at tie-down though, so I’ll just have to teach you that,” he said near her ear, then licked her earlobe.
She shuddered then looked into his eyes with instant heat in hers. “I’d like that demonstration, I think…”
Lust slammed into his chest, and he sucked in a sharp breath, then put that demonstration on his ‘to-do’ list in the near future. “Count on it then, darlin’,” he told her in a low gravelly voice, and kissed her hair.
“You want to stay and see Katie barrel race?” Wade asked wanting to get Jess back to the hotel and alone, but wanting her to have the full rodeo experience too, since this was her first time.
“Nah, I think I’m ready to go back to the hotel, and Angel is too,” she told him looking down at her seeing she was fretting in her car seat now. “I think she’s had enough of the rodeo today, she’s been so good.”
“She really has been a trooper,” he agreed then unbuckled her from the car seat and lifted her to his shoulder. “I’ll carry her to the truck, you get the car seat.”
He put his hand on Jess’s back and guided her to the exit, then they walked out into the cooler night air, heading for the truck. A high-pitched mewling sound a little ways away caught his attention as they got near the truck. It sounded like it was coming from down the row of parked cars to the left. Figuring it was an injured animal that he couldn’t help anyway, he ignored it then put his key into the lock and opened the door for Jess. She got inside, and he handed her the baby, then went to put the car seat in the back seat, and he heard a yelp, definitely of the human variety.
“I’ll be right back,” he told Jess then took off down the row of vehicles, looking between them to see what was going on. His eyes caught a flash of a white straw hat and bright red hair, before it disappeared, and he ran down that row in the darkness. The closer he got, he heard the sounds of a struggle going on, and hurried toward the sound. When he got there, he saw the white hat laying on the ground, and either Karlie or Katie struggling with a man on the ground.
“Get the hell off of me!” she yelled then boxed the guys ears with her closed fists.
With a roar, Wade grabbed the back of the guys shirt and yanked him off of her then threw him into the large truck beside them, and planted his fist in the guy’s face. He grunted, then tried to punch Wade, but he blocked it then put a fist in the man’s stomach, and the guy crumpled to his knees clutching his stomach.
“Oh, god, thanks, Wade…” the red head said then scrambled to her feet and leaned against the other truck heaving for breath. “That asshole wouldn’t leave me alone,” she told him.
“Karlie? Where’s Gabe,” he asked her looking around.
“Katie…and I have no idea where he and Karlie got off to. After she rode, I walked out for some air, then that guy started talking to me and wouldn’t take no for an answer.”
“You okay, sugar?” Wade asked her looking her over as best he could in the dark.
“Yeah, thanks again,” she told him then looked down at the man who was still on his knees with his head down.
Wade reached down and jerked the guy to his feet and his eyebrows shot up when he saw it was his nemesis for the day, Cam Jessup. “What the fuck, Jessup…you that fucking hard up you have to rape a woman to get laid?” he shouted in his face.
“Shut the fuck up, she liked it,” he wheezed, then grabbed his ribs when Wade shoved an elbow in them.
“Try that on someone who’ll believe it…did she mention her brother-in-law is a Texas Ranger?” Wade asked sarcastically, then told Katie, “Katie go find Beau and get him out here.”
“Just let him go, Wade…I don’t want all that trouble tonight. But if he even breathes my way again, I’m going to have Beau on him like stink on a skunk.”
“You sure, sugar? He’s been asking for it all day,” he told her eyeing Cam Jessup angrily, then he shoved him into the truck again.
“I’m sure…just let the bastard go, I’m not hurt.”
“Fine,” he told her then let go of Cam’s shirt and took a step back. “I’m gonna give you a piece of advice…end your bad day now before it gets worse. Haul your drunk ass to your trailer, cause you’re gonna need all the rest you can get for tomorrow.”
“I don’t need your fucking advice, old man,” Cam told him sulkily, then pushed past him shoving him with his shoulder, then stumbling away.
Katie walked up to him with tears in her eyes, then put her arms around him and hugged him. He kissed the top of her head, and then looked up and there stood Jess with Angel in her arms and tears in her eyes, her lower lip trembling.
Fuck, he thought, then backed away from Katie and held up his hands. “It’s not what you think, sweetheart,” he told her, and walked around Katie to go to her, but she stepped back.
“I’m going back inside and I’ll ride back to the bar with Beau and Jazzie. Ya’ll have fun,” she said dryly then turned and walked toward the arena.
Katie ran past him and yelled, “Wait, Jess!” then caught up to the stiff-backed blond stalking away from them. She stopped, but didn’t turn around, and he heard Katie tell her, “Wade is my friend, nothing more…he hasn’t ever been more. He loves you, honey…he doesn’t want anyone else.”