Lassoing The Last Dance (Double Dutch Ranch; Love At First Sight Book 4)

by Mary J. McCoy-Dressel

  “No. Let me know when you’ll be checking out your new stallion. I’d like to see what he can do. He’s an awesome horse.” Tristan wiped mayo from his mouth and slid the chair out.

  “I told Dane I’d look into the unruly one he just bought. Later, I have a meeting at the JL Ranch. Jake picked up a horse a couple weeks ago. I’ve been working with him to train for a safety horse for one of Jake’s bronc riding buddies.”

  Tristan took his plate to the sink and put his hat on. “Tell Jake I have to pick up a load of hay from him before long.”

  Tristan pulled away. Before getting dirty, Randy jumped in his truck and drove to a bigger market with more choices. Inside, he headed to the floral section, but didn’t find anything there that would make a good welcome basket.

  Instead, he went by the produce aisle and picked up a small fruit basket. Everybody liked fruit. It was the right size for one person, but what the hell had he known about a flower or fruit basket. Passing the greeting card section, he turned around and bought a blank card. He had no clue as to why he did this, or if he’d follow through.

  On the way through town with one more stop to make, he waited at a light on Main Street. With a few cars stopped ahead of him, he glanced into the Sunset Grille. His gaze landed on the booth at the front window. Well, looky there. She had her hand on the arm of his friend, Rob Adams. Roxanne. Sitting there. With Rob? His eyes betrayed him when they wouldn’t turn away. Her hair was darker than he’d remembered. His stomach flip-flopped at seeing her. Was Rob the reason she had returned home? Here he was on the losing end with a woman again. Randy glanced at the fruit basket on the seat beside him. You’re an idiot.

  ***

  Pacing through his house a few times, and idiot or not, at eight-thirty that evening, Randy sent a text to Tristan asking if Roxanne had left. Tristan replied she’d left with Brenna and Jase fifteen minutes ago. She should be home by time he got there. He sat at the kitchen table, opened the blank card, and picked up a pen to begin:

  Roxanne,

  I was surprised to hear you were back in town, but either way, I’m glad you’re here and hopefully in a safe environment now. I hope you can make a new beginning for yourself. Welcome home to Canyon Junction. Take care now.

  Randy.

  He read it over. It wasn’t his best work. Not what he’d had on his heart, but it needed to be nonchalant. He went into the bathroom to shave. Randy removed his t-shirt and got a button-up from the closet. Tucking in his shirt before leaving, he buckled his belt, then grabbed his hat and the basket. Rob, or no Rob Adams, he was doing this.

  Taking his time driving down her road, he scanned stations. Latin music came on the radio, which he and Roxanne had danced to at dinner when he visited her in the beginning. Later the same evening out, a new band got on stage and Roxanne had wanted to do some Latin dance, which didn’t come easy for him at all, but he sure enjoyed watching her sexy body dance with another patron who knew how.

  It caused a lump to stick in his throat now, which showed him his true feelings for her. He slowed down a bit when he neared her house. Indeed, her pickup sat in the driveway. A decal of sparkly red cowboy boots had remained in the rear window. He got out and went to the other side for the basket, but now the idea seemed silly again. He left it. Albeit, he trudged up the steps, knocked on the door. Hoped for the best. Sighed. To his surprise, a guy opened. Well, hell, this is uncomfortable.

  “Yeah?” was all the stern-faced, square-jawed guy said when he pushed open the outside door.

  “Is Roxanne around tonight?” He held eye contact with the man, having no clue who he was. Of all people, it better not be her ex-husband. If so, Randy might deck him right there just for the reason of all the things he had done to Roxanne in the past. Then he’d be disappointed in her for having him here. Was this guy her so-called story?

  “I’ll get her. Hold on.”

  All he did was yell for her, not go get her. Asshole.

  She emerged with widened eyes and a gasp. “R-Randy.”

  His heel tapped against the porch and his breath caught when she appeared. He was right about her hair. It was darker blonde than it used to be. Straight now, not wavy like before. Her eyes remained fixed on him as she stood there. Spectacular light blue eyes. A long skirt with vertical stripes looked great on her, making her appear taller than he’d remembered.

  Finding his voice, he began, “I stopped by to welcome you back to Canyon Junction.”

  She turned to whoever was inside, “I’ll be right in.” Roxanne stepped out the door, waited a moment, then strode to the glider to take a seat. “I’m rather shocked to see you here, Randy.”

  Had she limped? “I bet. You didn’t tell me you were coming back. Hard to hide things in a small town.” Gulping, he nodded toward the door. “It’s not like you had to let me know. I’ll take off. I didn’t know you had company.” He stepped down two steps and removed keys from his pocket. “You take care, Roxanne. Nice to see you again.”

  “Randy? Wait.”

  He peered at her while trying to get his heart back in its place. A painful look appeared on her face—something between a scowl and shooting daggers. He gripped the handrail and didn’t make an attempt to move. Was she about to lambaste him? Well, he had a few things to throw right back.

  In a soft voice, she asked, “Will you come back and have a seat?”

  Randy nodded toward the door again. “Maybe another time if you don’t mind.”

  “That’s my cousin inside. He’s always been like a brother to me, and he drove my vehicle here from Broken Arrow while I flew to arrive early. He was here when I got back from Nora’s tonight. I mentioned Brett to you before.”

  Yeah, so long ago that he’d forgotten. He went up the steps and took a seat beside her. Her subtle yet sensual fragrance brought back the memory of her in his arms. So much so that he wouldn’t mind taking her into his arms and closer to her perfume. “Where’s your cousin live?”

  “Near my dad’s new condo outside of town, but he was kind enough to help me out by doing the driving himself. Tonight, he’ll be staying and helping out tomorrow here at the house. There’s so much work to do to make it mine.” She glanced down at clasped hands in her lap.

  Tension lay thick between them. Something was different about her. Roxanne looked frail, downtrodden. He wanted to hold her, or at least pick up those clasped hands. “My place too. It is how it is, and I don’t know what would make it mine. I see it as my parent’s home.”

  “The Circle D Ranch was theirs a long time ago.” Her hands wrung, then she clenched them together again. He must’ve made her nervous, or angry. “Well, Nora’s mom, Sandy, was nice enough to sell this house to me once she realized she wasn’t able to move back home from her son, Brody’s. She was happy it was me who bought it. Everything worked out.”

  She stared at him straight on, a slight tilt to her head. It made his heart race even faster because she was in the right position to be kissed. “It’ll be a good place for you.” He shifted sideways and used his foot to make the glider move in a slow glide. He lowered his hand over hers in her lap. Her soft skin felt nice next to his, but her hands were cold. “I better go. It was great to see you again. Maybe I’ll see you around town, huh?”

  Her throat tightened then her lips parted. Had she wanted to say more? His own words didn’t come out right away. He stood. “Have a nice night.” She took his hand, pulling on it quite hard to stand. “You okay, Roxanne?”

  A car driving past grabbed her attention for a moment. “Yeah, sure.” She clenched his hand tighter and made eye contact, their gazes holding beneath a muted sky. “Nice seeing you again, too. I suspect we’ll see each other around. Small town living, you know.”

  “Yup. Rox?” He hesitated, and couldn’t, shouldn’t ask why she seemed so different. “Night.” Randy rushed off the porch and got in his truck. He breathed like he had run a mile down the road. She stood there with both hands on the railing. Was it that simple for h
er to just say good-bye without as much as a reason? Shit. He opened the door, grabbed the fruit basket from the seat, and took it up the steps. He set it on the glider since she didn’t seem prepared to take it herself. “Night.”

  Down the steps and back at his truck, he shifted into gear and pulled out of the driveway feeling more like an idiot than anything else. On the way home, he observed the mountain standing in the glow of the moon, which had slipped out from an opening in the clouds. Maybe love wasn’t meant for a man like him.

  Chapter 3

  Roxanne stood there long after he was out of sight. Closing her eyes, she pictured him when she had come to the door tonight. How he stood straight and tall, handsome and rugged. From the interior lighting peeking through the screen, she had observed the twinkle in his eyes dancing with hope. His thick hair was tousled, but suitable for him, and much longer. She had missed him and she was sad.

  Had everyone else been right? He’d understand and would be accepting of her now? Had she sold him short by not believing in him? He’d never given her a reason to think he was a selfish man. Her eyes watered. He had cared for her, and it dug at her very soul to not respond to his emails and texts. “Oh, Randy. I’m sorry,” she’d said to the moon.

  Her cousin pushed the door open and came outside. “You doing okay? That was him, huh?”

  “Yeah, Brett, that was Randy. I don’t know what to do.”

  “Well, cuz, this is an old cliché, but follow your heart. I remember once you told me the same thing, and I didn’t listen.”

  Roxanne hooked her arm around his. “I remember. It’s not fair to him. It’s not fair to any man.” She nodded toward the fruit basket, and Brett picked it up.

  “Oh, you plan on remaining single the rest of your life. To live in your self-appointed exile forever? Letting the asshole win? Come inside. It is a rocking night tonight, and hard to have it come to an end, but I’m damn tired. How was dinner?” He escorted her through the door.

  Roxanne took a seat, tucking her right leg under her on the sofa she’d thrown a sheet over. “Dinner was delicious. I brought you a plate of food and dessert.”

  He set the basket on the table. “Cool! The Carlsons are a great bunch. Doesn’t this Randy guy work for them?”

  “I’m not sure if he works for, or with them. There’s much more to him than what he lets on. The Carlsons have a lot of respect for Randy, as he does for them.” Roxanne yawned and stretched her arms upward. “I need a glass of wine. Tomorrow will be another busy day here.”

  This room was the last to be scrubbed down for the second time, and would be done in the morning. “I spoke with my dad earlier, Brett, about you arriving tonight.”

  “I’ll get us both a glass of wine. Stay there.” He chuckled. “Not that it’ll help me sleep, but it’ll be nice going down my throat.”

  Restless, she rose from the sofa and strode toward the door, peeked through the curtain on the door window, and peered outside at the landscape visible in the moonlight. Eventually, she’d buy a solid door with a small window. A lonesome feeling pulled at her heart. Moonbeams blasted through the desert. Eerie shadows added to the tone. Hopelessness crept over her. Seeing him tonight reminded her of how much she had liked him. They could’ve had more.

  Brett entered from the dining room. “Here’s the wine. What’s out there?”

  “Nothingness yet everything.” The wine brought a memory of dinner with Randy. He had taken her to a fabulous restaurant the night before he left Broken Arrow to return to Canyon Junction. It was the last time she’d seen him. Staring into the night, she imagined how he had held her while they danced. How he smelled like aftershave and toffee. The warmth of his body as he held her had raised her body temperature. Them living so close now would drive her insane.

  Roxanne lumbered to the coffee table and took her glass to join her cousin. She peered at him, sorry at times he had to be alone most days. He had two kids, but his ex-wife didn’t follow the custody rules, therefore making excuses when it was his visiting time with his sons.

  He was in the process of buying a small ranch outside of town to give the courts more reason to be lenient when it came to giving him more time with his children. A good-looking guy who stood tall, blond, and muscular could have any woman he wanted, but he chose not to be in a relationship. Maybe her question was to the wrong person. “Brett?”

  “Yeah?” Gazing at her, his finger hit the remote control to lower the volume on the TV.

  “You’re a guy—”

  “Thanks for noticing!”

  She smiled at his humor. “What would you do if you had someone you could fall in love with, and she told you she was no longer the same person she used to be? All the fun you two had talked about having, your future plans, couldn’t happen?”

  “Well.” He planted his feet square on the floor, took a drink of wine, seemingly contemplating without looking at her. “How can I answer? I don’t know what I’d do. No one does. You have to trust him. It’s clear you two had something more than you want to admit to.”

  Why does everyone keep saying that? “We could’ve. Now, we’d have to start all over. I’m not the same person.” Before long, the tears she had tried so hard to hold in would fall. Yeah, feel sorry for yourself. “I’m a dancer. Randy loved that about me. I loved it about me, but I can no longer do my job, the theatre, musicals, tap, or teach dance classes—”

  “You can still be a dancer. God, you can do whatever the hell you want to do! If you continue to say can’t, you’ll eventually convince yourself, and you’ll never try. Don’t limit yourself, Roxy, because you’re…because you’re handicapped now.”

  She covered her ears at that horrific word.

  She picked up her wine glass and Brett continued. “What’s the worst thing that can happen? You already abandoned him, but he showed up at your door.” He poured more wine into his glass and guzzled it down like it’d been a good shot of whiskey. “And that’s not the alcohol talking.”

  “I-I lost a foot and part of a leg. I’m a below the knee amputee now.” Roxanne peered at the door again. Enough of feeling sorry for herself. She stood. Her leg hurt at the stump tonight, a lot. “I have to see him.”

  “Where’s he live? I’ll drive you over.”

  Roxanne gasped. “You’re not driving! You’re drunk, or almost. I’m a big girl.” Yeah, a big girl as long as she didn’t let her mind wander long enough to allow the fear to slip inside at being on a dark road. She’d be fine out there on the road alone.

  “Then I’ll go with you. What if you need me?”

  Roxanne placed her hand on his arm. “I’ll call you when I get there. I have to talk to him.” She picked up her purse and strode to the door.

  Brett stood. “Wait. Sleep on it. See what his next move is.”

  She’d never be able to sleep with him on her mind. “He made his move tonight. I’ll be okay. It’s not far. His ranch borders the Double Dutch. Take the highway, turn on Rocky Rd., and then to his little road, or path if I remember right.”

  “Well, I don’t know.”

  “It isn’t your choice. If you call my dad, remember to say I love him. I’ll go get him for dinner when the house is finished. I don’t want to bring him into this stinking pit. You drove all day today. Stick the dinner plate into the microwave then go rest.” Without another word, she headed out the door. She gripped the handrail and slowly went down the steps, ignoring the pain of the prosthesis, and got into her truck.

  What she was doing right now, went against everything she’d sworn wouldn’t happen. If only she hadn’t seen him tonight, the memories wouldn’t have been brought back to the surface. Albeit, she owed him a face to face explanation if nothing else.

  Out on the road, she wasn’t positive how far down Rocky Road was, and now she couldn’t picture where his road sat off Rocky. It’d been so long. A few moments later, a bright light came up behind her. Close. One light. A thump resonated in her chest and her forehead broke out in a
sweat. It’ll be okay, she reasoned with herself.

  The rider zipped around her then decreased the speed, making her slow down or race around him. A car came toward them in the oncoming lane preventing a pass. They came to a stop right on the godforsaken highway. Her hands sweat against the wheel. The rider planted both feet firmly on the ground.

  “What the hell now?” She dropped it into reverse, ready to back up then turn around when the next oncoming car cleared. It was time to get the protection Tristan had mentioned, for this was too frightening of a memory. Nate had caught up to her once, he could do it again. She gripped the steering wheel tighter, her toe bouncing against the accelerator.

  The rider turned to face her.

  “Randy?” Son of a bitch! She slammed her palm against the steering wheel, wincing at the burning sting.

  He lifted his leg over the bike and sauntered toward her, and she rolled down the window. She put the truck into park.

  “Howdy, Rox. Where you going this late?”

  Gulping to catch her breath, and shaking, Roxanne leaned both arms on the window frame and peered up at him with trepidation. Slug him is what she had wanted to do. “Why the hell did you do that? You scared the damn bah-jeepers out of me!”

  A car came around the bend behind them. “Damn... Put your flashers on so the idiot can go around while I move my bike.”

  We’re sitting in the middle of the road, and he’s an idiot? She pulled off behind him.

  Randy came toward her truck again and eyed the driver as the car slowly passed. The guy checked out him and Roxanne, but he continued on past them. Randy tapped on the red boots in her back window then put his hand on her shoulder. “The red boots back there give you away, and your bed rails. You all right? Where are you going this time of night?”

  Her body trembled beneath his hand. “Let me out.” No, she wasn’t all right! She opened the door and he moved out of the way. Roxanne wrapped her arms around his neck, but she released him when realizing what she’d done, and took a step back. “I was going to see you. We need to talk.”