The Comeback Cowboy

by Cathy McDavid

  “How long is she staying?”

  “Not long.” Better not be.

  “I’m sorry about putting you in a, ah, compromising situation back there,” he said.

  They were walking toward the main arena, though walking was a loose term. Adele was practically running, and Ty, even with his six-foot-plus height, was forced to take long strides in order to keep up with her. She didn’t want him accompanying her, but after getting caught kissing him, by her grandfather and mother, it didn’t seem fair or right telling him to beat it.

  “You weren’t the only one participating in…what happened.”

  He chuckled. “For which I’m damn glad.”

  “I shouldn’t have—” She swallowed to clear the lump in her throat. Allowing her emotions to run amok was what had landed her in this jam in the first place. Why had her mother chosen now to show up? Why had she shown up at all? And why did Ty have to be such a good kisser? “I shouldn’t have allowed things to go as far as they did.”

  “What now?” There was a hint of amusement in his voice. “Are we going to pretend we didn’t kiss?”

  Adele would like nothing better. However, she was relatively certain she’d remember kissing Ty for the rest of her life. In vivid detail.

  “I think we should try.”

  He laughed out loud.

  She frowned and trudged ahead.

  They reached the main arena and went in through the gate. Beginner class was scheduled to start soon. Some of the students were already warming up their horses in the adjoining, smaller arena.

  Ty followed Adele to the holding pen that housed the calves, and busied himself checking on the gate while she reviewed a list of instructions with the wrangler. When they were done, she made an effort to shake Ty by suggesting, “Go ahead and saddle up if you want. Class starts soon.”

  “What about your horse?”

  “Stick’s supposed to be taking care of that for me.” Fingers crossed, the kid was doing his job. Adele dreaded going into the barn, just in case Pop and her mother were still there.

  And speaking of Pop and her mother, just what the heck were they doing together? In her embarrassment and haste to get away, Adele had forgotten to ask. Anybody else and she’d have believed they were wanting a peek at the new filly. But Pop and Lani didn’t take strolls around the ranch together.

  As soon as class was over, she intended to find her grandfather and pester him until she got an answer.

  But before then, she was going to have to relieve herself of Ty’s company. Covering the last item on her list with the wrangler, she left him to join Ty at the gate. Subtleties hadn’t worked, so she tried being direct.

  “You need to leave now,” she told him. “To get ready.”

  “I will leave.” He flashed her that killer sexy grin again. “As soon as you agree to meet me after class. We need to talk.”

  She cast a furtive glance at the wrangler, who appeared to be occupied with his task of separating the calves, but was probably hanging on their every word. “I thought we agreed to pretend that didn’t happen,” she hissed.

  “I meant about your mother.”

  She drew back, completely caught off guard. “Hell no.”

  His grin widened. “You owe me that much. For allowing things to go as far as they did,” he said, quoting her.

  “You started it.”

  “I admit, I’m a man and a pushover when it comes to a crying woman.”

  She glanced over her shoulder at the wrangler and grimaced. How long until this piece of juicy gossip made the rounds of the ranch?

  She conceded to Ty’s request only to get rid of him. “I’ll meet you in the barn office at eleven-thirty.”

  “I have a better idea.”

  She didn’t like the glint in his eyes.

  “Take me on a tour of the ranch.”

  “A tour?”

  “Our horses will already be saddled. And I’ve been wanting to see the place since I arrived.”

  “Fine,” Adele reluctantly agreed.

  She just wished part of her wasn’t thrilled and eagerly anticipating a ride with him.

  Chapter Five

  Ty collected Hamm from where he’d left him tethered in the barn. Tired of standing, the horse practically knocked Ty over in his haste to get outside. Ty didn’t mind. He admired the horse’s natural athleticism and endless energy. If they could just get in sync like him and his last horse, they’d be unbeatable.

  A quick stop at the water trough proved to be a waste of time. Hamm wasn’t interested in drinking. He did no more than splash water with his snout, reminding Ty of that old saying about leading a horse to water.

  Adele hadn’t specified a meeting place, so Ty led Hamm toward the open area in front of the barns, figuring he’d see her eventually. He ran into two of his classmates near the smaller practice arena—Mike and his wife, the woman who talked a lot during class. Thankfully, her name came to Ty a split second before she hailed him.

  “Hey there, Ty.”

  “How you doing, Sandy? Mike? Getting some extra practice in?”

  The couple was taking turns tossing ropes at a stationary practice dummy.

  “Yeah.” Mike grinned sheepishly. “I can’t quite figure out what Adele was trying to show us this morning.” He wound his rope into a loose coil.

  Sandy laughed. “I can’t figure out any of it. But it’s still a hoot.” Of the two of them, she was the less serious and the less coordinated. That didn’t stop her from enjoying herself, a trait Ty admired.

  He wondered what it would be like to have the kind of affectionate and supportive relationship Mike and Sandy did. He met a lot of women on the rodeo circuit, but most were either competitors focused on their own careers or buckle bunnies with a personal agenda that didn’t appeal to Ty.

  Like Adele’s mother.

  He hadn’t said anything to Adele, but he’d recognized Lani the moment he saw her. No surprise, really. Rodeo folk might be spread from one corner of the globe to the other, but they were also a small community unto themselves. Everybody knew everybody, or at least had heard of them. Lani had been a member of the rodeo world far too long for Ty not to have run into her now and again through the years.

  He was no authority on reading people, but he’d wager Adele wasn’t close to her, judging from the look she’d given Lani earlier.

  “You think you could watch me throw a few and see what I’m doing wrong?” Mike asked.

  “If you don’t mind,” Sandy hurriedly added. “We don’t want to keep you.”

  “Sure. Why not?” Ty was early and Adele was nowhere in sight. “I can spare a few minutes.”

  “Taking a ride?” The woman’s attention strayed to Hamm, who was pawing the ground impatiently.

  “Thinking about it.”

  They didn’t need to know he was touring the ranch with Adele. And if she failed to show up as promised…well, he could always ride around the ranch by himself.

  Tethering Hamm to a nearby post, he perused the open area one last time. No Adele.

  “Go ahead.” Ty turned his attention to Mike. “Show me what you’ve got.”

  The man raised his arm over his head and swung his rope in a circle before tossing it at the fake cow head. The lasso just missed.

  “Dang.” Mike shook his head in disgust. “I think I might need glasses.”

  “Do it again.” Ty studied him closely while he repeated the exercise, and came to the same conclusion he had the first time. “This time, try shifting your weight just slightly to your left foot.”

  Mike did and his next toss landed where it should, if a little lopsided.

  “All right!” He beamed.

  “One more time.”

  Mike threw the rope again with the same results.

  “Good job.” Sandy clapped.

  “Can you feel the difference?” Ty asked.

  “Yeah.” Mike rolled his right shoulder as if testing it.

  “Your center of gravi
ty was off.”

  He laughed and shook his head. “Sounds too simple.”

  Ty didn’t comment. He was too busy replaying his statement to Mike over and over in his head.

  Center of gravity. He should have picked up on that in the beginners’ class, when Adele had had him riding with his eyes closed. He’d repeated the exercise several times since, until he felt he knew which way Hamm would turn even before the horse did. But Ty hadn’t paid attention to his center of gravity while throwing the rope.

  Another point-two second gain in his time was staring him smack in the face.

  What was wrong with him that he hadn’t seen these mistakes before? He was hardly a novice. Blaming four years of competing exclusively on one horse was beginning to sound like a lame excuse. In reality, Ty’s inflated ego and overabundance of confidence had gotten in the way, convincing him he needed to retrain Hamm rather than retrain himself.

  While Ty was absorbed with this latest revelation, two things happened. Mike continued to throw more successful tosses and Adele emerged from the barn astride the paint mare she’d usually rode.

  “Hey, I’ve got to go,” he told Mike and Sandy.

  “See you at dinner?” Hope shone in Sandy’s eyes.

  “You bet.”

  “Thanks for your help.” Mike extended his hand, and Ty shook it.

  “My pleasure.”

  And it was. Ty had enjoyed giving Mike pointers. On top of that, he’d learned something valuable about himself.

  From the corner of his eye he spotted Adele riding in his direction. Memories of their kiss returned, and he forgot all about Mike and Sandy and roping and pretty much everything else except her.

  Riding to meet her halfway, he ignored the stares of nearby wranglers. He couldn’t be the first guest Adele had taken on a tour.

  “Where would you like to start?” she asked, as Hamm tried to make friends with the mare by stretching his head out and sniffing her. The mare responded by pinning her ears back and playing hard to get.

  “How far is Little Twister Creek?” Other than that one afternoon in Markton, and walking to and from his cabin, Ty had seen almost nothing of the countryside.

  “A few miles. More than we can fit in this afternoon.”

  “Then how ’bout just around the ranch?”

  She took him through three gates. At each one, she opened the latch and swung the gate wide without dismounting. When they were both through, she pushed it shut and relatched it, also without dismounting.

  “You’ve been working with her,” Ty said as they rode across the big pasture.

  “Bella can be a bit flighty, but she’s learning.” Adele nudged the mare into a slow trot, but not before he glimpsed her eyes warming with pleasure at his compliment.

  “How long have you had her?”

  “A month or so. I’m training her for a client.”

  “You do that often?”

  “Sometimes. Depends on the horse and the client.”

  With Adele riding in front, they picked their way along a winding trail toward a manmade stock pond.

  “Did your grandfather raise cattle long?”

  “A lot of years. He bought Seven Cedars back in the sixties after he retired from rodeoing. The ranch isn’t as large as some of the other ones in the area, but he did pretty well until about eight years ago.”

  “What happened? The economy?”

  Adele hesitated briefly before answering. “My grandmother died.”

  “I’m sorry.”

  “It was hard on Pop.”

  It had been hard on Adele, too. Ty could tell. “When did he lose his thumb?”

  “Oh, gosh, over forty years ago. That was the reason he quit rodeoing.”

  “A roping accident?”

  “Yeah. His thumb got twisted in the rope. The horse went one way and the calf another.”

  “Some guys still compete without a thumb.” The loss of a digit wasn’t entirely uncommon with ropers.

  “Pop says he was ready to retire, anyway.”

  “Well, this is a nice place to retire to.”

  Winged insects, buzzing in the warm midday sun, flitted over the pond’s glassy surface, dipping occasionally to take a sip of moisture. Suddenly, there was a small splash in the center of the pond. Ty had the urge to bring his rod and reel another day and go after one of those bass making a meal of the flying insects.

  “So, when did you come here to live?”

  “I visited Pop off and on ever since I was a kid. We didn’t start Cowboy College until after I earned my business degree.” More hesitancy before answering. Whatever else there was to the story, she wasn’t saying.

  They’d passed the pond and were now on a slightly wider trail that allowed Ty and Adele to ride side by side. The arrangement also pleased Hamm, who continued trying to win Bella over with little love nips. Unfortunately for him, she remained indifferent.

  “I like what I do.” Adele gave Ty a shy smile. Her eyes, however, were lit up, their brilliance captivating him. “Technically, it’s work, but most days it feels a whole lot more like playing.”

  “Can’t blame you. This is a great place to work. Wish I’d thought of opening a roping school.”

  “We’re a little remote for some people.”

  “That’s what makes it so nice. I could see myself living here.” His gaze traveled to the distant mountains, their tops peeking through a blanket of wispy white clouds.

  “Not some big fancy ranch?”

  “If you’re referring to your neighbors, no.” He gave her a wry smile. “Though I admit I wouldn’t mind heading over to Garth’s place one day just to check it out.” His grin widened. “Maybe you can take me.”

  “We’ll see.” Her expression instantly closed.

  Had he pushed her too far, reminding her of their kiss earlier? He wanted to talk about it, but gut instinct told him she wasn’t ready.

  After several minutes of riding in silence, Ty asked, “Do you have any other family in the area?”

  “You mean besides my mother?”

  He didn’t react to the bitterness in Adele’s voice. “Here or anywhere.”

  “My dad’s in Lubbock, Texas. He moved there about fifteen years ago after marrying my step-mom.”

  “Did your dad rodeo, too?”

  “For a while. He quit when I was young.”

  The careful answers Adele delivered told Ty more about her and her childhood than the sparse and rehearsed information she provided.

  “Do you see much of them?”

  “No,” she answered, with a finality that implied the subject was closed.

  He took the hint and gave her some space.

  “I read somewhere you’re from Santa Fe,” she said after a few minutes. “Is your family still there?”

  “Most of them. A few years ago my folks sold their place and bought a smaller one closer to town.”

  “Were they rodeo people, too?”

  “No. Dad’s a mortgage broker and Mom’s a real estate agent. They’ve always ridden, so we had horses growing up.”

  “How did you start rodeoing?”

  “Friends. I got serious in high school. About that and football. I had trouble deciding between the two after graduation.”

  “What made you pick rodeoing?”

  “I won All Around Cowboy at the National High School Finals Rodeo my senior year. I was hooked after that. Luckily, my family’s supported me or I wouldn’t have made it. Financially or emotionally.”

  Rodeoing wasn’t cheap, and until he’d started winning, Ty, like a lot of competitors, had depended on his family to supplement his income.

  “Losing the Iron Grip Ropes sponsorship cost me more than a career opportunity,” he continued. “I was counting on the money that came with it to pay back my parents.”

  “Does your younger sister rodeo?” Adele asked. “You said she wanted to learn to rope.”

  “She tried barrel racing for a while, but didn’t stick with it.
My older sister’s a single mom with two little girls.”

  “That must be rough.”

  “She’s doing okay. She has her real estate license and works with our mom. I keep a fifth-wheel trailer at her place and stay there when I’m not traveling. The rent helps. She and my mom have been struggling these last couple years, what with the real estate market being so up and down. Mom’s worried about keeping the business afloat. And Dad’s job is just crazy. Changing every day.”

  “I bet.”

  Ty pushed down on his right stirrup, adjusted his saddle, which had shifted slightly, and said determinedly, “Another reason I don’t intend to lose the championship a second time.”

  “Is your little sister coming out?” Adele asked.

  “She’d like to, but probably not. Right now, she’s doing an internship with a large animal surgery center.”

  “She’s a vet?”

  “Officially, not until next month, when she graduates school.” A wave of nostalgia struck Ty, and he made a mental note to call his family tonight.

  “Hey, check that out.” Adele reined in her mare and pointed to a cluster of trees. Behind the grove, the land sloped down into a small draw. “Is that what I think it is?”

  Ty stopped beside her and peered into the trees. He immediately spotted the small face staring at them from between low hanging branches. “One of yours?”

  “Has to be. Two head went missing a couple weeks ago, when they got through a hole in the fence during the night. I figured they’d gotten lost or…” She grimaced.

  “At least one of them has escaped being a meal.”

  “You game?” Challenge glinted in her green eyes.

  “Are you kidding? I’m always game.”

  They both untied their lassos from their saddles. The calf, about forty yards away, observed them warily.

  All at once Adele shouted, “Go,” and the chase was on.

  ADELE PRESSED HER LEGS into Bella’s flanks. The mare immediately went from a standstill to a full gallop. With Ty right beside her, they bore down on the lone calf. Because Bella was smaller and quicker than Hamm, Adele took the header position. Ty remained a length behind, in the heeler position. Team roping wasn’t her specialty, but she’d done enough of it through the years to hold her own, even with someone of Ty’s caliber.