The Comeback Cowboy

by Cathy McDavid

  “We’d see each other every few weeks.”

  “For a day or two.”

  “I have a break over the holidays.”

  “What about next year?”

  “Who says I’ll compete next year?”

  “You know you will. You told me you wanted to compete until you physically couldn’t anymore.”

  “I…” He hesitated and shifted awkwardly.

  Was this the moment she’d been hoping for? When he’d tell her he loved her? She chewed her bottom lip, waiting…and waiting.

  “I…care about you. A lot. I’m not ready for this to end.”

  If he only knew how much she wasn’t ready for this to end, either.

  She could always tell him she’d had a change of heart. They would kiss, make up and pretend this morning had never happened.

  Except what would that accomplish other than delaying the inevitable? Unless she was prepared to tell him about the baby, be the reason he quit competing, forfeited the championship, postponed paying back his parents, she had to let him go. Now.

  “I’m being selfish, I know that,” she said. “The idea of ending up like my mother… I won’t let that happen to me.”

  “I’m not your father.”

  “No, but you’ll be gone as much as he was.”

  “I just don’t understand why you can’t come with me sometimes. I’m not asking you to leave the ranch for weeks on end.”

  “You saw Pop. He can’t get through a day without taking a nap. How’s he going to run this place by himself, even for a weekend? We’re also smack-dab in the middle of our busy season.”

  “Those are excuses.” He narrowed his eyes, as if trying to read more into what she said. “If you really wanted to take a few vacation days, you could.”

  “They’re valid excuses.” Adele refused to wilt under his penetrating stare. “I can’t turn my back on my family and my business. A lot of people depend on me.”

  “So do I.”

  He depended on her? For what? Help with his horse? A place to crash between competitions? Disappointment sliced through her.

  “I wish things were different.”

  “You’re not giving me a choice.” His anger had returned, lending his voice a steely edge.

  “And what choice would that be? Have me wait for you for what could be years? Give up my life here, my home and my business? Leave my ailing grandfather? That’s asking a lot.”

  Her words were harsh, as she’d intended. In response, his expression closed, like a door slamming shut.

  She clenched her hands into fists and held them at her sides. It was the only way to prevent herself from going to him.

  “Can we sleep on it? Talk again in the morning?”

  His request was utterly reasonable. Except Adele knew if their breakup wasn’t a swift one, she ran the risk of reconsidering and relenting. Or allowing Pop to sway her, as he would surely try to do if Ty stayed on the ranch. Even overnight.

  “It won’t make any difference.”

  She swore he flinched.

  In that moment, Adele hated herself.

  “If you ever—”

  “I have to go.”

  Turning on her heel, she walked the entire distance to her apartment, without once stopping or looking back. Thankfully, Ty didn’t follow her, saving her from having to test her willpower.

  Oh, God, what must he think of her?

  How could she have been so cruel?

  In the solitude of her bedroom, she cried until a bout of nausea sent her running to the bathroom. A while later, Pop called to check on her and to let her know Ty had loaded Hamm and pulled out about thirty minutes earlier, telling no one where he was going.

  Adele suspected he needed a friend about now and might head over to see Garth.

  “Are you sure you didn’t make a mistake, Dellie?” Pop asked.

  She might have been able to lie to Ty, but her grandfather was a different story. “No, I’m not sure at all.”

  “When he finds out, and he will eventually, he’s going to be mad.”

  She could deal with that. What she couldn’t deal with was Ty hating her. And he very well could after what she’d done to him.

  Chapter Fifteen

  “What’s with you, bro? You suck today.”

  Ty’s little sister, Dana, couldn’t be more right. In the three weeks since Adele had given him his walking papers, he could hardly put his boots on the correct feet, much less rope. He wasn’t just back to where he’d been after Nationals last year, he was worse. Worse than worse. He couldn’t rope a calf if it climbed up in the saddle with him. Even Hamm snorted in disgust whenever Ty approached.

  Dana circled the big gelding, studying him intently. “I don’t see a thing wrong with him,” she said, shaking her head contemplatively. “He’s in great shape.”

  “I was afraid of that.”

  Dana had met up with Ty the evening before. He was in St. George for the Lions Dixie Roundup Rodeo. She’d traveled to a town twenty miles over the hill for a job interview with a prestigious equine hospital. Though he knew her side trip to St. George was a thinly disguised attempt to check up on him at the request of their parents, he was still glad to see her. Last night, over a couple of beers, she’d offered to examine Hamm, on the slim chance Ty’s recent string of losses was due to an injury or illness.

  As he’d expected, he had no one to blame but himself.

  “What are you going to do?” Dana asked.

  “About what?”

  She ticked off the items on her fingers. “Competing tomorrow. Big Sky’s offer. Adele.”

  “Nothing.”

  “Not a good answer.”

  “Keep trudging along.”

  She made a face. “Excuse my language, but you need to get your shit together.”

  He did. His standings were slipping. Fast. At this rate, he wouldn’t qualify for Nationals. Big Sky’s people had started getting a little antsy. If Ty didn’t win or place in the top three soon, they might pull out of their contract, citing the clause that gave them the right to do so if he didn’t perform at a certain level.

  So much for paying his parents back in one lump sum.

  His folks would cut him some slack. Continue being patient.

  Ty, however, was fast losing all patience with himself. This wasn’t how it was supposed to be.

  “Have you talked to Adele since she kicked you to the curb?”

  Ty winced. “Do you have to be so blunt?”

  “Yes. Everyone’s been walking on eggshells around you, afraid of saying the wrong thing because you might have a meltdown or cry or something. I say you need a good shaking up.”

  They were in the barn at the rodeo fairgrounds, standing in Hamm’s stall. Leaving it, they latched the door behind them and headed down the aisle. Ty had competed yesterday in both team and tie-down roping, doing badly in the former, his lasso missing the calf by a good foot. Garth didn’t say much afterward, taking the disqualification in stride. Ty half wished his partner would blow up at him. Maybe then he wouldn’t feel so guilty.

  Amazingly, he hadn’t done quite so terribly in tie-down roping, currently holding sixth place. A position that landed him in the final round later today.

  Big Sky Trailers, however, wasn’t interested in a spokesman who came in sixth.

  “The answer is no, I haven’t spoken to Adele, and I’m not going to.”

  “Why not?” Dana pressed. “You’re nuts about her.”

  “I won’t beg.”

  He would, actually, if he thought it would do any good. Hell, he’d get down on his knees. But Adele’s cold tone during their last meeting still haunted him, and he doubted she’d softened her stance since then.

  “Who said anything about begging?” Dana sent him a conspiratorial smile. “I had sweet-talking in mind. And flowers.”

  Wildflowers. That’s what he had given Adele before, and she’d liked them very much.

  Ty pushed the memory away to a dar
k corner in his mind.

  While Dana continued to yap about the pros and cons of various tokens of affection, they cut behind the main arena, bypassing the food and vendor booths and hordes of people milling about. By nine o’clock tonight, the rodeo would be over and the grounds resembling a ghost town.

  Much the way Ty’s insides felt.

  He’d replayed his last conversation with Adele repeatedly in his head, unable to shake the feeling she hadn’t been entirely honest with him. Try as he might, he could detect nothing specific in her words or actions, except one. When he’d said he depended on her, she had instantly withdrawn, emotionally and physically.

  What a fool he’d been. Given a second chance, he would have hauled her into his arms, told her he loved her and kidnapped her to his trailer so they could relive their first night together.

  Because he did love her. Ty realized that now. Much too late, unfortunately.

  “Markton’s a four-hour drive from here,” Dana was saying. “You could head over tonight after the rodeo.”

  “I can’t.”

  “I’ll come with you,” she added, as if she hadn’t heard him.

  His temper flared. “Butt out, sis.”

  They stopped and faced each other, Dana with her hands on her hips, Ty with his teeth grinding together.

  “Well, you need to do something. Cowboy College fixed you before. Maybe it can again.”

  Cowboy College? Or Adele?

  He’d gone to Seven Cedars looking for that missing magical element that would turn Hamm and his good partnership to an unstoppable one. And he’d found it.

  Not in the minor discoveries he’d made, such as how Hamm moved or which eye he took aim with. Ty had found it with Adele. Her belief in him and his desire to make her proud of him were what had inspired him to push himself harder than he ever had before.

  “You’re right,” he told his sister, his anger dissolving. Not that he ever stayed angry at Dana long. “Cowboy College did fix me.”

  She grinned. “So, what are we waiting for? Let’s go.”

  “If I do, I’d have to be willing to give up rodeoing, Nationals and the Big Sky sponsorship contract. For good. Adele doesn’t want a man who’s on the road all the time. That’s why she kicked me to the curb in the first place.”

  Dana’s expression turned serious. “Are you willing to do that?”

  It was, he realized, the million-dollar question.

  ADELE DROVE STRAIGHT from Pop’s house to the main lodge and parked in front, leaving her truck sitting at a crooked angle. She’d been looking for her grandfather all over the ranch for the better part of an hour, with no luck. He hadn’t shown up for class after breakfast, and according to everyone she asked, no one had seen hide nor hair of him all morning. Her mild concern over his abrupt disappearance was quickly blossoming into outright worry.

  Where could he be?

  Climbing the steps to the main lodge, she called his cell phone for the tenth time, angrily pressing the disconnect button when it went straight to his voice mail.

  Did his battery die, or had he shut off his phone?

  Not for the first time she wondered how much his disappearance had to do with their argument last night. Ever since Ty left Pop had been nagging her to tell him about the baby. Try as she might, she couldn’t blame her grandfather. He was old-fashioned and set in his ways, and believed a man should be responsible for his children.

  As Ty did.

  Her throat ached at the thought of him. Not an hour passed that she didn’t miss him and second-guess her decision to send him packing. It was crazy how completely he’d become a part of her life in just a few months.

  Then again, with the baby she was carrying, he’d be a part of her life always. Even if he didn’t know it.

  Pushing thoughts of Ty to the back of her mind as she crossed the lobby, she concentrated on Pop. Wherever he was, he must have his truck. It wasn’t in his garage or in his usual parking space at the barn.

  After peeking in her office—a long shot, but she tried anyway—she went down the hall to the kitchen. If she didn’t find him there, she was going into town and would scour it end to end. That failing, she was calling the sheriff. They probably wouldn’t do anything, not until Pop had been missing twenty-four hours. Hopefully, they would put the word out to look for him and his vehicle. Especially when she explained about his bad arthritis and recent hip-replacement surgery.

  All at once, she had a brainstorm. The Maitlands would help her search for Pop. She pulled out her cell phone to call Garth, only to pause. They were at the rodeo in St. George. Garth had mentioned the other day he and his family were all going.

  Ty was there, too.

  Returning her cell phone to her pocket, she pushed open the door to the kitchen and entered. The staff was busy preparing for lunch, and she didn’t want to get in the way.

  “Sorry to bother you,” she called out. Heads turned in response. “Has anyone seen Pop?”

  “Not since breakfast.” Confirming nods accompanied the dishwasher’s reply.

  “Okay.” Adele’s spirits plummeted even as her worry escalated to new heights. “If anyone does see or hear from him, tell him to call me right away.”

  As she was leaving, she ran into Cook coming out of the walk-in freezer.

  “What are you doing here, girl?” With her generous girth and perpetually red complexion, Cook resembled an overgrown cherub.

  “Trying to find Pop.”

  “Well, he’s not here.” The woman chuckled.

  “I know.”

  “He went to St. George. Left about a half hour ago.”

  “What?” Adele’s jaw quite literally dropped. “You’re kidding.”

  Cook looked perplexed, then alarmed. “Didn’t he tell you?”

  “No.” Adele was torn between relief and irritation. Relief won out.

  “He asked me to pack him a lunch. Said he’d be home by dinnertime.”

  “What was he thinking? He can’t drive that far. Not at his age and with his hip.”

  “I’m sorry, Adele. I had no idea he didn’t tell you.”

  This wasn’t Cook’s fault. Adele tried to remain calm, knowing she’d have more luck stopping a moving freight train than Pop when he set his mind on something.

  And Adele was fairly certain she knew what that something was.

  He had gone to track down Ty and tell him about the baby.

  Dammit. He had no right.

  “I’m going after him,” she told Cook, calculating how much of a head start her grandfather had on her. Luckily, he always drove five to ten miles under the speed limit. “I’ll let you know when I find him.”

  Once in her truck, Adele made a series of phone calls. First to the barn manager, instructing him to have Stick cover the day’s classes. Next, she called Garth and, getting his voice mail, left a message for him to keep an eye out for Pop at the rodeo. Lastly, she contacted the sheriff’s office, just in case Pop had an accident or his truck broke down on the highway.

  She considered calling Ty, then chickened out. He’d want to know why Pop was coming to see him, and Adele wasn’t ready to explain.

  In town, she stopped at the gas station to fill up. Just as she was returning the nozzle to the pump, her mother pulled up in her pint-size economy car and rolled down the window.

  “Hey, Dellie. I was just on my way to see you. I know it’s probably a little early for this, but I brought some nursery—”

  “I can’t talk now. Pop took off without telling me. He’s on his way to St. George to find Ty. I’m going after him.”

  Lani didn’t hesitate. “I’ll come with you.”

  Until very recently, Adele would have refused to let her mother accompany her anywhere.

  Not today.

  “Park your car over there, and let’s go.”

  TY AND DANA WOULD HAVE made better time getting Hamm to the warm-up arena if not for being waylaid by Mike and Sandy.

  “What are you guys do
ing here?” Ty greeted his friends and former fellow students warmly.

  “Mike surprised me with tickets,” Sandy gushed.

  Ty introduced Dana, and the four of them chatted amiably. Well, Dana did most of the chatting. Ty’s mind was occupied elsewhere.

  Funny how knowing what to do gave a man a sense of peace. As soon as he finished his event this afternoon, he’d load up and hit the road again.

  Garth meandered over while they were talking, leading his own horse.

  “You on your way to warm up?” he asked Ty, after saying hello to Mike, Sandy and Dana.

  Ty started to answer, then was distracted by the sight of Pop emerging from the crowd and coming toward him. Ty’s first thought was that Pop’s limp had significantly lessened. The hip-replacement surgery was obviously a success.

  “Hey, Pop.” He smiled, ridiculously pleased to see the older man. “What are you doing here?”

  At his greeting, everyone in their group turned, matching smiles on their faces.

  Ignoring them, Pop came straight at Ty, his wizened features fixed in a purposeful scowl, his stride deliberate. “I need to have a word with you, young man.”

  A word? Young man?

  “Sure.” Ty handed Hamm’s reins to Dana and stepped forward. “Is something the matter?”

  “This is for taking advantage of my little girl.”

  Before Ty could respond, Pop’s fist connected with his jaw in a lightning fast right hook worthy of a man one-third his age.

  Ty’s head snapped to the side. Pain radiated through his entire face, neck and shoulders, and he stumbled backward from the force of the blow.

  Sandy let out a little scream.

  Ty shook his head, dazed and more than a little confused. It didn’t occur to him to retaliate.

  “And this is for leaving her in a fix.”

  Pop’s left fist plowed into Ty’s stomach, knocking the wind clean out of him and sending him sprawling to the ground, flat on his rear.

  “Stop him,” Dana cried.

  “Hey, that’s enough.”

  Ty heard Garth and his sister over the dense ringing in his ears, and had a vague impression of Garth scuffling with Pop and pulling him away. Thank God. Pop might be seventy-seven and suffering from debilitating arthritis, but he still packed a mean punch.