Harts Of The Rodeo 3 - Duke - Deputy Cowboy

by Roz Denny Fox

  He walked back to meet the others. “You, me and the Brazilian, Fernando Verdugas, turned in high scores,” Beau said. “High enough to automatically qualify us to ride tomorrow. You get first pick of bulls, Duke. Let’s go see what’s available.”

  “Will you be able to ride tomorrow?” Duke studied his twin, who limped markedly.

  Ace joined them. “You’re lucky, Duke. Shoving that handler the way you did could have gotten you disqualified and/or fined. Flying off the handle is so unlike you. What gives?”

  “He’s acting crazy because Angie ran off in a huff,” Austin supplied.

  Beau made a face. “I can’t believe, when you are so close to having the points to go to Vegas, you’d let a hysterical female jeopardize everything you’ve worked half your life to achieve. We’re talking the bull-riding finals, man. The big daddy of championships!”

  Duke thrust a stubborn jaw in his brother’s face. “I swear you’ve shot off your mouth regarding Angie one too many times. I don’t want to hear another word, okay?” He finished ripping off his chaps and tossed them over his shoulder. He stomped off leaving his brother, friend and cousin gaping after him.

  Duke didn’t want to pick a bull. To hell with riding the next day. He couldn’t recall ever feeling so out of sorts. If love did this to a man, it sucked. Whoa!

  Love? The word just popped into his head. What did a guy like him know about love? Duke only knew his heart hurt thinking Angie might close him out of her life forever over this incident.

  He had to switch gears when a bunch of cowboys came by and congratulated him on his career-solidifying ride. It would have been the better if Angie had seen it that way; if she’d stayed to go celebrate with him at the Number 1 Diner as he’d asked her to. Ah, hell! He had to ride tomorrow. He owed his family—especially Ace, who’d helped out with the stock contractor today.

  He reached the pens and accepted the stat sheet on the bulls that a rodeo manager gave him. Duke squeezed the bridge of his nose and counted to ten, then read the sheets. He studied the field and waffled between T-Bone and Mojo. Mojo was a black-and-white Criollo hybrid out of Chile. T-Bone was a brindle with an impressive lineage of bucking bulls in his background. Duke had ridden stock from both contractors before. Both were former bull riders.

  Fernando Verdugas, who had chased Duke in the standings, also looked over the bulls. “Amigo,” he said, touching a finger to his hat brim. Duke acknowledged him back.

  Hank Petre, the rodeo manager, addressed Duke. “You have enough points to take a bye on this ride if you want to. Probably your points from yesterday will hold to keep you in the money.”

  “Or not,” Fernando ventured with a slow grin.

  “This is the hometown crowd. Some come only to see guys ride who they grew up with. Put me down for T-Bone, Hank.” Duke saw Beau and Austin making their way to the pens. He was still peeved at his brother, and needed to go cool off rather than have another showdown over Angie. “Good luck tomorrow,” he told Fernando, and took off without knowing what bulls the Brazilian or Beau chose.

  He left the rodeo grounds via another entrance and picked up Zorro before going to the office. He called Angie a half-dozen more times, and was surprised when she finally picked up.

  “Angie, listen. Ace treated the bull. We asked to have the handler fired. I know you think stuff like that happens all the time. Really it doesn’t.”

  “It happens often enough that I can’t be serious about a man who plainly loves that world. This will hurt Luke, but please don’t call or come by again until...unless you quit the rodeo. I’m sure that’s unlikely, so this is goodbye, Dylan.”

  “No. Wait.” But she was gone. He would’ve driven out to her ranch, except with Dinah away, all law-enforcement duties fell on him. And Saturday night of a rodeo and fair, that was when hard-drinking cowboys gathered at local saloons and let loose. As it happened, the first call from Ted, owner of the Open Range Saloon, came in as Duke debated going out to Angie’s anyway.

  The miscreants were two bulldoggers who’d won their afternoon event and then partied too heartily. Nobody on-site could say why they’d started an argument that turned into a brawl Ted had to break up.

  “You knuckleheads,” Duke admonished, cuffing them both before he led them, staggering, to his vehicle where he shoved them in the backseat. He put Zorro between them. The pair was so drunk they accused Duke of putting them in with a bear.

  Back at the office he placed them in separate cells, then crossed the street to get them coffee from the diner. Returning, he wrote a report and made them shell out for damages.

  Local bars were open until 2:00 a.m. The rowdiness continued. Duke knew there would be a lot of hungover cowboys at the arena Sunday.

  He fed Zorro, and because he now had five cowboys overcrowding his cells, he ate a bag of stale peanuts and called that supper.

  By midnight he resolved spending his night in his office chair. He thought about going home when the drunkest of the quintet started to howl at the brilliant August moon shining in their cell windows.

  Finally, by morning, the cellmates were sober and a bit sheepish. Duke was tuckered out. Thank goodness this was the last day of the rodeo. He didn’t think he could pull another all-night shift with no sleep.

  Later at the arena he watched the stands fill. His aunt, Flynn and Leah filed in. Angie’s and Luke’s seats remained vacant. His heart felt like lead in his chest. He could still withdraw, but if he scratched now he’d forfeit money his aunt needed for the ranch. He was torn, but dang, he had to finish this event.

  “I heard you had a full house at the jail last night.” Beau sidled up to Duke.

  “Yep.” Duke knew the comment was Beau’s way of patching up yesterday’s discord. And he didn’t have it in him to stay mad, especially when they were splitting up today and some of the family would hit the road. “How are your old bones today?” Duke asked. “I slept in the office chair all night, so if I turn in a passable ride it’ll be pure luck.”

  “I’m hoping Sultan takes it easy on me. The doc put four stitches in my arm and bound up my leg after yesterday’s fiasco. Guess I’ll suit up in full-body armor today.”

  “Good luck here and in Greeley. I’m slated to help break down and haul off fair booths when this ends. I figure you’ll head out right away?” Beau nodded and lightly punched Duke’s arm. He knew their exchange was as close as either would come to an apology. It’d always been that way between them—a little touchy, but brothers all the same.

  Passable rides were all either of them managed. Fernando won hands down, but Duke’s high score from Saturday earned him the top purse. He accepted the money knowing he’d turn a good chunk over to his aunt.

  Dinah phoned while he was in the middle of storing fair booths in a city warehouse. “It was Beau’s saddle in Bighorn,” she said without preamble. “The original purchaser said the man he bought the saddle from had it and three or four bridles at a truck stop. He didn’t see a horse—or a vehicle. What struck him was that the young guy selling the saddle didn’t look like a cowboy. He described him as a bit overweight. Blond hair, with a dark beard and mustache. It’s not much, but the best we’ve got to date. Does that description ring any bells with you?”

  “No, but I wish you had called earlier. Visiting cowboys are mostly gone. I’ll post the description on our blog.” He told Dinah about his night and said he planned to sleep eight hours straight.

  She teased him about missing a Saturda
y night with Angie, and Duke admitted Angie had broken things off with him.

  “Um, time to ask her out on another date. Or take her flowers. No woman can resist a man who brings her flowers.”

  He mulled that over and decided instead he’d try to enlist his aunt’s help in putting in a good word for him next time she volunteered at the rescue ranch.

  Surprisingly, when he saw his aunt a couple of days later, she said maybe he should let Angie alone awhile. “She took in two geldings rescued from the rodeo, Duke. Both had open sores from being whipped.”

  “How often does that happen, Aunt Sarah?”

  “Never with us. I told Angie that, but she’s not ready to listen.”

  “I guess I never paid attention to stock injuries before,” he mused.

  After he parted from his aunt he phoned Angie again. The minute she answered, he blurted quickly, “I’ll give up bull riding. We’re right together, Angie. I miss you so much it hurts. I want us to be a family, you, Luke and me.”

  The silence between them dragged until Duke’s heart began to pound.

  “Don’t, Dylan. You know you can’t quit when you’re near as you are to competing in the finals.”

  Duke could hear her sniff back tears as she said, “I’ve heard that story about quitting before. Forgive me, but have you seen the newspaper? Photos of your ride made the front page. The whole town is counting on you to be Roundup’s first national bull-riding champion. Please understand, the health of rodeo animals is serious business with me.” She hung up abruptly, but something in her tone left Duke sensing she was as unhappy about ending their relationship as he was.

  In the time it took him to drive home, feed Zorro and scramble eggs for supper, he was set in his mind what he had to do. He had ridden in his last rodeo.

  He’d told Angie, but she didn’t believe him.

  He thought about people who’d feel he was letting them down. Beau. After rinsing his plate and sticking it in the dishwasher, he judged that Beau would have reached his destination for the night. Pacing the floor, he speed-dialed his brother.

  “Hi,” Beau said. “What’s shaking? I made it as far as Buffalo. You caught me as I’m headed out for supper.”

  “I’m calling to tell you that as of tomorrow I’m canceling all future rides. I’m quitting rodeo, Beau. It’s rodeo or Angie, and I choose her. I hope you can be happy for me.”

  “Happy? Are you nuts? I can’t believe you’d let a woman lead you around by the nose, or that you’d blow off all the sacrifices I’ve made to get you within a few rides of winning a national championship.”

  “What are you talking about? What sacrifices have you made for me?” Duke demanded.

  “Our whole lives I’ve done everything possible to build you up, to let you shine, because Dad ignored you so much. You asked why I let you win when we compete against each other. That’s why...so you can be somebody important in your own right, instead of pretending you’re John effing Wayne.”

  “Hold it right there, Beau. When haven’t I insisted you’re the better rider? I’m a fan of John Wayne’s movies, yes, but I’ve never pretended to be a movie character. I don’t live in a fantasy world, Beau. Furthermore, I didn’t ask you or anyone to sacrifice one damned thing on my behalf. I’m sorry if you think I’m so pathetic.” Duke shut off his phone, threw it on the table and stomped out to take Zorro for a run.

  He was sure Beau would call again, and he was a long way from forgiving him.

  An hour later he returned to his apartment, calmer, but sad, too, to see Beau hadn’t called back to try and settle things between them. He hated knowing he’d caused a rift, but love for Angie gave him different priorities.

  He rang Beau back, but his brother didn’t pick up, so Duke attempted to explain. “Honestly, Beau, it never occurred to me the reason you didn’t give your all when we rode in the same events was because you thought I needed you to lose to shore up my confidence. I wish I had known, because it’d probably be you going to National. You need to understand quitting is my decision alone. I don’t want you blaming Angie.”

  * * *

  THE NEXT MORNING HE CHECKED in at the office. No messages came in and all in town appeared well. Getting back in his pickup, he drove to Thunder Ranch to see Ace.

  “I’m leaving the rodeo,” he told his cousin as they stood in Ace’s clinic.

  “Beau phoned. He said you think you’re in love.”

  “I am in love. My aim, Ace, is to add to our family, not break it apart. I hope Beau will come to see that. If Angie will have me, I intend to marry her. I have an idea how to convince her. You’ve always been my sounding board, so I’d like to run it by you.”

  They talked until Ace’s next appointment arrived. “I think what you propose is on the mark, Duke. If Angie can’t see what a good man she’s getting, she doesn’t deserve you,” was Ace’s parting shot.

  Next on Duke’s list was canceling all of his scheduled bull rides. Once he did that, he swung past the newspaper office and arranged for his news to go in the paper’s next edition. When all was said and done, he felt good and firm in his conviction that this was exactly the right move.

  * * *

  IN THE MORNING HE BOUGHT a paper, and was satisfied to see his news had again made the front page. Loading Zorro, he headed for Angie’s to get down on bended knee. Unfortunately, on the way there he got a call from a neighbor down the road from her ranch.

  “Sorry to bother you,” Burt Mason said. “I know Dinah’s gone. My barn was broken into and ransacked during the night. My wife got up before daylight to let the dog out. She doesn’t see well without glasses and she’d left them on the bedside table. She tells me she heard a vehicle in our lane, but thought one of the rodeo visitors had missed the junction and had to turn around. I don’t know why she didn’t wake me then when she knows there have been break-ins. Honest folks don’t think that way, I guess.”

  Duke sighed. He had no choice but to delay his mission. “I’m near your place, Burt. I’ll stop and make out a report.”

  Mrs. Mason greeted Duke at the gate. “I feel foolish. Burt says I should have paid closer attention. I know the pickup wasn’t new. It may have been black or blue or even dark maroon. The light and my eyesight were both poor.”

  “I understand. This is more information than Dinah or I have gotten to date. Every bit helps build a profile. What’s missing? Tools and such?”

  “Sacks of onions, potatoes, apples, and unopened wheat, oats and corn.” Burt scratched his shaggy head. “Not stuff I’ve heard went missing from other ranches.”

  Duke’s hand shook. Angie lived less than a mile away and these were the kinds of items she stored for her animals. Anxious to get to her place to make sure she hadn’t been robbed, too, Duke thanked the couple and drove off. On the way, he phoned Dinah with the information. “Add these possible pickup colors to the description you got of the guy who sold one of Beau’s saddles, and hopefully we’re getting closer to finding these jerks. Do you think maybe they needed feed for Midnight?”

  “Maybe. I’ll be home tonight. Leave the report on my desk.”

  “Dinah, I’m headed to see Angie. I’ll send this report to your iPhone. In about ten minutes I plan to do my level best to talk Angie into eloping with me today.”

  “You’re kidding. I can’t joke this early in the morning, Duke.”

  “I’m dead serious. I’ve quit rodeo, so you’d better get reelected so I can still
be your deputy.”

  “Wow. Wow! All I can say is...congratulations.”

  “Thanks. You might say a prayer she’ll say yes.”

  “What woman wouldn’t count herself lucky to get a guy willing to change his life for her?”

  Duke was more nervous after he hung up. Then he passed a field of wildflowers. Stopping, he picked a bunch of purple lupine and some dark red shooting stars. Before he could lose his nerve, he wrapped the flowers in the paper bearing his news and drove to Angie’s ranch where thankfully all looked quiet.

  He let Zorro out. The two of them approached her back door where he saw her in the kitchen through the screen. It reminded him of his first visit.

  He knocked, but burst in before being invited. Also, as at his first visit, Angie stood behind her counter. This time she was making jam, not horse cookies.

  “Dylan...I...uh... What are you doing here?” Her face was flushed, and Duke wasn’t sure if it was from the hot jam or from his visit.

  Luke hopped up from the kitchen table where he sat working on a puzzle. He raced over and threw his arms around Duke’s legs. “Did you win at the rodeo and get a trophy like mine?” Luke asked, pointing to where his trophy prominently sat. “Mom said we wouldn’t get ta see y-you a-again,” he cried, falling into his old pattern of stuttering.

  Duke squeezed Luke’s shoulder. “I hope you get to see a lot of me.” He had been rehearsing a speech from the time he left the Mason farm. Merely seeing Angie with her hair clipped up in a high ponytail, with color in her pretty cheeks, nearly buckled his knees. His fine speech flew right out the window. He said, instead, with raw emotion, “I’m counting on changing your mom’s mind.” Duke opened the morning paper and wildflowers rained on Angie’s counter. “The flowers and news article are for you.”