Learning the Ropes

by T. J. Kline

  “What’s wrong?”

  “Nothing.” He didn’t want to do this now.

  She narrowed her eyes, squaring her shoulders in preparation to fight for the truth. “You’re not telling me something. I can see it in your eyes.”

  He loved that she knew him well enough to see beyond the surface, even as the trickle of dread crept down his spine. He kissed her quickly. “Nothing is wrong but can we talk about it on the way to Reno?”

  She didn’t look happy with his answer but sighed in resignation. “Fine, but I need coffee before we head out.” She slipped from his grasp and headed down the stairs leaving him to contemplate the best way to break the news that her dream was going to be overshadowed with ruining their friendship with David. Chris rubbed his temple feeling the start of a migraine already. This might prove to be a long day.

  Chapter Nineteen

  * * *

  CHRIS WAVED TO his sister and Scott as he headed for the driveway. “See you in a few days,” he promised.

  “You’d better bring home a buckle,” Scott teased.

  They’d no more pulled onto the highway again when Ali turned to him. “Well?”

  He gave her a sideways glance and grinned. “You’ve just been waiting, haven’t you?”

  She sighed and frowned. “Maybe.” She took a sip of the coffee in her travel mug. “So?”

  “We got the property.” He grinned as her eyes widened in surprised delight.

  “We did? Already? So AC Rodeo School is really going to happen?” He could hear the tremor of frightened excitement in her voice.

  “I didn’t have the logo made up on a whim,” he teased. Chris paused and took a deep breath. “I think we should add David as a business partner. He and I were supposed to start this school but he had to pull out at the last minute.”

  She looked across the cab of the truck at him. “Then why would he want in now?”

  “He only pulled out to loan his dad the money to save their ranch.”

  “He told me. Isn’t he still loaning his dad the money?”

  “His father’s ranch was sold and it’s going to be a rodeo school.” He waited for her to realize the full implication of what he wasn’t saying. Chris knew when he saw her shoulders slump and she looked skyward.

  “Why didn’t you say something when we went out there?” He heard the defeat in her voice.

  “What was I supposed to say, Ali? I didn’t know until after we’d already put in the offer and we went out to the property.”

  Ali covered her eyes with her hands, rubbing her temples. “And the guest house is David’s? The son who lives there when he’s in town,” she repeated Tim’s words.

  Chris nodded at her. “I haven’t told David about our partnership yet which would be bad enough but I can’t tell him we’re the reason he’s homeless. I can’t do that, Ali.” It pained him to even think about telling David. He was like a brother.

  “How did I not see this?” She turned toward the window.

  Chris prayed she would be understanding, that she and David had stayed on good enough terms after their breakup, that she would realize how much it meant to him to be able to do this with the man who’d been his rodeo partner and best friend for the last five years.

  “Ali, say something.”

  “I don’t know if I can do this, Chris.”

  He never wanted to delve into the details behind her breakup with David. He’d rather not know if she still had feelings for David, but hearing her hesitation made him second-guess her feelings for him.

  “Why?”

  She turned to him. “I care about him. Have you stopped to consider what it might be like for him to see us together? This partnership was supposed to last only a year.” She covered her eyes with her hand. “Maybe this is all a mistake,” she muttered under her breath.

  His heart stopped in his chest. Was she still thinking of them in terms of their business partnership? Or did she still expect him to skip out on her? He wasn’t letting her get away. Not now or a year from now. She was his but the suggestion that she might still want out of their arrangement next year was like a fist squeezing his lungs.

  DAVID SAW CHRIS pull into the participant area of the arena and park his truck. He walked past a group of barrel racers when he heard a familiar voice. “Hey there, cowboy. Remember me?”

  He turned to find Delilah strutting toward him in a thin camisole, her breasts nearly falling out of the shirt. She had so much makeup on he wondered if she applied it with a trowel. She sidled up to him, winding her arms around his waist and pressing a kiss to his cheek. He wiped at it, his hand coming away a bright red he assumed now streaked his face.

  “Hi, Delilah. I didn’t expect to see you down this far north.”

  He had never been the kind of guy to be deliberately rude to anyone but the way she treated Ali bothered him. He couldn’t wait to get away from her clutches. How had he ever managed to end up in her house? He thanked whatever fate had been on his side that night that he’d passed out on her couch before she ever managed to get him to her bed. His reputation might take a hit but it was better than the alternative—that he might have shared her bed.

  She laughed loudly, grating on his nerves. “I’m sure some of these barrel racers were hoping the same thing.” She looked directly at Alicia exiting Chris’s truck. “Like your girlfriend.”

  “Ali’s not my girlfriend,” David corrected, feeling a tug of jealousy. “At least, not anymore.”

  “Oh, that’s too bad. You poor thing,” Delilah gushed, running her hands up his chest provocatively. “And she dumped you for your best friend.” She pursed her lips at David. “Then they went and formed a rodeo school. I thought you and Chris were going to do that?”

  David slipped out of her grasp. “They did what?” He arched a brow, wishing his curiosity could be ignored.

  “You didn’t know?” She pouted, her hand sliding over his shoulder, and he brushed it away. She was trying to get him riled up and he knew it.

  “See? Look at the back and side of the trailer. AC Rodeo School.” She pointed at Chris’s trailer as Ali retrieved the horses from the back. “I don’t see a D in that name. I thought everyone knew about it? My girlfriend Dallas is dating a real estate agent and said Ali’s been looking at some property outside town for a while.”

  A knot began to form in the pit of his stomach as he thought about how much of his father’s troubles he’d shared with Chris. He knew about his father’s money troubles, his gambling, and the fact that it was likely his father would be forced to sell the ranch.

  In fact, he’d received a call just after arriving at the grounds this morning from his dad telling him he’d accepted an offer on the property since David hadn’t been able to come up with the funds to buy out the loan. He said it was better to sell it than let it get foreclosed on, reminding David how he’d let them all down yet again. His father hadn’t held anything back, making him feel like a loser, a disgrace to his family name. Dread crept into his chest, curling around his lungs. It couldn’t be coincidence that Ali and Chris decided to form a rodeo school and purchase a ranch.

  “I have to go,” he spun on his heel and hurried in the opposite direction.

  “Oh, okay, but you should hang out with us tonight after the rodeo. We’re going to have our own little party at my trailer.”

  “Maybe.” David eyed Chris as he unloaded Ali’s geldings, tying them to the side of the trailer while he pulled out the temporary corral panels and began to set them up. He suddenly felt like a worthless third wheel that had been effortlessly cast aside.

  CHRIS LOOKED UP from latching the panels in time to see David walking away from Delilah. What in the world was he doing talking to her again? As much as he wanted to wait to tell him, he knew it would make it only worse. “Ali,” he said, coming around the trailer to where she tied Beast. “I have to go talk to him.”

  “Do you want me to go with you?”

  “No, I need to do this alone.
” He turned two of the horses into the corral. “I’ll be right back to set up the other corral,” he promised.

  He hurried in the direction he’d seen David disappear but didn’t see any sign of him.

  “Hey, Chris. Slumming, I see.”

  He stopped in his tracks and spun to face the voice. If she’d been a man, he’d have knocked her on her ass before the words finished leaving her ruby red lips. Delilah smirked and narrowed her eyes.

  “Or is she just your charity work for the month. I know how you cowboys like hopeless causes.”

  Chris figured out Delilah’s vulnerable spot years ago. “If that was the case, Delilah, someone would have already added you to their ‘Save the Whore’ campaign.”

  She pursed her overly made up lips and glared at him, ignoring the titter of several other barrel racers trying to hide their laughter. “You’re such a stupid bastard, piece of—”

  “Smart enough to stay away from your ass since you gave Craig O’Brian the clap in high school. I sure hope you’ve managed to get that cleared up?”

  “I wouldn’t have touched you with a ten foot pole.” She turned her nose up and started to walk away.

  “Who are you kidding? You’ve tried to touch everything male in this circuit.” He started toward the beer and food booths being set up at the other end of the arena, hoping David was nearby. A hoof pick just missed the back of his head and he turned back to see Delilah breathing heavily, her eyes flashing with fury.

  “Aw, you missed. You can’t ride or throw.” He winked and walked away, spotting David near the food booth.

  “Hey, wait up,” he called. He caught up to David and, seeing the plastic cup in his hand, frowned. “Starting early today, I see.”

  “Is that a problem?” David asked, shortly.

  Chris stuck out his lip and shook his head, not wanting to start off their conversation with a fight, not when he had to bring up the delicate subject of the property. He was hoping David would listen long enough for him to ask him to join in the rodeo school as a partner. “Not as long as you’re sober for our first go tonight.”

  “You sure you don’t want to partner with Ali? Wait,” he drew the word out. “That’s right, you already did, didn’t you? Had to one up me by stealing the girl and starting a business with her, too?”

  Chris clenched his jaw, wondering how long David could’ve been drinking since he seemed to already have quite a bit of liquid courage. “I didn’t steal her and the business is why I came over here to talk to you.”

  David chugged the rest of the amber liquid in the cup. “I don’t accept your apology.”

  “I’m not apologizing,” Chris clarified.

  “Then I don’t want to hear anything you have to say.”

  “Will you shut up for ten minutes and listen?” Chris asked, reaching for David’s arm as he started to leave. Without warning, David spun, swinging his right fist at Chris. He dodged it easily and raised his hands. “What in the hell are you doing? I came over here to see if you wanted to join us in the business now that your father sold the ranch.”

  David stopped his assault as if he’d been slapped. “You know about that?”

  “It’s a long story,” Chris assured him.

  David narrowed his eyes. Chris could read the accusation in them loud and clear. “There’s only one way you’d know about that, Chris. I didn’t even know about that until a few hours ago when he called me.”

  “It wasn’t deliberate, but maybe it was luck. Let’s just say, if you still want to put your share into the business, it’ll be going toward the ranch.”

  “You?” He looked toward the trailer where Ali would be waiting for Chris’s return. “And Ali? You bought my dad’s place?” He tossed the beer to the side and shoved the middle of Chris’s chest. “What the hell? You son-of-a-bitch! You know what that place means to me, to my family.”

  He shoved David back. “Yeah, it meant so much that your dad hocked it in a game of dice, or cards, or whatever he was gambling on this week. We are trying to offer you a chance to stay on the ranch, as a part owner. You can stay in the guest house. It’s yours.”

  “Oh, well, isn’t that generous of you? And I suppose you and Ali will shack up in the main house?” Chris wasn’t about to dignify David’s comment with an answer. “Did you plan this all along? Introduce her to me and see how far the two of you could take this? Maybe my dad was right about her, maybe she was just after the money and you helped her get it, didn’t you?”

  “You’re insane. Are you even listening to yourself? Why would I do that?” Chris turned his back on David. “We were on our way to the National Finals and starting our school next year. I had no idea it was your dad’s ranch until after the offer was already made.”

  He spun on David again. “Maybe you should be taking this up with your dad, confront him about his problem instead of trying to fix it for him. Either way, Ali and I are offering you a way to stay, to keep the only thing I know that’s ever mattered to you—the rodeo school.” The fire seemed to go out of David and he looked ashamed. “David, you’re my best friend, my brother. Why would you ever think I would hurt you?”

  David looked over Chris’s shoulder. He turned, seeing Ali staring after them, fear in her eyes. “Because you’ve done it before.”

  Chris knew he had no defense. He could see the pain in David’s eyes. He knew how his friend felt because he’d been in his shoes only a few weeks ago, watching the woman he cared about with David. He hated himself for being the one to cause this situation because he’d been too afraid of his future to see what was in front of him all along.

  ALICIA CIRCLED HER buckskin gelding, Boogie, around the warm up pen. He’d been incredible this past week in practice but she knew riding him instead of Beast was taking a chance. He wasn’t as experienced, but when he was having a good week he was unstoppable—until his week turned sour. But she was trying to turn over a new leaf and, so far, taking chances was turning out well for her. She’d taken a chance on partnering with Chris, putting in their offer on the property, telling Chris she loved him. Why not take a chance on Boogie, too?

  Just the thought of Chris had her looking around the arena for him. She’d witnessed part of the argument between him and David and it broke her heart. She couldn’t help the guilt that wormed its way through her at being a part of the reason for contention between them. She should’ve let David down easier, or sooner. She shook her head, trying to keep her focus on Boogie, when a sorrel horse charged past her.

  “‘Scuse me!”

  Alicia took a deep breath, recognizing Delilah’s crazy horse, Dingo. As usual, she was barely hanging on, running the horse into the ground. Like too many people who had everything given to them, she disregarded the welfare of the animal, intent only on winning at any cost. She saw Delilah sawing at the animal’s mouth with the bit and cringed at the pain she knew it caused the mare.

  “Alicia,” she called in her falsetto voice. “I didn’t see you.” She waited for Alicia to slow her horse and walked next to her. “I heard about the new rodeo school. Do you really think you’re going to get clients based on your reputation? I mean, who wants to learn to come in second.”

  Alicia remained silent, arching a brow at the insult that was meant to sting. After years of listening to Delilah try to break her confidence, this was pretty tame and she was waiting for the next barb.

  Delilah giggled. “Besides, everyone knows you’re just whoring it up with Chris and David to try to get out of that hovel you call home.”

  Alicia wished for a moment they were on the ground so she could snatch Delilah’s extensions from her head. “Even if I were, who are you to talk about anyone sleeping around? You’ve slept with every cowboy who’s come within a ten foot radius.”

  “Ooh,” Delilah cooed, “look who’s getting defensive now.” She shrugged. “I was just going to congratulate you for finally getting ahead. It’s too bad Chris is already getting bored with you.”

 
Alicia rolled her eyes. “As if Chris would ever give you the time of day.”

  “If that’s what you want to believe but you can ask anyone. He was over by my trailer as soon as you guys got here. He didn’t waste any time leaving you to do the work while he stopped by to see me. We do have a history, you know.” She nudged her horse and bolted to the other end of the arena.

  Alicia tried to think back to when they arrived. Chris had left right away but he said it was to find David. This had to be Delilah playing her usual game, trying to stir up as much trouble as she could in an effort to destroy Alicia’s confidence before a run. She had to keep her mind on the task at hand—winning this run. The sooner she could pay Chris back, the sooner she could clarify their relationship without this debt hanging over her head.

  She walked Boogie back to the trailer and saw Chris tossing a rope over a dummy steer, barely paying any attention to what he was doing. “There you are.” He wound up the rope and hung it from the dummy’s horns, hurrying to take Boogie’s reins. “How’s he doing?”

  “I don’t want to jinx it but he’s doing really well.” She debated asking him about Delilah but decided the conversation could wait until tonight. She didn’t want to risk either of them getting worked up and losing. “Have you talked with David since this morning?”

  He shook his head. “He’s been pretty scarce and, even then, he’s saying only what he absolutely has to.” He clipped Boogie to the side of the trailer and held up the bucket for him to get a drink of water. “He’s pissed and feels betrayed. I should’ve called him as soon as I realized.”

  She laid her hand on his forearm. “Maybe. But Chris, I didn’t know who owned the property and, either way, I was putting an offer on the place. Even if it meant quitting rodeo,” she reminded him. “He’s going to realize you weren’t trying to betray him eventually.”