by Vivian Arend
A Rancher’s Song
The Stones of Heart Falls: Book 2
Vivian Arend
Contents
A Rancher’s Song
Prologue
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Epilogue
About the Author
A Rancher’s Song
Can love help a champion bull rider face his fears and find his future? Welcome to Heart Falls, a new series from New York Times bestselling author Vivian Arend.
Ivy Field’s heart nearly broke when she left Heart Falls, but her high school sweetheart insisted she follow-through on her dream of becoming a teacher. She thought that meant putting their relationship on hold briefly, but it’s taken eleven years to return. Now she’s back, no longer a painfully shy young girl but a confident woman who knows exactly what and who she wants—a home and a family—with too-sexy-for-his-boots Walker Stone. He was her first; she wants him to be her last.
* * *
Walker “Dynamite” Stone was still reeling from his parents’ unexpected deaths when Ivy left. He let her go, throwing himself into work on the Silver Stone ranch and dangerous living on the rodeo circuit. But lately Walker’s adrenaline junkie ways have crashed—he’s having panic attacks. While potentially devastating to his budding musical career, they’re a deadly handicap when shooting for eight seconds aboard an angry bull. He needs to learn to face his fears to save the family fortunes. If he succeeds, this time Walker will be the one to leave Heart Falls, and Ivy, behind.
* * *
Will Ivy and Walker have to give up on forever, or can they turn this rancher’s song into a winning duet?
* * *
The Stones of Heart Falls
A Rancher’s Heart
A Rancher’s Song
A Rancher’s Bride
* * *
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Prologue
Walker jammed his glove more firmly under the rope, adjusting position on the back of the bull. Focusing down on what he was doing, letting everything around him fade away. The noise from the crowd in the stands and the bull under him were loud, but louder still were the rough gasps of his own breathing. Blood rushed past his ears like a drumbeat as his heart pounded.
A steady breath. Another one. Feeling the animal beneath him and trying to work with the wild energy of the beast. He needed great numbers, and that wouldn’t happen unless both of them were ready to put on a show.
His leg smashed against the metal rails as the bull shifted violently toward the right, all of the cowboys along the chute either backing up rapidly to stay out of striking range, or leaning in to control the animal.
It was time. Walker lifted his free hand and nodded.
The gate jerked open, and the next second he was flying into the arena, body whiplashing as the bull did his damnedest to remove the human annoyance from his back. Every time the animal’s hind legs came down, pain slammed up Walker’s spine like a sledgehammer. He made sure to keep his teeth tight together on the mouth guard, riding through the motions, as sharp and rapid as they were, as if he were on an ocean wave undulating through what had to be the most violent rollers ever.
But the ride had a rhythm, and a pace, and in spite of the pain, and the fear, and the adrenaline racing through him, Walker found himself falling into the zone. That perfect place where nothing existed except for the strange connection between him and the beast. He didn’t care that he was doing something incredibly dangerous, or that he needed it to last for a full eight seconds. The sensation was beautiful and glorious.
Until it wasn’t.
Fear should have reared upward like a raging beast, but no, it arrived slowly. Or so it seemed as the zone vanished, and in its place was the sensation he’d felt before.
Death.
Walker was going to die.
It wasn’t about the poetry of the motion now; it was about somehow figuring out how to survive. Pain was one thing, but the icy cold fingers of fear that had wrapped around him were invasive and unstoppable. Walker tried his best to ignore the sensation, but like a wagon that had been inched over the top of a steep hill, momentum built and tension increased.
Bony fingers wrapped around the back of his neck and clung tightly. Death was there with an unshakeable grip, and Walker really didn’t want to be thinking that way, but once the thought arrived, he couldn’t shake it. Like a low buzz that slowly built in speed and volume until he found himself no longer bounced by the violence of the bull but flying with deceptive smoothness through the air, headed for the ground.
Walker had enough presence of mind to roll as the earth came up to meet him, shoulder and forearm slapping down, his head meeting the ground briefly as he rolled and came to his knees, glancing quickly to see where the bull was.
Only in rodeo were you safer on the back of a wild animal than on the ground.
He lifted his eyes to find he was facing the crowd, audience leaning forward with fear and adrenaline on their faces. A woman turned her head, her long hair whirling, the silvery white strands like spun moonshine, and in that moment everything Walker should’ve been focused on fled.
Ivy?
He stared, waiting for her to turn back so he could see her face. It had been so long since he’d seen her, but he knew what she’d look like. Pale skin, but bright eyes. A grey so light they turned silver at times, flashing at him as he’d tease and steal a kiss…
“Move it.” The order came at the same moment a hand hit him on his already bruised arm, pushing him off balance.
Walker’s arms shot forward to stop his fall, his hands hitting the hard steel of the arena enclosure. A flash of bright colours rushed past the corner of his eye. A shadow of pitch black.
Oh God, the bull.
A loud shout escaped as the bullfighter waved his arms and got the animal’s attention, turning the beast away from where Walker was still trying to figure out what was going on. Another of the three bullfighters stood on the safety rails and grabbed Walker by the back of his vest, hauling him to the top of the fence before shoving them both over. A second later, the two of them were sprawled on the ground on the other side of the railing.
The furious bull was out in the arena tossing a safety barrel, the bullfighter inside safe even while he was being scrambled like an egg.
“You make a good target, Dynamite, but maybe you could get the hell out of the arena a little faster next time.” The cowboy grabbed him by the wrist and hauled him to his feet, a mixture of good-natured humour and annoyance as he patted Walker on the shoulder. “I know you’re supposed to be fearless and all, but I pretty much recommend being scared sometimes. It’ll keep you alive longer.”
The rodeo bullfighter picked his hat up off the ground before dipping his chin and climbing over the railing to rejoin the rest of his team.
Walker stared after the man. He wasn’t sure what the bullfighter was talking about.
He glanced down at the dust and dirt on his vest and chaps then up at the clock. 6.96. He must have been bucked off, but he couldn’t remember anything from after the moment the panic had begun to slide along his s
pine.
The last minutes of the event were missing from his memory, and if he wanted to stay alive, that wasn’t good.
He waited until his score of zero for the ride showed up on the scoreboard next to his time, good-naturedly taking the jeers from his fellow cowboys. Then he packed his bag and headed for his truck.
When things went wrong he had a place to go. It was a bit like admitting defeat. But at that moment, realizing he could’ve been seriously hurt or killed, or caused another man to be, acknowledging he was beat was the only choice.
1
“Holy cow, when did Bradley Ford lose all his hair?”
Ivy Fields slapped a hand over her sister’s mouth, glancing around to see if anyone was within earshot of the rude comment. “You want to borrow the microphone to ask him? Or maybe we should try using inside voices, instead.”
Tansy rolled her eyes, but she was smiling as Ivy inched her hand back. “Fine, I’ll be quiet as a mouse.” Tansy tossed her head, her blonde hair floating around her shoulders. “I swear the man had flowing Jesus-locks last week when he came into the coffee shop. He’s bald as a baby’s bottom.”
They both turned to examine the crowd who’d gathered in the Heart Falls Community Centre for the afternoon Canada Day events. Everywhere she looked, Ivy spotted familiar faces, although most had changed since the last time she’d seen them, a few dramatically like Brad who—
Okay, the shaved head was not a bad look on him at all, just shocking. “He wore a ponytail in high school, didn’t he?”
“Uh-huh.” Tansy tilted her head to one side. “Okay, it’s kind of sexy, I guess. Only there’s nothing to grab onto.”
Her younger sister had lost her. Ivy frowned. “Why would you want to grab his hair?”
Tansy raised a brow then waggled it.
God. How her sister managed to make things about sex ninety-nine percent of the time was incredible.
“Go away,” Ivy murmured.
Tansy eyed her with a smirk. “And in other news…you’re still an innocent. Anyway, the short style is probably safer. Brad’s a firefighter now. He doesn’t need flammables next to his face.”
“A firefighter. That’s good.”
“Yeah, new Fire Chief for the county, in fact. He’s a catch, according to local gossip. Maybe you should make a move on him.” Her sister screwed up her face then shook her head as she pulled out her phone and checked her messages. “Nah. I think the current plan is still the best.”
Ivy wasn’t so sure anymore, not as the room continued to fill with locals. Noisy, loud—it wasn’t too late to call it off.
Only when she opened her mouth to tell Tansy she’d changed her mind, her sister was already a half a dozen paces away. “Rose summoned me,” she tossed over her shoulder. “Enjoy the show.”
It had been a long time since Ivy had stood in the local community hall, but the calendar didn’t lie. It had been eleven years since she’d lived in Heart Falls, and while she was glad she’d had her time away, it was good to be home.
Returning at the start of July meant she had an entire summer to look forward to getting reacquainted and settled before diving into her new position at Heart Falls Elementary School.
A flash of warmth hit somewhere in her chest as her parents danced around each other in the aisle between tables, her mother juggling trays from the kitchen, her father heading toward the stage where he was acting as auctioneer for today’s final event. The two of them exchanged warm smiles. That too was something Ivy was looking forward to—more time with her family.
She’d missed them terribly. They weren’t related by blood, but they were family, nonetheless. She and her three sisters had been adopted by Sophie and Malachi Fields years ago.
Tansy had rejoined Rose on the far side of the room, standing behind a long table that an hour ago had held row after row of pie pieces. Ninety percent of them had been baked at Tansy’s coffee shop. Probably with Rose’s help, when she hadn’t been busy with the table centerpieces. She operated the flower and knickknack shop adjoining Tansy’s. Buns and Roses—Ivy needed to catch up on how things were going there as well.
Another thing to enjoy. Spending time with her younger sisters, including sitting down with the youngest, Fern, and finding out what the eighteen-year-old’s future plans were.
But today was about more than family. Ivy let her gaze drift over the room, putting names to faces, and trying to make guesses about the changes in relationships being acted out silently before her.
It was forgivable if the first place her curiosity led her was toward the Stone family. The oldest brother, Caleb, had his arm resting on the shoulders of a dark-haired woman, and two little girls were dancing around them.
And as a bell rang from the stage to get everyone’s attention, she spotted Luke Stone pulling out a chair for a blonde woman as they re-settled at spots beside Caleb. Obviously, they were a couple as well.
She’d been gone so long.
Changes were inevitable, not only here, but in her as well. She’d been waiting for a long time to take this next step, but it seemed her nerves were going to give her hell the entire time she waited for Tansy’s bright plan to fall into place.
Oh, well. Nerves wouldn’t kill her.
“Thank you, everyone, for joining us for this fine Canada Day celebration.” Her father smiled over the crowd with that easy way of his. “I’m pretty sure you all had enough to eat earlier, although I imagine a few gentlemen up here on the stage were nervous enough to skip dessert. Don’t worry, though. I instructed my daughters to hold back a couple of pies.” He turned to the row of a dozen or so plus men standing in an awkward line to his right.
“You should auction off the pies,” someone heckled from the floor.
“Charlie Miller, you already ate an entire pie by yourself.” It was Tansy, of course, shouting across the room as people turned toward her with grins. “If you want another pie to yourself, you go right ahead and put in your bid. I’ll make your favourite.”
“Do I get the pie maker as well?” Charlie teased.
Tansy raised a brow then gestured to the stage. “Considering this is a bachelor auction, you probably should take that up with my dad.”
Heads twirled back to where Malachi Fields no longer looked quite so jovial as he glared at Charlie. “Maybe we should get on with the main event.”
Charlie settled in his chair and zipped his mouth damn fast, much to the amusement of the people around him.
“All proceeds from today’s auction go toward the Community Health Center. I believe they’ve got some funds earmarked for a playground update and some for after-school care. Very worthwhile, so I hope you all contribute however you can.”
He turned to the row of local young men and called one forward.
While her dad introduced the first victim, whose ears had flushed bright red, Ivy found her attention wandering. She wasn’t interested in a kid barely out of his teens.
No, it was the tallest man in the lineup who had everything in her twisting. He stood with his arms crossed over his chest, the firm bulge of his biceps pressing against the crisp white denim of his shirt. He wore black jeans, the thick fabric barely restraining his muscular thighs, and with a black cowboy hat on his head, Walker Stone was every inch the cowboy Ivy remembered.
He needed a haircut. The bottom edge was curling up in an unruly manner that made Ivy’s fingers itch. She wasn’t quite the innocent her sister thought. She’d take off that hat of his and lay it aside so she could thread her fingers through the thick strands and watch his pupils go dark.
Or at least that’s what memory said would happen. She adjusted position uncomfortably and wondered why she was tormenting herself like this. It had been eleven years. Showing up at the bachelor auction and throwing herself at him the first time they met again was a terrible idea.
Of course, it had sounded brilliant when Tansy and Rose proposed the plan the night before while the three of them were curled up in Ivy�
�s temporary lodging, back at home in the same room she’d occupied during high school.
The maple tree outside the window was taller than before, but that same branch reached conveniently toward her window—
Memories made heat flush Ivy’s face, and she forced her attention back to the stage where, with a round of applause, her father finished reading the envelope that held the details of the offered date, handing it to the winner of the second eligible bachelor.
Malachi wiggled the next envelope in the air. “We are delighted to welcome home a man who was born and bred in Heart Falls. Although he seems determined to bring himself back in more than one piece. Walker Dynamite Stone. Come on up here.”
Ivy found herself leaning forward as Walker stepped out from the crowd of young men and joined her father.
They shook hands briefly before Walker turned to the room and offered a dazzling smile, no doubt playing it up a little for his adoring women fans, a group of whom were gathered at a long table in the front right corner. They weren’t locals Ivy recognized, but it was possible they were from the surrounding counties.
The auction was a chance to find single men, and someone like Walker was worth the drive. One woman looked as if she were trying to convince her friends to spot her a little extra change.
Ivy was suddenly very happy to have her sisters as back up, because the only thing more embarrassing than bidding for a date with Walker would be bidding for a date and not winning.