A Family for the Rancher

by Allison B. Collins

  Maybe this wasn’t such a good idea.

  Chapter Ten

  Kelsey tore her eyes from the barrel racer in the ring as someone climbed up the outside of the railing where they were sitting.

  “Mr. Sullivan, right? Boy, howdy. This is great. We haven’t seen you in years!” A man with bright red curls and freckles hung on to the railing, grinning for all he was worth.

  Nash brushed her arm as he reached over to shake the young man’s outstretched hand. “Hey, Jimmy. Been in the Army. Just got home a couple months ago.”

  “You wanna come over, see the bulls? Say hi to the guys?”

  Nash rubbed the back of his neck. “I wouldn’t want to get in the way. Besides, can’t leave my date alone.”

  Date?

  He glanced at her, almost as if he wanted her to speak up.

  “Promise it won’t take long. But Rodney over there is ridin’ today, and I’ll bet he could use some pointers from you.”

  Nash shifted, standing up to scan the bull pens. Then he glanced down at her. “You mind? Won’t be gone long.”

  Something in his voice made her study him closer. “Sure, go ahead.” He had seemed almost wistful, and now he was vibrating with excitement. “I’ll be here.”

  The kid whooped and hopped down the railing, then raced back to the pens. Nash followed, thank goodness using the steps, not the railing.

  She watched him walk toward the other cowboys, and they swallowed him up, shaking his hand, clapping him on the back. Jimmy dragged him farther down the line, and all the men leaned up against the fence again. What a sight they made—a row of cowboy hats, dusty jeans and boots. She pulled her phone out of her bag and focused on the long row of cowboys, snapped a picture, then texted it to her mother.

  Stopped at a rodeo. Figured you’d want to see this view.

  Her phone dinged a second later.

  Yummy! Enjoy!

  A few minutes later, a big bull was led into the small pen and the gate clanged shut. Even over the noise of the crowd, she could hear the animal bellowing. His huge head snapped back and forth as if seeking a target.

  Nash climbed up on the rail next to the bull and slapped its hindquarters. The bull bucked up, kicking the railing. Her heart raced. He’s not going to get on that bull, is he? She clenched her hands together to keep from racing to the pen and yanking him down.

  Another cowboy climbed up on the rail, and Nash was pointing at something on the bull. He clapped the other man on the back, then climbed down, stepped back as other hands stepped forward. He nodded at something, and his Stetson bobbed up and down. She wished she could see his face.

  A few seconds later, he joined the line of men at the fence, and they watched the door open, then started hollering. She tore her eyes from Nash to the action in the arena. Riveted, she watched as the cowboy bounced up and down on the bull’s back as it tried to toss the rider off.

  Suddenly, the bull seemed to jump in the air and whirl around at the same time, and the man was flung off. The bull kept stampeding, heading straight for the cowboy lying in the dust. A couple of clowns raced out and grabbed the cowboy, helped him hobble to the side to safety.

  She wrenched her eyes from the scene back to Nash. He stood apart from the other cowboys now, staring at the arena. His shoulders slumped, and he jammed his hands in his pockets, then kicked at something on the ground. He turned around and headed back to the stands, but the excitement that had been in his steps before was gone.

  Not wanting him to see her watching him, she opened the program they’d bought on the way in and pretended to be reading.

  “You rode bulls?”

  “How’d you know?”

  “Well, Jimmy asked if you’d give the rider pointers.”

  He tugged on his hat so it sat even lower, shadowing his eyes. “Yeah. I did.”

  “Is that what those buckles on your bookcase are for?”

  The announcer interrupted whatever Nash was going to say, and another bull and rider was let out with a clang. It was like a train wreck. She wanted to squeeze her eyes shut tight and not watch, but she couldn’t tear her gaze away.

  Next to her, Nash shifted, and his left hand clenched on his thigh. Habit had her sliding her hand on his leg and massaging it. He grabbed her hand to still it.

  She leaned closer to him. “Are you in pain?”

  “Little bit.”

  “Then let me do my thing.”

  “Not here,” he said, his voice gritty.

  “You’d rather sit there in pain?”

  His jaw clenched. “I’m fine.”

  “Then put your arm around me like I really am your date. If anyone sees me rubbing your leg, they’ll just think I can’t keep my hands off you.”

  He hesitated, and she didn’t think he’d do it, but he finally lifted his left arm and curled it around her shoulders, tucking her even closer to his warm body. Darts of pleasure pinged through her. Felt good to be held like that. But the pleasure was followed by a twinge of guilt. Rob. She slid her hand back on his thigh and massaged the tight muscles until they finally gave a little and relaxed.

  His thumb drifted slowly back and forth on her upper arm, and she peeked up at him. But his eyes were trained on the action in the arena. At least the tight brackets of pain around his mouth had loosened.

  As she swung her gaze back toward the center arena, she glimpsed several cowboys against the fence watching them, grinning. One of them detached from the line and climbed up the railing again, handed a piece of paper to Nash, then climbed back down.

  Honestly, did no one use the stairs here?

  Nash removed his arm from her, and she was surprised at the spurt of disappointment. He unfolded the piece of paper, and she saw it was a flyer for a barbecue and dance following the rodeo. Crumpling it up, he started to toss it to the floor, but she stopped him.

  “Let’s go for a little while, okay?” she said to him.

  “You don’t really want to, do you?”

  “Sure, might be fun.”

  “Why?”

  “These are your friends, aren’t they?”

  “Yeah, some.”

  She nudged his shoulder. “It’ll do you good to get your mind off things, talk rodeo with friends. Besides, I haven’t had barbecue in a while.”

  He glanced at her. “If you’re sure.”

  She nodded.

  They watched the rest of the events, then left the building. Heavy falling rain made them hurry, following the crowd to the next building for the barbecue. Getting in line for the food, several people stopped to talk to Nash, welcome him back from the Army. He seemed to relax and actually smiled several times. She was glad she’d suggested they come. They filled up their plates and found a couple of spots at a partially filled table.

  A band started playing a short time later, and people got up to dance. The cowboy who’d been thrown from the first bull—Rodney, she remembered—stopped at their table.

  “Thanks for the pointers, Nash. I almost had him.”

  Nash set his bottle of beer down. “Sure thing. You’ll get him next time.”

  Rodney glanced at her. “Aren’t you and your girl gonna dance?”

  Nash’s mouth tightened, and he shook his head.

  “Then do you mind if I ask her to dance?”

  “She can do whatever she wants,” he said.

  * * *

  DAMN RODNEY. If he hadn’t come over, they could have gotten away. He’d thought he could handle coming to the dinner, but had forgotten about the unattached cowboys scooping up every available female.

  Kelsey looked at him, hurt and confusion on her face.

  Dammit.

  Then she smiled up at Rodney. “I’d love to dance. But it’s been a while, so I’ll apologize now for stepping on your toes.” She took Rodney’s
hand and stood up, and they walked out on the dance floor.

  Kelsey laughed as Rodney whirled her into a two-step, even as she stumbled over the steps. Rodney pulled her closer and whispered to her, and she nodded.

  Fact was, he did like to dance, but with his damn leg blown off, he didn’t dare try anything or he’d make a fool of himself.

  The song blended into a different one, and another cowboy cut in, asked Kelsey to dance. Nash flagged down a passing waiter and got another beer.

  The band kept playing and men kept cutting in to dance with Kelsey. His eyes followed her, and every time she laughed up at a man, he wanted to pound them into the ground. What was she thinking? She had a little girl at home, and a job to do.

  She should be paying attention to me!

  He slammed the bottle down and got up, wincing at the stiffness in his thigh, and he had to stop and balance himself. Which only made him madder.

  He walked to the edge of the dance floor and waited until Kelsey and the current cowboy were close to him, and he tapped her on the shoulder. “We need to get you home, babe.” And he grabbed her hand, pulling her from the dance floor. He stopped long enough for her to get her handbag, and they left the building.

  It was still raining, even harder now, so he led her to the covered walkway that would take them to the parking lot.

  She yanked her hand away. “Would you tell me what’s crawled up your butt and died?”

  “You’re not here to have fun and whoop it up with every cowboy you meet. You should be a little choosier with the men you flirt with. Or were you just trying to decide which one would take you home?”

  “How dare you! I wasn’t flirting, and I don’t want any of those men. You practically threw me at them, you...you...varmint!”

  It felt like a bucket of cold water had been thrown on his head, and he cracked a grin. “Varmint?”

  She stared at him, arms crossed, tapping her toe on the ground. “It was the only thing I could come up with. I try not to cuss. But you make me so doggone mad.”

  “Yeah, but varmint?”

  She stomped around him and headed toward the truck. He caught up to her and took her hand, but she yanked it away again. He had to impress on her how bad he’d messed up and knew it. Getting in front of her, he lightly grasped her upper arms and held her still. “I’m really sorry. Truly. I just got—”

  “Got what?”

  He shook his head, embarrassed to put it into words.

  “Nash, tell me, please,” she said, her voice low and husky.

  “It just looked like you were having a lot of fun, and I wished it had been with me.” He continued on, heading to end of the walkway. They’d get wet, but at this point he just wanted to get out of there.

  But she tugged on his back pocket, making him stop.

  He couldn’t face her, not now.

  “In all honesty, I wish it had been you out there, too.”

  Had she really just said that?

  “You do?” He turned around.

  Her cheeks were pink in the glow from the lights. She nodded. “I thought it would be a fun evening for you to be with your friends. Instead you sat by yourself and everyone was afraid to talk to you. Why?”

  “It’s one thing to be around my family, who knew I’d been injured. But another to be back around these people I used to compete with. And now I can’t—” He rubbed his jaw. “I realized tonight I won’t ever be able to do normal things.”

  “Yes you will. Just might have to make adjustments.”

  “Like ride a bull?”

  “Probably not... But do you want to?”

  “Naw, I’m too old. Besides...” He shrugged. “It doesn’t matter now. I’ll never be the man I used to be.”

  Her mouth opened, but a door banged and a flood of people poured out of the building.

  He grabbed her hand. “Come on. We’ll have to make a run for it in this rain.”

  “Okay, but I’m driving.”

  “Why?”

  “You may think I was out on the floor whooping it up, but I saw how much you had to drink. I’m driving.”

  Anger bubbled up and spewed forth. “I can drive.”

  “Maybe you can hold your alcohol, but it’s storming, and your reaction time is slowed.”

  “No it’s—”

  She grabbed his arm. “Do you really want to be the one responsible for not getting me home to my daughter?”

  Shit. Direct hit to his heart.

  Men—good men—had died on his watch. He’d never let anything happen to her.

  Reaching into his pocket, he wrenched the keys out and slapped them into her hand.

  They hurried as fast as they could, given his leg, but still got drenched by the time they reached his truck. He opened the driver door and helped her in, then got to his door and climbed in. He reached behind the seat and pulled out a towel and blanket. “Might be kinda musty, but it’s better than nothing.”

  He dried his face off, then pulled the blanket more tightly around Kelsey. She looked up at him, and his throat clogged.

  He had to kiss her.

  Now.

  He leaned forward, kissed the corner of her mouth where her freckle sat. “I’m sorry.”

  Her breath hitched, and he was so damn happy when she turned her head just enough to meet his mouth. He pulled her closer, but a bright flash of lightning lit the sky, followed immediately by a loud crack of thunder.

  Reluctantly he let her go, knew they needed to get on the road back to the ranch. It’d be a long ride in this weather, but he wanted to get her home.

  To his cabin, if she’d go with him.

  Another bright flash of lightning close by lit the sky, followed by an even louder crack of thunder. She flinched and pulled the blanket tighter around her. He glanced at her, concerned at her pale face. He reached for her hand. “You okay?”

  She shook her head. “I hate thunderstorms.”

  “We’ll be fine. Just take your time.”

  “My husband died in a storm like this.” Her voice quavered.

  “I’m sorry. We can just wait out the storm right here.” He kept hold of her hand.

  She shook her head and sat up straighter. “I want to get home.” Pulling her hand free, she stuck the key in the ignition and started the engine. The parking lot was mostly empty now, and she maneuvered slowly across the bumpy gravel.

  The wipers were going ninety miles a minute, but were still no match for the rain. Lightning arced through the sky to the ground, and it was so close it looked as if they would catch on fire if it struck them.

  Kelsey screamed, and the truck fishtailed across the road, heading straight for a huge tree at the side of the road.

  She got control and was able to stop the truck just before they hit the tree. His heart hammered against his chest, and he turned to see her slumped over, her head on the steering wheel.

  Unbuckling his seat belt, he scooted as close as he could to her, pulling her into his arms. “Are you hurt? Did you hit your head?”

  She shook her head and looked up at him. “Just scared. I thought I wouldn’t stop in time.” She pulled away to look out the front window. “That’s a big tree.”

  It was safe to grin since she wasn’t looking at him. “Yup.”

  Looking down at her watch, then back at him, she scrubbed her hands over her face. “Think we can get home?”

  “No. I know you want to, but I don’t think we should risk it.” He rubbed his chin on her wet hair. “You won’t let me drive, and you’re exhausted. I wouldn’t want to take a chance with this weather even if I hadn’t had a few beers. Lots worse than I expected.”

  “So we’re stuck here in the storm?”

  “Not necessarily. I say we go back into town and see if we can find a motel and spend the night.”
r />   “Separate rooms?”

  “Up to you.”

  She nodded and pulled her phone out of her handbag, tilted it to the light. “No service.”

  “We can call your mom when we get to town, okay?”

  Starting the ignition again, she reversed and got them turned around, then slowly drove back into Billings. No Vacancy signs were posted all up and down the main road. Then he spied a B and B on a side street and she pulled into their lot. He climbed out and limped inside, where an older woman greeted him at the counter.

  “Looks like you got caught in the rain. Do you need a room?”

  It was tempting, but for Kelsey’s sake, he reluctantly shook his head. “Two, just overnight.”

  The woman shook her head. “Sorry, hon, I only have one room left, and it’s the honeymoon suite.”

  He winced and glanced outside the window and could barely make out Kelsey huddled against the driver-side door. “I’ll take it. Be right back.” How would she react?

  Hurrying back through the rain, he opened her door and gently helped her out, then hustled her inside. She shivered in his arms, and his concern ratcheted up.

  The older woman took one look at Kelsey and tsked. “You poor thing. Here’s the key, and I’ll bring up some extra towels and blankets. You go on up and get her out of those wet clothes. There’s a bathrobe for each of you on the back of the bathroom door. Now go on.”

  “Thank you, ma’am. Do you mind bringing some hot tea or coffee?”

  “I’ll be right up.”

  He took the key and half carried Kelsey up the two flights of steps. His thigh burned, but he couldn’t think about that now. He had to get her warm. Unlocking the door, he walked them into a big bedroom. “Sorry. This is the only room they have available.”

  “O-o-k-kay,” she said, her teeth chattering.

  He led her to the chair by the fireplace and turned to make a fire. Luckily it was a gas fireplace. While he preferred the old-fashioned way of building a fire, for once he was grateful for modernization. He turned the key and got the fire going.