A Bull Rider to Depend On

by Jeannie Watt

  She had no right to be jealous of Paige, but she was. She wanted Tyler, but she was of terrified of losing again, terrified of trusting and being emotionally backhanded. So freaking scared that she was willing to give up the possibility of happiness for the safety that came of hiding from life.

  So what was she going to do about it?

  Or better still, what could she do about it?

  “Excuse me...?”

  Skye’s head jerked up at the customer’s voice and she quickly stepped out of the pantry and headed across the café to her patron. Real life called.

  * * *

  DESPITE HIS SHOULDER INJURY, Tyler was on a roll. He made the semifinals in Denver, the final round in Casper and had won Billings. Even if his shoulder had slid in and out of the socket during the ride, he had every intention of winning again in Spokane. Injury was not an option. He needed the sheer physicality of riding to help battle the frustrations in his life. As long as he was focused on the bull, he was fine. It was during the long drives and the social functions associated with the events that the frustrations built and he found himself getting antsy.

  Jess phoned while he was on the road to Spokane with his friend CC sleeping in the passenger seat, head bobbing against the window. Everything was fine on the ranch. No set date for shipping cows, and, well...Skye was looking for financing to buy him out.

  That stung.

  If he’d done her wrong, if he’d messed up like Mason, or if they’d dated and she’d decided he wasn’t her type, he could have lived with it. But that wasn’t how it was. He was collateral damage in Skye’s battle with fear of loss. She hadn’t come out and told him that, but it was too big to miss.

  As he saw it, he had two choices—fight back, or walk away gracefully. Give her what she wanted.

  “She’s doing all right,” Jess said. “In a walled-off way...the way she was after Mason died.”

  Because she was mourning another loss. This one probably almost as devastating as the first. Now she didn’t even have fond memories. She had nothing.

  Ty had a strong feeling that she also wanted nothing, except to maybe be left alone.

  “You won’t be making Spokane, will you?”

  “Wish I could. I have to be in Kalispell the next day.” A short silence hung between them, and then Jess said, “If you want to move your trailer onto my lot, there’s room.”

  “Yeah. I know.” He’d already done his figuring there, and now, once again, his question was should he stay on the ranch he owned part of, move to his brother’s place or maybe head down to Texas, where, even if he couldn’t put Skye out of his head, he could at least put some distance between them?

  The one thing he did know was that he needed to dissolve their partnership, so that if he and Skye ever did try to hash things out between them, there wouldn’t be a ranch hanging between them.

  * * *

  THERE WERE FRESH tire tracks on her driveway when Skye drove in but no vehicle and no sign of a package delivery. Someone needing directions, perhaps?

  No. It had been Tyler, there and gone while she’d been at work. He’d left a note on her locked front door telling her that he’d left something for her in his trailer.

  Skye folded the note and carried it with her as she retraced her steps down the path and around the bunkhouse to the trailer. It was unlocked, so she opened the door and stepped inside.

  It smelled like Tyler.

  She pressed her lips together after inhaling deeply, then crossed to the table where a large envelope with her name on it lay. She opened it and pulled out the single sheet of paper.

  The mortgage agreement. At the bottom he had printed PAID IN FULL.

  What the heck?

  Skye sank down on the hard cushion of the futon-like sofa. There was only one reason he would have done this. He was leaving. Going to Texas as he’d once said he was. In fact, there was a Texas road map lying on top of a stack of books.

  Skye closed her eyes, feeling ridiculously close to tears. Things were happening too quickly. Yes, she’d thought she wanted to end things before they became too serious, but now she feared they already were too serious.

  She felt like her stomach was turning inside out. I love him...and I’m a coward. I’m using Mason’s betrayal as an excuse to hide from the normal risks one takes in life.

  What was it Tyler had said to her? You never know how much time you have. Skye put the agreement back into the envelope and slid in the note Tyler had left on her front door.

  Then she reached into her pocket for her phone, pulled up her contact list, drew in a deep breath and yet again prepared to eat humble pie. When the line picked up, she said, “Hello, Jess...I need a favor.”

  * * *

  THE LAST TIME Skye had been in Nampa, Idaho, had been with Mason, just after they were married. She’d traveled to several events with her new husband before settling in to run the ranch and earn their one steady paycheck by working at the café. Skye hadn’t loved living alone for weeks at a time, but it wasn’t something she hated, either. It was the reality of their existence, and she knew it would last for only a matter of years before Mason retired from bull riding and ranched full-time.

  Little had she known...

  But Skye wasn’t going there. Yes, she was borderline terrified, but letting the past color her future to the extent that she embraced the idea of rattling around in an empty life because it was “safe” bordered on wrong. And cowardly.

  Face the truth.

  Her seat was not the best, but what could she expect for minimum dollar and last minute? She was squeezed between a family with four children happily eating gooey cotton candy and an elderly couple wearing very large cowboy hats. Twice Skye had cotton candy stuck in her hair before the child’s mother intervened and changed seats with her daughter.

  “Sorry,” she murmured.

  “Not a problem.” Skye sat up straighter as the show began. The arena lights dimmed, smoke swirled and the bull riders walked out into the arena as colored LED lights danced over them. She instantly recognized Tyler by his walk, and her heart swelled.

  She was not giving this guy up.

  She only hoped that giving up the ranch didn’t mean that he was giving up on her. He was a bull rider. Stubborn.

  Then the lights went low and the show began. Skye dodged another wallop from the cotton candy as the little girl squeezed past her to head for the restroom with her mother, then settled in to watch her guy do what he loved.

  She didn’t have long to wait. Tyler was up fourth, and after the usual fanfare, the gateman pulled the rope and Little Biscuit, a big Charolais-Brahman cross, exploded out of the chute and she realized that, just as he’d once promised, he was wearing a helmet. No more stitched-up face. Not unless he got clocked really good.

  Little Biscuit spun to his left then flipped his hind end the opposite direction, throwing Tyler over his hand. He pushed deep, recovered and was well settled by the time Little Biscuit did his opposite spin. Four seconds left. Three...

  The bull did a high buck and looked as if he was going to sunfish, but instead came down with a jarring front-end landing as the buzzer rang. A cheer went up from the crowd, but Skye stayed where she was, gripping the seat on either side of her until Tyler disembarked and rolled as the bull bucked past him toward the gate.

  Only then did she lean back and let out the breath she’d been holding for fifteen long seconds.

  * * *

  HE WAS A winner and a loser. Tyler hadn’t taken home the top check, but he’d scored third, and that made him a winner. Walking out of the arena alive made him a winner. It was having no one and nowhere to go home to that gave him the loser feeling.

  He’d have to see about moving his trailer off the property. His parents had assured him they’d love to see him in Texas. He
imagined they would.

  Problem was...he was a Montana guy, and it was hard to change that.

  He’d been interviewed, along with several other riders, immediately following the event, and then he’d had to get his shoulder bandaged up to immobilize it—just a precaution, since once again it had felt as if it had slid in and out of the socket.

  Just a few more months...like four. He could do this.

  He left the arena by a side door, stepping into an almost empty parking lot. The next event was on the other side of the Mississippi, and he was flying. He’d park his truck at Jess’s, see what he could do about his current living situation. His boots echoed on the pavement, and as he approached his truck, he slowed.

  Maybe he’d been hit in the head harder than he’d realized when he’d gone to the ground, because the woman leaning against his truck, head down, hugging her arms around herself, looked just like Skye, about five hundred miles from where she was supposed to be. As he started walking faster, and his footsteps began echoing on the pavement, her head snapped up, and his heart tumbled.

  “Skye?”

  She stepped away from the truck, and then her spine stiffened as she took in his bandaged arm. “Is it bad?” she asked.

  “Depends.” He stopped a goodly distance away from her. If she was here, that was good. But his gut told him to move slowly. Find out the whole story. “Did you get my note?”

  “I did.”

  “And?”

  She took a couple of steps toward him, arms still crossed over her body as if she were protecting herself. But when she stopped in front of him, she dropped her arms to her sides and tilted up her chin. “Thank you for the gift, but I don’t want it.”

  “That makes no sense at all.”

  “It does if I want to keep you around.”

  His heart did a couple of hard beats against his ribs. He turned his head to look at her sideways. “You better take this offer while you can.” The fair-play part of him insisted that he say those words. “I may be bankrupt by this time next year.”

  She shook her head.

  “Why do you want to keep a broken-down bull rider around?”

  “I love him.”

  Another double beat of his heart. Tyler wanted to move closer but instead stayed put. No more jumping ahead of himself, buying ranches and the like. “Do you trust him?”

  “Yes,” she said simply. “If I don’t have trust, then I have a ranch house with just me and a cat in it. Which was fine a couple of months ago, but it’s not fine anymore.” She exhaled, and it sounded shaky, as if her voice was on the edge of breaking. “I need you, Tyler.”

  That was when he moved, ignoring the pain as he pulled her against him, found her lips. Every time he kissed the woman it felt like a homecoming, and it was no different tonight.

  “So,” he murmured against her lips, “you want to keep things as they are?”

  “Yes. As they are. We’re partners.” She eased back a little, so that they could see each other clearly.

  “Let me make certain I totally understand.” Because he wanted this carved in stone. “You want to be with me.”

  “Yes.”

  His eyes narrowed as he thought of Annie and Trace and Lex and Grady.

  “Maybe you could travel with me?”

  She brought her hands back up to frame his face. “Maybe...but I have chickens in addition to my job. It’s a big responsibility.”

  “Jess has often expressed a deep interest in chickens.”

  “Funny thing—that’s kind of what he’s doing now. Watching my new chickens.”

  “You’re kidding.”

  “His trailer had plumbing issues, and I’m letting him stay in the house.” She let her hands slide down to the front of his chest. “I wanted to watch you ride. I never have, you know. I only knew you by reputation.”

  “What did you think?”

  “It stirred my blood.”

  Tyler laughed even as he continued to grapple with the fact that Skye was here. She wanted him. She trusted him. “I can think of other ways to stir your blood.”

  “I know...and don’t think I don’t love that about you. I just need one promise from you.”

  “Name it.”

  “I need the truth. No matter what. If I know the truth, then I’m dealing with reality. Not illusions and not fears. Can you do that for me? Even when it’s hard?”

  He kissed her so gently and tenderly, his palm caressing her cheek as he made his promise to her. “Yes. I will always tell you the truth. You can depend on me.”

  * * * * *

  Be sure to check out the

  other books in Jeannie Watt’s

  MONTANA BULL RIDERS miniseries,

  THE BULL RIDER MEETS HIS MATCH

  and

  THE BULL RIDER’S HOMECOMING,

  available now from Harlequin Western Romance.

  And look for a new MONTANA BULL RIDERS story coming soon, wherever Harlequin books are sold!

  Keep reading for an excerpt from A COLORADO FAMILY by Patricia Thayer.

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  A Colorado Family

  by Patricia Thayer

  Chapter One

  Erin Carlton blinked several times, trying to stay awake as she drove along the Colorado highway. Last night’s graveyard shift at the Mountain View Convalescent Center had been a rough one. During her rounds there had been two emergencies. Luckily, nothing too serious. Yet with Alzheimer’s patients, you had to expect the unexpected, even if it was only to give them reassurance.

  She leaned back in the cargo van’s seat and began to relax her tense muscles as she focused on the majestic Rocky Mountains. A fresh start here in Hidden Springs had been a good idea. She’d made friends, been able to save money, but still she didn’t have enough...yet. That was the reason she was going to this interview.

  She glanced down at the written directions given to her for her appointment, not exactly sure of the location of the ranch.

  If she got this part-time job, the money would be strictly for her special account. If she weren’t so close to reaching her goal amount, she’d be home in bed, sleeping away the cool autumn day. But the money offered for this position was too good to turn down, even if she’d been warned ahead of time about the hard-to-deal-with client. Not that h
ard work ever stopped her before.

  Erin turned off the main road and saw the sign to the Circle R Ranch, then another sign for Georgia’s Therapy Riding Center. She smiled at the thought of her friends Brooke and Trent Landry, who were involved in the program for special-needs kids. If she knew how to ride a horse, she might help out, too. But this city gal didn’t have any desire to take on a horse.

  She drove through the ranch’s main gate and followed the long row of white-slatted fence. There were several horses grazing in the green pasture. She passed the large red barn and several outbuildings that had recently been painted a glossy white.

  She parked in the driveway of the large two-story gray-and-white house where two men were standing on the wraparound porch. She recognized Trent right away, and next to him was his stepbrother, Hidden Springs’ new sheriff, Cullen Brannigan. She’d met him a few times when he’d been called out to the center. His new wife, Shelby, had brought the residents some desserts from her new bakery.

  Erin parked next to the house and climbed out of the van. Trent came down to greet her. “Good morning, Erin.” He hugged her.

  “Morning to you, too. Sorry I’m late. My shift ran over.”

  Trent was a good-looking man, ex-military, and still kept in shape. A few years ago, he took over his father’s ranch and began raising cattle. And he found Erin’s friend Brooke and had the good sense to marry her.

  “You’re not late,” Trent said. “I told you if nothing else, this job would be flexible. You can work around your hours.” He glanced at the man with him. “Sorry, Erin. Have you met Cullen Brannigan?”

  “Yes. Nice to see you, Sheriff.”

  He smiled. “Same here, Erin.”

  Coming from Las Vegas, she’d met her share of phonies. From what she heard around town, these two men were as real as they came.

  “Well, I appreciate you coming out and talking with us.” Cullen blew out a breath. “Although I have to warn you, this patient isn’t the most congenial person right now. And he needs to keep his rehab a secret. No one is to know he’s here.”