He chuckled and they both ignored the elephant in the room. “I have an idea for tomorrow. Why don’t we take the horses out in the desert and ride with no one else around. I think it will be good for all of us to get away for part of a day.”
Toly must have been reading her mind. Being around Mills was making them all stir-crazy. “I think that’s a fabulous idea.”
Of course her brother said nothing. His foul mood hadn’t disappeared, but she wasn’t going to let him ruin it for her. When she looked at Toly, he flashed her a covert glance.
“I’m glad you said that. We’ll stop for fast food on our way back to the center and be there in time for our events.”
“Perfect.”
“I’m not sure it’s a good idea.”
Nikki stared at her brother. Here they went again. “Why not?”
“Too much exercise isn’t the best thing while we’re competing.”
She counted to ten. “We’ll just walk them. Nothing strenuous. They’ll love getting out. So will I.”
“I’ve been thinking about something else,” Toly interjected. No doubt he could sense Mills was on the verge of forcing the issue. “What do you say that the day after Finals, we take a helicopter tour of the Grand Canyon before we head home? It only takes four hours and we’ll fly over Hoover Dam.”
Nikki’s heart pounded with sickening speed. Yes, yes, yes. She’d done it before as one of the perks when she’d won last year’s Miss Rodeo Montana title, but to see it with Toly would be an entirely different story.
“Let’s plan on it,” she said, so excited about that possibility, she didn’t care how her brother was acting. Toly couldn’t help but be aware of her brother’s continued resentment, but he handled it in a way that made her love him more. He had a maturity anyone would admire.
Once their meal was over, Mills said he was going to his rig to change clothes before they left for the center. Hooray!
Nikki watched him go and turned to Toly while she cleared the table. “I’m sorry my brother didn’t thank you for dinner. It was fantastic.”
“Don’t worry about it. We all deal with heartache differently.”
“It’s no excuse to be rude, especially not to you.”
His gaze met hers. “One day he’ll get past this.”
“Maybe.” She loaded the dishwasher. “But will we?”
Toly’s laugh filled the interior of the rig and permeated her heart. When it subsided he said, “We have to get past it if we want to be number one tonight! My money is on you, Nikki.”
“That goes both ways.” I love you, Toly. I love you.
Chapter Seven
Once they reached the center and parted company, Toly bridled his horse and reached for his Western saddle with its special double rigging. He’d affixed a rubber wrap around the horn to keep the rope dally from slipping when he left the gate.
Checking all the equipment, he saddled Chaz and walked him over to talk to Mills. “So you’re going to ride Dusty tonight?”
He jerked his head around. “Yeah. Is that all right with you?”
“I was just making conversation.” Toly mounted his horse. “Whatever bad feelings you have about me, can you let go of them long enough while we get through this event? I’ll see you at the box.”
Tomorrow when he took Nikki riding, he planned to tell her he wanted to be with her all the time. If she felt the same way, then did she have any ideas on how to treat Mills for the next week? He would abide by her decision until they left Las Vegas. After that, he would pursue her because she had fast become the woman he intended to marry. He knew in his soul she was the one.
Toly reached the area to watch as each set of team ropers awaited their turn. When the second-place team got ready, Mills drew up next to him. Soon it was time for them to enter the boxes. Toly was right-handed and walked Chaz in the left one. Mills entered the right box.
The steer had been moved into the chute between them, its horns wrapped for protection. The taut barrier rope ran in front of Toly’s box and fastened to an easily released rope on the neck of the steer. It was used to make sure the steer got a head start.
Because he was the header, Toly needed to work with a softer rope that had more elasticity to snag the steer around the horns or the neck. Mills’s rope had to be stiffer to rope the hind legs.
As always, Toly said a little prayer for their horses and their safety. These days he included Nikki in his prayer, then called for the steer. But as he was testing his own rope, he experienced that dreaded loss of feeling in his hand and wrist. Dear God, no.
A cold sweat broke out on his body. It was too late to do anything about it.
The roar of the crowd was deafening as the assistant opened the chute and the steer ran the length of the barrier rope. Immediately the gate opened and Toly took off, but he couldn’t do the wraps of the rope around the saddle horn, called the dally. Without being able to execute that critical move, he couldn’t turn Chaz to the left so the steer would follow.
Now that his lower arm had gone slack, the rope rested across his inner elbow. He had to hurl it using the strength from his upper arm and shoulder as the doctor had suggested, and hope it caught a steer horn, one of the three legal catches.
This threw Mills off. He had to make a blind throw, dallying tightly, but Toly couldn’t maneuver his horse to face him or the steer. His partner did his best to immobilize it and stretch out its hind legs. But he only nabbed one leg.
When the official waved his flag, Toly’s gut told him they’d lost valuable time plus gained a five second penalty because Mills didn’t rope both legs. The crowd noise reflected their disappointment. Sure enough their score had been low enough that they probably netted third or fourth place when the scores were averaged. Depending on the scores of the other finalists, their number one standing was now in jeopardy.
In a lightning move he made a grab of the reins with his left hand and turned Chaz around so they could ride out of the arena and down the alley. Once he reached the stall, he dismounted on a run, hiding his right hand under his left arm. Until the feeling came back, he had no strength and it hung lifeless.
He patted his horse’s neck. “Sorry, buddy. You did great out there.” After signaling one of the attendants to take care of Chaz, he slipped out the back of the center past other contestants getting ready for the bull riding. Toly needed time to recover alone and hurried out to the car. Maybe Mills hadn’t seen him leave yet.
He climbed in the backseat and began massaging his lower arm and hand, willing some feeling to come back. His shoulder ached like crazy. For all he knew he’d done some damage there with that throw. This was one time he wouldn’t be able to see Nikki perform.
For this to happen in the middle of Finals, it meant a whole new change of tactics. Toly wasn’t left-handed, but from now on he was going to have to train using his left hand if they expected to win. Over the years he’d thrown ropes with both hands. But the tricky part had to do with the dally. He needed to work on wrapping it with the hand that wasn’t used to doing that maneuver.
It meant no trip to the desert tomorrow. He would train most of the day.
Since they’d planned to pick up fast food afterward, neither he nor Nikki would be cooking tomorrow. No expectations. That was good. While deep in thought, the front driver’s door opened. Mills’s head appeared. “Toly?”
“Yeah.”
“Why didn’t you wait for me?” He climbed behind the wheel and looked around at him.
“I...needed to be alone. You go back and watch Nikki.”
“Not yet. It’s my fault this happened tonight.”
Toly’s head reared. For once Mills was acting very subdued. “What in the hell are you talking about?”
“It’s true. I’ve been such an ass, I’m surprised you d
idn’t quit on me long before now. I have no right, but I’m going to ask you to forgive me for the way I’ve carried on about you and Nikki. She called me out earlier.” Toly decided his older brother was some kind of a prophet. “I know I’ve been a jerk, and it put you off your game.”
“It’s not your fault, Mills. I swear it.”
“Nevertheless things are going to change starting right now.”
The sincerity in his voice sounded real enough, making Toly feel guilty that he hadn’t shared his neuropathy condition with Mills. But he still didn’t want him to know the truth until he’d done some training tomorrow. He imagined his doctor would be surprised if he knew what had happened tonight.
If he thought he could get through the rest of the events using his left hand, then he had to find out. Otherwise they would have to withdraw from competition and that would kill Mills. Toly was determined that for his partner’s sake, he would move heaven and earth not to let that happen. Nikki’s brother deserved and needed to be a national champion.
For the first time in his life, something was more important to Toly than winning. In this last year he’d met the love of his life. Losing the national championship would mean nothing to him personally if he couldn’t have a future with Nikki Dobson.
“The only thing important about tonight is for one of us to be there for Nikki. I’ll be fine. See you two in a little while. If she wins tonight, you’ll have to take her to the South Point to pick up her gold buckle. I’ll ask you to drop me off at the RV park on the way. Don’t worry. I’ll tell her I strained the muscles in my upper arm and shoulder. We don’t want her to worry. Now go, or you’ll miss her event!”
“We still need to talk, Toly. I’ve been too protective of her.”
“If I had a sister, I’m sure I’d be the same way and probably worse, but we’ll hash it out later. Before you go, I want you to know you saved the night with your throw. You got one of the legs, thank heaven, or we’d have ended up with the lowest score of the night and be finished. That’s why you’re the number one heeler on this year’s circuit. Congratulations.”
“You managed to snag a horn, Toly. I don’t know how you did it. We’re still alive.”
“Yep. Now get out of here so Nikki will know we’re cheering for her.”
“I’m going.”
After he shut the door, Toly leaned back against the seat. Some feeling had started entering his arm again. The weakness never lasted long, but tonight it cost them. He couldn’t allow it to happen again.
Until they returned to the car, he went over the new strategy in his mind. He didn’t dare switch boxes with Mills tomorrow night. He’d have to use his left arm to throw and make it work, though it would be harder. He would practice using his left arm before going to the arena.
“Toly?” he heard Nikki call to him some time later before she even opened the front passenger door. Once inside she leaned over the seat to look at him. The fear in her fabulous gray eyes for him was a revelation. It reminded him of the night he’d sought her out at the MGM Grand and she’d been worried about Mills. Things had changed drastically since that night.
“Are you all right? Please don’t let one higher score change anything for you. You’ll still average out first because of all your wins.”
Could any woman be more beautiful, inside and out? “I’m fine, Nikki. All I need to know is, did you win another gold buckle tonight?”
“She did! You should have seen her sashay around those barrels!” Mills spoke up after opening his door. He sounded elated, but it couldn’t match Toly’s excitement for her.
Mills started the car and they left for the RV park. Before she could ask, Toly said, “Much as I’d like to see you get your buckle tonight, I’ve asked your brother to take me to the rig. My shoulder is hurting. I need to put an ice pack on it and get a good night’s sleep. That will solve the problem, but I’m afraid it means a ride out on the desert tomorrow is out for me.”
“Don’t worry about that, Toly. You need to take care of yourself. We’ll stay around and make sure you don’t starve.”
“I don’t want you waiting on me. Tomorrow I’ll be exercising my horses, but thank you for the thought. Hey, Mills—who did the fastest time tonight?”
“Luis Mondego and Kip Jackson from South Dakota. Clay’s team came in second. We were third.”
Toly swallowed hard. At least they’d stayed in the top three tonight. There was still a chance for them depending on how well his practice went tomorrow. By late afternoon he would know if he had to tell Mills the bad news or not.
“Thanks for bringing me back first.” They’d pulled up to Toly’s rig. He got out. His right hand was functioning well enough again that no one could tell what had happened. He stared at Nikki through her open window. “I’d love to go to the hotel tonight. Be assured I’ll be there all the rest of the nights.”
“Thank you, but I’m not concerned about me.” The tremor in her voice got to his heart. “Take care of that shoulder, Toly. We’ll see you tomorrow. If you need anything, call no matter the time.”
Oh, Nikki. Was he ever going to take her up on that offer when this was all over.
* * *
DESPITE HER LATEST WIN, Nikki awakened early Sunday morning, having spent a restless night at her hotel. Toly’s hurt shoulder had to have caused him a lot of pain for him to go straight back to the rig. He would never ask for help, but she didn’t care. They’d been living in and out of each other’s pockets for a while now and she wanted to do what she could for him.
After washing her hair, she got ready for the day and put on the clothes she would wear in her event tonight. Once she’d exercised her horses, she drove to the RV park with some food from a deli she liked. Why not surprise him with a meal? Hopefully his shoulder would be much better.
Nikki didn’t see anyone around when she parked her car behind the Dobson rig. She left the food in the car and walked over to the barn to find Toly. Snapper was gone, but Chaz was in his stall. Hmm. She didn’t know how long he would be running his horse through the motions.
Finally she walked back to her car and put the food in the fridge of their trailer while she waited for him. The Christmas tree drew her gaze and she turned on the lights. It added a festive air she loved.
Unfortunately she didn’t have Toly’s cell phone number, so she called her brother. Mills wouldn’t be happy about it, but she was long past worrying about his feelings.
To her disappointment it went through to his voice mail. She left a message for him to call or text her back with Toly’s phone number. With her horses stalled at the center, she couldn’t ride out to find Toly. Instead she walked to the barn again, hoping he might have come back, but no such luck.
As she wheeled around to leave one more time, he suddenly appeared at the entrance to the stall on foot, pulling the lead on Snapper. A coil of rope hung from the saddle horn. With that sore shoulder, she wondered if he’d been able to get in much practice.
His eyes played over her, making her senses come alive. “I’ve been thinking about you all day. To find you here couldn’t be a better gift.”
“I’ve been hoping you would come back,” she said in a breathless voice. “I brought us a meal.”
So fast she couldn’t believe it, he dropped the lead and drew her into his arms. “Last night I didn’t get to congratulate you the way I wanted. For a year I’ve wanted to kiss you. Now I’m going to do it, ready or not.”
“Toly,” she whispered his name, melting against his rock-hard body while he covered her mouth with his own. Nikki had never known a feeling like this in her life and came close to fainting from the desire he aroused in her as they began devouring each other. She’d dreamed of being with him, but no dream produced this kind of ecstasy. With his hands roaming over her back and hips, she’d turned wanton, craving his love.
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“You’re so beautiful, I don’t believe you’re real.” He buried his face in her hair. “I’ve needed to feel you like this forever.”
She twined her arms around his neck. “I wanted you to kiss me while we were dancing.”
“Only then?” he teased before kissing each feature of her face. “There were reasons I didn’t. Reasons we need to talk about, but right now I can’t think.”
Once again they gave each other one hungry kiss after another and she felt her passion bursting out of control. She had no idea when they would have come up for air if a couple of riders hadn’t come down the aisle and were nearing Snapper’s stall.
Toly moaned before easing Nikki away from him. His peridot-colored eyes held a glaze. She could tell he was out of breath too. The people were getting closer. She moved out of Toly’s way so he could bring his horse inside the stall.
Once the people had passed, he pressed her against the wall. “Let me take care of Snapper,” he murmured against her lips, “then we’ll go back to my trailer.” He gave her another long, hard kiss.
“I’ll help you.”
Together they removed the gear and made certain he had hay and water. Toly’s shoulder didn’t seem to be bothering him as much now, thank goodness.
“Let’s go.” He put his arm around her shoulders and they walked back to the rigs. The sensation of their bodies brushing against each other was another new exciting experience she never wanted to end.
“I put the food in our rig. I’ll get it and come over to yours.”
“That’s a good idea. Mills went out with friends a little while ago, but he’ll be back soon. Until he gets here I have things to say to you in private.”
She felt an urgency coming from him apart from his wanting to be alone with her. What was it about? After retrieving their meal, she took the sack and the Christmas tree to his rig. He’d left the door unlocked. She went inside and locked it again. When she reached the kitchen, she plugged the Christmas lights in, then warmed up the Chinese takeout in his microwave.
Roping Her Christmas Cowboy Page 9