Roping Her Christmas Cowboy

by Rebecca Winters

  When he finally let her go, he turned to Nikki. “Thank you for making me see reason.”

  Tears rolled down Denise’s cheeks. “Thank you for being the best friend a girl ever had.”

  “What a night for celebrating!”

  Denise nodded. “Speaking of that, we need to get back to my hotel so I can change before we drive over to the South Point.” She slid off his lap.

  Mills walked over to hug Nikki. “We’ll see you there in a little while.”

  “Most definitely.”

  Not two minutes after they left, she heard a loud rap on her hotel room door. That was odd. “Yes?” she called out. “Who is it?”

  “Toly gave us a card key.” Us? “Can we come in?”

  “Yes,” she said in a hesitant voice.

  The door opened and in walked his three hunky brothers she’d only seen on his cell phone gallery. They wore his smile and all had inherited the Clayton charm and fabulous looks.

  “I’m Wymon.” The dark-haired one spoke first. “Our brother was right about his fiancée. You are gorgeous. By the way, this is Roce and that’s Eli. According to Toly, the doctor said you would need a bodyguard if you wanted to see the ceremony in person. So the three of us have come to do the job. Our mom is already at the South Point with Toly and they’re waiting for us.”

  “Oh my gosh.” Thank goodness she’d done her makeup and had changed into her outfit so she’d be ready when he came.

  “I’m glad you’re ready because we don’t want to miss anything.”

  Since Toly had loved the black outfit with the red embroidery, Nikki had chosen to wear it. She kept on the sandal she was wearing.

  The one named Roce whistled. “You’re on time too. Our bro is a lucky man.”

  “He says he belongs to the best family on earth and can’t wait to help all of you on the ranch.”

  Eli, the dark-brown-haired brother, grinned at her. “That’s when we’re all going to get tired of hearing about the beautiful rodeo queen he was determined to rope for himself. But it looks like you roped him. Want me to carry your bag?”

  She laughed. “Would you?”

  “I’d be honored.”

  The next twenty minutes became a blur as they helped her out to a limo and escorted her to the South Point. As usual, the place was packed, but since it was the last night of Finals, there was an energy she’d never felt before.

  They cleared the way for her to the front where she suddenly saw Toly sitting with his mother, their heads close together while they talked. Her heart did a thunderclap to see him decked out in his Western gear and Stetson.

  Roce walked ahead and alerted Toly, who jumped up and turned around. Like in a dream, he moved toward her, his green eyes ablaze with joy and light. For tonight their win had changed him. She didn’t see any sadness. He came close and swept her and her crutches into his arms—even if he was hurting—and kissed her in front of everyone.

  “I love you, Toly. I love you.”

  Wymon patted his shoulder. “Come on, bro. We’re all due on stage.”

  “Let’s go, sweetheart.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “You’re coming with us.”

  Before she could think, the whole Clayton clan helped her go up onstage with him. But nothing could have shocked Toly more than to see Mills and Denise waiting for them. He had his arm around her and they both glowed.

  Toly whispered, “If I’m having a hallucination, don’t bring me out of it.”

  “It’s no hallucination. Mills stopped her from leaving town. I’m sure he’ll tell you the details later, but just before your brothers came to pick me up, Mills brought Denise to the hotel. They’re getting married. Wouldn’t it be exciting if we made it a double wedding?”

  Mills walked over and hugged Toly hard. “Forgive me for everything.”

  “I will if you’ll forgive me. After all, we’re brothers.”

  “Yes, we are,” Mills said with tears in his eyes.

  Then Toly squeezed her waist. “Come on, sweetheart. We have to sit down so our award ceremony can begin. Then we’re on our own.”

  * * *

  AFTER SAYING GOODBYE to Mills, who was flying back to Great Falls with Denise on Sunday morning, Toly loaded Nikki into his rig with her bags. He planned to drive her home, driving straight through so they could be alone. The crew had the job of returning the rental cars and taking all four horses back in the Dobson rig.

  Toly knew Nikki wondered why they weren’t flying too. But he needed time to tell her something. He dreaded it. Depending on her reaction, there might not be a wedding, after all.

  She insisted on sitting in front next to him while he drove. Fortunately she could bend her leg. They’d stopped to stock up on snacks and drinks. Hard to believe they’d never driven in one of their rigs together on their way to a rodeo on the circuit. They could have done when they’d both been featured at different venues. But Mills had set the boundaries.

  Now there were no boundaries. But a new hard cruel fact had arisen that could change everything in an instant. As the sun went down, it started to snow. The time seemed right to tell her what was on his mind. If they ran into a blizzard, then he’d stop at a lay-by until it stopped.

  She smiled at him. “This is so cozy. I’ve had dreams about living with you in this rig.”

  She didn’t know the half of it. “Nikki?”

  “What is it, darling?”

  “I have something important to tell you before you go to bed.”

  “I’m not ready for that yet.”

  “But you need to rest your leg.”

  “Obviously you’ve got something important on your mind.”

  “I need you to think about something hard. After I’ve taken you home, I’ll be driving to the ranch. I won’t call you until you’ve had a few days to deal with it.”

  “Deal with what? You’re scaring me.”

  “If it weren’t scary, we wouldn’t be having this discussion.”

  “I don’t know you like this, Toly!”

  “I’m sorry, sweetheart. I don’t know how to do this any other way.”

  He could hear her struggling. “Go on.”

  “I need to tell you everything about my neuropathy.” For the next fifteen minutes he laid it out for her, sparing her nothing. She had to understand what could happen to his legs and feet, arches and toes. In time he might even have difficulty breathing or swallowing.

  “This condition can affect your sense of touch, how you feel pain and temperature. One of the symptoms is a weakening of muscle strength. Another symptom might be losing your balance. It could be hard to do things that require coordination. I might get to the point that it would affect my walking, let alone fastening buttons.”

  “Stop! I’ve heard enough. The only thing I know is that you have a problem in your right hand and lower arm.”

  “But it could get worse, “Toly murmured. She shook her head. “I’m not going to listen.”

  “Please hear me out. The doctor told me I’d live out the years given to me, but at what price? I don’t want a wife who has to push me around in a wheelchair. Last night I realized I shouldn’t have proposed to you, but I love you too much. You don’t want to marry a man who is already becoming an invalid.”

  “That’s ridiculous, Toly. I won’t listen.”

  “I was wrong to give you that ring. You shouldn’t have to be tied to a man in my condition.”

  “Are you asking me to give it back?”

  “I made a mistake. Now I’m begging you to sleep on this for a few days while you allow the reality of what I’ve said to sink in.”

  He heard her sharp intake of breath. “I don’t need a few days. I can’t believe the great Toly Clayton, the cowboy who was crow
ned king of the headers last night is ready to throw in the towel today. Am I even talking to the same person?”

  “Nikki—”

  “I don’t want to hear another word.” She reached for her crutches and stood up. “I’m going to bed. In the morning I want you to stop at the nearest airport and I’ll fly the rest of the way home. Considering that you could be falling apart anytime now, I’m surprised you wanted to drive me at all.”

  She tossed the ring at him and hobbled away faster than he could have imagined. Dear God. What had he done?

  * * *

  “TOLY? ARE YOU awake yet? Solana, the housekeeper, tried to get you to come down to breakfast, but she said you didn’t answer.”

  He rolled over and sat up. “I was awake all night and barely got to sleep. I don’t feel like talking right now.”

  “I’m not the person who wants to talk to you, but if that’s the way you feel, then I’ll send her away.”

  Could it possibly be Nikki? After what he’d said to turn her inside out, he never thought to see her again.

  “Wait, Mom—” But she didn’t answer back.

  Like lightning he jumped out of bed, pulled on a pair of jeans and a T-shirt. Then raced out of the room and down the stairs to the living room. The traditional tall Christmas tree with its multicolored lights dominated the interior. Its glow illuminated his former fiancée standing in front of a wall of family pictures, using her crutches for support. She was a breathtaking sight in a Western Levi’s skirt and cherry-red sweater.

  “Nikki?”

  She turned and eyed him with a laser-like glance that was discomfiting. “I’ve been looking at everyone, all ages and sizes. After reading online, I understand that your condition is inherited, but I don’t see one of your relatives who’s in a wheelchair.”

  “Listen, I—”

  “No. You listen. As I recall you told me to go home and think about this for a few days while I dealt with it. The question is, have you dealt with it? You look perfectly healthy to me right now. I don’t see you weaving or wobbling on your feet. You even had enough strength to close the fly on your jeans before you flew down here like you were coming out of the alley.”

  He shook his head. “I can’t believe you just said that.”

  “I do have a brother, you know, and I couldn’t believe all that drivel you told me in the rig.” She handled her crutches with amazing dexterity and walked right up to him. “Where’s my ring?”

  “Upstairs.”

  “I’d like you to put it on me again.”

  Toly had never been so humbled in his life. “Sweetheart, I—”

  “I think you ought to stop talking and go get it. That is, if you can, or have you lost feeling in your feet?”

  “It isn’t funny, Nikki.”

  “No, it isn’t. So let’s have all the fun we can before I have the joy of wheeling you around. You know—a wedding, a wedding night! A honeymoon? I called your doctor.

  “After talking to him, maybe we can plan a late one after you’re operated on in Paris. I’d much rather go there than the Mayo Clinic. You and I have lived an inbred life in our horsey world. It’s time we found out why everyone says that if you haven’t been to France, you haven’t lived.”

  “Would you be willing to live in the rig until our ranch house is built?”

  “I’ve been planning on it. Denise will be moving into the ranch house with Mills. I told you before, the rig felt like our home while we were in Las Vegas.”

  “I was never happier in my life than being there with you. Just so you know, Mom gave me a piece of land up the road. She and Dad talked about it before he died. It’s the perfect spot to build our ranch house. But with the snow, it probably won’t be ready until late spring.”

  “I don’t care how long it takes.”

  “After Christmas we’ll hire an architect.”

  “I was thinking the four of us could get married two weeks from today, if that’s all right with your family. We’ll do a reception here and another one in Great Falls.”

  He nodded. “I’ll be right back.”

  Solving the problem of levitation for all time, he flew through the house and up the stairs to get her ring out of his dresser drawer. On the way down, he almost ran over his mother at the landing.

  She cupped his face in her hands. “That woman is pure gold and more valuable than all the gold buckles you ever won.” He’d finally told his mother about his neuropathy.

  His eyes smarted. “I know.” He hugged her hard before hurrying into the living room. Nikki stood near the tree, balancing on her crutches with her right arm while she extended her left hand.

  He walked over and slid the ring home. “Thank heaven for you,” he murmured against her lips and rocked her in his arms for a long, long time. The crutches fell to the floor, but they didn’t care.

  Chapter Thirteen

  Nikki grabbed the playing cards and looked up at Toly from her side of the bed wearing only a sheet. Since their church wedding in Stevensville, they’d spent the last three days and nights in the rig decorated for Christmas by her new sisters-in-law. They’d put up a fabulous Christmas tree and had hung garlands that stretched from one end of the rig to the other.

  Potted red poinsettias had been placed around his bedroom that had become their bedroom. The whole rig smelled of pine and Nikki was so in love, she never wanted to leave it or his arms.

  “You’re a cheater, Mr. Clayton, but I can’t figure out how you do it.”

  “So you’ve noticed I have another skill besides cooking, Mrs. Clayton.”

  “You’re fishing for compliments again. Are you ready for a post Christmas present?”

  “You’ve showered me with too many.”

  “This one is different and my personal favorite. You’ll have to get out of bed. It’s up on the top shelf of the closet in the hallway.”

  “I didn’t know that.”

  “I had a hard time trying to figure out where to keep it out of sight until now.”

  He kissed a certain spot. “I’ll be right back.”

  Nikki watched her gorgeous husband pull on the bottom half of his sweats and leave the room for a minute. When he returned, he had to remove the Christmas wrapping from the fourteen-by-eighteen framed photograph.

  She heard him suck in his breath. “Nikki—Where? How? When did you take this picture?”

  “Last summer while you were out in the corral with Snapper practicing some throws, I was upstairs and saw you out the window. It was hot. You took off your shirt and had just dipped your Stetson in the rain barrel before putting it on your head. I thought you were the most amazing male specimen I’d ever seen in my life.

  “Without hesitation I reached for my camera and took a dozen pictures of you. After having them developed, I decided I loved this one best. The art studio enlarged it to this size and I had it made up in black and white. The silver-and-black frame with the clear glass cover looks perfect with it. Did you see the plaque at the bottom?”

  He looked down. In a husky voice he said, “The Sapphire Cowboy.”

  “Yup. One day our children will regard this as a great treasure to cherish forever. I know I do. If you’ll notice, the white gold band on my ring finger makes the perfect frame for my gray sapphire, another treasure.”

  Toly rested the photograph against the wall. “Just a minute. I’ll be right back.”

  What was he up to?

  In a minute he came back and handed her a gift of approximately the same size. “It’s your turn.”

  Excited, she undid the wrapping and there was one of her posters. The kind she’d given out at the dealership in Great Falls before they’d left for Las Vegas. It was in glorious color and framed in a light oak color.

  “Oh, Toly—”

/>   He smiled. “I grabbed one when you weren’t looking and planned to hang it in the tack room on the ranch. But everything has changed since then and I wanted us to have it. There’s a plaque at the bottom.”

  She couldn’t believe it and looked down. My Sweet Clover Sweetheart.

  Her eyes filled with tears. “I can’t believe it.”

  He put both pictures against the far wall and got back in bed. “Consider this an after Merry Christmas gift, my love. Now why don’t we call it a night.”

  “I thought you’d never suggest it,” she teased.

  “You little hussy.” He turned off the lamp at the side of the bed and leaned over her. “I don’t know how it’s possible, but my hunger for you just keeps growing.”

  He started devouring her. They made love again. She never wanted it to stop. Each time he touched her, it thrilled her so much she moaned in ecstasy. Amazing how her cast didn’t interfere with the pleasure they brought to each other.

  In the middle of the night Nikki awoke, wishing he weren’t asleep. She caressed the dusting of hair on his chest. He was such a beautiful man and almost too wonderful to be real. She’d known him for a year and couldn’t believe she’d been lucky enough to have married him.

  “I heard that sigh,” he murmured, kissing her throat.

  “You’re awake.”

  “Yes. It sounded serious.”

  “It was. I think I love you too much.”

  “Then we suffer from the same condition.” He plunged his hands in her hair. “I’ve been worried you’d wake up before now and tell me you need a day away from me.”

  Nikki laughed and slid halfway on top of him. “I’ve been worried what your family will think. We haven’t gone outside once.”

  “We’re in the middle of a blizzard right now.”

  “Still—”

  His deep chuckle permeated her body. “With three brothers who are crazy about their wives, you know exactly what they’re thinking.”

  “It’s kind of embarrassing.”

  “It’s kind of wonderful to be this much in love, sweetheart. I still can’t believe you wanted to marry me knowing what could be ahead of me.”