Last Chance Rodeo

by Kari Lynn Dell

  Kylan flattened out the grin. “Are you okay?”

  “Yeah.”

  “You might not want to hang out on the side of this horse,” Rusty said, fighting a grin of his own.

  Kylan burst out laughing.

  David knocked the dirt off his hat, flattened out a brand-new crimp in the back of the brim and staggered back to Muddy, who, damn his evil heart, looked like he was smirking, too.

  Gotcha.

  David built a new loop and took a couple of deep breaths, closing his eyes. This was not how he’d pictured his first runs when he got back on Muddy. He was too jazzed, too emotional. Focus. Inside his head, he replayed the best runs he’d made on Muddy, how it felt. The speed, the power. Gotta be aggressive. He took another cleansing breath and then opened his eyes.

  Muddy’s ears pricked, as if he felt David’s resolve. His butt had barely touched the back corner of the box when David nodded his head. Two swings and zap. He roped the calf clean. David was off the right side and gone, holding the slack so the calf switched around on the end of the rope without losing its feet. It jumped into David’s arms, helped along by Muddy hustling backward. David snatched the calf out of the air and dropped with it to the ground, the flank, gather, and tie flowing so smoothly into one another it was a single, continuous motion. He slapped on a wrap and hooey and threw up his hands.

  Rusty hooted his appreciation, clapping as he jogged out to untie the calf. “That’ll punch your ticket to Vegas!”

  David glanced over at Kylan. The kid stood slack-jawed.

  “Whaddaya think?” David asked.

  Kylan jerked a shoulder and turned his back. “It’ll work, I guess.”

  His lack of enthusiasm stung, and David couldn’t exactly say why. It wasn’t like he needed the kid’s approval. He knew a good run when he made one. But still…

  He coiled his rope, adrenaline surging in his system, blasting away the momentary gloom. Muddy hadn’t lost a beat. Images raced through David’s head, the places they would go, the things they could do. His muscles twitched, and his heart raced in anticipation. He wanted to load up and go now. This minute. Find a rodeo, any rodeo, and rope.

  All of a sudden, Friday’s run in Reno was an eternity away.

  He tied Muddy to the fence, breathing deep to settle his revved-up system. Kylan climbed on the dun and loped a few circles. The gelding handled pretty nice and wasn’t tough to look at. Could they actually be lucky enough to find the right horse on the first try? David was so pumped, he felt like anything was possible.

  Kylan rode into the box and eased the horse back into the corner. The dun stood square, ears at attention, until Kylan cocked his arm back, ready to nod. The horse slumped, dropping his right shoulder to lean against the side of the box.

  “Tighten up your left rein,” Rusty said. “And try to push him over with your right foot.”

  Kylan tried, but the dun just leaned harder into the side of the box.

  “Ride him forward and reset him,” David suggested.

  Kylan pushed his reins forward and kicked with both feet. The dun obliging walked to the front of the box, stood calmly beside the chute, then backed into the corner when Kylan picked up on the reins, but as soon as the kid cocked his loop back and got ready to nod, the horse slumped over against the side of the box again.

  “Maybe if you quarter him more,” Rusty said.

  Kylan rode up and back again, angling the horse more to the left the way Rusty had instructed. The horse still leaned, so far his left hind foot came off the ground, and David thought he might flop onto his side. Crap. No wonder someone had wanted to get rid of him.

  They tried circling him, first one direction and then the other. Didn’t matter. The horse would stand perfectly straight until Kylan cocked his arm back to nod, then he’d slouch over like he’d decided to take a nap.

  “Well, at least he’s pretty calm about it,” Rusty said.

  “He gets much calmer, he’s gonna doze off.” David walked into the box, grabbed the breast collar, and pulled, dragging the horse upright and holding him there. “Nod your head.”

  Kylan nodded. Instead of running straight out of the box, the horse moved sideways and then forward. The delay made them a mile late, the calf wandering out of the chute, then squirting ahead when he heard them coming. They caught up just as the calf reached the end of the arena and ducked left. Kylan threw a loop that sailed like a Frisbee, three feet above the calf’s head.

  Rusty said a bad word. David silently concurred. “Come on back,” Rusty yelled. “We’ll try it again.”

  And again. And again. No matter what David did, the horse wouldn’t run straight out of the box. After six attempts, Kylan was red-faced and panting from frustration. He hadn’t had a single decent throw.

  “I guess we know why he’s cheap,” David said.

  Kylan slid to the ground and tugged his rope off the saddle horn with angry jerks, his head bowed and his face set. He’d barely said a word the whole time. David followed him across the arena where Kylan tied the dun down the fence from Muddy and crouched to unstrap the skid boots from his hind legs. David would’ve liked to pat the kid on the back, reassure him, but he wasn’t sure he dared.

  David erred on the side of caution and kept his distance. “Well, I guess it was worth a shot.”

  “Yeah. Whatever.” Kylan stuffed his rope into his can and slapped the top on, showing David his back.

  Okay, then. The kid didn’t want to chat. David backed off, retreating to the roping chute and leaving Kylan to loosen his cinches and stow the rest of his gear.

  “What else have you got?” David asked Rusty, already knowing the answer.

  “Nothing that would suit Kylan. The sorrel horse is too green…”

  David listened with half an ear while he watched the kid, puzzled. He’d explained on the way over that this was a long shot and not to get his hopes up, and Kylan had said he understood and he wasn’t expecting much. So why get all upset?

  “What’s that?” David asked when he realized Rusty had said something and was waiting for an answer.

  “Do you want to run a few on your white horse?” Rusty repeated.

  Kylan shuffled over, his gaze glued to the dirt, and slouched against the fence, still mute. The brim of his cap was yanked down so far David couldn’t see much of his expression. Was he sulking? Embarrassed? Disappointed? Impossible to tell.

  “You go ahead and get on your horse,” David said. “Kylan and I will push a few for you.”

  And while they were at it, maybe he could figure out why Kylan wouldn’t even look at him.

  Chapter 19

  Kylan remained stubbornly silent through the rest of the practice session, responding to all attempts at conversation with grunts and shrugs. After a few tries, David left well enough alone.

  When Kylan did speak, it was a whole four words. “Shouldn’t we go now?”

  David checked the time on his phone. Crap. It was after three. “He’s right. We’d better scat.”

  “You sure?” Rusty asked, shooting David a loaded glance that clearly said, “You can still take Muddy and run.”

  “I’m sure,” David said. Almost sounded like he meant it, too.

  They took the direct route, rather than Kylan’s shortcut, and David kept one eye on the clock, tapping his fingers in a nervous beat on the steering wheel. He’d meant to get home before Mary even knew they were gone. No chance of that now. She’d have time to stew before they got back to her place. To think about where they’d been. Didn’t take a fortune-teller to predict how she’d feel.

  It was four thirty when they rolled into Browning. As the community college came in sight, Kylan spoke up. “Could you drop me off at Starr’s place? We’re supposed to go to a movie tonight.”

  “Oh, sure,” David grumbled. “Let me take all the heat.”


  “It was your idea,” Kylan said.

  David shot him a narrow-eyed glance. “You aren’t gonna take care of your horse first?”

  “He’s not my horse anymore,” Kylan said flatly.

  The kid had a point. He also had some serious attitude. David wasn’t sure how much more of it he could tolerate, so he said, “Fine. I’ll handle it.”

  Kylan ignored his snide tone, pointing to a street across from the Town Pump. “Turn up there.”

  David followed Kylan’s directions to a white clapboard house with peeling paint and a rickety woven-wire fence. The yard was clean, though, the grass mowed, a pot of pink geraniums on the front step. Kylan bailed out and slammed the door, buried his hands in his pockets and slouched his shoulders as he circled the front of the pickup without a glance in David’s direction. David watched him go, kneading the steering wheel with his hands. What the hell? Everything had seemed fine on the way out to Rusty’s place and while they were saddling up to rope. Kylan had even laughed when David got slam-dunked. What had got up his ass all of a sudden?

  David shook his head. This was exactly why the wild idea that had been brewing in the back of his mind was impossible. He was not equipped to handle any kid, let alone this one.

  He eased away from the curb. A right at the next street took him down to the main drag. He turned left, toward the fairgrounds, and was deep in contemplation of just how damn good that last run on Muddy had felt when a siren shrieked behind him. He glanced down. Nope. He wasn’t speeding. Maybe they were after someone else. But the cop car stayed right on his bumper when he turned into the casino parking lot to get off the street.

  David peered in his rearview mirror and swore when he saw the stocky form behind the wheel. Oh hell. JoJo.

  Then the car stopped, the passenger door flew open, and David realized the cop was the least of his problems. He barely got both feet on the ground before Mary was in his face, her voice climbing the scale into a panicked shriek.

  “Where have you been?”

  David put out his hands, ready to ward her off if she went for his throat, which seemed likely the way she was frothing at the mouth. “We were roping. At Rusty’s. Kylan was supposed to leave you a note.”

  “You mean this?” She slapped a yellow sticky note onto his chest hard enough to make it sting.

  He peeled it off and read the childish, blocky print. WENT WITH DAVID. Seriously? What the hell, Kylan? David crumpled the note in his hand. “I’m sorry. We thought we’d be back before you got home.”

  Mary’s hands fisted in the front of his shirt, and she did her damnedest to shake him. “Where is Kylan?”

  “I dropped him off at Starr’s.” David pried her fingers loose, wincing as they ripped out a few chest hairs. “What did you think, I sold him into slavery?”

  “Great. Make jokes.” She clenched her fingers on the hem of her blazer as if in dire need of an anchor. Her voice shook, her breath hitching like she might hyperventilate. “I come home, Kylan is gone, Muddy is gone, your rig is gone. What am I supposed to think?”

  David scowled. “The worst, obviously.”

  “That’s generally the safest bet.” She spun on her heel and ran square into JoJo.

  The cop caught her shoulders, steadying her. “You want me to arrest him, Mary?”

  “What for?” David demanded.

  JoJo glared at him over Mary’s head. “Child abduction. Horse theft. Whatever else I can think of.”

  “It’s my horse. Kylan is an adult. And in case you didn’t notice, I brought both of them back.” Although David was beginning to regret that decision.

  “It’s okay, JoJo.” Mary shook off his hands and pressed a fist to her mouth as if it might steady her voice. “I can handle it from here. And since Kylan doesn’t seem to have his phone turned on”—she glared at David as if this was somehow his fault—“I’ll call Starr to make sure he’s okay.”

  “For Christ’s sake!” David threw up his hands, exasperated. “We drove across the county to rope a few calves. I don’t think he’s traumatized for life.”

  Mary’s stare could’ve cut glass. “Kylan gets upset more easily than most kids.”

  David squelched a twinge of concern. No sense telling her about Kylan’s mood after the roping session; it would only set her off again. And besides, Kylan had said he and Starr had a movie date. That should cheer him up.

  “Can you talk while we drive?” he asked. “All I got for lunch was some beef jerky and a Coke, and my belly is starting to think my throat’s been cut.”

  Mary’s expression suggested she wouldn’t mind if he keeled over from starvation. She stomped around the front of the pickup, hopped into the cab, and slammed the door. David did likewise. He was extra careful pulling out of the parking lot, praying all of his trailer lights were in working order since JoJo stayed on his tail and would love any excuse to write him a ticket.

  Mary jabbed at buttons on her phone and then pressed it to her ear. “Hey. It’s Mary. David said he left Kylan there.”

  She listened, lips pressed tight as Starr’s voice chirped through the phone. Then she frowned. “Oh. Yeah. I forgot. But you should have called me first. I don’t think it’s a good idea, driving over to Cut Bank when Kylan’s had such a rough couple of days…”

  Starr’s voice rose, insistent. Mary’s frown deepened. Then she sighed. “Go ahead, since you’re already on your way, but come straight back after.”

  She hung up after what sounded like Starr’s assurances that they would be fine.

  “Satisfied?” David asked.

  “No.” Mary swiveled in her seat to squint at him. “What did you do at Rusty’s?”

  “We roped. The horse Kylan tried was a pig in the box and we couldn’t figure out any way to get by him, so we gave up and came home.” David paused, debated whether to confess he’d broken the news to Kylan that he wouldn’t get keep Muddy until nationals, decided against it. Was it his fault Mary had misled the kid?

  Mary gave him a long, narrow-eyed stare, as if trying to see through his words to the truth, whatever she imagined that might be. Her face was pinched with worry, the shadows dark in her eyes.

  “Listen, I am sorry we scared you,” David said, his conscience giving him a sharp jab as he imagined her coming home, finding nothing but that piece-of-crap note from Kylan. “We would’ve waited until after you were done with your work thing, but we couldn’t waste a whole day.”

  “Plus, you knew I wouldn’t let you take Muddy.”

  David started to object, but they would both know it was bullshit. Hadn’t he been relieved when Galen didn’t answer his phone and there had been no one to order Kylan not to go with him? “For what it’s worth, I didn’t know we’d left the reservation until Rusty told me.”

  “I can believe that. But Kylan…what was he thinking?”

  “That he could trust me?”

  She snorted. “Right. Like he knew one way or another.”

  “I’m here, aren’t I?”

  She stared at him for a beat, then buried her chin in her chest and slumped in her seat, pressing her fingers to her temples. “God. I have to stop and breathe. I’m so… I was really… I just need a minute.”

  David gave her several, listening to her slow, deep breaths and feeling the tension begin to ebb in the cab of the pickup. She was slumped bonelessly in her seat by the time he pulled the rig around and parked in front of her barn. “I’ll take care of Muddy. You can…whatever.”

  “Go to hell?” she said quietly.

  He paused, his hand on the door. “I didn’t say that.”

  She dipped her chin, her teeth pulling at one corner of her bottom lip, eyes downcast. “You have a right. I…um…might’ve overreacted a little.”

  “You called the cops on me.” He couldn’t wring all of the outrage from his voice.

/>   She rubbed a hand over her forehead, as if to massage away a pain. “I called Kylan’s cousin, who happens to be a cop. It’s not like we put out an APB on you…exactly.”

  “Uh-huh. In other words, every cop on the rez was looking for my rig.”

  “Actually, JoJo had already told them all to keep an eye on you.” She gave a puzzled shake of her head. “I don’t know how you made it out of town without getting stopped.”

  David did, but he wouldn’t tattle on Kylan and his shortcut. “Might as well slap one of those electronic ankle cuffs on me while you’re at it,” he said, unable to let it go. He wasn’t the one who had a stolen horse in his corral. Why was he being treated like a criminal?

  Mary hunched lower into her seat, her shoulders creeping toward her ears, and for the first time, David saw a resemblance between aunt and nephew. “I’m sorry, okay? I didn’t mean to imply that you’re not trustworthy. But Kylan… Sometimes he does stuff.”

  “Like what?”

  “Like when he got mad at me for not letting him watch TV until he got his math grade up, and he decided to hitchhike to Billings to see his mother. Galen found him at two thirty in the morning, twenty miles out in the middle of nowhere on Highway 89.” She shuddered, remembering. “Anything could’ve happened to him out there. Today, when I had no idea where he’d gone…”

  Fear bubbled in her voice, defusing David’s righteous anger. He’d taken her reaction personally, an insult to his character. He hadn’t considered there might be good reason Kylan was required to check with her before leaving home. Hadn’t thought about much of anything except finally having the chance to rope on Muddy.

  For the first time since this whole mess started, he truly did feel like a selfish bastard.

  “That was stupid of me,” he said, shame lowering his voice. “I should’ve called your cell phone and left a voicemail. And I did sort of railroad him into going, so don’t be mad.”