by T. J. Kline
“What about this weekend?”
“Good to know you’re listening.” Scott removed his gloves, slapping them against his thigh as he stood up. He caught his brother’s frown. “I’m just kidding. Man, what has you all riled up?”
Derek shook his head and tucked his work gloves into his back pocket. “Nothing.”
Scott tossed the tools into the truck bed. “You’ve been awfully quiet today.” He crossed his arms over the side of the truck and looked at his brother across the truck bed. “You okay?” He opened the small ice chest in the back of the truck and tossed a bottle of water across to Derek.
He caught it and opened the bottle, chugging half in one swallow. “I guess I’m worried about Angela wandering around the rodeo unsupervised all weekend.”
Scott shrugged and shook his head. “Don’t sweat it. You know we take care of our animals. We take every precaution for the cowboys. There’s nothing for her to find.” He took a second bottle of water from the ice chest, offering another to Derek. “She’s not the first activist we’ve ever dealt with. Why are you so worried?”
“No thanks. Because she’s the first one I’ve dealt with on my watch,” he admitted. “You and Mike always took care of them. I wasn’t around, remember?”
“So?”
Derek cocked his head at his brother as if the answer should be obvious. “I don’t exactly have a track record of good decisions, Scott.”
“You need to stop this.” Scott crumpled the plastic bottle and tossed it into the back of the truck before opening the passenger door and climbing inside. Derek followed and started up the truck. “You can’t punish yourself forever for Liz. You aren’t the same person you were.”
Derek knew that coming from Scott, considering how strained their relationship had been over the past few years, his comment was the highest praise he could imagine. He felt his chest swell a bit knowing his brother recognized all he accomplished in the last year. He quickly shoved away any feelings of pride as he thought about the fact that they’d had only ten foals this year instead of hundreds over several years because of his selfishness and immaturity. He couldn’t let this situation escalate into another mistake like last time.
“Thanks for taking time out from flirting to help me with the fence today.” Scott could barely hide the smile as he cupped his chin in his fist on the window.
“You’re an ass.” Derek shot his brother a glare but wasn’t about to deny he’d enjoyed the time he’d spent with Angela the past two days.
Scott laughed and raised his palms toward Derek. “Just saying, it must be hard to find time to work when you’re busy riding with someone who gets a rise out of you just walking into the room.”
Derek arched a warning brow at his brother. Scott’s double meaning wasn’t missed. “I’m sure it’s been so long since you and Sydney met that you barely remember.”
Scott chuckled. “Yeah, right. And I remember fighting it just like you’re doing. Don’t bother. You might as well give in and enjoy it. It won’t do you a bit of good to fight, anyway.”
Chapter Thirteen
* * *
ANGELA STARED IN awe at the buzz of activity around her. The sun had barely crested the horizon and cowboys, trucks, and trailers filled with animals were scattered everywhere she looked. As Sydney loaded several horses into the trailer, Scott directed other cowboys to take two of the rigs into the east pasture to load the bulls he’d separated. Mike took the lead loading the cattle for the timed events and prepping the truck while he was on the phone with the stockyard they would stop at on the way to the rodeo to water the animals.
Her eyes found Derek across the busy corral. Amidst the hectic activity and stress, he still found a moment to share a laugh with one of the older cowboys. She admired his easygoing humor, even in the face of immense pressure. She bit her lower lip as she watched him head into the barn, returning with a saddle over each shoulder. He was an impressive specimen of a modern cowboy. The baby on her lap slapped her hands against her chest playfully, distracting her from appraisal.
“Looks like Kassie needs your attention more than Derek,” Silvie pointed out.
A blush flooded Angela’s cheeks at being caught watching him, and Silvie laughed, wiggling her fingers in front of Jennifer’s little boy, Blake. “Don’t you worry, Angie, I doubt anyone else is even paying any attention.”
Angela was just about to deny watching Derek when her cell phone rang. Her heart jumped into her throat. She knew it was Joe again, wanting to know if she’d dug up any dirt. She needed to continue to avoid his calls until she could find something—anything—that might get him to send a news crew to the rodeo this weekend.
“I can hold Kassie if you want to take that,” Silvie offered.
Angela shook her head, praying that Joe wouldn’t call back until she was on the road. “It’s fine. I’ll call them back later.” She pushed the button to reject the call.
Silvie eyed her but refrained from commenting as Mike approached, folding the papers in his hands and shoving them into his back pocket. “Angela, are you planning on driving, or did you want to ride in one of the trucks?”
“I was planning on driving.” Angela shrugged. Just remembering the touch of Derek’s lips on her own, his hands burning her bare skin, kept her tossing and turning into the early morning hours. It was going to be a long day if she was driving after a sleepless night.
“I just figured riding in one of the trucks would give you a more authentic experience. We have plenty of room. You could ride with Scott and Sydney, if you don’t mind the baby,” he said, chucking Kassie’s chin and making a silly face at her. “Or you could ride with Derek.”
Her heart picked up speed at Mike’s suggestion. As much as three hours of close confinement with Derek might send shivers of anticipation over her flesh, she wasn’t sure she was ready to be alone with him after yesterday. She didn’t want to face their troubled pasts, and who knew where the conversation might lead. But riding with Derek would give her an excuse for not returning Joe’s call.
“Great then that’s one less car we need to worry about at the rodeo.” It didn’t sound like he was actually giving her a choice.
“Whatever is easier, Mike. I don’t want to be any trouble. And I’m going to try to get a crew there at some point this weekend, if that’s still okay with you.”
Mike nodded and jotted himself a reminder on the papers from his pocket. “Just don’t let me forget to get them press passes when they arrive. Are you packed?”
“Sydney loaned me a few outfits since I didn’t have long-sleeved shirts. It’s a good thing we are about the same size.”
“I’m going to make sure everything else is well under way. We’re pulling out in about two hours.”
“How is this chaos going to be ready to leave in two hours?” Angela whispered to Silvie as Mike walked back toward the barn.
Silvie laughed. “That man is a magician. You’ll see. Just make sure you’re not the one holding up the show.” She rose and carried both babies into the house for breakfast.
DEREK GLANCED AT the woman seated next to him in the truck. Whose bright idea had it been to put them in a truck together for three hours? The last fifteen minutes of awkward silence was enough to make the tension between them obvious. So far, Angela had spent each mile ignoring him, making it clear she had no interest in conversation. He wasn’t sure what had happened since yesterday afternoon at his house, but it hung in the air, dragging out every second into a roar of silence in the cab. Maybe knowing what sort of man he was had extinguished any attraction she might have had. It was probably for the best, but he couldn’t help feeling disillusioned.
He reached over and turned on the radio. A country song blared through the speakers of the truck. If she wanted to ignore him, he could do the same. She glanced his way, and then turned back to the window almost immediately, watching the miles of scenery slide by and fade into the distance. After another twenty minutes, he couldn’t
take it and clicked the radio off.
“Did I do something to piss you off?”
She glanced his way, looking bored. “What are you talking about?”
“You’re acting like I have the plague.” Derek’s hands squeezed the steering wheel and he took a deep breath. “So, what’d I do?”
Angela shook her head and shrugged. “After yesterday I just . . .” The ring of her phone interrupted what she was about to say. She glanced at the screen, biting her bottom lip nervously. “Crap. I have to take this,” she explained as she pushed the button.
Derek wondered if she really didn’t want to take the call or if she was just avoiding talking to him. He saw a flicker of nervousness in her eyes and she sat upright, looking straight ahead.
“Hey, Joe.” He could barely hear a muffled male voice on the other end of the line. “I know, but it’s been a busy morning. We’re already on our way to the rodeo grounds.”
Was that a tremor he heard in her voice? Where was the confident woman who usually argued with him?
“It went well. I might have a lead, but I can’t really talk right now.”
She glanced at Derek and he arched his brow at her in question. A lead? That didn’t sound like it would bode well for his family. “You aren’t coming until Saturday? That might be a bit of a problem.”
She sighed and he wondered who this Joe might be. Obviously it was someone she worked with, but he didn’t like the worried tremor in her voice any more that he liked the direction the conversation was taking.
“I can’t get into it right now. I guess Saturday will be fine. I’m doing the best I can,” she muttered through clenched teeth into the phone before disconnecting the call.
“Trouble?” He wanted to press her for information, to find out what her “lead” might be, but he also wanted to find out what had brought the shadow of apprehension to her eyes again.
“My boss,” she said, pocketing the phone as if that should explain everything.
“I know how that is. Damn demanding bosses.” He glanced sideways to see if she’d detected the teasing note in his words. He caught her trying to hide a smile, even as she bit on the corner of her lower lip nervously. What he wouldn’t give right now to nibble the soft flesh, even in the face of her indifference today.
“Look, I don’t know what happened yesterday after you went to town, and you don’t have to tell me, but are we okay?”
She looked him in the eye and he could see the apology there. It was the last thing he wanted to see in her eyes. It meant she was about to do something that would damage the tenuous connection they were building, something she felt the need to apologize for. She shrugged and looked back to the window.
Derek clenched his jaw and looked out the windshield. “So, we’re back to this? You’re the reporter bound to blow the whistle on the villainous rodeo industry, and I’m the depraved stock contractor abusing animals for fun?” He shook his head in disgust.
“I didn’t say that.”
“You didn’t have to, Angel.” He couldn’t look at her. He was afraid she would see his disappointment and regret. He hadn’t been able to change her mind.
“I don’t have a lead, and I don’t know what I’m reporting,” she confessed. “That’s the problem.”
“Why can’t you just report the truth?”
“Because they don’t want the truth,” she pointed out. “And there’s not a damn thing I can do to change their minds.” She turned back to the window, effectively ending the conversation.
This was going to be a long weekend.
WHILE THE MEN unloaded the animals into various pens, Sydney asked Angela to help her prepare lunch at her trailer. Angela hesitated to join her, worried Sydney might see through her confident façade, but she didn’t want to take her frustration out on the other woman. Joe was furious with her lack of details, refusing to send a crew until late Saturday evening, after the performance. If she didn’t come up with something in the next two days, Joe was going to pull the story and crush her chance to get her father into rehab.
After her conversation with Dr. Bradford, she recognized there was no animal abuse, at least not with this stock contractor. Sure, there were ways professional rodeos could eliminate some of the risk for the animals, but this was an issue filled with gray areas. Without any evidence of abuse, she was having a difficult time finding another angle that would make this story worth the station’s time.
Angela slathered condiments on the bread Sydney had spread over the counter and table as they prepared sandwiches for the entire crew in assembly-line fashion. She sighed, wishing that one breath could convey all of the frustration, anger, and misery she felt. She refused to entertain the thought that she might be returning to her apartment sooner than she ever anticipated and without any hope to offer her father.
“You’re kind of quiet today. Are you okay?”
“I guess.” She reached for the lunchmeat, slapping slices onto the bread. “I’ve just got a lot on my mind.”
“Anything I can help with?” Sydney glanced at her as she put cheese onto the sandwiches. “I’m a pretty good listener.”
Normally Angela would have refused. She didn’t like listening to others complain, and she wasn’t one to confide her secrets with strangers, but she was at a loss. She had nowhere to turn for solutions. “I’m not sure what to do about this story. It’s pretty obvious you guys aren’t abusing your stock. I’ve tried to get the station manager to spin the story the other direction, making you the victims of a witch-hunt, but they aren’t having any part of it. They want the ratings that controversy brings, and making you guys out as the hero won’t cut it.”
Angela slumped into the chair as Sydney finished the sandwiches. “If I can’t find a story before tomorrow, I’ll be back on the air doing ribbon cuttings and covering charity events by Monday.” She rested her chin in her hand, watching Sydney pile the sandwiches onto a platter.
“You want more,” she clarified. “I know that feeling. Can’t you just go to a bigger station?”
Angela shook her head. “I can’t give up this job until I have something better. I have . . . responsibilities I can’t ignore.”
Sydney arched a brow and tipped her chin up, staring at her curiously. Angela cursed herself for not being more careful with her choice of words, and she was grateful when Sydney didn’t pursue it. “Can you take some time off?”
Angela shook her head. “They don’t like when your face is off the air if you’re the one pulling in ratings. I already had to pull some strings to get them to let me off now. They aren’t happy about it and they’re getting impatient.”
“I have an idea,” Sydney said, motioning for Angela to grab several bags of potato chips and a tray of sandwiches. “Let’s get these boys fed and we can work on the details over the weekend. I think between the two of us, we can convince your boss to take this angle.” She winked at her. “I’d bet Derek would be happy to help us.”
Angela rolled her eyes as they headed out to feed the crew. Apparently the attraction between them hadn’t escaped anyone’s radar. If everyone else could already sense it, Joe would be sure to notice it when he came out to shoot video. How in the world was she going to hide it from him?
THE ANIMALS HAD been rested and watered at the stockyard, reloaded into the trailer, and unloaded a second time at the rodeo grounds. While the cowboys made sure the animals were settled, Angela helped Sydney take care of the baby and set up a buffet style meal of barbecued hamburgers, potato salad, fruit salad and grilled asparagus. Once the meal had been eaten and cleared away, Sydney had brought out several chocolate cakes, frosted to perfection. She refused to allow Angela’s assistance in cleaning up, insisting that she sit and take notes.
With full bellies and gregarious companionship, Angela sat outside Sydney and Scott’s trailer with several of the cowboys she’d met on the ranch, all circled around a propane fire pit. She was amused as they recounted stories she was sure they shared at
every opportunity. Each cowboy tried to outdo the last, their exaggerations growing wilder with each tale, and she couldn’t help laughing. Her eyes slid past Jake, the most boisterous of the men, as he spun another story about Sydney and Scott’s first meeting. She glanced at the pair standing just outside the circle, their young daughter asleep against Scott’s chest and Sydney curled under his other arm. It wasn’t hard to see they were very much in love, but according to Jake’s recounting, Scott had run her over with his horse and she’d insulted him. Angela laughed with the rest of the crew and sipped her bottle of water.
She searched the faces around the fire pit for a particular cowboy missing from the festivities. She spotted Derek leaning against the back of a horse trailer, watching from a distance. He stood with his arms crossed over his chest, listening but not participating. She could barely make out a faint smile on his lips and wondered why he didn’t join in the fun. She rose, dropping her notebook onto the folding chair before walking toward him. He straightened and tucked his hands into his front pockets nonchalantly when he noticed her approach. She wondered at his segregation.
“Having fun?” His voice was deep and slightly raspy after hollering at the crew while unloading.
She smiled. “Those guys are something else. I thought I could tell a good story, but they are amazing.”
He returned her grin. “Yeah, well, you probably shouldn’t believe half of what they say.”
Angela glanced over her shoulder in time to see Sydney wink at her while the rest of the group continued to laugh loudly at Jake’s story. “I don’t know.” She looked back at Derek, his face half hidden by shadows, and her heart skipped at his rakish appearance. “They’ve had quite a few tales about you. You seem to be quite the ladies’ man.”
His face grew serious. “Like I said, you probably shouldn’t believe even half.”
Angela took a step closer to him, closing the physical distance between them but unsure how to close the gap her story was widening between them. If she and Sydney could come up with a better story, she prayed they could bridge it. Her fingers itched to touch the rasp of his day-old beard growth. She laid her hand on his chest, feeling the muscles twitch beneath her fingers. Her breath quickened as he wrapped his fingers around her wrist gently.