“Daddy.” The young boy sobbed, his little arms wrapped tightly around Chase’s neck.
He sounded upset but strong.
Chase was fairly confident the boy hadn’t been hurt, but he’d feel better once the medics had a chance to look at him.
“Riley,” the woman said, putting her hand on the boy’s trembling back, “Mommy’s here, honey.”
Chase looked down to see a pretty, dark-haired woman, her blue eyes bright with unshed tears. Her face was pale and her deep red mouth was tight with concern. She had a spray of freckles across her cheekbones. It was an irrelevant fact that somehow registered in his brain.
She was fresh-faced, no makeup, but she had dark lashes that framed the most beautiful eyes he’d ever seen. Her thick hair was pulled up in a ponytail. She wore a moss green T-shirt with capped sleeves over a pair of faded jeans. She was local. He’d bet she was local.
She tried to gather her son from Chase’s arms and Chase tried to hand the boy over, knowing he needed his mother’s comfort.
But the boy wouldn’t let go. He gripped tighter to Chase’s neck.
“Daddy,” he moaned tearfully.
Chase lifted his brows to the woman in a silent question.
“He’s confused,” she said. “He saw you ride.”
The explanation didn’t make any sense to Chase. He knew the boy had dirt in his eyes. Maybe he simply couldn’t see.
“Your mother’s here,” he told the boy.
“No, Daddy, no!”
“Riley.” The woman’s voice was sharper than Chase thought necessary.
“Daddy, don’t go,” Riley wailed.
Two medics appeared, a man and a woman, both of them zeroing in on Riley.
“We need to check him out,” the man told Chase.
“Please do.” Chase had no intention of stopping them.
A security guard also arrived and began moving the crowd away to give the medics space.
The female medic moved behind Chase.
“His eyes are full of dirt,” she announced.
“We’ll need to move you to the tent,” the man said. “I’m Jason,” he told Chase. Then he looked to the woman. “This is your son?”
“I’m Maddy Barrett,” she said. “His name is Riley.”
“Riley,” the medic said, “does anything hurt?”
Riley didn’t answer; he simply clung tighter to Chase.
Chase looked at Maddy. “We should move this to the medical tent.”
Whatever was upsetting the boy, Chase couldn’t imagine it was being helped by all of the commotion. The announcer had moved on to the next bull ride, and the crowd was gradually settling back in their seats, but there was still interest in him and in Riley.
The woman named Maddy gave a rapid nod. “Yes, thank you.”
Chase started to walk.
“Anything hurt on you?” the female medic asked Chase.
“I’m good,” Chase said.
“The bull stepped on you.”
“Took a kick to my side,” Chase acknowledged as they made their way down the stairs to the area beside the stalls.
“You’ll need an x-ray.”
“I’m hurt, not injured.” Chase could still breathe, and the pain was dull more than it was sharp. His ribs weren’t broken. They were only bruised. He’d felt the same pain many times before.
His score would no doubt put him in the finals, up in just over an hour. He needed to walk it off not lay around under an x-ray machine.
They entered the relative calm of the medical tent. It was built over a rubberized plywood floor, with bright lighting, three stretchers, and basic medical equipment.
Chase carried Riley to the closest stretcher.
“The man has to put you down now, honey,” Maddy said to Riley.
“No.” Riley moaned, his face pressed against Chase’s chest. “Please don’t go, Daddy.”
There was something about the boy’s vulnerability that got to Chase. A protective instinct welled up inside him. He knew it was only temporary. In minutes, maybe only seconds, Riley was going to realize his mistake.
But that led Chase to a question. Who was Riley’s father? Where was he? Chase was new enough to the AEBR circuit that he didn’t know everyone. But if Riley’s father was another rider, shouldn’t he be here taking care of his son?
Maddy put her hand on Riley’s shoulder, working her fingers against Chase’s chest. “Riley, you need to let go.”
Riley shook his head.
Maddy looked at Chase, an abject apology on her face. “He’s confused,” she said again.
The female medic, obviously deciding to go with the flow, put a stethoscope to Riley’s back.
“Can you breathe in for me?” she asked Riley. “Nice and deep.”
The boy took a deep breath while she listened.
“Can you show me your eyes?” she asked him. “Just turn your head toward me and blink. Your daddy doesn’t have to put you down.”
Again, Riley did as he was asked.
“I’m so sorry,” Maddy whispered to Chase.
“Maybe you can call his father?” Chase suggested, growing impatient.
If Riley’s father was here on the grounds, he might want to get his ass over here and help his wife and his traumatized son.
Maddy swallowed instead of answering. The abject sadness in her eyes gave Chase the answer. He could have kicked himself for his insensitivity.
“He was a bull rider?” Chase guessed.
Maddy nodded. “You look a lot like him.”
Chase’s arms involuntarily contracted around Riley. “How long?” he asked Maddy.
“Nine months. Last September in Nashville.”
Now that he had a date, Chase knew of the incident.
The medic moved around Chase to speak to Maddy. “We’re going to need to rinse his eyes.”
“Okay,” Maddy agreed.
“Can you hold him?” the medic asked Chase.
“I’m not—” Chase stopped himself. He had no intention of allowing Riley to continue in his delusion, but perhaps this very second wasn’t the time to make things clear. “Sure,” he said instead.
“Hey, buckaroo,” he said to Riley. “I’m going to sit us down. You can stay in my lap if you want. But the medic is going to have to get your face and your eyes really wet. Your eyes must hurt right now.”
Riley nodded.
“I’ve had dirt in mine too and had them rinsed out. The water will feel funny, but it doesn’t hurt very much. And you’ll feel better after. That be okay?”
“Yes, sir,” Riley said.
“You’re very brave,” Chase said.
Maddy put a trembling hand to her mouth.
“I’m not finding any other injuries,” the medic said to Maddy.
“Thank you.” Maddy’s voice was hoarse with emotion.
“We have to get to you next,” the male medic told Chase in a no-nonsense voice.
“I’m fine,” Chase reiterated. “Just take care of the boy.”
He sat down on the stretcher, positioning Riley in his lap. The medic wheeled up a tray with an eyewash bottle and some towels.
“It would help to get your flak jacket off,” the male medic said.
Chase frowned at him. “You’re not going to give it a rest are you?”
“Do you want to make your next ride?”
Chase grimaced. “Fine. Go for it.”
He peeled up the Velcro and pulled his left arm out of the vest. Then he popped the snaps on his black shirt. The medic anchored the sleeve while Chase shrugged his way clear.
The man’s thumbs pressed on the sore spot and Chase sucked in a breath.
“You will need an x-ray,” the medic said.
“Sure. After my ride.” Chase would be happy to pop down to the local hospital at the end of the evening. He had no other plans.
Riley squirmed in his lap as the female medic sloshed the water through his eyes.
“Keep the
m open,” she told him.
Riley tried, blinking rapidly against the unfamiliar sensation. But he didn’t cry and he didn’t complain. Chase couldn’t help but be impressed.
“I can tape your ribs,” the medic offered.
“Thanks,” Chase said.
He’d take the extra support. The prime Harper Bucking Bulls were saved for the finals, and there was no doubt he’d have a jarring ride.
Zane Merrick appeared, striding through the tent entrance, zeroing in on the little group.
“Maddy,” he said, “I didn’t realize it was Riley. Is he hurt?”
“He’s fine,” Maddy answered.
“Nice pickup, Chase,” Zane said with obvious gratitude.
Chase gave a nod of acknowledgement, waiting for someone to elaborate on Zane’s interest. The two had met on several occasions over the past few months. But Zane had a tight group of friends and Chase was the new guy. They didn’t exactly hang out between events.
“Zane is my brother,” Maddy said.
“We’re all done here,” the female medic said, setting down the wash bottle and patting Riley’s face dry. She looked to Maddy. “From what I can see, he’s going to be just fine. You may want to follow up with your family doctor on Monday.”
“We will,” Maddy said.
At the same time, Zane crouched down next to Riley. “Hey, little buddy.”
Riley drew back against Chase’s chest.
Zane shot Chase a look of confusion.
In turn, Chase looked up at Maddy, lobbing it to her for an explanation. He couldn’t honestly figure any of this out. Riley’s eyes were clear now. He could see again. He’d been listening to Chase speak for coming up on twenty minutes, and he wasn’t backing away from his assertion that Chase was his father.
*
Though the immediate danger was over, Maddy was grateful to now have her twin brother Zane at her side.
“How was your ride?” she automatically asked him.
“It should get me there.” Then he waved away the question as unimportant, taking Maddy’s arm and drawing her out of Riley’s earshot. “What happened here? How did he fall into the ring? And Riley knows Chase Garrett? Do you know Chase Garrett?”
“Riley heard Chase’s name on the loudspeaker, and he bolted from the stands.”
Zane shrugged in incomprehension.
“Chase Garrett sounds an awful lot like Chase Barrett.”
Zane’s jaw dropped. “No way.”
Maddy tried her best to give a concise explanation. “Riley said you told him there were bulls to ride in heaven.”
“Sure,” Zane said. “Why wouldn’t there be?”
“I don’t think he understands the difference between heaven and Baton Rouge or Tulsa. In his mind, each of those are places were his daddy goes to ride bulls and then comes home again.”
Zane’s gaze shifted to Riley and Chase. “He thinks his daddy is coming back?”
“He thinks his daddy has come back. This Chase looks a lot like our Chase.” Maddy wouldn’t exactly call it uncanny, but the resemblance was there in the jaw and around his gray eyes, and strangely, in his expression when he frowned.
“He’s way taller,” Zane said.
“He’s a lot bigger,” Maddy agreed. “But relative to Riley, they’re both big.”
“Riley can’t seriously believe…”
“It can’t last,” Maddy agreed. “But I think he wants so badly to believe”—her voice caught—“that his daddy is home.”
Zane drew her into his arms. “Oh, Maddy. You don’t need this on top of everything else.”
She leaned into her brother, drawing strength for as long as she dared. Then she squared her shoulders. She forced herself to draw back.
“I’ll have to cope.”
“You always cope.”
“My son needs me.”
“Yes, he does.” Zane’s gaze strayed to Chase again. “Did he just play along?”
“I don’t think he knew how to react. He was pretty great about it.”
“He joined the tour after Cooper broke his leg. So far, he seems like a decent guy.”
Maddy also looked over at Chase Garrett. The medic was taping his ribs. It had to hurt, and holding Riley in his lap couldn’t be helping. But his expression was stoic.
His gaze met hers and a surge of gratitude and admiration washed over her. At huge risk to himself, he had saved her son’s life.
“I have to…” She didn’t know what she was going to say or do, but she had to try to express her gratitude.
She left Zane behind and walked back to Chase.
He was attempting to put his arm back into the sleeve of his shirt.
“How can I possibly thank you?” she asked simply.
He gave her a smile. It turned to a grimace as he struggled with the sleeve.
She reached out to help, holding the sleeve opening in place so he could slip his hand in. Then she pulled it up to his shoulder, her fingers grazing his bare, hot skin. Some kind of energy seemed to emanate from him. She put it down to raw strength.
It felt good. And it made her feel strangely safe. She gave into temptation and took a step further into his aura, drawing the sides of his shirt together, clicking the snaps one by one.
He looked up, but she didn’t dare meet his gaze. It was gratitude she was feeling, but it was also attraction, and that attraction was layered with a completely inappropriate arousal. Chase Garret was sexy. He was rugged and protective, and about as sexy a man as she had ever met.
“No need to thank me, ma’am.” His voice was gravely deep.
Her husband had had a deep voice. It was yet another piece of Riley’s fantasy that would fit. She found herself noting his earthy scent: grass, fresh air and horses. It was cowboy through and through.
“You saved his life,” she said.
She’d finished with the snaps, but she didn’t step back.
Instead, she gave in and looked into his eyes.
“I’d have done it for anyone. A child, a cowboy… you.”
Her chest contracted, and she drew in a jerky breath.
“I’m just glad I was there,” he said.
“You made sure you got there.” Her mind flashed back to the critical seconds, Chase’s lightning fast sprint, his dive in front of the rampaging bull, the way he rolled his body around Riley. If he hadn’t done everything so fast, so right…
“Don’t do that,” he said to her. “I can see where your mind’s going. Don’t let it. I got to him. That’s all that matters.”
“You could have—”
He covered her hand with his. “I didn’t. I made it. Your son is safe.”
“Daddy?”
Chase’s eyes clouded for the briefest of seconds.
“Riley, honey,” she said, crouching down to draw him into her arms, “you have to come with Mommy now.”
“No.”
Chase rustled Riley’s hair. “I have to go ride now, buckaroo.”
Riley looked at Chase. “You’re going to ride another bull?”
“I made the finals. So, yes, I’m going to ride another bull.”
Riley sat more fully upright. “Eight seconds?”
Chase gave an eye-crinkling smile. “Eight seconds.”
Riley lifted his hand for a high five, and Chase gave him a light smack on the palm.
Maddy’s chest nearly caved with emotion. For an instant, her husband was back, and Riley had a father once again.
Riley sobered, looking up at Chase. “You’ll come back after?”
It was obvious Chase didn’t know how to answer the question.
Zane’s hearty voice broke in. “Sure, we’ll be back. We’re not going anywhere. We both made the final ten.”
Maddy shot her brother a look of surprise. It might be tough, but it was better to end this thing now. Riley would be upset, but he was going to be just as upset later when they had to say goodbye to Chase.
Zane reached out to brush
the tip of Maddy’s nose. “This’ll wait, Matilda. We’ve got us some bulls to ride.”
Riley finally slid off Chase’s lap and took Maddy’s hand.
Chase came carefully to his feet. “Matilda?” he asked her in an undertone.
“I hate it. He uses it when he thinks I’m being too fussy.”
“You’re not too fussy.”
“Thank you.”
“And you’re not too blasé.” He started to walk. “You, Madeline, are just right.”
Riley took a hop and a skip between them. “What bull are you ridin’, Daddy?”
“How did you know Madeline was my real name?” she asked Chase.
“Lucky guess.”
“You’re ridin’ Lucky Guess?” Riley took Chase’s hand as well.
“They haven’t done the draw yet. But all the Harper Bucking Bulls are tough.”
“Are they ornery?” Riley asked. “Stubborn as mules? Do they jump sky high?”
“All of the above,” Chase said with an indulgent smile.
“Then you should get a gooood ride.”
“I expect I will.”
“Will you win another buckle?”
“Riley,” Maddy said. “You need to let Chase focus.”
She swung her son up into her arms. There was something too intimate about him walking between the two of them.
They came to the junction of the stands and the stalls. It was time to say goodbye to Chase. One of the cowboys tossed Chase his lost hat, and he caught it in midair to plunk it on his head. She detected the slightest of grimaces as he moved.
“Hurt?” she asked.
“It’s nothing.”
“Thank you, Chase,” she said one more time.
He tipped his hat and smiled. “Happy to be of service, ma’am.”
And then he was gone. And Riley was smiling. And Maddy’s heart felt ever so slightly lighter.
It was a rebound reaction, she assured herself. After such intense fear and danger, she should expect to feel better than usual. And she did.
Chapter Two
Chase had had some odd experiences in his twenty-seven years, but nothing came close to the past hour with Riley Barrett and his mother Madeline. He’d never met Chase Barrett, and nobody had ever mentioned a resemblance. But obviously there was something there beyond the similar name. Riley wasn’t playacting. He was convinced Chase was his father.
Chase (American Extreme Bull Riders Tour Book 2) Page 2