Her Rodeo Cowboy

by Clopton, Debra

  “Funny man.” Pretending this wasn’t getting to her was hard work!

  “Hey, gotta try. And what I said is the truth, too. God gives us all talent in different areas. I don’t know you well enough to know what all kinds of talents He gave you, but I’ve known from day one of seeing you ride that when it comes to barrel racing, you’ve got it. He loaded you up with that talent, and with drive and heart, too. It’s an unbeatable combination. You don’t need to waste it.”

  There was a lot the handsome cowboy could have said. A lot she would have expected only a few weeks earlier from her first impressions of him. This wasn’t any of it.

  This touched her deeper than he could know. “Thank you,” she said, unable to find the right words. His smile warmed her heart. Suddenly feeling like the inside of the truck was too small, she studied the countryside as they rode. They were quiet the rest of the way back to the ranch. When he pulled up to the barn, she was relieved. She needed some space. She might have been quiet on the ride, but her thoughts had been full of Luke and what he’d said. He believed in her.

  She found that extremely appealing.

  That she could handle, but it wasn’t that she was thinking about. Nope. She was thinking about a kiss.

  She’d been curious about his past, curious about his thoughts and what made the cowboy tick. And now he’d gone and had her wondering what it would be like to be held in the arms of a man who believed in her. Mostly, she wondered what it would feel like to have his lips meet hers.

  Yep, her feet had just lost touch with the bottom of the pond and she was dog-paddling in murky waters. She wasn’t supposed to be wanting to kiss anybody! She wasn’t supposed to be thinking about falling in love!

  But sometimes a gal couldn’t control her thoughts, especially when a man said all the right things—meant them.

  That was exactly why, the minute they got to the ranch, she made her excuses and headed back to the house with a closed door between them.

  She needed time to get her head on straight.

  On Thursday, the ranch was buzzing with activity. Lacy had taken off work for the next three days and it was a good thing. It was chaos. Vendors were pulling into the ranch lane with their snow cone trailers, dog-on-a-stick shacks, kettle-corn setups and so much more. Montana was able to hole up in the arena and practice during the morning, but it was impossible soon after that. Livestock was arriving by the trailer loads, too. And the bulls! Hulking bulls that looked as mean as the reputations that preceded them, began being delivered from various sources.

  Luke was in and out, moving animals and helping make certain all manner of things were taken care of for the rodeo. Montana had been thinking about him more than was good, and tried to avoid him as much as possible. Since there was so much going on with the rodeo, avoiding him wasn’t all that difficult.

  She was with Lacy when Lilly and Cort Wells came into the barn. They were in charge of the petting zoo on both Friday and Saturday, but also helped with the rodeos at night. Samantha, their mischief-making donkey, was always the star attraction at the zoo, and she was going to be housed in a stall in the barn on Friday night.

  They were a great couple, and were in the process of adopting a set of twins. Montana laughed when they told her how they met and how Samantha had had a part in their matchmaking. From what they said, she was an escape artist that liked to roam instead of stay in her stall. Because of this, Lilly was a little worried about her getting loose and interrupting the rodeo, so they’d come to look at her stall to see what precautions needed to be made to ensure she didn’t escape.

  Montana went with them to check things out, and had to agree that it would need a little something to hold it shut better. All a smart animal would have to do was nudge the latch up with its nose and be free. Not a good thing.

  The matchmaking posse drove up just as they were exiting the barn. Cort went to find Clint. Lilly, Lacy and Montana went to help the posse set up the concession stand.

  “Hold your horses,” Norma Sue said when Esther Mae started toward the grill. “You are not getting near the grill.”

  “I’m not, but I wouldn’t have caught anything on fire if you hadn’t called me,” Esther Mae shot back with a chuckle, looking happy. “I tell you girls, there is nothing like a near miss to make a body realize how blessed they are. I very nearly lost my house. Of course, a house is just a house, and my Hank banged his head on the pier and nearly drowned. If I hadn’t been there—now that would have been a loss I couldn’t have stood. I’m a very blessed woman.”

  As she was speaking, everyone had jumped in and started organizing different areas. Lacy was putting cups up on a shelf and paused.

  “I know what you mean, Esther Mae. When I finally got pregnant with Tate, I was just so overjoyed. I really, really was. I mean, I’d finally come to grips with the fact that God might have a different plan for me and Clint. Like he did with you and Cort, Lilly. But then, when I conceived…I felt so very blessed. It’s amazing the way we can take things for granted, isn’t it?”

  “It really is,” Lilly joined in. “Me and Cort understood, even before we were married, that he couldn’t have children. We felt blessed that we had Joshua.” She smiled, showing off her dimples. “My grannies might not have ever had any luck with men, but I tell you, I got such a treasure in Cort. He might not be Joshua’s biological daddy but he is his daddy. And he is going to be the most wonderful daddy to our new boys.”

  “Yes, he is,” Adela said, opening napkins and placing them in a holder. “Psalms 107:21 tells us to give thanks to the Lord for his unfailing love and his wonderful deeds for men.” She smiled sweetly. “I love when I hear young people like you two giving Him the glory He so deserves. He likes it, too.”

  Montana was filling the ice chest with sodas and was glad she was off to the side, away from everyone. Her thoughts were filled suddenly with how disgruntled she’d been feeling about her parents’ divorce and the way her life had been before coming here to Mule Hollow. She didn’t look up as she took soda after soda and placed it in the insulated container. She felt so deeply ashamed. In thinking about the things in her life that she was dissatisfied with, had she lost sight of the blessings God had bestowed on her? The thought settled on her like a mudslide.

  Chapter Thirteen

  “This has been a long one,” Jess said at the end of the day. “See you in the morning, bro,” he called, looking at Luke out the open window of his truck.

  “I’m not far behind you,” Luke said. “It’s going to be a long day tomorrow, too.” After watching Jess leave, he headed toward his truck but found himself detouring into the barn, heading toward Murdock’s stall. Montana had disappeared in that direction earlier. With the festival there on the premises, it was a fairly congested area, and he’d been lucky to see her at all.

  He found her in the far corner, sitting alone on a five-gallon bucket. “What’s up? You look like you lost your best friend. Are you worn out?”

  She looked up at him with serious eyes, more blue than green in the shadows. “Have you ever realized you were a jerk?”

  This didn’t sound good. “What did I do now?”

  Her eyes widened and she huffed a short laugh. “No, not you. I’m the jerk.”

  Her gaze shifted from him to some far-off place in her thoughts. He spied another feed bucket, snagged it up, flipped it over and sat down in her line of vision. “You aren’t a jerk. Talk to me.”

  “I was listening to everyone working in the concession stand talk about all their blessings. Everyone was looking at all the good things God’s done in their lives. Despite the fact that there were lots of bad things happening. It made me think about where my head has been since I came here. I honestly can’t remember the last time I actually thanked God for all the good things He’s done for me. And He has given me tons of things to be thankful for—like coming here, for instance. It’s been wonderful to have Lacy and Clint’s home to come to, and to have a place to ride Murdock. I
t’s been great to spend time with Tate, Lacy and Clint.”

  “And me?” he teased.

  “Yes, it’s been a real blessing getting to know you. And that’s a big shock to me.”

  He dipped his brows into a mocking scowl. “Hey, you were on a roll till that.”

  She gave a light huff, and seemed to relax doing so. “I’m just being honest. I did think you were a bit of a jerk when I first met you. But then I changed my mind.”

  “I’m glad about that. And even if you hadn’t changed it, you still aren’t a jerk. Lots of people lose sight of the good things in their lives when they’ve got junk from their past filling up their days. It’s not always easy to let things go. Believe me, I know that from experience.” He felt as if something about her parents’ divorce was bothering her, but he wouldn’t ask. She’d tell him if she wanted. He wasn’t sure how exactly she viewed him. Sure, they’d become friends in a way. It was a little hard to explain what they’d become. He knew that he enjoyed being around her, his world did tricks when he was around her…he was more relaxed when he was near her, but at the same time he was tense. He couldn’t concentrate when she was around because he kept getting distracted lately with the idea of kissing her. If he kissed her, she’d probably slap him and call him a jerk for sure. Which wouldn’t be a good thing. Wait! What was he doing? Here he was sitting here, trying to figure out what was wrong with Montana and suddenly he was thinking about kissing?

  Yup, not good.

  “I’m not sure what’s bothering you, but if I can help, I’m here.” She could choose to talk or not. He realized he wished she would feel comfortable enough to talk to him. He wanted to get closer to her. The idea startled him a bit. It was different than when he’d dated other women. Different than just feeling attracted to a woman. He was trying to wrap his emotions around it and understand.

  “I’ve come here to try and fulfill my dream of being a cowgirl. That’s what I’m doing. But I gave it up years ago to become the career woman that my dad wanted me to be. You’re supposed to do what your parents want—right?”

  Not exactly. He thought of his dad. If he’d done what his dad had wanted, he’d be wallowing in self-pity, spending his days looking for the next bottle.

  But that was not what Montana needed to hear. “To an extent,” he said, quietly finding his way. The anger that he’d sensed in her from day one had crept back into her voice. Her attitude was locked up with it.

  “I knew what I wanted to do with my life. I could have been a champion. I may still be able to be one—but I’ve been filled with a lot of resentment lately, and it’s overshadowed everything in my life these last few months. I turned everything upside down on a whim, and came out here to stay with Lacy.”

  “My first question is, why all of a sudden are you having these feelings? Didn’t you resent it all when you gave up your dream?”

  “My dad.” Her words were full of anger. She took a breath, visibly calming herself as she started over. “My dad pushed me to be what he felt was of greater status. He was very aware of how and what others thought of us as a family. He thought riding was a great thing for me to do during my school years, but that should stop there. I was expected to go to college and get the accounting degree he felt would be appropriate. Pro rodeo cowgirl just didn’t have the right ring to it.”

  Montana had been the good girl and done as her dad wanted. “But why are you suddenly rebelling and doing what you want? Why all the resentment now? The divorce?”

  She stood and walked a few paces away before she turned, and he saw the flash of fire in her eyes. “Partly. But mostly because of his affair. When I found out about that, I hit the road.”

  “You can’t let this eat you up. Believe me, I know.”

  He went to her, wanting to brush the strands of hair from her face that had escaped her braid. “I can remember the first time I understood that my dad had a drinking problem. Like I told you before, I was young. I don’t even remember how old I was, but I remember the fights my parents had. There was nothing physical, only bitter blowouts. This particular day, my mom was crying in the bathroom and I asked my dad why he always made my momma cry. He told me she’d known he drank when she married him, and so she had no reason to always be harping on him. And then I watched him lift the bottle up and drink the whole thing without stopping. It made me sick watching. He looked at me and told me for the first time—of many—that I would be just like him.” He paused, remembering. It still made him sick thinking about it. “I never will forget that. I was young but I knew then that I didn’t want to be like him. I wasn’t sure if what he said was a fact—being young I didn’t understand exactly. I just knew I didn’t want it. I grew up quick after that.”

  “I’m so sorry.” She laid her hand on his arm and the warmth seeped into his skin.

  “It happened a very long time ago. And like I told you the other night, God helped me move on.”

  “Still, you don’t get angry?”

  “Yeah, actually, I did. I didn’t have the feeling of betrayal that’s shadowing you, but I resented that he was my dad. Unlike you, there were no expectations for me. You’re resentful because you were pinned to your dad’s hopes and dreams because you were doing what you knew was right.” He could tell that hit a mark. “You were honoring God’s plan by honoring your dad, doing what he expected of you.”

  “And he let me down.”

  “Yes, he did. My dad let me down, too, but it was out in the open. No surprises. That was just the way it was. Whereas you were blindsided by it. And now, the way I see it, you’re still staggering from being thrown off the bull and mowed down. You’re entitled to some resentment.”

  She stiffened, pulling her shoulders back. “I’ve got that. No doubt about it.”

  “Look. We don’t get to pick our parents. But we get to pick who we’ll become. That’s what I’m doing. I don’t know if you know about Clint’s mom, but in a way, she did what your dad did. She left, and it was real hard on Clint and his dad. But Mac remained hardworking, honest and someone I could look up to. I started working for him the day we moved to town when I was fifteen. He was a great influence in my life.”

  “I’ve heard Clint talk about his dad. He built this ranch on hard work and honesty. Clint has carried that out and expanded every aspect. Lacy is so proud of him and the man that he is.”

  She sighed, looking lost. “I used to be proud of my dad. I believed he was an honorable man. I believed he loved my mother. I’ve been torn up over this—mad, furious, and torn by the idea that I’m somehow supposed to forgive him for making me feel this way. Enough of this.” She waved her hand, as if shooing the thoughts away. “Anyway—it hit me today that this stuff is all I’ve been focusing on. It’s horrible how I’ve forgotten what good things God has done for me. I’m going to try to be more positive.”

  He put his hands on her shoulders. Couldn’t help it. “Good. That’s what you need to do for now. You can deal with these feelings later, but you need to clear your head tonight and get ready for tomorrow. You need to put this all out of your head and get in the zone. Murdock is counting on you.” He grinned, knowing she wanted to make her horse proud. “You’ve got this in the bag if you just get your focus on the ride tomorrow night. Maybe it’s nerves shaking you up right now.”

  “Maybe. Some of it.”

  “Focus, Montana Brown—cowgirl extraordinaire.” That got a tiny smile from her and he touched his forehead against hers. When she didn’t draw away, that got a big smile from him. “Ride like the wind tomorrow night and make yourself proud.” Pulling back, he looked sternly into her eyes. “Don’t ride with anger. Don’t ride to prove anything to anyone but yourself. And God. He’s the one who gave you this talent, and you’ve been working hard to polish it up. That’s all you can do, is give it your all. This other stuff…it’ll work itself out in time.”

  She leaned her head on his chest and nodded. He pulled her into his arms and hugged her. Just held her close,
giving her the comfort and support that he knew she needed. He liked being able to be there for her in this moment. Again, she drew him, just as she’d been doing from the first day he saw her.

  And he wasn’t exactly sure what to do about it.

  Chapter Fourteen

  It was a gorgeous, sunny day for the festival.

  “Isn’t that just the cutest thing,” Esther Mae cooed, waving at Tate. He was dressed in a baby cowboy outfit, complete with chaps and was sitting on the top of the fattest little donkey Montana had ever seen.

  Samantha the donkey was adorable. She was gray with white whiskers, and so fat that she had rolls rippling from her shoulders to her hips. She had big, brown, mischievous eyes, and when she batted her eyelashes it made Montana wonder what the little gal was thinking about. Tate was loving his time spent being held on her back. There was no doubt that, with all the cowboys in his life, Tate would be a cowboy himself someday.

  “He loves it,” Lacy said, beaming at him as she held him. He stuffed his fist in his mouth, grinning at his mom, then everyone else, when they oohed at him. He was enjoying being the center of attention. At six months old, he was already a big flirt with his big blue eyes.

  “Yoo-hoo, Luke,” Esther Mae hollered suddenly, startling everyone including Samantha, who popped her head up, looking past Montana to see what the fuss was. Everyone, including Montana, turned to see Luke striding toward them.

  “I thought you were fixin’ to walk past us,” Esther Mae said, looking more mischievous than Samantha ever thought about.

  Luke’s gaze met Montana’s and she saw his own glint of mischief. “I thought about it, Esther Mae, but with all you pretty women standing over here, I wouldn’t have been able to pass y’all by.”

  Montana almost laughed at the twinkle in Luke’s eyes. The instant she’d heard Esther Mae yell his name, her pulse had jumped into overdrive. He’d been so supportive last night, and she was still mesmerized by how safe and comforted she’d felt, wrapped in his arms. She’d had a hard time pulling back and watching him leave. Her heart had sighed as he’d driven away, leaving her standing on the front porch. She was glad the house was silent as she’d entered because she was sure Lacy would have seen her float up the stairs.