The Cowboy Comes Home

by Roni Adams

  Teddy studied him with steely eyes. “A man faces his problems head on. If you didn't love her and didn't want to marry her, then you should have told her face to face."

  Tyler let his breath out. Why couldn't anyone understand? “I couldn't face her. I knew if I saw her, I'd never leave."

  Cord shook his head in obvious disgust. “Then that should've told you something. But it's too late now. She's moved on, Ty. Cole's a good man. Stay away from her while you're home."

  His brother's unspoken words hung in the air between them—Cord had given his blessing to their neighbor. Teddy crossed his arms over his chest and nodded in full agreement.

  Tyler walked away. What else could he say? His own brothers thought he was wrong to come home. He'd been so full of hope driving back to the ranch last week. He'd even convinced himself that if he tried hard enough he could win Beth back.

  Entering the Weston house, he headed to his bedroom, closed the door, and stripped off his shirt. In the bathroom, he ran the shower and stepped under the spray.

  Maybe he was wrong to come back. At least on the Circle S he was respected, and no one questioned him. At home, everyone thought he was an idiot and told him what to do again.

  Frustrated, he dried off and had just climbed into bed when his cell phone chimed with a text message. He picked it up off the nightstand.

  Charli Boyd, Chase's gorgeous redheaded daughter. She'd always been a friend of the family, but in the last eighteen months they'd become the best of friends. He pushed the button and read the brief message.

  How is it going? Any progress?

  He tapped out a reply. Beth hates my guts and my brothers are ready to kill me for hurting her. She's dating our neighbor and her idiot business partner is living in the house I built for her. Other than that, just wonderful.

  A few seconds later, her reply came through. Your brothers will come around. With Beth, you need to be on your knees buddy, serious groveling suggested. Stay strong! Call me if you need me. TTYL.

  Tyler tossed the cell back on the side table, punched his pillow and flipped to his side. He knew right now that if he got on his knees in front of Beth, she'd plant one of her boots right in the middle of his face.

  He closed his eyes and envisioned the Beth of his youth, waist length, white-blonde hair and sparkling blue eyes. She'd been a little dynamo and he'd worshipped the ground she walked on. If Beth said jump he asked ‘How high'? That girl could twist him around her little finger and leave him wanting more.

  He'd had to leave the way he did or he never would have. What no one understood was that if he'd faced her, told her he wanted to hit the road, she'd have said, “Let's go,” and he'd have been powerless to stop her. She would have gone wherever he wanted to go and put her dreams on hold because she wanted to be with him.

  When Doc handed her the veterinarian practice, he saw how much it had meant to her. It wasn't fair for him to ruin her dream because he wanted something else. He'd had to make a choice, stay here and worry that he was going to wake up at 40 and always wonder ‘what if,’ or leave her to her new dream to pursue his lifelong ones.

  Back then, he'd been so convinced that was the only way he'd ever be happy, and that she would be happy. He thought he would've gone crazy stuck here on the ranch, working under his brothers and never being his own man.

  Yes, he'd been a coward. He should've told her what he was going to do, what was bothering him. But she would have wanted to come with him, and how could he have let her sacrifice all she'd worked towards for an unknown road?

  Ty gave up on sleep. He swung his legs off the side of the bed and flipped on the lamp on his nightstand. His room was the same as the day he left. The junk on his dresser in the same place it was the afternoon he left. The only thing missing was the note to his brothers and the one to Beth. What had she thought when she read it?

  He dropped his head into his hands. The note had been another cowardly act to add to his list. Instead of leaving her completely, he invited her to join him at the end of summer in Abilene. Boyd had already asked him to help out with fall round-up and Tyler had agreed. His rationale had been that after she'd been home awhile and settled into her practice, if it hadn't worked out, hadn't been what she really wanted, she could still come with him.

  She hadn't.

  That whole month had been agony, wondering if she was coming. Charli had offered to call Beth, talk to her, but Tyler refused and made her swear she wouldn't interfere. Then the car accident happened and he'd been hospitalized with internal injuries at the holidays. He hadn't want Beth or his family to know. That wasn't the way he wanted a family reunion: full of pity, worry and even more hovering. Charli, bless her, had been true to her word—no one knew anything about why he hadn't come home for Christmas last year.

  While he was working for Chase Boyd, he found what he had always wanted. He was his own boss and had a crew of his own working for him. He'd done it all in the past year and was pretty damn proud of his accomplishments. But something was missing, something he'd finally come to realize he'd left behind.

  Tyler padded across his room. He could hear his brother in the room next door. Down the hall another door opened and closed. It must have been weird here last year with him gone and Buck moved out.

  On his dresser, a picture of Beth smiled out at him. He picked it up and studied her beautiful face. He snapped that picture, out in the yard by the pool. She was eighteen and had just graduated from high school and her blue eyes sparkled with young love and laughter.

  It couldn't be all gone. Yes, he screwed up and hurt her horribly, but something inside told him there was something still there. He loved her as much now as ever and he refused to believe she was as over him as everyone wanted him to believe. Charli's words rang through his head. "With Beth, you need to be on your knees buddy..."

  Then that's exactly what he planned to do.

  * * * *

  Beth opened the door to the clinic. She loved this time of day, when everything was quiet and she had her first cup of coffee with her patients. Jet had gone home the day after he arrived, but a new horse now paced restlessly in the corral.

  The Pinto had a mask over his eyes that allowed him to see, but didn't allow any dirt or insects to torture his infected eyes. She'd been treating him for that as well as some other odd symptoms at his owner's ranch and finally decided to bring him here yesterday so she could watch him more closely and not have to keep driving out there. He wasn't a friendly horse, shying away from her touch even now.

  She pushed the button and opened up the large wall that led to the outside. The horse didn't budge. “Come on Tex, it's okay,” she coaxed from the doorway.

  The horse moved further back into the arena. This was another problem she was dealing with—the horse seemed afraid of its own shadow. He hated being around other animals and had to be forced to go outside. Getting him here had been a struggle and a half. As much as she dreaded it, she might have to break down and ask Tyler's opinion. He'd always had a rare gift of being able to deal with even the most obstinate of horses; “horse whisperer” was what folks called him since they were kids.

  Thinking of Tyler and remembering his comment last night about moving home made her heart race. What the hell was he talking about? That was the first she'd heard of him coming back to stay. Did everyone else know? Were they again trying to protect her? She knew she'd been a mess when he left, but that was almost two years ago; she was a different person now. Tyler Weston was not her concern any more.

  Yep, you keep telling yourself that.

  Back in the clinic, she poured a cup of coffee while the kittens tumbled around her feet on the floor. She smiled at their antics and headed to her computer.

  "Beth?” Her sister Susan's voice came from the front reception area.

  "In here,” she yelled back from her small office. Susan was back from her trip to New York. Beth was glad to have her home now until after New Year's. It was way too quiet in the main house
with everyone gone. Their oldest sister, Diane, had moved to Paris the year before to take a job as an interior designer. She wouldn't be home for Christmas this year.

  Susan waved a bag in her hand. “I bought Kolaches on my way through Houston."

  "You're my favorite sister.” Beth leapt from her desk chair and followed her back to the small kitchenette.

  Beth picked out two of the specialty treats from the white bag and set them on a plate. A few quick seconds in the microwave and they were piping hot. She set one in front of Susan with a cup of coffee and joined her at the small table.

  Susan stared at her, causing Beth to pause in mid-bite. “What's wrong?"

  "I heard about last night."

  She snorted and sank her teeth into the sausage and cheese delight. “Not surprised."

  Her sister pulled her breakfast apart and took the meat and cheese filling out before nibbling at the pastry. “I thought maybe you'd want to talk about it."

  "Nope.” Beth wiped her mouth with a napkin and sipped her coffee.

  "You know, sometimes you're so much like Sara it's scary."

  "What's that supposed to mean?” She stood up and reached for the little packet of hot sauce and sprinkled some inside the bakery treat.

  "Meaning that you close up and don't talk to anyone. Just like when Tyler left."

  Beth's heart constricted the way it always did when she remembered those first few days. “I'm over Tyler. What he does or doesn't do means nothing to me.” She took a bite of the breakfast treat. “Did you know he was planning on moving back here permanently?” she ventured.

  Susan's eyes widened. “You're kidding? Why?"

  Well, at least one of the family wasn't hiding anything from her. She shrugged. “Beats me. I don't care anyway."

  "You think you're really over him?” Her sister looked skeptical.

  Beth set her breakfast on the plate and wiped her mouth. “Yep. I am completely indifferent to him and...” The memory of his kiss last night jutted into her mind. Her face flushed and she couldn't look Susan in the eye. “Wh-what we had was kid's stuff, just like Dad sometimes said."

  Susan picked at the food on her plate. “Don't get mad at me, but ... do you ever think maybe it was for the best?"

  Beth furrowed her brow. “For the best? What do you mean?"

  "You two were so close for so long. You had the same dreams for so long and then, well, somewhere along the way your dream wasn't his anymore."

  Beth couldn't believe her sister thought Ty was right to leave. “We were teenagers when Ty and I used to talk about hitting the road. It was like saying we were going to run away and join the circus. I don't know if I didn't believe we'd ever do it or what. I just knew I wanted to do whatever he wanted to do. I also didn't know Doc was going to retire and hand me the entire practice. I worked under him all my life; I couldn't let him down."

  "Don't you think Tyler knew that? Maybe he was trying to make the decision easier on you?"

  Beth's mouth dropped open. “Easier on me? By tearing me apart?"

  "I'm not saying he was right the way he did it,” Susan added quickly, putting her hand over Beth's. “But maybe he knew, in your heart, you didn't want to go with him."

  "Everyone dreams about getting away from their hometown when they're kids. It was just time to grow up. Tyler was still a kid wanting to go play explorer or something. I think he thought he was going to find some new untamed wilderness somewhere.” She shook her head remembering all the talks they'd had; his crazy, wild ideas for living off the land somewhere and making their way across the country working here or there. “Our fathers built this ranch. It's in our blood. I love being here, working in the same town I grew up in."

  "I know; you're just like Sara.” She squeezed Beth's hand. “You are both content to stay here until you die. But we're not all like that. I'm not, Diane isn't ... and maybe Tyler wasn't. Does that make us wrong because we don't feel the same need to be on this piece of dirt every day of our lives?"

  Beth pulled her hand away and crossed her arms over her chest. “I never said it was for everyone. Besides, this has nothing to do with Tyler leaving, but how he left. I thought you knew all this?"

  "Maybe he left before you got home because he figured you'd never let him leave.” Beth opened her mouth to deny it, but Susan shook her head. “You loved him, and he loved you. Both of you couldn't have what you wanted and have each other, too. Maybe he did what he thought right for both of you, the only thing he could think of at the time."

  Beth's eyes narrowed. “Have you been talking to him?"

  Susan pulled back. “I don't need to. I understand all too well the urge inside to get the hell out of here.” She pushed back her stylish hair and looked somewhere past Beth's shoulder. “When we were growing up, all Sara wanted to do was be a cowboy, she loved it so much. I tried to ride with her and Daddy, and I hated it. Not the horses or the land, but the smelly roundups, the work involved, the dirt.” She screwed up her nose and laughed, then looked Beth in the eye. “I knew that I wasn't meant to live here. I think it was Mama's background. Her being from New York, somehow it called to me. I knew I was going there the minute I was done with school."

  And she had. Susan left for New York City the summer after graduation, moving in with their older sister who'd already been there two years by then. Beth had never understood how the two of them could leave Texas, move to Manhattan and love it.

  Having lost her appetite, Beth picked at the crust of her Kolache. She'd spent so much time the past two years hating Ty and what he did, that she never stopped to think maybe he had other motives than just running. When she was doing her residency work that last semester, she knew that they'd have to work some things out when she got home. But she always imagined they'd find a way. She always imagined they'd work it out, together. How could they work it out when he took off without talking to her? No, he should have come to her. If he'd told her what he was thinking, well, she didn't know what they would have done, but together they could have made it work. Instead, he took matters into his own hands, left her out, left her.

  Susan stood up and set her plate in the sink. “I'm sorry for making you talk about this, but, to be honest, I'm home for the holidays too, and I'd hate to see the two of you at each other's throats the whole time. Whether what you had was teenager stuff or the real thing doesn't matter anymore. What matters now is a way for you both to find civil ground for the rest of us. Cord's about torn in half between worry about your health and his happiness that Tyler is home."

  Beth stayed in her chair. Susan hands suddenly squeezed her shoulders, and she felt her sister kiss the top of her head. “Anyway, Flo sent me over here to tell you that the costumes are at the house. The kids will be here at three o'clock."

  Beth nodded her head. “I'll be there in time to get dressed."

  After the outer door closed, Beth moved automatically to her office. But the paperwork failed to draw her attention as much as the conversation with Susan. She wandered back to the corral and leaned over the railing, watching her patient. Tex hadn't moved much from the spot he was in this morning. He barely moved at all, simply stood in one place.

  "What's the matter, buddy?” she crooned, wondering again if his issues were psychological rather than physical. “I promise we'll figure this out. I'm going to talk to a real expert on horses later today."

  She turned from the corral, her mind whirling with everything Susan had said. For the first time, part of her felt some sympathy for what Tyler had gone through. Had he done the only thing he could do? Was Susan right? Would she have let him leave if he had talked to her? No, truth be told, she would have done everything—cried, begged, fought tooth and nail to get him not to leave her back then. And Tyler would have stayed. Then what? He would have only grown to resent her and the chains she put on him.

  Then again, she wondered if that outcome would have been better than where they were now.

  * * * *

  "I can't we
ar that.” Beth shook her head firmly as she faced her sisters later that afternoon.

  Susan held the shimmering costume out to her. “You have to. You're the only one it'll fit."

  "I can't believe this! Didn't anyone check the costume order when they picked it up?” Beth held the skimpy suit against her. “This isn't a kid's version of the plump, lovable, Christmas cookie making old lady—it's some man's fantasy idea of Mrs. Claus."

  The scanty red suit had a very low, scooped, fur-lined neck, extremely short skirt, matching stockings ... and red stilettos. Susan, who usually played Mrs. Claus to Cord's Santa, couldn't fit her full curves into it.

  "Come on, Beth, the kids are too young to notice the difference. They'll be more interested in what Santa has in his bag anyway,” Sara pleaded.

  Beth glared. “I'll look like Santa traded Mrs. Claus in for a younger model.” She eyed the red high heeled shoes that were tall enough to make her dizzy. “Has Cord seen this get up?"

  "Yep, and he feels bad about it, but there's no time to do anything else.” Sara folded her arms over her enormous belly. “You know I'd put it on if I could."

  Beth shot her a glare. “Sure you would.” She yanked her T-shirt up over her head. “This has got to be the stupidest thing I've ever had to do for this party, or for this family, for that matter."

  "Not even close. Remember the year you and Tyler dressed up like a giant snowman, and you had to ride around on his shoulders all day?” Susan laughed.

  Beth couldn't stop the smile that teased her lips. That had been a fun day. They'd never laughed so hard. He couldn't see outside the costume and she had to direct his walking for hours. He kept sliding his hands up to her butt and teasing her while she tried to keep them upright.

  Pushing those dangerous thoughts away, she dropped her jeans and she picked up the stockings. “Mrs. Claus wears garter belts?” Her sisters laughed and she smiled. “You know who's going to have a field day with this? Teddy. He won't be able to stop the comments and you know it."