by Tara Lain
Maury still stood there, arms crossed, watching calmly. Danny nodded. “Thank you, Maury. For everything.”
Maury extended a hand. Son of a bitch. Danny grinned, tight, but he hoped still appreciative. Maury glanced behind Danny, then said, “We’ll talk.”
Danny nodded.
“Soon.” Maury turned his back on the glaring clowns and ambled away, half the crowd following him.
Laurie gazed back and forth between Danny, Maury, and the man who’d created and destroyed Danny’s life. For a second Laurie’s eyes seemed to connect, and the sheer disdain on Laurie’s face reflected in the expressions of the assholes facing them down. All three of them frowned, but with a touch of unease. Yeah, that showed a glimmer of intelligence. Laurie was way more dangerous than he looked.
Danny took Laurie’s arm. “Come on, Laurie. Let’s go.”
Laurie looked back one last time at the sneering assholes, and it wasn’t friendly. As they walked toward the gate, Laurie said, “Who is that man? The nasty one.”
“That would be my father.”
“Holy shit. Why did he call you Sawyer?”
“Because that used to be my name.” He glanced to the side and saw Rand’s eyes on him. Crap.
LAURIE BOUNCED on the bed like a windup toy. What did I just see? What the fuck kind of life does that man have? Why do I care? Why do I care?
He popped to his feet and stalked to the door of his living room, then back to the bed and fell down again.
All the guests had ridden back in the van together, leaving Danny to drive in his old beat-up truck by himself. When they closed the van doors, Aliki voiced all their thoughts. “Who was that guy?”
Should he say? Laurie stared out the window. “Danny told me that’s his father.”
“Seriously?” Lani’s eyes widened.
Nora snorted. “With a father like that, you sure don’t need any enemies.”
Hell, that was so true.
“They didn’t seem to like each other.” Aliki pressed closer to Laurie, and the warmth felt nice.
Andy leaned between the seats. “But man, did you see that bull ride? Danny’s badass.”
His dad gave him a punch on the arm. “Language, Andy.” He grinned. “But I totally agree.”
Laurie rolled to his stomach on the bed, sucked in a long breath through his nose, and tried to bury himself in the blue of the sky. Badass, my ass. Crazyassed insane, more like. Nobody who had a single person on the planet who loved them should ever do a thing like that.
His phone buzzed, and he grabbed for it. Oh right, he actually had a life that didn’t involve horses and bulls and crazy-nuts, beautiful cowboys. Viola. Damn, he hadn’t called Carlson. “Hi, darling. I’m so sorry—”
“Laurie, Carlson’s trying to take over my account, and I’m about to cancel my contract.”
“What?”
“He called me himself. Himself. Jesus, talk about the second descent of Jesus Christ. Anyway, he said you and he were working closely together, and he wanted me to sign a new contract with the company. I think he’s trying to dump you, and I’m not having any of this crap.”
Having trouble catching his breath. “Don’t worry, dear. I’ll head home now, okay? I’ll get this settled, and if it doesn’t work, who knows? Maybe I’m off on my own sooner rather than later.”
“Well, you know I’m with you all the way, Laurie. But if you don’t get him off me, I’m going to find another decorator.”
“I’m on it.”
“Love you.”
“Love you too.” He hung up and stared at the phone. Jesus, Carlson was calling his bluff. He didn’t want to go out on his own until he could do it without borrowing from Grove, but maybe he didn’t have that luxury.
He dialed Grove and got voice mail. Fuck. He didn’t leave a message. Not sure what I’m doing yet.
His phone rang again. Mother. He shuddered. After days of quiet and low stress, if he didn’t count one very stimulating cowboy, the real world intruded like the witch in Oz. “Hello, darling.”
“Laurie, what’s Grove doing for your father? Dear God, we haven’t heard a word, and I think your dad’s going to have a nervous breakdown.”
“I’m sorry, Mother. I’ve asked him again and again. He’s there, in San Francisco. He left me here with no car and no convenient way to get home. But I’m coming. I’ll leave tonight and try to figure out what’s going on. Okay?”
“Okay, dear. But don’t make Grove mad, all right?”
He stared at the phone and gritted his teeth. “I’ll see you, probably tomorrow.” He hung up. Fuck. He pressed the Finder button and asked for a cab.
MOONLIGHT SURE is pretty at this time of night. Danny leaned on his elbows and gazed up at the sky. Big Dipper, Ursa Major, Perseus, the Hero. He used to love that one—back in the days when he believed in heroes. Star Gazer snorted, and Danny glanced back. “Right, I was pretty stupid. Hell, I guess I still am.” Star Gazer went back to quietly munching clumps of grass. No skin off his hoof. Somewhere in the distance, a snatch of music from a car radio floated across the pasture.
Thanks for the reminder. Music. He pushed up to sitting and then stood, brushed the dirt off his butt, and walked to Star Gazer. Time to face it.
Fifteen minutes later he led his horse into the stable. Pauly quietly polished tack. He looked up. “I’ll take care of him, Danny. Rand and Kai want to see you.”
Of course they do. “Thanks.” He tossed the reins to Pauly and turned toward his fate. He didn’t even get the comfort of cooling down his horse before he had to confess his pack of lies.
The night air felt gentle compared to his stormy brain. Do you really think they’ll kick you out? Okay, he lied, but it didn’t hurt anybody. He’d worked hard for Rand for two years and now for Rand and Kai. He stopped at the ranch house steps and took a breath, then walked up. The door stood ajar. He knocked anyway.
“Come on in, Danny.” Kai’s voice.
Inside, the warm, cozy room screamed family, togetherness, happiness. Flames danced in the stone fireplace, and beautiful Hawaiian throw pillows had somehow been melded with the otherwise western décor of the house. Aliki’s toys and games were piled high in a corner in front of a jammed bookshelf. The kids must be in bed, which made sense since Danny had pushed his stargazing time to the max.
Kai stood by the door and extended a hand to Danny. “Congratulations on the win.”
“Thanks.” That seemed like a good sign.
“Come sit. Want a drink?”
“What you got?”
“Beer, iced tea, hot chocolate—”
“Stop right there.”
“Got it.” Kai grinned.
Danny stood again as Rand walked out of the back of the house and closed the door to the hall quietly. “Aliki was pretty determined not to sleep until he saw you. Me and Harry Potter had a tough time persuading him otherwise.”
Danny smiled, but his shoulders felt like someone had filled them with cement.
“Sit.” Rand pointed at the comfortable chair, and Danny tried to look relaxed.
Kai walked out with a tray, holding three cups topped with peaked white marshmallow, and handed two to Rand and Danny. He sat next to Rand on the couch, picked up his cup, and sipped.
Rand did the same and licked his lips. “Start talking.”
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
DANNY SIGHED and nodded, leaned back, and held his cup cradled in his hands. Move over, Harry Potter. “My name used to be Sawyer Jones, and I’m from Wyoming. The asshole you saw at the rodeo is my father, Eldon Jones, world’s greatest rodeo clown.”
Rand sipped. “I thought they were called bullfighters now?”
“He’s old school.”
“Did he declare himself the greatest?”
“Nope. Pretty much agreed worldwide. Anyway, I grew up in rodeo, and my dad was determined to make me the greatest bull rider in the world. I wanted to go to college, learn agriculture, but he’d pull me out for trai
ning. Just when I’d settle into a school, he’d move to another location and take me with him.”
“Where was your mom?” Kai leaned forward and set his empty cup on the coffee table.
“They split up just after I was born. She couldn’t stand him either, I guess. I never knew her. He kept me away from her my whole life, then told me she died when I asked.” Odd to feel a stab in his heart over a person he’d never really met.
Rand said, “So that’s how you learned to ride bulls.”
“Yeah. Actually, I was well on my way to making his goal. Youngest rider in the PBRA. I earned about a half million dollars the year I quit.”
“Shit, man, why’re you hanging around as a ranch hand?” Kai laughed.
Danny frowned. “Eldon kept all the money. I was a kid and didn’t have my own bank account. What’s that line from Pretty Woman? Big mistake. Huge.” He shrugged.
“Pretty Woman? Right. Sometimes I forget you’re gay.”
Danny blew out a long stream of air. “Yeah, well, my father didn’t know.”
Kai stared at him with those level, dark eyes. “And that’s why you quit?”
Danny nodded. “He walked in on me with another cowboy one night. I tried to explain. He didn’t listen, but he didn’t throw me out. I thought maybe he was going to work it out. Accept it. But I had this huge competition the next night. Last day of a three-day event, and I was ahead on points. With all this fucking naïveté, I went out there, delivered the ride of my life, and won the fucking event. As soon as the fifty thousand landed in my father’s account, he sent three of his henchmen to pound me to dust. I barely made it out alive.”
“Shit.” Rand wiped at his cheek.
“Three days later, in a drunken stupor, somebody asked me my name. I’d been calling myself Danny because one of my big heroes in bull riding had been Daniel. They asked my last name and I gargled out Boone. A stupidass legend was born.” He hung his head. “Sorry I lied to you, but I’m not Sawyer Jones anymore.”
“I don’t see any lying, Danny.”
“Thanks.”
“Seems to me we got the best of it.”
“Nope. I never had a family worth shit until I met you.”
Kai said, “So, what if your fucking old man never stole your money? What would you have done?”
Danny half grinned. “Easy. Go to college and buy my own place. A small ranch or farm. It’s what I always wanted.”
“In Wyoming?”
“Nope. Somewhere around here, I imagine. I like California. It’s a tiny bit more rainbow.” He grinned.
Kai looked at Rand, and their eyes locked.
Danny shook his head. “But I’ve only got about—” He stopped and factored in that day’s winnings. “—seventeen thousand dollars. It’s not enough.”
“Yeah. Probably not. But we’ve got some ideas. We’d really like to keep you around here.”
“Maybe we could work together.” Kai smiled.
“Holy shit. That’d be amazing.” That’s one dream he’d sure like to make happen.
A half hour later, he walked out of the ranch house and turned toward the guest cabins. He didn’t want to wake Laurie, exactly, but somehow having his advice seemed important. Laurie was saving for his own business, so he’d understand.
He trotted to the largest cabin—and stopped. Totally dark. Damn. Laurie must have gone to sleep. Stepping quietly onto the porch, he crept toward the window. The curtains weren’t pulled, but Laurie didn’t always do that. Danny knew that for a fact. He peeked inside. Wait. No one? Empty? After walking to the door, he slowly pushed the handle, and it opened right up—to a bare room. No suitcases, no clothes, nothing. But where would he go? Had the bull ride bothered him that much? Or had he seen Danny’s father and freaked?
Danny sat heavily on the footstool in the living room of the cottage. Come on, asshole. This isn’t about you. Laurie missed Grove. He has a life that has nothing to do with you.
But stupidly, the prospect of buying his own ranch near Rand and Kai seemed a little less exciting.
He inhaled deeply and caught a whiff of the orange scent he sometimes picked up on Laurie. Not heavy like perfume. Maybe it was soap or shampoo. Man, he liked it. He liked a lot about that man. Or had.
He got up and walked out of the cabin, slowly closing the door—on a lot of things.
Halfway back to the bunkhouse, his phone rang. What the hell? It’s late. He didn’t recognize the number offhand, but it seemed familiar. “Hello?”
“Hey, Danny, it’s Maury. Hope I didn’t wake you.”
“No. No, you didn’t.”
“I’m leaving for Texas tonight, but I wanted you to know that a couple of PBRA guys were at the event today. They were impressed and want to meet you. They think with your skill and good looks, you could do well on the circuit.”
“That’s real flattering.”
Maury chuckled. “They said they thought the ladies would love you. I didn’t ruin their illusions.”
“How did you know? I mean, I heard you say something about knowing my name and who I was back when I met you at the last rodeo.”
“I recognized you from a photo I saw on the wall in the PBRA office.”
“Yeah, well, I don’t know why they’d want me around.”
“For one thing, they don’t recognize you. You’re older. Hair’s longer. And even if they did, most people never knew why Sawyer Jones left the PBRA. Times are changing, Danny.”
“Not so’s you’d notice.”
“Still, it might be worth talking to them. The purses are only getting bigger.”
“And the bulls meaner.”
Maury laughed. “Haven’t noticed you shying from them. Besides, I hate to see you ride so well and have so little to show for it.”
“Now there we’re in full agreement. Thanks a lot, Maury. I can’t tell you how much I appreciate you caring.”
“Hey, I like talent. Besides, man. I’m Mexican and grew up poor. I know what it means to be held down and told I’m not good enough.”
“You sure as hell showed them, my man.”
“Yeah.” He laughed. “Now it’s your turn. I’ll text you their number.”
“Thanks again, Maury. It was a lucky day when I met you.”
“Likewise, kid. See ya.” He hung up.
Son of a bitch. If he was a believing man, he’d say he was either being given a gift—or being tempted. When he’d walked—no, limped—away from bull riding, he’d felt almost lucky. Every bull rider he knew had broken dozens of bones, some of them two and three times. Bull riders got more concussions than NFL linebackers. Hell, he had things he wanted to do in his life, and he needed his brains in one piece to do them. He also needed to be alive.
With a scuff in the dirt, he walked the rest of the way to the bunkhouse and slipped into his room, making as little noise as possible. Inside, he sat in the bed and stared at the phone like it was a crystal ball. To do the things he wanted in life, he also needed money—and how the hell would a guy like him make what he needed except on the back of a bull?
He fell back, closed his eyes, and let the soft smell of orange and cinnamon swirl in his brain.
I’VE GOT to start packing lighter. Laurie hauled the three bags he’d brought with him off the baggage belt, practically landing on his ass as he dragged the biggest one. A skycap offered help—two minutes too late, but Laurie took him up on it to get the bags to a cab.
Finally he sat in the musty back seat, rested his head against the questionable upholstery, and let the driver of unknown origin haul him to the city. Chilly. He wrapped the scarf he’d tied around his neck a little tighter. After a week of hot weather, the fog of San Francisco seeped into his bones.
He glanced at his watch. Just a little past nine. Should I wait until I get home or until tomorrow to call? His gut screamed to know. He dialed. One ring. Two.
“Why, hello, Lawrence. How good to hear from you.” Carlson’s voice sounded cool. Distant.
“I just wanted to let you know I’m back and will be in tomorrow. Things seemed so busy, I left earlier than expected.”
“I see. How nice. Well, there are many new things to tell you about.”
“Such as?”
“Why don’t we wait until tomorrow to talk?”
“How about the broad strokes? You can fill in details tomorrow.” His hand tightened on the phone.
“Oh, just that I’ve instituted some new contract policies under advice of counsel.”
“Counsel?” His throat burned like a branding iron got stuck in it, and he couldn’t swallow.
“Yes. You remember Jeffrey? Well, he’s advised I should tighten up our contracts with both clients and employees. He says we’re far too lenient. My genius can’t be compromised at the whim of some wannabe.”
“What does that mean, Carlson?”
“Oh, nothing serious. Just noncompete clauses and such. Most employers have those. Jeffrey says we’re remiss in not including them.”
Laurie pulled the scarf down to his chest; he felt so cold. “But you know in California it’s hard to impossible to enforce noncompetes, as I understand it.”
“Yes, but it’s extremely inconvenient for an ex-employee”—he lingered over the ex—“to go through the time and expense of litigation. Especially when they don’t have a job.” He chuckled. “So I’m sure it will help protect—us.”
“I see. And the client contracts? I thought those were what you wanted.”
“Apparently there’s some wiggle room on a client being able to exit a contract prior to completion. I mean, we could spend a lot of time and money and not get paid.”
Don’t let him see you sweat. “That makes sense, Carlson. Well, it’s great to be back. I’ll see you in the morning.”
“Oh, lovely, dear.” His voice lightened. He thinks he has me.