Last Chance Cowboy

by Cathy McDavid

  His common sense warned him to steer clear of her. That she had emotional baggage. More than just carry-on.

  But then there was that sweet tug.

  “How long have you worked for the BLM?” Ethan asked, and proceeded to shovel an impressive bite of spaghetti into his mouth.

  “Eight years.” Unlike Ethan, Sage picked at her meal, consuming only half of what she pushed around on her plate.

  “What made you decide to work for them?”

  “A friend actually convinced me to apply.”

  “Did she also work for the BLM?”

  “Um, he did, yes.”

  It was less that the friend was a man than the hesitancy in Sage’s voice that roused Gavin’s curiosity. He’d like to hear the parts of the story she was omitting.

  Ethan continued chatting amiably with their guests. He’d always been the more outgoing one, with Gavin preferring to listen rather than talk. Ethan was equally willing to talk about himself and considered himself an open book. Except when it came to his leg. That was a topic he didn’t discuss, even with his family.

  “Have you always had horses?”

  “Actually, no. Not until community college when I took a riding class because I thought it would be an easy A.” Sage gave a small laugh. “Turns out, it wasn’t so easy. But I loved the class and now horses aren’t just my job, they’re my life.”

  “My papa’s a horse trainer.”

  At Isa’s announcement, Sage’s fork clattered to her plate. Sending an embarrassed glance around the table, she picked it up.

  “Really?” Ethan winked at Isa then went for seconds of the tossed salad. “That’s neat.”

  “What kind of horse trainer?” Cassie asked.

  She and Isa had become fast buddies, which was more than Gavin could say about any of the kids at school. Principal Rodgers had told him Cassie didn’t relate well to her peers. She related well to younger children, as evidenced by her busy babysitting schedule, and had taken Isa under her wing from the moment they met.

  “I don’t know.” Isa looked questioningly at Sage.

  “Western equestrian mostly,” she replied.

  “He lives in Mustang Village,” Isa added with a bright, lopsided smile. “That’s why we came here. So I can see him.”

  “The only horse trainer I know of in Mustang Village is—”

  Gavin shook his head but his brother didn’t notice.

  “—Dan Rivera.”

  “That’s him.” Isa jiggled gleefully in her seat.

  Sage paled.

  “No fooling?” Ethan grinned. “He was just here—”

  “The other day,” Gavin cut in.

  “No, he—”

  “Yes, the other day,” he repeated, and shook his head again.

  This time, Ethan saw him and shut up.

  “Cassie, why don’t you and Isa help me serve the dessert?” Gavin’s father suggested, rising from the table. “We have chocolate pudding.”

  Both girls jumped up to help.

  If Gavin didn’t know better, he might have thought his father was intentionally diverting a disaster.

  The remainder of dinner passed without incident, though the quizzical stare Ethan aimed at Gavin was hard to ignore. When they were done, their father recruited the girls’ assistance again, this time to clear the table and load the dishwasher.

  “Do you mind keeping an eye on Isa while her mom, Uncle Ethan and I pack for tomorrow?”

  To Gavin’s relief, Cassie was agreeable.

  “Come on, pip-squeak.” She didn’t have to ask twice. Isa was hot on her heels in a heartbeat, and the two of them began carting dishes to the sink.

  Sage remained subdued as she, Gavin and Ethan walked to the stables. It had grown dark during dinner but their path was illuminated by two exterior lights, one on the back porch and the other mounted above the entrance to the stables. Inside, Gavin flipped a switch and more lights came on, startling some of the horses that weren’t used to so much activity after dark.

  Gavin extracted a handwritten list from his pocket as they approached the tack room. “I was thinking two packhorses should be enough.”

  While he and Ethan collected and debated over the various equipment and supplies they would be taking, Sage carried three large canteens to the water spigot outside and filled them. She had only just returned when Ethan’s cell phone rang.

  He answered it and after a brief, cryptic conversation ended with “See you in half an hour.”

  “Going somewhere?” Gavin asked.

  “Is it a problem? I can stay if you need me to.”

  “No, it’s all right. There isn’t much left.” If not for wanting to get Sage alone so they could finish their earlier conversation, Gavin might have waylaid his brother and pumped him for more information. This was the third time in the past two weeks he’d left after receiving a phone call and without saying exactly where he was going.

  They hurried through the remainder of the packing. “Come on and walk with me,” Gavin said the moment Ethan was gone.

  “Where?”

  “I need help carrying the feed for the mares we’re leaving in the canyon overnight.” He didn’t hurry in the hopes she’d take a cue from him and relax. She didn’t. He decided to try a different tactic.

  “Cassie’s only been living with me since the summer. Before that, she was with her mother full-time. In Connecticut.”

  “That’s quite a ways from Arizona.”

  They reached the barrels in the hay shed behind the stables where the grain and pellets were stored.

  “Her mom moved to Manchester not long after Cassie was born. I only got to see her about every three years. Not by choice. I was young when she was born. Barely twenty-one. My mother had just passed away after a long illness. Money was scarce. We’d sold off most of the ranch two years earlier along with our cattle operation. I didn’t have a job, and the only thing I knew how to do was raise cattle.”

  “Why are you telling me this?”

  “You mentioned that Dan hasn’t seen Isa in four years. I just thought it might help if you—”

  “Dan didn’t want to see Isa. And trust me, he’s had plenty of chances. He may not want to see her now, which will really disappoint her. You saw at dinner how excited she is.”

  Gavin had seen. And he had to admit, he didn’t understand his partner. He’d have given his right arm to be a bigger part of Cassie’s life during her childhood. Maybe then they’d have the kind of close relationship he yearned for.

  Setting down the scoop he’d been using to fill the sack with pellets, he removed his cell phone from his belt and dialed a number. When a familiar female voice answered, he said, “Hi, Maria, is Dan there?”

  “What are you doing?” Sage hissed.

  Gavin angled the phone away from his mouth. “We’re leaving in the morning at 7 a.m. sharp. The problem or issue or whatever’s going on with you and Dan has got to be resolved by then. There’s too much riding on capturing the mustang for it not to be.”

  “More than you know.”

  Gavin pressed the disconnect button on his phone. “Tell me.”

  She remained stubbornly quiet.

  “How can I help with Dan if you don’t level with me.”

  “I don’t see how you can help.”

  “He’s an intelligent man whose priority is to make money. He’ll do what’s right for our partnership.”

  “Dan doesn’t give a rat’s hind end about anyone but himself.”

  Gavin didn’t agree with Sage. He’d seen Dan go above and beyond for his wife, son, friends and clients. But Sage’s anger at him was clearly real and deep and, in her mind at least, justified.

  “I admit, he’s egotistical. But he’s basically a decent guy.”

  “Yeah. Well how many decent guys do you know who refuse to pay their court-ordered child support and haven’t for almost four years?”

  Her outburst stunned Gavin into silence. Dan didn’t strike him as someone
who turned his back on fiscal and moral obligations. If anything, it was the opposite. Which was why Gavin trusted Dan enough to become his partner.

  “I’m…sorry, Sage.” What else could he say? “I can understand why you didn’t want him to see Isa today.”

  “It’s complicated,” she replied meekly.

  “I’m sure it is.”

  “I don’t understand him.”

  Neither did Gavin. He may not have visited Cassie as often as he’d wanted to, but he’d never failed to send so much as one child support payment or even been late, regardless of how strapped the family had been for money.

  “I’m pretty sure I can convince him not to come with us tomorrow.”

  “You said before he’s your partner and financial backing and entitled to go.”

  “He is. And the extra man would come in handy.”

  “Then why take the chance?”

  “Because four of us working well together will be better than five, two of whom are at odds.”

  “I can handle Dan without your interference.”

  “Is that so?” Gavin scratched his chin thoughtfully. “Because earlier today you had no problem with me interfering.”

  “Dan caught me off guard,” she defended herself. “Tomorrow, I’ll be ready.”

  She put up a brave front. Her eyes gave her away. She wasn’t ready to face Dan and less ready to work with him. Gavin couldn’t risk their expedition into the mountains going awry.

  Taking out his phone again, he punched Dan’s number. This time, Dan answered rather than his wife. Gavin skipped any customary preambles. “I don’t know if you’re aware of this or not, but the BLM agent who arrived yesterday, the one who will be going with us to capture the mustang, is someone you know. Sage Navarre.”

  Gavin tried not to read anything into the lengthy pause that followed. Beside him, Sage rubbed her palms nervously along the sides of her jeans.

  He began to doubt the wisdom of his plan.

  Not that he and Cassie’s mother got along famously. A part of him still resented her for the pressure she and her parents had skillfully applied on him during the vulnerable time in his life after his mother died. But when they did speak, he was always civil and agreeable for Cassie’s sake and his own. He didn’t want to give her mother any reason to deny him visitation or turn his daughter against him.

  “Do you really need me to go with you?” Dan asked, his tone revealing nothing.

  “We can manage with four of us.” That was their original plan anyway before Sage arrived.

  “Then I’ll stay home and go with you next time.”

  “If all goes well, we won’t need a next time.” He and Sage exchanged glances. Hers was hopeful.

  “Good luck,” Dan said, and hung up after a quick goodbye. Not at all like him. He usually talked Gavin’s ear off.

  “He’s not coming.”

  Sage’s shoulders sagged. “Thank you.”

  “No problem.”

  She smiled, the first honest one she’d given him since they met.

  The radiance from it went straight to his heart where it warmed the dark corners left cold for so long.

  In that moment Gavin knew he was a man in serious trouble.

  SAGE STOOD TO THE SIDE, pulling her jacket snug against the early morning chill. She’d like to be more help, and had offered repeatedly, but the fact was she’d probably be a hindrance. Gavin, Ethan and Conner, their cowboy friend, were a well-oiled machine. They saddled up the horses, hefted the panniers onto the pack saddles, then loaded the supplies, equipment and feed. Their efficiency let Sage know this was hardly their first expedition into the mountains.

  Ethan’s next remark confirmed it. “Remember that time Dad took our Boy Scout troop on a pack trip to Pinnacle Peak?”

  “I’m still mad about that,” Conner joked, loading a five-gallon jug of water. “You guys left me and Gary Cohen at the bottom of that ravine for five hours. Without food or water. We thought we were goners.”

  “Not our fault you went looking for a shortcut.”

  “Your dad told us to. Said if we were going to keep bellyaching, we could just figure out a way home on our own. What kind of Boy Scout leader does that?” Conner shook his head, but there was laughter in his voice.

  “He didn’t think you’d really take off.”

  “Gary used our only match to set our shirts on fire and signal for help with the smoke.”

  “And it worked.” Ethan clapped Conner affectionately on the back as he walked past. “We found you.”

  Sage was certain Conner and his friend were never in any real danger and had more fun than he was letting on.

  “I didn’t talk to your dad for a whole year. Which was pretty hard considering he was also our baseball coach.”

  Chuckling, Gavin covered the bulging panniers with a large plastic tarp. He and Ethan had decided on three packhorses in total, two of them mares they intended on leaving overnight. The heavy tarps covering the panniers would protect the feed, equipment and supplies from damage or falling out along the trail, which had been described to Sage as challenging.

  “It’s a miracle any of us survived to grow up,” Conner said good-naturedly. “If your dad wasn’t trying to kill us on the trail, he was working us to death on the baseball field.”

  “Those were the days.” Ethan’s smile was wistful and, Sage noted, a little sad.

  So was Gavin’s.

  “It was a shame about your mom,” Conner confessed, securing a galvanized steel tub to the top of the pack saddle frame with a piece of twine. “Don’t think your dad’s ever gotten over her.”

  Neither brother commented.

  After a moment, Gavin glanced around. “We should get a move on. It’s plenty light now. You ready, Sage?”

  “Yeah.” She nodded, curious about Gavin’s mother but not wanting to ask. The man they’d been describing in their stories didn’t at all resemble the quiet and subdued one she’d met at dinner the previous night.

  “Mount up!”

  Sage noticed that Ethan climbed onto his big bay gelding from the right side rather than the left, as was usual. She promptly forgot about it when Avaro began acting up.

  “Quiet, girl,” she soothed. After not being ridden for three full days, one of those spent cooped up in a trailer, the young horse was, as the saying went, feeling her oats.

  Sage, not so much. Despite Gavin’s conviction that they would capture the mustang, she remained dubious. In all her time at the BLM, she’d never seen a single horse willingly submit to capture. Gavin’s mustang would be no different.

  There was considerable shifting, prancing, nipping and scuffling until order was established and the packhorses grew accustomed to their loads. Drawing stares from the few regulars out this early on a Saturday morning, they rode through the ranch and out a gate behind the empty cattle barn.

  Avaro refused to settle down and tested Sage’s patience. The mare’s behavior worsened as they rode along the pasture where the Powell broodmares and their young trotted along beside the fence.

  At the far end of the pasture, Ethan turned his horse onto a dirt road that bore the imprint of hundreds of horse hooves. Within minutes, they were in the foothills. Soon after that, the road narrowed to a trail that rose upward at a steep angle. They automatically formed a single-file line, the horses walking nose to tail.

  Sage chose to bring up the rear, not sure how Avaro would act with another horse so close behind her and in unfamiliar surroundings. Her worries proved unfounded. Avaro attacked the steep trail with the same enthusiasm she did everything else, instinctively following the pack mare behind Gavin.

  At a fork in the trail, they took the higher, more rugged branch. Very soon, all the horses were noticeably laboring. Stopping atop a rise, they let their mounts rest. During their ascent, Sage had been intent on the trail and watching where Avaro placed her feet. Looking around, she gave a small surprised gasp.

  The view was nothing less than spect
acular.

  Behind them lay the ranch and Mustang Village, nestled in the heart of the valley. Ahead of them stretched the mountains, a series of peaks and gullies that went on as far as the eye could see. To their right was the city of Scottsdale and beyond that, Phoenix. The metropolitan area stretched for miles and miles, bordered on all sides by deep brown and vibrant green mountains not unlike the one they were on. A dazzling blue sky hung overhead.

  “I’d love to see this at night with all the city lights.”

  “I’ll bring you if you want,” Gavin said.

  Sage’s remark had been offhand, but he’d taken it seriously. “I probably won’t have time while I’m here.”

  He shrugged and turned to face forward in his saddle.

  Had her easy dismissal of his invitation hurt him? She told herself no, that Gavin wasn’t a sensitive man. But guilt ate at her nonetheless. He’d only been trying to be nice.

  “How much farther?” she asked when Gavin and Ethan were finished discussing the condition of the trail, which had deteriorated since the summer monsoons.

  “About another hour.” Gavin pointed. “See that butte over there? The box canyon is on the other side.”

  It looked far away. Really far. And the going a little treacherous. Okay, a lot. Sage figured she’d better have some water while she could and unwound her canteen from where it hung on her saddle horn.

  Avaro began pawing the ground.

  “Let’s see if you’re still raring to go when we reach the top of the next rise,” she muttered, and rehung her canteen.

  Conversation was at a minimum during the rest of the ride. Partly because they were so spread out and partly because of the noise generated from seven horses’ hooves hitting the hard, rocky ground simultaneously.

  Sage spotted wildlife everywhere she looked. Hawks, rabbits, coyotes, lizards and even a king snake. Any larger animals, including the mustang, surely heard them coming from a mile away and were long gone. Except for javelina.

  “Look over there,” Gavin said.