Last Chance Cowboy

by Cathy McDavid

  The SUV door opened, and Cassie emerged.

  “Dad?”

  “Yeah, honey.”

  She walked toward him, casting uncertain glances at him and Sage. “Are we leaving?”

  “In a minute.”

  “Bye, Ms. Navarre.” She gave Sage a tentative wave, then continued to Gavin’s truck. It was obvious from Cassie’s woeful expression that she’d deduced at least some of what was happening. So, probably, had Anna and Roberto, for they didn’t emerge from the SUV.

  Sage tried to smile at Cassie. She couldn’t, not with her lower lip trembling. “This isn’t at all how I thought today would end,” she said to Gavin, and wiped her nose.

  “Me, either.”

  “I love you, Gavin, and I think you’re making a terrible mistake.”

  His chest ached. He wished she hadn’t said that. Wished he could say it back to her because it was true.

  “Sage—”

  “I just wanted you to know in case we don’t… Just in case.” She touched her cool fingertips to his cheek. “It still can be different. You have only to stop me from walking away.”

  He opened his mouth to say the words. They got stuck in his throat and wouldn’t come out.

  With a last sad look, she went to her cousin’s SUV and climbed in, sitting in the seat next to Isa. He stood and watched as Roberto drove away. Sage’s tear-stained face appeared briefly in the window.

  The next instant, she was gone, along with a sizable chunk of Gavin’s heart.

  Chapter Fifteen

  It hadn’t taken long for the road to Powell Ranch to become familiar. As Sage drove it today, quite probably for the last time, memories came flooding back with each familiar landmark she passed.

  She’d traveled this same stretch of pavement on the day she met Gavin. It was right along here that she’d told Isa about the paternity test. Leaving the valley with the mustang had been the worst memory, until today. She was bringing him back, only not to Gavin’s.

  So much had happened in only a few short weeks.

  Damn Gavin for allowing her to leave last night. Why did she have to go and fall for such a stubborn man? Stubborn, irritating, always convinced he was right and prideful. She’d like to wring his neck with that last one.

  He was also strong, dependable, honest to a fault and trustworthy. Mostly, he put his family above all others. Fine qualities in a man and the reason she’d fallen in love with him.

  It was possible, in her effort to make amends for her part in him losing the mustang, she’d gone overboard and pushed too hard. Her enthusiastic suggestions had come off as criticisms. Gavin asked for time and space to work through his problems on his own terms. Instead of respecting his wishes, she’d invited her and Isa to move in with him, thrown money around, Dan’s money at that, and suggested she and Gavin become business partners.

  In hindsight, she’d been insensitive to his needs.

  He hadn’t exactly been sensitive to her needs, either. His rejection of her was brutal. Cruel. She hadn’t deserved that even if she did unintentionally insult him.

  What a mess. A stinking, miserable mess.

  As if voicing his opinion on the matter, the mustang kicked the side of the trailer. The bang reverberated through the truck all the way to the cab.

  “Yeah, yeah, we’re almost there.”

  Signs for Mustang Village and the drive leading to Powell Ranch passed in a blur—from tears, not the speed at which she drove. Blinking, she removed a tissue from the travel-size box on the console and wiped rather ineffectually at her eyes.

  The new owner of the mustang didn’t live far. She dug around in the pile of papers beside her, searching for the one with the address and the attorney’s phone number in case she got lost.

  A sudden gust of wind caught the horse trailer and pushed it hard to the left. Sage compensated by twisting the steering wheel to the right. It had been like that the past sixty miles, her battling the strong winds sweeping across the highway.

  More familiar landmarks prompted more memories and more regrets. Lost in thought and not paying attention, she yelped in surprise when another gust of wind grabbed her truck and shoved her over the center line. Reacting quickly, she swung the steering wheel too far to the right, causing the truck to swerve off the road. The right front tire ran over a pile of nasty-looking debris. Almost immediately, the truck began to weave.

  Sage applied the brakes, careful to come to a slow rather than sudden stop so the trailer wouldn’t fishtail. The truck rocked unevenly, making a loud thump, thump, thump, as she scouted for a safe place to pull off the road.

  “Oh, hell,” she grumbled, “I do not need this.”

  The trailer, which had ridden so easily behind her truck the entire time, now dragged like a two-ton anchor. When she finally came to a complete stop, the right front of the truck dipped at a sharp angle.

  Under normal circumstances, she could change a flat tire with no problem. The horse trailer complicated the task considerably. She’d have to unhitch it, change out the tire, then rehitch the trailer. Not easy, but not impossible.

  She peered back down the road. Powell Ranch was only a mile away. If Gavin was there, he’d come and help her. She had no doubt of it despite their awful breakup.

  Taking out her cell phone, she dialed a number. Not his, the attorney’s. Seeing her again, seeing the mustang, would be too difficult for Gavin, and she didn’t want to put him through any more grief.

  The attorney answered on the third ring, and she told him about the flat tire. He put her on hold and returned a couple minutes later, informing her his client would be there shortly and driving a white Ford crew cab pickup. She was to sit tight and wait for him. Under no circumstances was she to attempt to change the flat tire herself.

  Fine. She could do that.

  More than one person driving by stopped and asked if she was all right. Sage thanked them and told them help was arriving any minute.

  After a while, she decided to get out and check on the mustang. Snorting at her and pawing the floor, he let her know how displeased he was about the delay and how much he disliked riding in trailers.

  “Sorry, buddy, I don’t like this, either.”

  More vehicles passed. Sage pushed her hair out of her face. The wind instantly blew it back. When she looked up, she saw a familiar truck approaching from the direction of the ranch. As it drew closer, there was no mistaking the driver.

  Gavin.

  What was he doing here?

  He drove slowly past her, pulled off the road in front of her and parked. She wavered between throwing herself in his arms and storming off in a huff. He opened his door, got out and strolled toward her, stopping briefly to look inside the trailer.

  The mustang kicked the sidewall, his way of saying hello.

  “Hi.” He smiled at Sage, though it was a pretty weak one.

  “Hey.”

  “I was on my way to the feed store.”

  He seemed as uncomfortable as she.

  He was also hurting, it showed in his eyes.

  Join the club.

  “What happened?” he asked, going around to the front of the truck and examining the flat.

  She came up behind him and stood a little too close. His powerful build, his height, the attraction that had flared between them right from the start, overwhelmed her, and she had to step away.

  “The wind caught the trailer. I overcompensated and ran over a pile of debris.” She didn’t mention she’d been thinking of him when it happened. “The owner of the mustang is on his way here now,” she said, hinting it might be best for him to leave.

  “No reason we can’t get started. Where’s your jack?”

  “I’m supposed to sit tight.”

  He ignored her. “Is it in the toolbox?” Without waiting for her to answer, he climbed into the bed of the truck and held out his hand to her. “Key?”

  Since arguing was useless, she handed him her key ring. “Think we should get the mus
tang out?”

  He unlocked the toolbox and removed the jack. “If we do, I’m not sure we can control him with just the two of us.”

  Actually, there would be three of them. But who knew if the new owner was any kind of cowboy? He might have no experience with horses and purchased the mustang for other reasons.

  Gavin unhitched the horse trailer and set up the jack. He’d just started pumping the handle when a white Ford pickup driving down the opposite lane slowed and then stopped.

  “I think he’s here,” Sage said, worried at how Gavin would react to the man.

  He didn’t look up from his task. Not even when the truck door opened and the man stepped out. Sage recognized him instantly.

  Shock coursed through her. Impossible! It can’t be him.

  He strode toward them, his gait purposeful, his cowboy hat angled low over his eyes.

  She braced herself for what would surely be an ugly confrontation.

  Behind her, the noise from the cranking jack stopped. The next sound she heard was Gavin swearing.

  “Ms. Navarre.” Clay Duvall inclined his head at Sage. “Gavin. You folks need a hand?”

  “HELL, NO,” GAVIN SAID CURTLY. “We don’t need a hand.” He didn’t care if Clay Duvall now owned the mustang. The man wasn’t lifting so much as a pinky to assist him and Sage.

  “Where’s your spare?”

  “Get back in your truck, Duvall.”

  Duvall acted as if he hadn’t heard Gavin. He went to the rear of Sage’s truck, stopping momentarily to examine the mustang. For once, the horse didn’t kick or attempt to bite.

  Gavin pumped the jack handle harder.

  Kneeling on the ground between the truck and trailer, Duvall bent to peer at the spare tire attached to the truck’s underside. “Do you have a wrench, Ms. Navarre?”

  Sage started for the toolbox.

  “Stay there,” Gavin growled. To Duvall, he said, “I’ll remove the spare.”

  “I’m already down here,” Duvall answered pleasantly enough, though there was unmistakable tension in his voice. When no one immediately responded, he climbed back to his feet. “No problem. I have a wrench in my truck.”

  “You knew I wanted that horse.”

  Duvall stopped midstep and turned around. “You weren’t the only one.”

  Gavin straightened. “I tracked him for months.”

  “And again, you weren’t the only one.”

  Gavin was taken aback. He’d assumed only a few residents in the valley knew about the mustang and that he alone was interested in capturing him. “You have no use for that horse.”

  “Actually, I do.” Duvall appeared remarkably calm.

  Gavin, in comparison, was holding on to his control by the thinnest of threads.

  “I figure with his temperament, that fellow will produce some nice offspring for my bucking stock.”

  “What bucking stock?”

  “For my arena. And to lease out to local rodeos. I started the business six months ago. I thought you knew.”

  “Why would I know or care what kind of business you started?”

  “Because of Ethan.”

  “What about him?”

  “He’s been helping me.”

  The words struck Gavin like a rain of fire. Ethan? Helping Duvall? How could his brother talk to, much less help, the son of the bastard who ruined them?

  “You’re lying,” Gavin ground out.

  “Ask him yourself.”

  Gavin would do more than ask Ethan when he saw him next. He’d knock him flat to the ground.

  “Are you all right?” Sage’s voice, soft in his ear, reached the part of his brain still functioning normally.

  He should answer her. She was worried about him. Because she cared. Even after the rotten things he’d said to her last night.

  “Yeah, I’m fine.” Except, he wasn’t.

  Learning Duvall owned the mustang was bad. That he’d recruited Ethan…

  Gavin couldn’t take any more. The fury building inside him boiled over.

  “It’s not enough that you took our land and our livelihood. You have to take my brother’s loyalty, too?”

  “I didn’t take anything from you.”

  Technically, Duvall was right. At least about the land and their livelihood. His father was the one to do that. But Ethan? So what if he and Duvall were once best friends? That didn’t excuse Duvall going behind Gavin’s back or Ethan’s betrayal.

  “And as far as your brother helping me,” Duvall continued, “you’ll have to talk to him about that.”

  “Oh, I will,” Gavin assured him. “Count on it.”

  The flat tire wasn’t changing itself. All of a sudden, he wanted the hell out of there. But he wouldn’t abandon Sage, leave her with that slimeball.

  Digging through her toolbox, he found the lug wrench and went over to the flat tire, now elevated well off the ground thanks to his furious pumping of the jack handle.

  Duvall followed him, peered over Gavin’s shoulder as he struggled to loosen the frozen lug nuts. “For the record, I didn’t agree with what my dad did to yours.”

  Gavin didn’t answer, taking his frustration out instead on his task. The air might have a nip to it but sweat beaded along his brow and ran down his neck.

  “It’s one of the reasons I haven’t spoken to him in years.”

  Gavin paused, digested that information, then resumed loosening lug nuts. He’d heard rumors about Duvall and his father, though he didn’t realize they’d become completely estranged. Not that he cared.

  “You used the money you got from the sale of my family’s land to bankroll your rodeo arena.”

  “I didn’t. I used income from selling my share of the cattle business. I refused to have anything to do with my dad after he sold your family’s land to the investor, including taking money from him.”

  Now, that was something Gavin hadn’t heard.

  But again, he didn’t care. The hard shell surrounding his heart wouldn’t let him forgive any of the Duvalls or feel sorry for their troubles.

  He felt it then, Sage’s hand on his shoulder. Warm. Soft. Gentle. Offering him her unspoken support. Letting him know she was there for him.

  It was what he’d wanted from her last night, what he needed now, today, more than ever.

  When this was over and Duvall had left, he was telling Sage he loved her. What she’d said was true. They could build a future together. Everything didn’t need to be in place first.

  “You and your family weren’t the only ones who suffered at the hands of my father,” Duvall said.

  Gavin stood, Sage still by his side. His feelings for her might have changed his thinking, but they hadn’t affected his anger at Duvall one tiny bit.

  “Maybe not. But you still have your money and your rodeo arena. And now you have my brother’s loyalty and my horse. What else of mine do you want, Duvall?”

  “Your friendship.”

  “That will never happen.”

  “Why the hell not?” The question erupted from Sage’s mouth, the corners of which turned down in an impatient frown.

  Both men stared at her, Gavin in confusion and Duvall in mild amusement.

  “Sage, you don’t understand—”

  “I do,” she interrupted. “I understand perfectly. This man’s father did a terrible thing to your family.” She pointed to Duvall. “Not him, his father. When he was what? Nineteen? Twenty? All right, fine. You’ve held him accountable. Blamed him for his father’s actions. Angry people do that. But the man’s trying to apologize, for pity’s sake. The least you can do is listen to him. Ethan obviously did.”

  “Don’t compare me to Ethan.”

  If she heard Gavin, she paid no attention. “Your brother’s been able to put his anger aside in order to help Mr. Duvall at whatever it is they’re doing. If you weren’t so pigheaded—” she jabbed a finger in Gavin’s chest “—you’d realize you could work with him, too.”

  “Are you crazy?�
��

  “A little, I suppose. But sometimes, crazy ideas are the best ones. He has the mustang. You have the mares. Seems to me you could strike up a partnership. Can’t be any worse than the one you had with Dan.”

  The idea was preposterous. Insane.

  Gavin glanced at Duvall, who shrugged.

  Was he actually considering it?

  Should Gavin?

  “I really only want to breed him,” Duvall said. “Don’t need him on my property. He could just as easily stay at your place. And I could bring my mares there. If you ever finish building that mare motel.”

  Ethan must have told Duvall about their plans.

  They could get started on the construction right away, using the money they’d pooled to buy the mustang. It would be a risk but when didn’t gain require risk?

  There was only one drawback. He’d be betting everything that Duvall wasn’t cut from the same cloth as his father.

  Gavin gazed at Sage, taking in the features of her lovely face. Something inside his chest shifted. It was, he realized, the hard shell surrounding his heart melting.

  She smiled, her eyes telling him, Take the leap. I’ll be with you the whole way.

  “Okay,” Gavin said, and did something he wouldn’t have believed possible in a million years. He extended his hand to Duvall. “We have a deal.”

  Duvall shook Gavin’s hand firmly. “Good.”

  “We’ll write up the agreement later.”

  “I’m not worried about it.” Duvall grinned. “Let’s find that wrench and get this gal of yours on the road.”

  “Think you can turn this truck and trailer around?” Duvall asked Sage when they were done changing the flat tire. “Take that horse to Powell Ranch?”

  So, Gavin thought, Duvall meant what he’d said. He was letting Gavin take the mustang home.

  “Piece of cake.” Sage jumped into her truck after saying goodbye to Duvall.

  The two men watched her head down the road.

  “She’s something else,” Duvall said. “If I were you, I’d grab her up before another man does.”

  Gavin thought that was pretty good advice.

  “You want to come by tomorrow for supper?” The spontaneous invitation appeared to surprise Duvall as much as it did Gavin.