“Just to annoy Bishop, I reckon. He was always digging at me to marry John, as if it were any of his business. It irked me. Bishop always acted like some paragon of virtue.” Lolly huffed and rolled her eyes. “Like the entire town didn’t know about his wild days.”
“His wild days?”
Lolly had her full attention now, and she knew it. She bent close to Piper’s ear. “Wild days and wild nights.” She paused, letting that information sink in. Then, “Nick comes by his reputation honestly. Bishop grew up here, and if Nick thought he raised a scandal when he left, he should have been around when Bishop ran off with Elizabeth Hatcher. Saul was furious—he’d been dating Elizabeth for a year. Come to find out that Bishop had been courting her on the sly.”
“Saul?” Piper had heard the name but couldn’t place it.
“He’s a lawyer. After Elizabeth married Bishop, Saul settled for her younger sister, Loretta. And the family’s good graces. When Beau Hatcher passed on, he left everything to his two daughters.”
Piper remembered Nick referring to Hatcher’s Table. Now it clicked into place. Two dead bulls.
“I have to tell you, after what Bishop did to catch Elizabeth, you would have thought he’d have stuck around home.”
A streak of heat went through Piper, igniting her curiosity like tinder. She quirked an eyebrow at Lolly, who leaned closer yet, spoke in a stage whisper. “Elizabeth was in the hospital for a long time while she was pregnant with Nick. And Bishop wasn’t exactly spending every weekend in Sheridan.”
Piper stopped short of letting her mouth gape open.
Lolly nodded slowly, her face solemn.
“Who was he—?”
“Let’s just say that no one was surprised when Nick found Bishop in Irene St. John’s arms after Elizabeth died.”
Piper was wordless.
Lolly lifted a shoulder. “It’s just talk. But I think there is a reason Cole and Nick were closer than brothers. If you know what I mean.”
The crowd around them cheered. Lolly rose, apparently impressed with the action in the ring.
Piper heard nothing but ringing in her ears. Could Cole and Nick be brothers? Did Bishop leave the land to Cole because he was trying to atone for his sins? She stood up, clapping, but leaned back to Lolly. “What about Elizabeth—did she ever find out?”
Lolly shrugged, but an enigmatic smile played across her face. “Phillips is a small town, even for the discreet.”
Piper stared ahead but saw nothing, wondering if Nick knew he was an uncle.
Cole worked his way down the metal steps of the grandstands, moving in slow motion. He felt punky today, as if his insides might be made of cornmeal mush, his brain unable to climb out of the sludge that bogged his thoughts. He heard the roar of the crowd, smelled the hot dogs and popcorn, and instead of being able to focus on CJ and the day that should belong to him, Cole’s thoughts were mired in memories.
As if time were playing tricks on him, over and over in his thoughts, he found himself behind the stands with Nick, practicing their roping. Maggy sat on the truck, her legs crossed, the sun in her hair. She giggled, encouraging them, clapping when they both managed to land their coils around the dummy steer they’d set up in the lot.
Or maybe those memories were conjured up by the sound of Maggy cheering on CJ this morning as he’d practiced his technique one last time in the yard. The way she’d sat on the top rail, clapping, grinning, pride on her beautiful face, she seemed eighteen again. Cole had forced himself to limp outside and lean against the fence, a smile on his face, but all he saw was Nick’s technique in CJ’s form, the snap of his wrist, the angle of his throw, the grin of his victory. The hours CJ spent with Nick this past week, honing his throw, perfecting his timing, would pay off today.
He should have been the one helping CJ instead of lying on the sofa, but he felt drunk, weighted by an unfamiliar exhaustion. Crushed by the sense that perhaps the end might be near.
A kid holding a box of popcorn in one hand and a Coke in the other slammed into him, knocking him into the handrail. “Sorry, mister.”
Cole tried to right himself, to respond, but the kid had vanished by the time he caught his breath. He heard the announcer sum up the scores and proclaim the winner of the goat-tying round. Breakaway roping was next.
Cole moved around the bleachers toward the stock area where CJ would be lining up. He and Maggy had come here early to affix his number, calm his horse, and warm up. Cole should have left with them, but he’d made the mistake of wanting to watch the opening of the rodeo one last time, and he had been caught in the press of the crowd.
A cheer went up as the first rider clocked a time of 9.47. Cole couldn’t help but smile—CJ had better times. But if he broke the barrier that held his horse back and gave the calf a split-second lead too soon, it would add ten seconds.
It struck him that Nick had been notorious for breaking the barrier—in rodeo, in life. Cole had learned to take a breath as the steer broke out, and on the outtake, let the horse free. He should remind CJ—
Cole stopped. CJ stood beside his horse, looking every inch the champion, with his number pinned to his black snap-button shirt, and wearing a matching hat and boots. He held the reins, his rope coiled over the horn of his saddle.
Crouching before him, giving him a pep talk . . . was Nick. He had his hands clamped on CJ’s shoulders, and even from here, Cole recognized Nick’s game face. The one that put 100 percent into being a champion.
Beside him, looking down upon her son and the man she’d first loved, stood Maggy. She had her arms folded but was nodding to Nick’s sage words. And wearing a smile. As if this might be the moment she’d always hoped for.
Cole gasped for breath, sure that his body was reacting to the truth he saw before him. Maggy might be married to him, but she would always love Nick.
He turned away, moving stiffly back to the ring, leaning against it as he forced himself to breathe. This was what he wanted, wasn’t it? For Maggy to be happy? For CJ to have a father? a home?
He white-fisted the rail, hanging on. Apparently God had answered his prayers for provision for his family.
But He could have at least waited until Cole didn’t have to watch.
“Are you listening to me, CJ?” Nick watched CJ’s attention flicker away from him toward the stands as if he were searching for someone.
CJ looked back at Nick. “Yeah. Take a breath as the calf breaks away. I remember.”
Nick patted the boy’s shoulder. “Good. Your dad told me that more than once.” In fact, Cole had probably been the reason they’d won the championship. Cole had always had the clear head, the right timing.
“Mom, is he coming?” CJ glanced up at Maggy.
Nick glanced at her too. She looked like a rodeo mom today, dressed in a jean jacket, her hair in braids under her hat, her face somber as she helped CJ with his number. She’d seemed only momentarily surprised when Nick showed up to offer CJ his go-for-it speech. But he saw a chip in her icy demeanor when she stood back to let Nick have his say.
Now in answer to CJ’s question, she frowned, first at her son, then at Nick.
Nick shrugged, as if to say, I didn’t see him. Not that he’d been looking, per se. He’d actually been hoping he didn’t have to see Cole today . . . not after the last words Nick had said to him: “You won’t rest until you’ve taken everything.”
After the last couple weeks on the ranch and his most recent talk with Piper, he’d begun to wonder if God had something more for him. Something that he wouldn’t have had with Maggy. He’d searched his emotions for any remnant of feelings he might have for Maggy and realized that the old ache had healed. Instead, he only felt a kind of peace. Yes, Maggy would always occupy a part of his heart, along with the memory of her smile, her friendship, but he hadn’t been able to love her like she deserved. Cole, however, had. But somehow saying that seemed . . . well, it might be easier to ride the two-ton Brahma bull they’d shipped in for the final round of excitemen
t tonight.
Nick straightened. “I don’t know where Cole is.”
Worry flashed across Maggy’s face, but she hid it in a second. “I’m sure he’s in the stands, watching. It’s just that he promised he’d be here.”
CJ nodded, and Nick wondered at the air of tension between mother and son. Worry suddenly pricked him also. “Should I . . . ah, go look for him?”
Maggy smiled at him—a real smile. “Thanks, Nick. But no. He’s fine.” She blew out a breath that indicated the opposite and turned to CJ. “You’d better line up.”
The boy’s eyes shone. He cast a look at Nick.
“You’re ready, bucko. Go get that calf.”
CJ swung into the saddle and urged his horse into line. He worked the coil into the loop, fitted it into his grip.
“Thanks, Nick.” Maggy’s tone made him turn. “You really gave CJ confidence this week. Even if he doesn’t win, he’s learned so much.”
“He’s got natural talent.”
Maggy’s smile slipped. “Yeah. His dad was a great roper.” She looked away, and again he saw worry flash across her face.
Nick couldn’t take it. “Maggy, what’s wrong with Cole? He didn’t look well last time I saw him.”
Maggy’s smile disappeared. Then she shook her head. “Let’s go watch CJ.”
He followed her, freshly hating himself and all he’d done to destroy the friendships in his life.
They wove their way through the crowd pressed against the rail, then climbed the stairs to the stands and stood in the aisle. Feeling Maggy next to him, he had the strangest feeling of contentment, of peace. He searched the stands for Piper, but she wasn’t in their seats. He frowned, seeing the empty place. Maybe she went after that cotton candy herself.
CJ’s name bellowed from the speakers.
C’mon, CJ. Nick located him in the shoot, watched him fix his loop, noticed the look of concentration on his boyish face. Nick held his breath, every muscle coiled.
The calf broke free, and half a second later, CJ broke the barrier, his loop already spinning above his head. Once, twice—he threw on the second go-round. A perfect loop, a perfect angle, and the horse was already planting his back end before the rope snagged the calf. The breakaway rope snapped off.
Nick looked at the bank of judges and watched as the announcer said, “Wow! That was a record-breaking 7.24 seconds, folks!”
Nick let out a breath as Maggy erupted beside him. She cheered, shooting her hands above her head.
Nick waved his hat in the air, trying to catch CJ’s eye. The boy gathered in his rope, and Nick saw him search the crowd. But when his eyes caught on something, it wasn’t Nick. CJ grinned, and Nick cheered for Cole, who had seen his boy triumph.
Maggy’s expression glowed. “He did it!”
Nick high-fived her. “You got some boy there, Mags. Cole should be so proud of his son.”
She closed her mouth, and he saw tears in her eyes. “I need to find Cole.”
Nick felt strangely close to tears himself. “Congratulate him for me.”
Maggy took off toward the pens, and Nick turned to pick his way back to his seat. Piper had reappeared and was clapping wildly. He wound his way through the crowd as the next contestant fed into the shoot.
“Hey!” he said as he plunked down beside her. “Did you get cotton candy?”
“No, it was all gone,” she said, her face pink, alive. “Didn’t CJ do great?”
Piper’s smile added to his swell of pride. “He did everything I told him. And, of course, his dad was a champion roper.”
Piper’s eyes sparkled. “Apparently it runs in the family.”
Nick reached out and took her hand, and when she laced her fingers through his, he wondered what he’d done to deserve such a perfect day.
CJ’s time won him first place. He ran his horse around the ring in his victory lap, waving his hat just like Cole had done when he’d won. Like father, like son. Nick searched for Maggy and Cole but didn’t spot them in the cheering crowd.
No matter. His heart nearly burst for Cole’s son, and he hoped that somehow it might be the beginning of healing for them all.
The rodeo continued with team roping, steer wrestling, and bronc riding and ended with three brave cowboys riding the Brahmas under a star-speckled sky. Piper sat beside him, occasionally meeting his gaze with a mysterious smile as if she were harboring a secret. He hoped it had something to do with the way she held his hand. As if not wanting to let it go.
Fireworks and the grand parade of winners closed the rodeo. Nick’s smile dimmed when CJ didn’t show in the lineup. Then again, neither did the goat wrestler, and he wondered if CJ might be fast asleep in the cab of the truck. He himself had missed a few finales, having been wiped out from the adrenaline rush.
He and Piper worked their way out of the bleachers and toward his truck. Their joined hands swung between them. He waved to Stefanie, who was packing up their dinner. She turned, and he couldn’t read her expression as she stared at the couple.
Nick knew Stefanie liked Piper, but her pensive look soured his joy. Well, Piper was sorta his employee. He’d have to talk to Stefanie and assure her that his relationship with Piper wouldn’t affect the Silver Buckle’s ability to serve their guests.
He hadn’t exactly warmed to the idea of guests on the land, but without a reason to contest Bishop’s will and with their recent losses, it looked like he’d have to put on his happy face and pitch in.
Unless, of course, he wanted to throw in the towel and see if he could land a job in the police department in Sheridan. The thought tasted bitter. He hadn’t exactly been a stellar detective. At best, he’d jailed a few drunk cowboys, found some wandering cows. At worst, he’d put the wrong man in jail.
No, he had horrible instincts when it came to law enforcement. He’d even suspected Piper of having a secret agenda when she’d first arrived. He glanced at her now, at the way the moonlight lit her face, turned her hair to gold, and he felt like a class-A jerk for suspecting her.
Ranching had been the only thing he’d ever been good at. And for the first time in years, Nick felt as if he might be right where he belonged.
He opened the door for Piper, and she slid into the seat, clasping her hands between her knees. “Let’s go to the Cathedral,” she said, wearing that mysterious look again.
Nick closed the door, feeling a burst of long-tamped feelings. He got into the truck, feeling her eyes on him, wondering what she might be thinking.
He hoped her thoughts matched his own feelings—his own unspoken, unnamed hopes.
They drove out of Phillips in silence, following one pickup after another until they came to Buckle property. Instead of turning onto the road under the Buckle sign, he continued and turned in west of the property, driving over the grassy fields, bumping along until they came to the hill. “We’ll have to climb.”
Piper got out without a word. Nick followed her up the bluff, hearing her breath puff out as the climb grew steeper. Finally, they topped the hill, and Piper walked out to the edge, standing with her hands in her pockets. Nick joined her.
The moon and stars threw light against the bluffs and draws, turning patches of grass to silver. The vault of brilliance stretched as far as the eye could see, streaked only with the Milky Way. He saw it anew as they stood in silence.
“It feels so close. As if I could touch it,” Piper said quietly.
Nick wanted to touch her, to draw her close, but she suddenly seemed far away, as if in her own galaxy. “Yeah. I came here a lot after my mom died. I felt closer to her in a way. Like she might be right out of sight but watching.”
Piper stared at her feet. “My mother died a couple years ago. Lung cancer. My father smoked, and she was a victim. It gave me another reason to hate him.”
No wonder Piper had such a hard time feeling God’s love for her, seeing Him at work in her life. He reached out to embrace her.
She stepped away. “I like it here, Nick.
Probably too much.”
He felt a crazy spurt of panic at her words. “That’s a good thing, right?”
She shrugged. “I don’t know. I guess it scares me.”
Nick swallowed, feeling her words as his own. “We have time, Piper. And I’m not going anywhere.”
Her expression seemed troubled. “You’re sticking around to make sure Cole doesn’t get your land, right?”
He said nothing, her words stinging. Put like that, his actions sounded—no, felt—vindictive. Like revenge. For the first time, he saw himself in Stefanie’s words: “I can’t believe this! You didn’t come back to help. You came back out of revenge.”
He didn’t want to be that man. “I don’t know. I still haven’t figured out why Bishop gave the land to Cole. But it’s looking like I can’t do anything about it.” He reached for her hand.
Piper let him take it, then stared at her hand in his. “I think you should let it go. What if your sister’s right? What if God brought you here but not to get the land?”
“Then why?” He gave her a little tug, wanting her closer, wanting to smell her, to wrap his arms around her. To kiss her.
“To find something Bishop left behind?”
“I’ve searched his journals. His Bible. He didn’t leave any clues.”
Piper’s expression seemed troubled. “Maybe he did.”
Nick shook his head, bracketed her face with his hands. “I’m starting to think that God sent me back here to find you.”
Her mouth opened slightly, and before she could protest, he kissed her. Closing his eyes, he gently brushed his lips against hers, testing, hoping. She seemed surprised, for she didn’t immediately respond. But as he held her and kissed her cheek, her forehead, trailing his way back to her lips, she closed her eyes and found his mouth to kiss him back. She tasted of salty popcorn, but he relished the feel of her touch. He held her without rushing, lingering, and when he drew away, he saw tears in her eyes.
“That was nice,” she said with a soft smile.
Nice was good. Nice, for a woman who probably had a plethora of not-nice memories, seemed breathtaking.
Reclaiming Nick Page 22