“Yes,” he said, abolishing her hope. “A couple times. The doc’s done some tests. But he wants me to see a specialist in Denver. A neurologist. On Thursday.”
A neurologist? This time there was no stopping the tears. They slipped down her cheeks one by one. She could be strong for him, but she couldn’t promise not to show emotion. “Do you need me to come?” she half-whispered, trying to get a handle on her squeaky tone. “I can talk to Lance—”
“No.” The firm denial cut her off. “I want you to come. No one else. I’m not telling Lance.”
She shot to her feet, holding tightly to Ilsa, her pulse racing. “But Lance should know. He’d want to know.”
“Not yet,” Luis said stubbornly. “Not until I get a diagnosis. He’s training. I can’t distract him from what he needs to do.”
“But…” She sank back to the couch, the gravity of what he was asking too much weight to bear. How could she not tell him? How could she go on a date with him and not tell him his father might be sick? “It’s only a competition,” she breathed. This was his father’s life…
“It’s more than that to him,” Luis said sternly. “It’s what he lives for. And I won’t be the reason he fails.”
Anger tore through the sadness. “That’s ridiculous—”
“Please.” The one word held enough sadness to smother her indignation. “I need to know you won’t tell him. Not until I’m ready. I don’t ask you for much. But I need this.”
She pressed her hand against her mouth to hold in a sob and nodded. “Fine,” she murmured when she could speak. “I won’t tell him. But you’ll have to. Eventually.”
He nodded. “After the competition.”
“And what about Lucas and Levi?” They’d only just reconnected with him…
“I’m not gonna saddle them with this now,” he said, looking away from her as if he knew exactly what she thought about that plan.
Because she hated it. The thought of him going to a specialist—maybe hearing a grim diagnosis—without his boys there made her nauseated. “They’re your family.” She tried to say it gently, but conviction hurtled out.
Luis gave her a sad look as he reached across and patted her hand. “And I’ll tell them when the time is right.”
* * *
Lance fumbled with the buttons on his shirt. Been a damn long time since he’d worn a dress shirt. But he figured Jessa was worth the trouble, even if the collar did pinch at his neck. He tucked the shirt into his jeans and cinched his belt buckle. A fancy shirt was one thing, but he’d stick with jeans, thank you very much. Besides, what he had planned for their date tonight would require jeans. And with that thought…
He strode out into the living room. He never got nervous around women, but something in his gut churned. Which could mean only one thing. He had it bad.
“Whoa.” Lucas stood in the kitchen helping himself to a beer. He whistled. “Someone must have big plans tonight.”
Lance positioned himself on the other side of the counter, doing his best to appear casual. “How do you figure?”
His brother eyed him as though racking up a list of reasons. “For starters, you tucked your shirt in.”
Lance looked down. Yeah, okay. That was a dead giveaway. “So?” he challenged, just like he used to when they were kids. That usually ended in a scuffle around the floor until one of them had the other pinned. But tonight he didn’t feel like messing up his hair.
“Where are you headed?” Lucas asked, the smirk on his face making him look thirteen again.
Lance evaded his brother’s amused eyes. “Gonna pick up Jessa. Take her up to the lake.” A romantic evening picnic. Not that he could take credit. He’d Googled romantic dates in the mountains…
“A picnic?” His brother’s jaw hung open.
Yeah, it kind of shocked him, too. But what could he say? “I like her.”
“So I see.” Lucas took a swig of beer and set the bottle on the counter. “I’m happy for you. She seems close to perfect for you.” The smirk reappeared. “Nice. Kind. Compassionate. Someone to balance you out.”
“What the hell is that supposed to—”
The door pounded open and Levi hustled in. “Got any beer around this place? Dad’s out.”
Probably because Levi had downed it all. Didn’t take that kid long to put back a case of beer.
“Plenty in the fridge,” Lucas said, moving out of the way so Levi could open it.
He snatched a lager and popped the top like he’d been waiting for a year.
“Ahh…” He swiped his arm across his mouth and looked at Lance as though noticing him for the first time. “Why the hell are you dressed like you’re doing a photo shoot for Rodeo News?”
“He has a date,” Lucas answered for him. “With Jessa.”
Damn. If only he could sucker punch him like he used to.
“Knew it.” Levi’s palm smacked the countertop. “It was so obvious. You were all over her at the bar.”
“Noticed you avoided Cassidy,” Lance said. He still knew how to put Levi in his place when the situation demanded.
Sure enough, his brother’s gaze dropped to the floor.
“Did you even say a word to her?” After being her brother’s best friend and practically growing up as part of the family, a hello wouldn’t have killed him.
“Cassidy hates me.” He took a long pull on the beer and when he set it down the spark was gone from his eyes. “She hates everyone who has anything to do with riding.”
Lance doubted that. Cassidy didn’t hate Levi. His brother simply felt guilty for being there when Cash died. For not being able to prevent his accident, as if he were God or something.
“Come on, you two.” Lucas shook his head at the two of them. “How about we stop trying to push one another’s buttons and get along? I’m only gonna be here a few more days, then I gotta head back to the McGowens’.”
“A few more days?” That was it? All these years Luis had been waiting for Lucas’s return, and now he was staying only a few days.
“I’ve got stuff to take care of down there. They rely on me.”
“I gotta head back to training soon, too,” Levi said, finishing off his beer. “Not everyone qualifies for Worlds with just their name.” He gave Lance a pointed look. “Some of us gotta work for it.”
Lance’s temper flared. He had worked for it. His whole life. He’d given everything to it. But Levi knew that. Once again, his younger brother was just trying to poke the dragon. Besides, they had other things to discuss. If they were both leaving soon, they didn’t have much time. He glanced at the clock. He had to leave in ten minutes, but they had to do this now. He walked to the counter and pulled out a stool, sitting down across from his brothers. “Since you’re both here, there’s something I want to say.” He didn’t give them a chance to respond. “I think we should tell Dad. Everything.”
Lucas braced his hands against the countertop. “We’ve been over this.”
Maybe so, but their last go-round hadn’t convinced him of anything. “I think he deserves to know the truth.” If he stood in the man’s shoes, he’d want to know.
“There’s no point,” Lucas growled, more riled up than he should’ve been. “Not right now. What’s done is done. Let’s leave it be.”
He couldn’t. Not anymore. Not for Lucas and not for Levi. Not for their father. “No one else has to know. But he should.”
Levi looked back and forth between him and Lucas, his expression unreadable. “Lance is right,” he finally said.
“What?” Come again? Had those three words really just come out of his younger brother’s mouth?
“You’re right,” Levi said again, with more conviction this time. “He should know the truth.”
Wow. Lance could only stand there blinking like a fool. He’d never thought Levi would be the one to agree on this. Maybe his brother had grown up some out there in Oklahoma…
“You don’t know what the hell you’re talking abo
ut,” Lucas argued. “You don’t want him to know the truth.”
Their youngest brother slammed his beer onto the countertop so hard Lance couldn’t believe the bottle didn’t shatter.
“How do you think I felt knowing you were in prison because of something I did?” he demanded. “I ruined your life.”
“We didn’t exactly give you a choice,” Lance reminded him. He’d never thought about what it had done to Levi. It’d never seemed to bother him. He’d obviously hidden it well.
“Exactly. You didn’t give me a choice.” His brother’s eyes had darkened. “But I could’ve spoken up. I could’ve said something. If I had it to do over, I never would let you take the fall for me.”
Lucas sighed as though he was more tired than angry. “You were a kid. Hell, we were all kids. We didn’t know anything.”
That was the truth. For the most part they’d been on their own to make life’s big decisions. And there’d been plenty of times they’d screwed up. They could always right those wrongs, though. It wasn’t too late. “We can make it right now.”
Lucas studied Levi. “But you have your whole career ahead of you…”
“I don’t need you to protect me anymore,” their younger brother said with more conviction than Lance had thought he was capable of.
Lucas still looked as surprised as he felt. “No. I guess you don’t.”
Levi walked over and tossed his beer bottle into the recycling bin. “They couldn’t prosecute me anyway. You’ve already served the sentence. So yeah, it might suck if everyone else found out. They might hate me. But I won’t go to prison.”
Lucas still looked undecided, but Lance wasn’t. “We can tell him tomorrow. At dinner,” he said. “But right now I have to run.” Wouldn’t do to be late for Jessa. She’d already forgiven him for being an ass once. Or twice. Didn’t need to add poor punctuality to the list.
“Have fun,” his brothers said in unison as he trotted out the door.
Didn’t need to tell him twice. It’d been only a few days since he’d spent time with her, but it felt more like months.
Outside, the early evening sun backlit the mountains with a vibrant haze. He climbed into the truck, appreciating the view as he drove toward town. Normally, he didn’t consider himself an optimistic sort of fella, but it seemed things were falling into place. His brothers were back home, which meant the family was back together. After all these years, they’d put the past to rest. Worlds were coming up fast, and he’d never felt more ready for a competition in his life.
And all of it was thanks to Jessa.
Chapter Twenty
It was becoming apparent that perhaps Darla hadn’t been the best choice in reinforcements to call when Jessa had started to freak out about her date with Lance. The woman had come right over and talked her into wearing her brand-new flowy, low-cut sundress that clearly said, Make love to me in a flower-dappled meadow.
And yes, she had to admit, it was the perfect outfit for a first date with a man who’d already convinced her he was worth the effort. But there was a slight complication. She shouldn’t go on a date with him. Not when she was leaving for Denver at six thirty in the morning with his father for a secret doctor’s appointment. “He told me to wear jeans,” she said, glancing at herself in the mirror.
Darla only laughed. “He doesn’t want you to wear jeans. When he sees this dress, he’ll forget all about jeans,” she promised.
“I shouldn’t go. I could tell him I have the chickenpox,” Jessa squeaked, fisting her friend’s shirt desperately in her hands. “Or measles. Or a bad case of the stomach flu…” A rising panic crowded into her chest, jamming up her throat. She glanced at the clock. Lance would be there in ten minutes!
“No.” Darla plucked Jessa’s hands from her clothing and backed away, straightening the wrinkles out of her shirt. “You are going on this date,” she said sternly. “I mean, come on! Lance never asks anyone out.” Her hands flew up. “Think of what this means. This is like a record. Maybe you’ll end up in the Guinness World Records or something.”
Jessa deflated to the couch, suddenly exhausted from the weight of carrying such a heavy secret. “I can’t go. I can’t.” How could she look into that man’s perceptive eyes and pretend everything was all right?
Darla plopped next to her. “You have to go,” she argued. “You look gorgeous. And you don’t want to discourage his interest in you, right?”
Jessa stared at her hands, trying to even out her breathing. “Well. No. I guess not.” She liked Lance. Okay. She more than liked him. But that was the problem. She’d learned enough about him to realize that keeping any sort of secret about his father would be considered an unpardonable sin in his book.
“Come on.” Darla gave her shoulders a quick massage, like a coach pumping up a boxer for a big match. “Just forget about everything else and have fun tonight. Let it all go.”
“I want to.” She wanted to waltz out that door with him and let him sweep her off her feet like they’d been caught up in one of those wonderful Humphrey Bogart movies. Not like it would be all that hard for him to sweep her off her feet. He’d already laid a serious claim on her heart. She wanted to hold his hand and kiss him and, well, depending on where things went, maybe more than kiss him. But. “I feel like I’m lying to him.” In a moment of desperation on the phone, she’d given up Luis’s secret to Darla. Not that she had to worry. The woman was a vault.
“Pshaw.” Darla waved away her concerns. “You’re not lying. You’re withholding. Totally different,” she said, as though she’d suddenly become a relationship expert. “You have to respect Luis’s wishes on this, Jess. This is his decision. Not yours.”
And that was the sad truth of it. “I know.”
“Luis is right. This would completely throw Lance off right before the biggest competition of his life. Is that what you want?”
“No.” He needed this win. He needed to go out on top. Surely he’d understand. She was just trying to do what was best for him.
“Now, I’m gonna take off before he gets here and sees me giving you a pep talk.” Darla pushed off the couch and walked across the room to the dog bed Jessa had brought home for Ilsa. The pig squealed when she picked her up, but Darla carefully calmed her with a smooch on the head. She’d agreed to watch Ilsa tonight. Just in case things went late.
But Jessa couldn’t let things go late. She couldn’t sleep with Lance! Not when she was keeping something from him…
“Call me the second you get home,” Darla said for the hundredth time. “Got it? I want details. I want to know everything.”
She followed her friend to the door and opened it for her, then leaned down to kiss Ilsa’s snout. “I’m not sure there’ll be anything to tell.” How could she say one word to him without everything coming out? Let alone kiss the man? It would feel so wrong…
“Oh, there’ll be something to tell,” Darla insisted on her way down the porch. “Trust me. That dress won’t let you down.” With a suggestive lift of her eyebrows, she traipsed down the porch, wiggling her fingers in a wave.
Jessa didn’t wave back. Her arms felt too weak to move. She tapped the door closed with her toes and paced the living room. Usually the anticipation of seeing Lance brought on the butterflies, but now it had unleashed something far more intense. What if Lance could read the secret on her face? What if she accidentally mentioned something about their trip to Denver? What if—
The doorbell chimed.
Her head whipped around. Lance’s sturdy build crowded the window.
“Okay,” she breathed. “Okay.” Too late to cancel. Too late to make up some sort of illness. Darla was right. She wasn’t lying. After it all came out, she’d simply explain to Lance how important the secret had been to Luis. He would understand. He had to understand.
Slowly, she shuffled to the door, her insides quivering the whole way. She reached for the knob and suddenly the damn thing felt like it was solid steel. Somehow she managed to get
the door open, even with her failing muscles. And that image of him standing there…that burned into her brain. He was dreamy…a rugged cowboy fantasy. Dark tight jeans. Black button-down shirt tucked in so as not to hide any of his goods. His hair had been somewhat tamed but not to the point of looking like he cared all that much, and God, that made him sexy.
“Hi, there,” she said as casually as she could, considering the pulse in her throat.
“Hey.” His gaze lazily trailed down her body and back up to her eyes, and the desire she saw there rendered her speechless.
“I know I told you to wear jeans, but that’s one hell of a dress, Jessa Love,” he uttered in a rather provocative, scraping tone that tempted her to do away with the dress altogether.
Instead of disrobing, she turned away to snatch her purse off the sofa table. And to talk her cheeks out of a blush. “Thanks,” she muttered as soon as she could speak.
When she turned around, he stood closer, almost right against her, and even though he hadn’t touched her yet, she felt him, inhaled that dangerous scent that made her think of the powerful trees lining the mountains outside.
“I thought we’d go for a picnic.” His gaze lowered to her cleavage as though he wanted her to know how much he appreciated it. “That sound okay with you?”
A picnic. It sounded perfect. In the great outdoors, maybe she could think about something besides leading him right into her bedroom. Skip the small talk. Skip the food. Who needed a date when Lance was so good at seducing her? Ahem. Yes. A picnic would be much safer. “I love picnics,” she told him, going to the closet to pick out a sweater. Delicate and white to match the dress.
“Can’t say I’ve ever been on a picnic,” he said, holding open the front door for her. “But I figure it’ll be a nice evening up at the lake.”
“Mmm-hmmm,” she squeaked, hightailing it down the sidewalk to his old pickup. She’d already climbed in and gotten belted before he could open the door for her.
Lance hoisted himself into the driver’s seat and started the engine. As he pulled away from the curb, he glanced over at her. “You okay?” he asked, more unsure than she’d ever seen him.
Luckiest Cowboy of All--Two full books for the price of one Page 48