Colby (BBW Western Bear Shifter Romance) (Rodeo Bears Book 3)

by Becca Fanning

  “Oh, but Aunt Vanessa!” Rosemary piped up. “It’s your dream, and Will is right. This is your chance!” She bounced up and twirled around tracing a half moon in the air. “Just think about it. The Outlaw theatre, hotel and restaurant. Come for dinner, a show and stay the night! It’s perfect.”

  Rosemary traced the name in imaginary lights in the air. Willow could see it in her imagination. It was what Aunt Vanessa had been working towards her whole life, and she was certain this was the time. The Sawyer’s ranch was just beautiful. It had everything including a river, a small lake and a forest. The possibilities were truly endless.

  “Let’s go take a look,” Willow said. “It can’t hurt to have a peek, now can it?”

  Aunt Vanessa looked uncertain.

  “Oh, please!” Rosemary begged falling dramatically to her knees. “Please, aunty.”

  “Oh, fine,” Aunt Vanessa said huffing. “But we’re going to morning rehearsal first.”

  The Outlaw Theatre only did one kind of entertainment. It was a cabaret show of singing and dancing, and the subject matter was that of the Old West. If you were ever considered an outlaw, then you would feature, somewhere, in the show.

  The current repertoire was inspired by Billy the Kid and Doc Holiday, who had actually visited Colorado in the 1800’s.

  Dressed in her practice gear of a lycra body suit, heels and a cotton wide skirt, Willow was ready to take on the role of Big Nose Kate. Kate had been Doc’s on again, off again girlfriend and Doc was played by Randal Somes. Randal was so gay, and it was so obvious, that Willow had to try really hard not to laugh during their love song duet. Somehow singing about endless love to a person like Randal, was just too funny.

  But she made it through. Then came the dance routines, the songs about being an outlaw, written by Aunt Vanessa, played by the band, sung by the cast, and then the big finale.

  Finally, practice was done. The theatre offered a matinee performance at 15:30, but there was still plenty of time. So the performers and band members went their separate ways.

  Willow raced to change her clothes. She flung on jeans, a green Tee, a jacket and her knee high boots. Last she twirled her long, curly, strawberry blonde hair up into a bun on top of her head and she was ready.

  She met Rosemary in the hall and there they waited for their Aunt Vanessa. She eventually appeared, hair done up, in jeans and a white blouse. Her denim jacket had sparkles all over it and her boots were her best.

  “Well,” she said when seeing the girl’s faces, “I’ve known Sally-Anne my whole life. I think it would be rude to show up on her doorstep looking like trailer trash.”

  “Did we say anything?” Rosemary asked.

  “I sure didn’t,” Willow said. “But come on, we gotta go.”

  They piled into Aunt Vanessa’s SUV, and Willow drove them along the track to the neighboring farm. It was a good half hour drive. There had been a few storms lately and all the rain had rutted the roads, leaving holes and dimples in the dirt. It made for a very bumpy ride. Willow drove slowly, having had a tongue lashing from her aunt before about wearing out shock absorbers by driving too fast on bumpy roads. The SUV was Aunt Vanessa’s baby, part of the settlement from her last husband.

  “Only good thing the cheating, slime bucket ever did for me,” she always said. So Willow drove slowly until the road improved. Here they could see a grader had been along, clearing and flattening the road. With the improved conditions, Willow sped up. They were cruising along now and Willow began to imagine how wonderful it would be to have the theatre, and the hotel and restaurant. It would be more work for sure, but good work. And it would see Aunt Vanessa right into her old age. And this was the perfect time, since tourist visits slowed down now for winter. They would have ample time to get the place sorted out and made to look the part of a brothel in the old west.

  Willow looked into her rearview mirror and let out a small scream. She had been so deep in her imaginings that she hadn’t seen anything around her. A huge black SUV was suddenly right there, behind them! It was practically on her rear bumper. She indicated for them to go around, but the driver just kept on coming. He was really aggressive.

  “What’s his problem?” Rosemary asked, from the backseat, where she turned to glared at the other driver.

  “I don’t know,” Willow said watching the SUV. She rolled down her window and waved him by again.

  The SUV stayed on their tail.

  Willow clutched the steering wheel with both hands. Her heart was beating so fast in her chest.

  Beside her Aunt Vanessa was looking pale, and clutching the armrest.

  The SUV backed off a little. Then it came back at them again. Willow looked around for somewhere to pull over, but this part of the road dipped badly, with a wide ditch on both sides. She couldn’t stop here. So she did the only thing she could.

  Willow hit the accelerator and sped along the dirt road, dust flying.

  The faster they drove, the faster the other SUV came on. Willow hit the brakes a little and the SUV backed off slightly, but not much. Instead of deterring him, that only seemed to be egging this maniac on. He drove closer and closer to them.

  Willow glanced behind and suddenly the car hit something. The jolt on the wheel was enough for Willow to lose her grip for a moment. The car slid out of control, turned wildly, spinning across the dirt and with a boom crashed into the ditch on the side of the road.

  Willow opened her eyes.

  First thing she did was check the passenger and the backseat. Aunt Vanessa was crying but waved Willow away. There was no one in the backseat and that freaked Willow out instantly. She jumped out of the car, trying to shake the feeling that history was repeating, that her sister was gone.

  “Rose!” she yelled.

  Aunt Vanessa’s SUV was nose first in the ditch. Oh fabulous! Willow thought. Great, just wonderful! She knew they were stuck.

  “Shit!” she said and tried to make her way around the car. The passenger side was in the ditch and after the recent rains it was still marshy and slushy there, with clover and other weeds and grasses growing happily in the trapped moisture. They were not getting out of this without help, but there were more pressing issues than the car. Like where the hell was Rosemary?

  “Rose!” Willow yelled again more annoyed than frightened this time.

  Well at least she wasn’t dead in the ditch. Although looking at the damage now, Willow guessed that they would have had to go out of their way to be fatally wounded in this crash.

  “Rosemary Elizabeth Davenport where the hell are you?” Willow screamed.

  “I’m here you loud, over protective, anal sister of mine!” Rosemary yelled back. She was walking along the side of the road.

  “Where the hell have you been?”

  “Along the road aways,” Rosemary said. “I got the jerk’s license plate.” She held up her phone. “Got it while he was bumper kissing us.”

  “That’s great! But you should’ve stayed close to the car!” Willow said taking her sister into a hug. Rosemary hugged her back.

  “You have a flashback?” she asked. “Of mom and dad’s accident?”

  Willow nodded and they hugged each other tighter.

  “It’s okay you know,” Rosemary said pulling back. “We’re fine. This was hardly an accident at all.”

  “I know that,” Willow said.

  They looked at each other for a moment.

  “I guess we should get Aunt Vanessa out of the car,” Willow said and they turned as one woman to see their Aunt having hysterics in the passenger seat.

  “How are we gonna do that?” Rosemary asked biting her lip.

  Willow shrugged, “I push, you pull?”

  Rosemary jabbed her sister in the ribs but they were smiling at each other.

  Just then there was the sound of an engine, and a big silver truck pulled up next to them. The window rolled down with an electric whine and a head popped out.

  Willow grabbed Rosemary’s ar
m tightly as she felt her knees involuntarily go numb. The head had to belong to an angel she thought. And then it smiled and she corrected herself. This was no heaven dweller, this was the face of a fallen angel, who had enjoyed the trip and would gladly do it again. For kicks.

  “Morning,” the young man said, smiling brightly. He had very fair hair that flopped into his eyes a bit, and a goatee that was clearly painstakingly styled. The smile was bright and fueled by genuine happiness. “Might we be of some assistance?”

  “Um,” Willow said staring with her mouth open.

  Rosemary looked at her sister and shook her head, “Hi, yeah we would love some help.”

  “Great, we’ll just pull over and then see what we can do,” the man said.

  He maneuvered his truck so that it was parked close by, and well off the road. Then he got out. He was tall and broad shouldered. Sizing him up, Willow realized he was a good head and shoulders taller than she was. Suddenly she thought she knew what it felt like to be a dwarf.

  “Hi, I’m Tyler,” he said extending a long fingered hand. “And that fine specimen of a man over there, is my good friend, Kyle.”

  Willow looked at exhibit B and swallowed hard. Oh this one was trouble and no mistake. He had honey blonde hair that hung messily around his head like a halo, and his smile was downright naughty. He raised a hand and waved.

  “Hi,” Kyle said, shaking first Willow’s and then Rosemary’s hand.

  “Well, I’m Willow and this is my sister, Rosemary,” Willow said smiling.

  “Willow,” Tyler said smiling with a faraway look on his face. He said it again as though he were tasting it. “That is such a pretty name.”

  “Thank you,” Willow said and regarded her boots until her heartrate slowed.

  With the introductions out of the way, they made their way down the embankment to the SUV. Willow was terribly aware of Tyler as he walked next to her. He smelled fresh, like newly mown lawn almost, but not quite. It was that kind of smell, sweet and earthy.

  And then her foot slipped on the grass and she went crashing down. Flinging out an arm Willow grabbed Tyler. He must have lost his footing too because they landed in a heap with Willow beneath him.

  “Oh, I’m so sorry,” Willow said blushing like a neon lobster.

  “I just want you to know I don’t generally end up in this position with someone until at least the fourth date,” Tyler said and winked at her. “Just a little joke.” He offered her his hand and pulled her to her feet. “I have to fight them off by the second.”

  Willow didn’t usually like men who said things like this. She found them to be shallow, using bastards who would date you, sleep with you, and then leave you just like that. But there was something about Tyler, something that oozed off him. And despite her misgivings, she realized that even with that sense of humor, she was beginning to like him. She found herself smiling at him, totally forgetting her embarrassment.

  Kyle was at the SUV already peering into the window.

  “Is she okay?” he asked.

  “That’s Aunt Vanessa,” Rosemary said walking over to him. “She’s in a state, you see, this car is her baby. Part of her settlement from the last unlucky Mr. to marry her and then dip his nib elsewhere. We’ll get her calmed down in a moment. We just have to get her out of the car.”

  “Right,” Tyler said and in a flash he was standing in the ditch, his leather boots getting wet. Slowly and calmly he opened the door.

  “Ohmygod! Ohmygod!” Aunt Vanessa was repeating like a mantra, while tears made her mascara run. She held up red nailed hands to fend him off. “Who the hell are you? Get away from me!”

  Willow was by his side in a shot.

  “Aunt Vanessa,” she said soothingly. “This is Tyler, he stopped to help us.”

  “Is my car damaged? Are my girls alright?”

  Willow was a little annoyed that she and Rosemary came second to the car, but at least they were in the top two. Anyway Aunt Vanessa could see they were fine.

  “We’re good,” she said, “and the car is just a little stuck. That’s all. But you need to get out.”

  Aunt Vanessa stopped freaking out so suddenly it was like a switch was flipped, and she went from crazy older lady, to sane older lady in a nano-second.

  “Get out in that?” she asked looking, with a wrinkled nose, at the mud. “But these are my good boots.” She displayed them on her feet, waggling them so Willow and Tyler could see them.

  “And what fine boots they are,” he said with a gentlemanly bow. “May I offer my services ma’am. I promise that you won’t get those lovely boots even a little dirty.” And then he smiled.

  Willow knew it was the smile that closed the deal. Aunt Vanessa melted, visibly.

  “Well what a kind young man you are,” she said and allowed Tyler to lift her out of the seat and place her gently on dry ground.

  With all three women out of the way, sitting on the embankment, the two men set to work to get the SUV out of the ditch. It took quite a while and they ended up towing it out by attaching a line from the truck to the SUV, and then using brute force to free it. Once the SUV was free they checked it out as much as they could, and pronounced it a miracle. The car was dirty and it would need a wheel alignment, but other than that, it appeared to be just fine.

  “Thank you so much,” Willow said, shaking Tyler’s hand. “I don’t know what we would have done if you hadn’t come by.”

  “It was our pleasure,” Tyler said and turned to walk back to his truck. Then he seemed to think better of it and turned back to her. Willow’s heart almost stopped. For some reason she was hoping he would ask her out.

  “Could I have your number? And then I’ll send you mine, you know just in case something happens with the car up the road and you need a tow again,” Tyler smiled.

  Willow nodded, “Sure.” She gave him her number, and felt her phone vibrate a moment later when he sent his contact info to her.

  “Well thanks again,” she said and climbed into the driver’s seat. She started the engine and drove off.

  “Oh holy shit, they were so cute!” Rosemary exploded in the backseat.

  “I know! Right?” Willow said clutching the steering wheel.

  “And that Tyler is so into you Will,” Rosemary said smiling.

  “You think so?”

  “Sure! I mean really, let’s swap info in case you break down?” Rosemary clutched her hands to her chest. “Oh my, whatever shall I do?” she said in her barmaid voice.

  That had Willow and Aunt Vanessa in stitches.

  They drove along for a while and took the turn to Homestead Farm. The drive up to the house was rutted from the rain and traffic that had clearly been on it lately, but it was fine. And in minutes they stopped outside the old farmhouse.

  The old farmhouse stood in an open patch of land with the mountains to the left, ringed by their ridge of forest. In the bright, but gentle sunlight, the house looked grand, like a stately old lady. But when the eye got used to the site, there were telltale signs of neglect and disrepair.

  Weeds clustered around the steps leading to the wraparound porch, and some of the paint was peeling on the wooden slats that made up the walls. But the house also has signs of being loved. Next to the front door a wooden plate had been hung. It too, was somewhat faded, but it still clearly pronounced for anyone to see, that the Swayers lived here, and that love was to be found under this roof.