Outlawed!

by BJ Daniels

  He’d just finished throwing his saddle on Hell’s Fire and cinching it down, when a cowboy came by to tell him Jared wanted to see him at the announcer’s booth. Cooper wondered why Jared would want to see him now, not long before his ride. Probably just to goad him a little more.

  But when he got to the booth, he was told that Jared had left. Cooper heard his number come up to ride. He hurried back to find Jared sitting on the side of the chute above Hell’s Fire, smiling. Delaney was right. The bastard was hoping Cooper got himself killed.

  “Just wanted to wish you luck,” Jared said.

  Cooper doubted that, but he shook Jared’s outstretched hand anyway. The hand was a little clammy and Cooper wondered what Jared had to be nervous about. Losing the bet? Or having a cowboy he disliked ride his so far unridden horse eight seconds for a win?

  As Cooper eased himself down on the saddle, he knew this was going to be the ride of his life. Oblivious to the crowd that had gathered in Jared’s covered bandstand, he turned his attention to the horse breathing heavily beneath him. Cooper readied himself. And gave the signal. The chute opened, and just as he’d expected, Hell’s Fire came apart like the wild beast he was.

  Chapter Fifteen

  Delaney hadn’t been able to keep Cooper far from her thoughts all morning. As she drove down Beaver Creek Road toward the ranch, she glanced at her watch and realized the rodeo would still be going on. She wondered if Cooper had ridden yet. Her stomach churned at the thought of him on the mean bronc.

  “Damn you, McLeod.” Against her will, she turned into the Kincaid ranch. The last thing she wanted was to see Cooper ride, but the thought of going home and waiting to hear what happened was too much for her. Her fears about Cooper’s welfare outweighed her fears of rodeoing. She had to know he was all right.

  She parked and walked toward the rodeo arena. The crowd in the bandstand were on their feet and going wild. She hurried, fear making her heart pound and her breath come at a premium. Delaney went to the end of the arena where the cowboys hung out and climbed the corral railing in time to see Cooper being tossed around on the back of Hell’s Fire. The horse twisted and turned, its nostrils flaring.

  She closed her eyes, unable to stand it any longer. Then she heard the combined gasp of the crowd and opened her eyes to see Cooper hanging off the side of the horse. Something was wrong with his saddle. It had slipped and Cooper— He was hung up in the saddle. He couldn’t get off the bronc! Hell’s Fire was dragging him and still bucking, tossing Cooper like a ragged doll.

  “Oh, we got a problem here, folks,” the announcer said over the screaming crowd. “Let’s get that cowboy off that bronc.”

  Two cowboys on horseback were trying to free Cooper from the bucking bronc. Delaney heard the scream but didn’t realize it was coming from her own throat until one of the cowboys riding alongside the bronc finally freed Cooper. He lay on the ground without moving. She stared at his prone body, hating him, loving him, praying he would survive so she could fire him and run him out of the county so she never had to see him again.

  “Is he going to be all right, boys?” the announcer asked. Several cowboys had jumped down from the arena fence and run over to kneel beside Cooper.

  Suddenly the cowboys stepped back. Cooper moved. First one leg, then the other. He sat up, shaking his head as if to clear it. Then he grinned and got slowly to his feet.

  “It looks like he’s going to be all right, folks,” the announcer said over the loudspeaker. “Let’s give Cooper McLeod a big hand. That was one heck of a ride.”

  Cooper limped toward the fence, banging his hat on his leg as he walked. Dust rose from his boots, from the hat. He spotted Delaney. His eyes widened in surprise. He smiled, then shrugged.

  She glared at him, so angry that she’d witnessed him almost getting killed, so relieved he was alive. “McLeod,” she said through clenched teeth. “You scared the living—I’ve a mind to fire you on the spot. Or shoot you.”

  “I’m glad to see you, too, boss,” he said, and pulled her into his arms.

  COOPER HELD HER, enjoying the feel of her in his arms but also needing her strength. He was still wobbly and shook-up. But alive. Alive and unhurt. It had been a close call, one he wouldn’t forget for sometime to come.

  It took him a moment to realize that Delaney was crying. He held her tighter. “It’s all right now,” he whispered. “It’s all right.”

  “Oh, Cooper, if you’d been killed, I’d never have forgiven you,” she cried against his chest.

  “I’m sorry, sweetheart.” He realized then that the announcer was calling his name. He turned to listen. Delaney tensed in his arms.

  “They’re offering you another ride,” she said, growing deathly pale. “It looks like your saddle had a weak cinch.”

  His saddle hadn’t had a weak cinch when he’d put it on Hell’s Fire. He closed his eyes, cursing his own stupidity. Jared. He’d left his rig to go find the rancher. No wonder Jared had been so nervous when Cooper had found him by the chute. The bastard had done something to his cinch!

  “Well, cowboy, do you want another chance at Hell’s Fire?” the announcer asked over the loudspeaker.

  Cooper knew now he could ride Hell’s Fire for a win, and the desire rushed through him. He wanted to show Jared up for the rat he was. But mostly he wanted to prove to himself he could ride the bronc.

  Delaney stepped out of his arms. She wiped at the tears streaming down her face as she looked up at him. “You have to do it, don’t you?”

  He stared into her eyes, suddenly struck by what she’d given him just coming to watch him. She’d admitted to him how deathly frightened she was of rodeo. Yet she’d come to see him ride. And at what price? She’d witnessed him almost get killed on Hell’s Fire. He couldn’t do it to her again. Not ever. And he realized he’d just ridden in his last rodeo.

  He motioned to the announcer’s box that he didn’t want to ride again, then pulled Delaney back into his arms, hugging her tightly as his heart swelled with love for her. Love. He didn’t even put up an argument with himself. Somehow he’d fallen in love with this woman and he was tired of kidding himself that he hadn’t.

  One of the arena cowboys rode by and placed Cooper’s saddle on the top fence rail. “Tough luck,” the guy said as he rode off.

  Delaney pulled free and reached up to take an end of the broken cinch. “This cinch wasn’t weakened. It was cut!” She turned to face Cooper, her eyes blazing. “I knew it. Jared. Jared did this. He tried to kill you!”

  “I’d be careful making accusations against the sheriff,” Jared said through gritted teeth as he walked up behind them.

  “Damn you, Jared. If I can prove you cut that cinch—”

  “If his cinch was cut, anyone could have done it,” Jared said to Delaney calmly. “I think you ought to take another ride,” he said, turning to Cooper.

  “No, thanks.” Cooper circled Delaney’s waist with his arm, pulling her to him. He told himself holding her was just so he could keep her quiet, but he knew he was also staking claim to her, just in case Jared had any doubts. “You come to collect on the bet?”

  Jared chewed at his cheek as he let his eyes take in the two of them. Like Delaney, he seemed to be trying to contain a lot of anger. “Forget the money, McLeod. I have more important things on my mind right now.” He settled his gaze on Delaney. Cooper could feel her trembling with rage.

  “I think you’d better calm down, Del,” Jared said, his tone condescending as usual.

  Cooper felt her tighten like a rubber band about to snap. “Jared, I found out the other night just what kind of man you are, but you’ve outdone yourself today,” she said through gritted teeth. “You could have killed Cooper.”

  He raised an eyebrow. “’Cooper,’ is it now, Del?” He sighed. “Well, that just makes it all the harder for me to tell you what I’ve found out about your cowhand here.”

  Cooper felt his gut tighten as Delaney jerked free of his hold and fired herse
lf at Jared.

  “I don’t know what you’ve dug up, Sheriff, but I don’t want to hear it,” she said, pointing a finger into his face. “I don’t want to hear anything you have to say ever again.” She stomped toward her pickup.

  Jared smiled at Cooper. “Too bad. You didn’t ride the horse for a win. And you lost the girl, as well.” He turned away to call after Delaney. “I think you’d best hear this, Del,” he said, raising his voice to follow her retreating footsteps. “Your boyfriend here is an ex-con. He’s got a police record.”

  Delaney had stopped at her pickup, her hand on the door handle. Cooper saw her stiffen at the news.

  “And guess what he was sent up for, Del?” he called after her. “Conspiracy to defraud. He’s a con man, Del. A con man and a rodeo bum. So who do you think is behind your problems on the ranch now, Del?”

  She jerked open the pickup door. Cooper fought the need to bury his fist in Kincaid’s smiling face. Instead he ran after Delaney, grabbing her arm as she started to get into her pickup.

  “At least let me explain,” he pleaded. “I tried to tell you this morning—”

  “McLeod, the best thing you can do right now is to leave me the hell alone.” She shook loose of his hold on her arm and climbed in to slam the pickup door in his face.

  He stepped back as she started the engine and popped the clutch, leaving him standing in a cloud of dust.

  “Like I said, it just hasn’t been your day, McLeod,” the sheriff said behind him.

  Cooper clenched his fists, weighing the options Jared was offering him. Jail time for assaulting a sheriff—but the satisfaction of cramming the bastard’s teeth down his throat first.

  DELANEY WAS STILL shaking as she started past Buck’s place and noticed a strange horse in the corral beside her father’s old rodeoing trailer. She stopped, surprised because she’d thought Buck would be at Kincaid’s rodeo, and even more surprised to realize that the horse wasn’t one of hers. It was a quarter horse, and not a very good one from what she could tell. Buck was standing beside the corral when she got out of her truck.

  “Did you buy a horse?” she asked, walking over to the corral to take a look.

  Buck’s mind must have been a million miles away, because he hadn’t heard her approach. He jumped now, a startled look in his wide eyes as if she were the last person he’d expected to see. “I thought you’d gone to Butte.”

  “I did,” she said, climbing up the corral railing to get a better view of the horse. It was an older quarter horse and had a Kincaid Ranches brand on it.

  Buck joined her on the fence. “I got it for Angel.”

  “She could have ridden any of the horses at the ranch,” Delaney said, a little hurt he’d bought a horse from Jared Kincaid, especially when it wasn’t necessary.

  “Angel saw this horse over at Kincaid’s while she was interviewing him about his ranch and just fell in love with it,” Buck said nervously. “I tried to talk her into a Morgan, but she just had to have this one.”

  Delaney looked over at him. “I didn’t know Angel rode.”

  “She doesn’t. Yet,” Buck said. “I’m going to teach her.”

  It struck Delaney again how different Buck had been acting lately. She blamed Angel and hoped that when this woman broke this poor man’s heart, she didn’t break his spirit, as well.

  “It’s not a bad-looking horse,” Delaney lied. She hoped Buck hadn’t paid much for it. And wondered why a man with such good horse sense would buy a horse like this from someone like Jared Kincaid. Because Angel had fallen in love with it, she reminded herself. Men! Love must make them stupid. She thought about Cooper and how she felt about him, and decided there was no doubt about it—love made a person too stupid for words.

  “Delaney?”

  Just the thought of Cooper brought back the mix of emotions she felt for the man. She’d gone from waking up in his arms to fearing he was dead. From relief that he was all right to wanting to kill him. If this was love—

  It wasn’t until he’d passed on that second ride that she’d admitted her true feelings. She would never have acknowledged them to anyone, let alone herself. But in that moment when she’d seen him decide not to ride because of her, knowing how much he’d wanted to, how much he needed to prove himself on that stupid horse, she knew she loved him.

  Loved a rodeo cowboy. A rodeo cowboy with a police record. Conspiracy to defraud. Cooper McLeod was not only an ex-con, he was a con man. Boy, could she pick ‘em. Admittedly he’d tried to tell her something last night and again this morning, but she hadn’t let him. Not that she believed he was the one who was causing her troubles on the ranch. Admittedly he could have orchestrated the rock slide and the potshot with some help, but Delaney didn’t believe it, not in her heart. She just hoped love wasn’t as blind as Buck made it appear.

  “Delaney? Is there anything I can do for you?” Buck asked, obviously antsy. “I was just on my way into town to see Angel, but if you need something—”

  She shook her head. “I just stopped to see your new horse. How long have you had him?”

  “A few days.” Buck scratched at his jaw. He couldn’t seem to meet her gaze. She figured he felt guilty buying a horse from Kincaid and not her. Heck, Delaney would have given him his pick of horses for Angel if she’d known he was looking for a horse. She could feel her ranch manager pulling away from the Rockin’ L like a teenager getting ready to move out of the family home. She wondered how long it would be before he gave notice and moved into town with Angel.

  “You sure I can’t do something for you?” Buck asked again. He seemed reluctant to leave her there alone. He glanced at his watch.

  “Go on and see Angel,” she said. She blinked, did a double take as she looked over at him. “I thought Angel was with you at the rodeo earlier,” she said, thinking she had seen Angel in the crowd when she first got to Jared’s.

  Buck nodded, fidgeting with a button on his shirt. “She had to leave.”

  “Well, go on. I might take another look through the stuff my father kept in the trailer,” she said, knowing she wouldn’t. Buck had helped her go through it, hunting for her father’s will right after Hank died. It wasn’t something she wanted to do again. Nor did she think even finding the original will would probably do any good anyway. But maybe she’d search for it. She knew she was just looking for an excuse not to go back to the ranch house because she was going to have to deal with Cooper.

  “I guess I’d better get going—”

  Buck stood for a moment as if part of him didn’t want to leave but the other part was in a big hurry to get somewhere. She couldn’t remember ever seeing him this nervous.

  “If you need anything—”

  As Buck walked off, she watched the quarter horse circle the small corral with Buck’s horse, a Morgan she’d given him called Sugarfoot. It still bothered her that Buck had purchased a quarter horse, not a Morgan, for his girlfriend.

  She heard Buck drive away and thought Jared must be laughing his behind off at Buck for buying this horse. Then she realized she couldn’t care less about Jared, Angel’s new horse or Buck’s infatuation with the woman. What really worried her was what she going to do about Cooper. Shooting him had been her first thought. Firing him and running him off with a shotgun was her second. But her heart kept arguing for clemency on his behalf.

  She took one last look at Buck’s new horse, promising herself she’d never let love make her that blind, and started back toward her truck. That’s when she noticed the horseshoe prints in the dirt near the corral. She stared down at the barred-shoe track, then turned to look back into the corral. It was full of barred-shoe tracks. And Delaney knew what she was going to find before she climbed into the corral with the quarter horse. Whoever had been riding this horse the last few days was the person who’d tried to kill her.

  Chapter Sixteen

  Cooper drove around for a while after he left Kincaid’s, not sure where to go or what to do. He’d been cussing himse
lf since Delaney had driven off, furious with him, not even giving him a chance to explain. Not that there was much explanation to give. He just wished he’d told her the truth himself. Now he figured he’d blown it with her. It didn’t make him feel any better that he’d made a halfhearted effort to tell her the truth. And now if she was to find out he worked for Rattlesnake Range—He rubbed his thigh, the gunshot wound still fresh in his memory.

  His head ached. From the rough ride on the bronc. From the look in Delaney’s eyes. Damn. Cooper knew he was avoiding going back to the ranch because he didn’t know what to say to her. There were so many things he needed to tell her, but he knew none of them would do any good right now. She would be just looking for any excuse to get him out of her life.

  He should just pack up and move on. Delaney was bound to fire him the moment she laid eyes on him anyway. Why wait and have to see her face when she did? But as Cooper drove, he knew he couldn’t just ride off into the sunset this time. He’d invested too much in this job. He laughed. He’d invested too much in this woman, more than he wanted to admit. And he couldn’t leave her alone now to fend off Rattlesnake Range and whoever else might be after her and her ranch.

  He headed for the York Bar. The last thing he wanted was a beer. But he did want to talk to Dude. He kept thinking about Dude and the sheriff. He’d seen little more than a look pass between Dude and Jared Kincaid. There was something between them, something that Cooper recognized. Trouble. And Cooper was just curious enough to try to find out what it was.

  When he pushed open the door, he found the place was empty except for Dude, who was behind the bar washing glasses. Everyone was probably out at Kincaid’s rodeo, where the beer was free along with the barbecue and barn dance.

  “Wanna beer?” Dude asked, and continued his glass washing.

  Cooper shook his head. “Why aren’t you out at the Kincaid rodeo?”

  Dude stopped, a wet, dirty glass in his hands as he shot Cooper a look. “I had to work.”