Dalton: Contemporary Western Romance (New Horizon Ranch: Mule Hollow Book 5)

by Debra Clopton

He raised his hat in salute to the crowd of Mule Hollow residents and many who had come from surrounding counties for the rodeo. Dalton enjoyed the competition, knowing they did this many days on the ranch when they were roping calves to brand or doctor on. In that setting he didn’t have to be the quickest time, but it sure helped his day when he was accurate with his rope. He’d hauled his horse all over the country racking up points chasing the lure of the National Finals Rodeo in Vegas every year but not any longer. His competition days ended one cold, rain drenched instant three years ago. He’d only recently started participating in these local gatherings at Clint Matlock’s indoor arena.

  He led his horse out of the gate that one of other cowboys held open. Bob clamped him on the back and congratulated him. As did the other cowboys waiting to take their chances on the bronc riding that was coming up next. Ty would be competing in that event and Dalton wanted to get his horse put up so he could get back to the stands to watch his friend.

  “Man you were on fire out there,” Ty said, coming from the fence where he’d been watching Dalton compete. He fell into step with him as he headed out to the trailer to put his horse up. He grinned, “Kinda looked like you had something to prove.”

  “Naw,” he muttered, sliding Ty a glare. “Just had some pent up frustrations that came out in the form of concentrated effort.”

  Ty chuckled at that. “Yeah, like I said you had something to prove…like maybe you don’t have some pretty woman on your mind.”

  Dalton frowned, as he wrapped the reins around the trailer rail and secured them. “Don’t you have a horse to ride?”

  His good friend’s grin only grew. “In a bit. There’s a whole herd of us crazy bronc riders waiting to bust our buns out there. You should go up to those stands and say hello to her. She’s here you know.”

  Dalton hadn’t known. Since she’d made it clear she didn’t want his help or his opinion he’d stayed away. Especially since he’d realized he probably couldn’t be around her without expressing that opinion. He’d needed to maintain some space to try and put away his feelings for her. Involuntarily his gaze swung toward the crowded stands.

  “She wouldn’t welcome me. I’ll stay right down here.”

  “So Mia was right. She told me her and the girls thought y’all had had a fight or something. Said they went to see her and took her grocery shopping with them in Ranger and she seemed a little touchy when your name was mentioned.”

  That didn’t surprise Dalton. After he’d thrown gravel on his exit the other day she was probably pretty angry with his childish behavior. “Yeah, well, let’s just say we’re having a difference of opinion. She’s not wanting my help these days so I’m glad Mia and the other gals are stepping in. Something about her past isn’t exactly right. I think she’s on the run from someone or something. Because she did come clean with me about no moving van of belongings coming like we all assumed. What she had in that car is what she has. Nothing more.”

  Ty took that information in, his gray eyes turned serious. “Do you think she’s in danger?”

  “I don’t know but I have a bad feeling. When I pressed her about it she clammed up. I hope we don’t have a situation like Chase had with Sadie.”

  Sadie had had a stalker she’d been on the run from, but this didn’t have that same feeling to Dalton. No one can help me, Rae Anne had said. And then there had been the disgusted comment about her mistakes.

  “She doesn’t want my help, doesn’t want me to feel responsible for her just because I pulled her out of that flood. But…” his words trailed off as he heard them call out Ty’s name. “Look get out there and ride. I’m going to go around to the grandstands area to watch you take the glory.” He grinned and Ty laughed.

  They were both aware that Pace Gentry was under the same roof with them as were several ex rodeo bronc riders. There was some stiff local competition in this event. Not to mention Treb Carson. Before he’d joined the armed services he’d made a name for himself on the circuit riding broncs until he’d walked away suddenly and joined up. Now getting back to his roots on the ranch everyone knew he’d hold his own out there in the competition.

  “I’ll give my all. I enjoy the challenge. You seem to be pretty taken with Rae Anne. Don’t let the challenge defeat you. If you think there’s something there between you then you need to grab hold and not be bucked off just because she’s pushing you away. There could be something deeper going on.”

  Dalton stared at Ty. He was a quiet man who didn’t waste a lot of talk in long sentences. “I hear you, buddy, now go. Ride. Don’t get bucked off.”

  “You either,” Ty laughed then turned to head toward the chute.

  Rae Anne had jumped up with the crowd and clapped hard when Dalton had won the tie-down, as Maddie had called what he’d been doing.

  “Dalt done good!” Joey yelled. He’d been riveted to the event as Dalton and his horse had charged out of the chute. All he’d talked about for the last two days was Dalton. It had been “Dalt this” and “Dalt that”. Rae Anne had had to fight telling him to stop talking about his obvious hero.

  Her son had every right to idolize Dalton. The man had been their hero after all and deserved all the admiration Joey was giving him. Honestly, she hadn’t been able to get him off her mind. She watched him now as he strode from the back area of the arena and halted at the edge of the steps. Instead of coming up into the stands he moved to the fence and watched Mia’s soon-to-be husband, Ty, lower himself down into a chute onto a horse–that didn’t look all that excited about the thought of being ridden. It reared but Ty simply lifted himself up with the hands that he had still gripping the steel bars around the chute. The cowboy standing on the catwalk grabbed the back of his protective jacket-obviously ready to help yank Ty out of there if the bronc got crazy. The horse settled down a little, not enough to suit Rae Anne but enough that Ty lowered himself back down onto its back. He secured himself and then, holding his head down and one arm crooked in the air, Ty gave the gate keeper a nod. The gate swung wide and the hors–no, the bronc busted out of the arena in a sidestep that led straight into a leap through the air!

  Rae Anne gasped, Joey whooped along with everyone around her. Ty was moving with the wild acting bronc as it kicked and spun and leaped. Ty held on despite all the horse’s efforts to toss him. The buzzer sounded and the two cowboys on horses that stood at the outer edges of the action moved forward. One went for the horse's flank and something there he was reaching for as the animal continued to buck. The other horseman moved his horse toward Ty who slid from the bronc to the back of the other man’s horse and they moved out of range of the bucking bronc as the other horseman succeeded in grabbing the strap he was reaching for. Instantly the bronc calmed. Joey went wild chattering and she knew her son was forever caught up in the excitement that was a rodeo.

  Everyone was congratulating Mia who sat transfixed watching her man.

  Maddie nudged Rae Anne and nodded toward Joey. “You might have a future cowboy on your hands.”

  “It looks that way. I’ve never seen him so excited.”

  “Well, you need to bring him to the ranch and let the guys put him on a horse. He’s old enough to start getting the feel for a horse.”

  Rae Anne’s gaze shifted to where Dalton was moving away from the fence and it looked like he was heading out of the arena area. Was he leaving?

  “I might. Hey, Maddie, would you mind watching Joey for a few minutes?”

  Maddie smiled. “Sure. Go on.”

  She didn’t hesitate. Adela was watching Grace for her at the house and so it was the first night she’d been out without her baby and so she didn’t have to worry about her. Now she felt compelled to talk to Dalton.

  To ease the tension she’d put between them.

  He hadn’t deserved the cold shoulder she’d given him the other day and it was weighing heavy on her.

  “Dalton,” she called, catching up to him just as he reached the outside parking lot. He spun and je
rked to a halt. Dear goodness the man looked good in a pair of chaps and a black hat that dipped over his forehead, giving him a sexiness that was undeniable no matter how hard she tried to deny it. And she’d tried ever so hard since the moment she’d first met him–well after she’d gotten out of the grip of baby pain that is. When a woman is in the middle of a contraction even a devastatingly handsome cowboy wasn’t getting the nod at that moment.

  “Hey,” he said, his voice husky and surprisingly gentle.

  After the way she’d turned and walked away from him the other day, pretty much closing the door in his face, she expected a less than welcoming greeting.

  “That was a great…the roping.” She stumbled over what exactly to call catching the calf. Her expression must have shown her confusion because his lips hitched into a hint of a smile.

  “Thanks.” He looped a thumb through a belt loop and waited for her to say more as he studied her.

  She had, after all, been the last one to walk away and now was approaching him. She should be the one to speak, only words clogged her throat. “I, we.” Breathe, Rae Anne. “I’m sorry, Dalton. Can we talk? I need to explain.”

  He glanced around, as if deciding whether that was a good idea or not. When his gaze came back to her he wasn’t smiling. “You don’t owe me any explanation.” His lips flattened into a straight line as his brow crinkled over skeptical eyes. “You never did. I stepped out of line thinking it was my place to hammer you about your private business. It wasn’t.”

  She moved a few steps closer to him. “Look, I don’t trust real well these days and keep a distance between me and…people. It’s nothing against you. It’s just a fact. And I especially don’t want to get close to a—” she paused, “—a man.”

  His jaw flexed and his eyes were shuttered, distant. “It’s okay, I get it. I’d like to ask why but I know that’s none of my business. I’m just interested in making sure whoever has you running scared and stove-up like this isn’t coming around to cause you trouble. Maybe that’s not my business, and I understand. But I’m a man and I wouldn’t be able to hold my head up if I didn’t at least ask to help a woman who I thought needed help.”

  He was pulling back from any personal attraction to her and her problems. She was now just a woman in need. She should have expected that. It was what she wanted–wasn’t it?

  “About that,” she said, wanting to reach out and touch him. Caress the jaw that he held so rigid, watch the eyes soften that were so distant from her right now. Eyes that had been full of something far more personal two days ago. “I’ve made some really embarrassing mistakes in my life. And they aren’t that easy to talk about.”

  He studied her. Finally, he nodded. “I get that too. I’ve made some mistakes and have things that have happened to me that are hard to talk about. Hard to think about too.”

  A cowboy leading his horse behind him walked past them and Dalton reached out protectively and took her arm and moved her over a step, getting her out of the pathway. His touch was gentle and reminded her again that he was always being protective of her. So unlike any of the other men who’d been in her life…not that he was in her life in that way. But she knew she was starting to wish deep down inside herself that he was.

  What would it be like to be loved by this gentle, protective man?

  “This isn’t really the place to talk about it but, I’d like to.”

  “What if I come by tonight after the rodeo when the kids are asleep?”

  She smiled, her spirits lifting more than she wanted to acknowledge. “That would be good. You’ve caught on quick that it’s not always easy to have a conversation when little kids are around.”

  Dalton’s smile was as heart-stopping as it got. “I’ve noticed.”

  “Then I’ll see you in a bit.”

  He tipped his hat and her heart stuttered in her chest…she managed a small smile then turned and went back into the building. She had committed to telling her story to Dalton.

  And she was resigned to the fact that he would either understand. Or he wouldn’t.

  Chapter Ten

  Rae Anne left the rodeo soon after speaking with Dalton. It was nine when she gathered up Joey and headed home. He chattered all the way home about the cowboys and the animals and he fell asleep right in the middle of talking.

  Adela was rocking Grace when Rae Anne carried Joey inside. She put him in bed then came back and took the baby.

  “She was adorable.” Adela smiled sweetly. “I tried not to hold her the whole time, but it's hard not to.”

  “I know. I have to make myself give her time in the crib too. But since she’s my last one I’ve given myself permission to enjoy her babyhood and not worry about if I’m spoiling her.”

  “She’s very blessed to have you as a mother. I’ll be going. Have a lovely night, dear.”

  “Thank you so much for watching her.”

  “Any time.” She gathered up her purse then paused before heading to the door and placed a gentle hand on Rae Anne’s arm. “You do know that if you need help in any way…or to just talk about something going on in your life we’re here to help.”

  “I know. And I’m very grateful.”

  After Adela left, Rae Anne sat down in the rocker beside the window and cuddled Grace as she watched for Dalton’s truck lights to appear down the drive. It didn’t take long for her sweet child to drift off to sleep. Looking down into her tiny face Rae Anne didn’t think she could ever survive putting her baby in harm’s way. And that was what she needed to explain to Dalton.

  She gently placed the baby in the crib and then headed to the kitchen when headlights flashed across the living room. Dalton was here.

  Instead of trepidation at seeing him and telling him about her sordid past she was startled to feel heat flush her cheeks and the excited rush of adrenaline hit her blood in anticipation of seeing him.

  The knock at the door reminded her that she had to move, had to open the door if she was ever going to see him or expose her most hideous secrets to Dalton.

  That thought alone doused the anticipation because once he knew he would probably lose any kind of respect that he might have held for her. Don’t tell him.

  Ignoring the voice in her head she stalked to the door and swung it open with the determination to do the right thing.

  The startled look on Dalton’s face told her she might have been a little too aggressive.

  “Well, hey there,” he drawled. “Are you about to run from a fire or something?” He looked past her into the house. “If so, you’re forgetting your kids.”

  What a man, even while teasing her he thought of her children. Butterflies erupted inside her. “No, I’m sorry. I’m forcing myself to do this so I guess I got a little carried away–oh never mind. Do you want talk inside or outside?”

  “How about out here so you don’t have to worry about Joey overhearing.”

  “That would be great. Do you want something to drink?”

  “Nope. Just some facts. And if you’re having to force yourself—” He was watching her and she felt as if he could see every corner of her soul.

  “I want to tell you. I just fear what you’ll think of me.” There it was out there. She let out a long breath of air and walked out onto the front porch. The coyotes could be heard in the distance. She’d grown used to hearing them and no longer felt a pang of alarm when they seemed closer than other times. She chose the chair rather than the swing and he chose to lean against the porch railing. They seemed to always be on her porch.

  “So, I guess there’s nothing to do but tell you.”

  “That works for me. Like I said, only if you’re sure you want to tell me.”

  “I do. You deserve to know. I wasn’t married to Joey’s father and he wasn’t interested in marriage when I met him. He disappeared out of my life about as fast as a snake in tall grass. He wasn’t even interested in being listed on the birth certificate. But I did it anyway, thinking Joey had a right to have who his dad
dy is listed on it. And I also felt like Jacob should help with child support.” She paused, remembering all the months of her pregnancy that she’d worried over what to do and what she felt was best for Joey. “Jacob, to his credit agreed to the child support without me having to bring charges or anything. But to this day he hasn’t seen his son.”

  Dalton’s expression turned to disgust. “So Joey hasn’t ever been in contact with his dad?”

  “No. I’m embarrassed to admit that I had really poor judgment where Jacob was concerned. He turned out to not be the man that I thought he was. Yes, Joey has a dad listed on his birth certificate but that’s all he has.” She cringed telling him this, exposing her bad judgment. Her mistakes. Her throat was scratchy and she softly cleared it. “It appears that my judgment of men just grew worse rather than lesson learned. I met Reese about a year after Joey was born.” Her stomach clenched despite not having seen any condemnation in Dalton’s eyes. Well, one mistake could be overlooked. But two?

  “And that would be Grace’s dad?”

  She nodded. “He was nice and fun and paid attention to my little boy who’d never had much attention from a male. I hadn’t dated since Jacob and hadn’t planned to date at all, but Reese was nice. And persistent since he lived in the condo across from mine. I saw him a lot. He started inviting me out to lunch. I worked my job at the nursing home while I was building up my client list online with my author assistant business. He never seemed to mind that Joey was on our lunch dates and it even seemed to please him. I never thought anything about the stops he made while we were in the car with him. He was just so genuinely nice, and I was lonely. And I fell for him.”

  Dalton hadn’t moved the whole time she talked until now, and he straightened, no longer leaning against the railing. Instead, he moved to sit in the swing beside her. She felt his presence with every fiber of her body. It was like nothing she’d ever experienced before.

  “You loved him?”

  “I thought I did. But again, it turns out that I didn’t know him. He’d always said he was in the import export business. He worked from home and I could tell that whatever he did, he did well. Turns out he imported and exported drugs.”