Catch Me, Cowboy

by Watt, Jeannie

  Shelby got into the truck and put it in gear, pulling it around and then backing smoothly so the trailer was about four feet directly in front of the corral gate. She got out of the truck and walked to the trailer, nodding at Ty. He opened the gate until it met the back of the trailer on the driver’s side and then Shelby opened the trailer door, forming a perfect alley to the pen. The coal black horse approached the edge of the trailer, snorting loudly before he launched himself out of the trailer and raced wildly into the pen.

  “His name is Evarado.” Blake said without taking her eyes off the horse, who was indeed a magnificent animal.

  “Unusual,” Shelby murmured as she swung the gate closed.

  Ty handled the door to the trailer.

  “It’s Spanish for brave.” Blake rested a hand on the rail, watching as the horse paced the fence, tossing his head and looking for a way out. He gave a shrill whiny, which several horses answered. He’d have every equine on the place stirred up in short order.

  Blake sighed. “Isn’t he a beauty?”

  “Just lovely,” Ty said dryly as the horse snorted and stamped again.

  “You said you’d have him for thirty days,” Paul said to Shelby.

  “I’ll evaluate him for a few days and let you know.”

  “I don’t want him back until he’s tame, but I don’t want you padding the days, either.” He spoke seriously, and honestly didn’t seem to realize he was being insulting. “If it takes less time than we contract for, we can prorate the bill, right?”

  Shelby opened her mouth and Ty hoped she’d tell this guy to get a fucking clue, but instead she said, “There’s a possibility that it might take longer than thirty days, and it won’t be because I’m padding the days.”

  “How much riding experience do you have?” Ty asked Blake.

  Shelby shot him a sharp look, but he ignored it.

  “I’ve been riding since I was twelve.”

  “Horses like… Evarado, here?” If Shelby had laser eyes, he would have been dead by now, but he wanted to know how “tame” this horse had to be.

  In other words, what kind of miracle did these people expect and was Shelby seriously going to tackle this.

  “He’s been spoiled and allowed to become headstrong. He just needs to learn who is boss,” Paul said, slipping an arm around Blake’s shoulders.

  So Paul understood the deal with the horse, but he didn’t seem to understand that rehabilitating the horse wasn’t like fixing a malfunctioning vehicle. He couldn’t just replace a chip and drive away safely.

  “Why don’t we step into the house and take a look at the contract,” Shelby said smoothly.

  Ty let out a breath and then leaned his forearms on the fence rails as Shelby guided the couple to the house. The horse snorted at him and started pawing the dirt.

  He didn’t like this, but there wasn’t a hell of a lot he could do about it. He had faith in Shelby’s abilities, but he’d dealt with enough rank horses to know that this one could be trouble. Not because he was mean, but because he was spoiled and he was insecure. Fear was a mighty motivating factor for horses and when horses got scared, they acted on pure instinct.

  Kind of like some people he knew.

  Ten minutes later, Shelby, Paul, and Blake came back out of the house and walked toward Paul’s shiny new truck. Blake went to the fence, said goodbye to the black gelding, and urged him to be a good boy for Shelby. The horse snorted and Ty felt like doing the same.

  “I’ll be in touch,” Paul said before guiding Blake to the truck and opening the door for her. She climbed inside and arranged herself in the middle seat next to where Paul would sit.

  “I’ll let you know what I think in a few days,” Shelby replied as he got into his truck.

  Blake waved and Paul started the engine.

  “Do you get a lot of clients like that?” Ty asked as the blue truck and trailer rolled down the driveway. Because he’d much rather deal with a rank horse than a privileged yet clueless client. Shelby now had both.

  She kept her eyes on the lights of the truck. “Believe it or not, they are not unique.”

  “You have more patience than I do.”

  “In some ways.”

  The horse let out a shrill whinny and was answered by almost every animal on the place.

  Ty shook his head. “You probably know what I’m going to say next.”

  “You think I should be careful with this horse.” She turned her head to meet his gaze.

  “Something along those lines.”

  “I plan to work him in the late afternoon. After you guys are home.”

  “Do you want me to help you with him?”

  She met his gaze and, for the first time since arriving on the ranch, her expression held no hint of defensiveness. “I want you within shouting distance.”

  Ty gave a slow nod, feeling as if being in shouting distance wasn’t enough of a precaution.

  “You don’t have to agree,” Shelby said in a low voice. “Gramps is still a decent hand with horses.”

  “I’ll be around.” He didn’t want her taking on that horse alone. He didn’t want her taking it on at all.

  “I appreciate it—to the point that I’m not going to tell you not to question my clients about their abilities.”

  “Come on, Shelb… you needed to know her abilities.”

  “I have a form they fill out and I’m capable of asking my own pertinent questions.” She glanced down at her watch then back up at him. “I’ve got to go. I’m going to be late as is. Those guys were supposed to deliver the horse an hour ago.”

  “Your business in town?”

  “A date, actually.”

  His gut tightened. It wasn’t his business what Shelby did with her time, or who she saw. He’d given up the right to have any say in those matters four years ago, but hearing that she was going out bothered him.

  “Someone I know?”

  “I don’t think so. High school teacher. New this year.”

  “So you haven’t been seeing each other long?”

  Shelby didn’t clam up as he expected. “He hasn’t been in town for long, if that’s what you’re asking.” She studied the horse for a moment, watching as he pawed at the edge of the corral, then turned to Ty.

  “Like I said, I’m running a little late. Thanks for helping out.”

  She turned and walked toward the house and Ty stayed where he was, leaning on the fence and watching her perfect rear end as she strode away. It killed him to think of her going out tonight, even though she’d no doubt gone out many, many times while he’d been gone. But now that he was back, now that he had to stay on the sidelines and watch a situation he’d essentially created play out… it sucked.

  Chapter Six

  Shelby liked Dan Hamilton. She really did, but he didn’t send her hormones into overdrive, as Ty did. He didn’t make her want to find a dark corner and have him all to herself. He made her want to go bowling, which was exactly what they were doing.

  Cassie was up, adjusting her stance as she studied the pins with laser-like focus. She took two steps, brought her arm back and sent the ball into the gutter. Cassie was one hell of carpenter, but she was really bad at bowling. And the beauty was that she didn’t care. Her bowling partner, Jess Evanston, with whom she worked, smacked his forehead in mock exasperation as the ball rolled harmlessly past the pins.

  “Do you mind if I give you some pointers?” Dan asked.

  “Point away,” Cassie said, laughing as she hoisted her ball up out of the return. “Not that it’ll do any good.”

  “I have to try.”

  Shelby leaned back and watched as her date adjusted her best friend’s stance. Jess caught her eye and raised his eyebrows as if to ask if there was a little spark there. She gave a small shrug in return. If there was, she was good with it—which meant she probably shouldn’t continue to go out with Dan until she made certain they were on the same page—the friends-having-fun page. She didn’t play games wit
h people’s emotions.

  After bowling, they headed for Grey’s for a beer, but the place was packed, as was FlintWorks, so they called it an evening. Dan took Shelby’s hand as he walked her to her truck. She gave his fingers a squeeze and pulled her hand free. Dan took her retreat with good grace. Jess and Cassie, ever the carpenters, had stopped to study a new building façade a few yards from where Shelby’s truck was parked.

  “I hear your ex is back in town.” Dan shoved his hands deep into his front pockets as he spoke.

  “He is.” Not what Shelby wanted to talk about, but the situation needed to be addressed.

  “And living on the ranch.”

  “He’s helping my grandfather.”

  “How’s that going?”

  “Good. Good.” Her answer sounded positively lame.

  “I… uh… what’s our status, Shelby?” He frowned quizzically. “Friends? More than friends?”

  “Friends for sure.” Uncomfortable topic.

  He smiled, looking somewhat relieved, which in turn made her feel relieved. “I like you, Shelby… but you scare me a little.” The wry twist of his mouth took the sting out of the words.

  Her eyebrows shot up. “Scare you?”

  “A little. But in a good way. You rope. You ride. You can probably brand a calf.”

  No probably about it. She could and did brand calves.

  Shelby pressed her lips together, then cocked her head as she met Dan’s gaze. “Does Cassie intimidate you?”

  He shot a look over to where she was good-naturedly arguing with Jess about whether the new façade on the building looked as good as the old. “I don’t know.”

  “But you want to find out.”

  “Awkward, I know.”

  “Not at all. I think you should ask her out. She doesn’t brand calves.” She could build a house, though.

  Shelby didn’t think Dan was really intimidated by her roping, riding and calf-branding abilities… she thought he felt the same way about her as she felt about him. They were comfortable together. And decent bowling partners.

  Dan shifted his weight and gave her a rueful smile. “I don’t usually end my dates this way… you know, by asking if I can date another woman.”

  “People date to see how they feel about each other and I think we’re going to be very good friends.”

  “Jess…?”

  “Has been Cassie’s best friend since birth.”

  “And that’s all?” He spoke as if he couldn’t imagine anyone being around Cassie and only being a friend.

  Well, Cassie was kind of gorgeous.

  “He’s also her tortured bowling partner.”

  Dan laughed and then leaned in to take Shelby’s face in his hands and lightly kiss her. “Between friends.”

  Yes, it was, because she felt nothing but a sense of pleasant warmth. No sparks. No fire.

  “Thanks, Dan.” She pulled her keys out of her denim jacket pocket. “I need to get back to the ranch and check on my grandfather.” She raised a hand to get her friends’ attention. “I’m taking off,” she called.

  Jess and Cassie abandoned their discussion and joined Shelby and Dan to say goodbye and remind Shelby to drive carefully. She got into her truck feeling relieved she and Dan were on the same page. The only problem she could see was she’d lost her buffer. Not that she needed a buffer to handle things with Ty. Nope. Plain old honesty and resolve should do the trick.

  But a buffer would have been handy if push came to shove.

  *

  Ty and Gramps left for work early the next day, so Ty could get back in time to be there while Shelby worked the black gelding for the first time. She waited until she heard the sound of the quad engines coming across the pasture before heading to Evarado’s pen. Best case scenario, she wouldn’t need Ty. Worst case…no telling.

  Catching the horse in his small corral had been a challenge, since he kept swinging his butt around toward her, but once caught, he respected the rope, which was a positive. Too bad there appeared to be so many negatives. At this point in time, her job was to evaluate which behaviors she could correct and which ones were beyond her abilities… and then, if things played out the way she thought they would, to convince the newbie horse couple that this animal was probably too much for them.

  She released the horse into the round pen and he nervously trotted the exterior, calling to the other horses. Only one answered him. The horse suddenly snorted and shied and Shelby turned to see Ty approaching. His pant legs were muddy to the knees and his shirt was unbuttoned, hanging loosely from his shoulders. Shelby forced herself to look away.

  “Thanks for coming,” she said.

  “Not a problem.” He looked like he meant it.

  “You know I’m putting these hours on your time sheet.”

  He let out a breath that bordered on weary, but he didn’t look at her. Instead he studied the horse, who studied him back. She waited and eventually he turned his gaze her way. “I may as well give the Les report, since I’m being paid.”

  Shelby bit her lip. “Is there anything to report?”

  “Like you said, he seems a little under the weather, but he took it easier today and seemed better for it. How’s his balance?”

  Shelby frowned. “Good, as far as I know.”

  “I’ve caught him steadying himself a couple times. He says it’s from standing up too fast.”

  “I’ll keep an eye on him. Thank you.”

  “Any time. And you don’t have to pay me to spend an hour watching you work.”

  “You could be doing other things.”

  “Suggestions?” Shelby shot him a quick look but his expression was bland and she wondered for a moment if she’d imagined the sexual undertones.

  She was certain she hadn’t. Her body hadn’t fully processed the directive to put the past behind them and her senses still went into overdrive when he was near. So, in some ways, hiring him had been brilliant, since he could handle Gramps. In other ways, ways that involved her and her peace of mind, not so much. But conditioning took time and she needed to be patient with herself.

  Shelby gathered up her rope and carrot stick whip. “I’d best get started.”

  She turned and opened the gate without waiting for a response. The gelding snorted and tossed his head. Shelby raised the coiled rope and the animal tore off around the pen. The sand was deeper in this pen, so he had to work harder to run, but it didn’t slow him down. He shied as he spotted Ty again and Shelby had to scoot to keep from being hit. She raised the rope and got his attention again, sending him on around the pen.

  After he’d completed at least ten laps, without once acknowledging her presence with a flick of his ear or the roll of an eye, she took a couple steps and waved her hands, reversing his course. This surprised him. He was running to escape and now his direction had been controlled. The gelding shot her a quick look then once again focused on escape.

  It was going to be a long hour.

  By the end of the session, the gelding was coming to grips with the idea that she was the boss, that she made him run when he wanted to stop, that she changed his direction of movement whenever she pleased.

  He snorted threateningly whenever she brought him to a halt and approached, but finally, just as the sun was going down, he allowed her to touch his shoulder with the end of the whip and then her hand without bolting. When she reached for the halter to attach the lead rope, he snorted and took off, then stopped and faced her. Shelby approached quietly and clipped the lead rope onto his halter and the gelding instantly sat back on his haunches.

  “Fine,” Shelby muttered, moving forward and tossing the rope loosely over the horse’s neck to get it off the ground. “Have it your way.” She raised her hand and sent the gelding back around the pen.

  *

  Ty shook his head as the gelding raced by. He hoped Shelby would be able to end the session before dark, but knew she couldn’t stop until she was the winner of this round. If she did, she’d set back
her training and she wouldn’t do that. He glanced up at the automatic sodium light mounted to the pole next to the round pen. It was already starting to glow pale blue.

  Come on, buddy. He silently willed the horse. Do what you’re supposed to do.

  After a few rounds and a change of direction, Shelby once again approached the gelding, who was breathing hard. This time he allowed her to rub his face. She unsnapped the lead, snapped it back on again. The horse didn’t move until she put pressure on the rope and then he stepped forward cautiously. Ty opened the gate and she led Evarado through, taking him straight to his pen. Once inside, the gelding waited until she’d unfastened the rope halter, then jerked his head up, yanking his nose out of the halter before he whirled on his haunches and shot across the small pen, nearly taking Shelby’s arm off in the process.

  She rubbed her shoulder, then started coiling the rope.

  “I can see what our next lesson will be,” she muttered.

  “Are you okay?”

  “A little irritated to end things like this when it’s too dark to do anything about it.”

  His mouth flattened. “I meant your shoulder.”

  “It’s fine.” She rolled it as if to prove her point. “Still in the socket anyway.”

  “I can’t say I feel great about that horse.”

  “Early days.”

  “He’s scared, Shelby.” As if she didn’t know that, but he wanted her to think about it.

  Scared horses were dangerous horses. At the level at which he rode, the horses were seasoned professionals, just as he was. They seemed to enjoy the challenge of trying to dislodge the man from their back. It was their job, and often, after the whistle blew, they stopped bucking and started looking for the gate. But coming up through the ranks, competing at smaller rodeos, he’d drawn fresh broncs, new to the rodeo. Horses that didn’t know what was happening, or what was expected of them—those horses could hurt a guy.

  “My job is to help him move past his fear.”

  “I hope your arm remains in its socket.”

  “We’ll work on it.” She glanced over at him. “I have roping practice tomorrow, so I need to start earlier.”