The Bull Rider’s Return

by Joan Kilby

  Finally he completely ran out of steam. “Well?”

  “It’s a good plan,” she said. “Your family will be very proud of you.”

  “What about you? What do you think?”

  “I’m proud of you, too.” The dimple flashed and then disappeared. Then to his astonishment her eyes filled with tears and she turned away. “I’m sorry, Cody. I’m glad you told me all this but now I have work to do.”

  “But wait, there’s more…”

  Too late. She’d run into the kitchen. Through the pass he could see her go into a back room.

  Slowly, Cody folded his spreadsheet and the certificate. All this and it wasn’t enough for her?

  “What’s the matter, son?” the kindly older waitress asked him.

  “I don’t know,” he said, bewildered and heartsick. Dully he looked at the waitress’ name tag. Aleisha.

  “I saw you talking to Kelly,” Aleisha said. “She was on pins and needles all morning, eyeing that door every time someone came in. Then when you were showing her all those papers and stuff I figured you were the one she was waiting for. Looks like things didn’t turn out the way either of you were hoping.”

  “I wanted to show her I would make a good husband and father,” Cody said. “I didn’t even get to the part where I told her I loved her. Or where I gave her the diamond ring and asked her to marry me.”

  Hands on her hips, Aleisha clucked her tongue. “You some kind of dumbass or something? That should have been the first thing you told her. Women don’t care about no damn spreadsheets.”

  “I guess you’re right.” He’d screwed up again. Well, he had one more idea and it had better work. He took a blue velvet box out of the inside breast pocket of his jacket, removed the diamond solitaire set in rose gold and tucked it inside the envelope that had contained his spreadsheet and contract. Then he wrote Kelly’s name on it.

  “Will you make sure she gets this?” He instinctively felt he could trust Aleisha. “Tell her I left it as a tip.”

  “I think you should be handing that to her yourself.” Aleisha fended off his offering with upraised hands, her eyes wide. “That is one over-the-top tip.”

  “Please. It’s sort of a tradition with us.” Cody set the envelope on the table. “I’ll leave it here.”

  He paid his bill and went outside, praying that his gamble paid off. He sat on a bench across the road from where he could see into the restaurant. Aleisha stood guard over the envelope but didn’t touch it. After a minute Kelly came out of the back. Aleisha called her over and pointed to the envelope, and then across the road at him.

  He held his breath. He’d put his heart and soul in Kelly’s hands. Now it was time to see if she would have the courage to put her future on the line for him.

  As she opened the envelope, he rose to his feet. She saw the ring, looked at him through the window of the restaurant.

  Shock registered first. Then her face crumpled and she buried it in her hands. Then she looked up and through her tears gave him a huge smile. Even from a distance he could see her dimples. Then she was running, clutching the envelope as she pushed through the glass door.

  He started across the road, unable to bear seeing her cry. There was a screech of tires as a car swerved around Cody. The driver yelled and waved a fist. Cody was on the center line when Kelly fell into his arms. Cars slowed to a halt, creating a traffic jam. Horns honked. People yelled abuse. He wrapped her in a tight embrace.

  Laughing and crying, she pounded his chest. “You have a death wish, Cody Starr.”

  Taking the envelope from her, he removed the ring and fell to one knee. “Kelly Reid, I love you,” he said, paying the angry drivers no attention. “Will you marry me? I know I’m a screw-up but I promise I’m going to change.”

  “Don’t you dare change. I love you just the way you are.” She put her arms around his neck and dragged him to his feet, peppering his face with kisses. “Of course I’ll marry you. I can’t afford to pay back a diamond ring on top of everything else.”

  “I don’t know what that means but I’ll take it as a yes.” He slipped the ring on her finger and met her gaze. Her eyes filled with tears and his were blurry, too. Then he lowered his head to kiss her. By now, onlookers were whistling and cheering. Cody picked up his bride-to-be and carried her to safety.

  Finally, he’d done something right.

  Epilogue

  April the following year…

  Kelly’s heart just about burst with love and pride as the buzzer rang on Cody’s first bull ride since his accident. He raised an elated fist pump as he slid off the bull and onto the horse cantering alongside. Beside her, Ricky’s voice was hoarse with cheering.

  The entire Starr family had traveled for two days to Nevada to attend the rodeo. Cody had pretended to be dismayed at being the object of so much attention but Kelly could tell he was secretly overwhelmed and grateful for their support.

  “Is it over?” Linda asked, peeking through splayed fingers. “Did he survive?”

  “Course, he survived,” Robert said. “He’s the best damn bull rider on the circuit.”

  Nate grunted in agreement. “Tough as nails and a hard worker, I’ll give him that.”

  “He had a terrific ride,” Will said, watching the screen as the score came up. Billy sat between him and Mia, wearing a cowboy hat that came down over his ears. “He could win.”

  “Sure could.” Alex consulted his phone notepad where he’d kept track of all the riders’ scores throughout the event.

  A wriggling Anya slid off Emma’s lap and toddled unsteadily to her uncle Garret. He’d become her favorite uncle ever since he’d taken her for a clandestine snowmobile ride around the yard at Christmas.

  Garret lifted the dark-haired cutie onto his lap and flapped her hand for her. “Wave to Uncle Cody.”

  While the judges deliberated, the group started talking about where they would go for lunch. The men were content with burgers and beer while the women argued for a sit-down restaurant to properly celebrate Cody’s return to rodeo.

  Kelly didn’t care. She was just happy to see Cody’s family united in their support and determination to show him how much they valued him. She gathered from Linda that they’d all felt really bad for driving Cody away. And when she’d left, too, they’d had a family meeting to talk about what they could do to make it up to Cody.

  Their heartfelt apologies and unconditional love had been healing, Cody had confided to Kelly after she’d accepted his proposal in Reno. But their ingrained attitudes hadn’t started to change in concrete ways until the day he brought home the certificate of authentication of the breeding bull he’d bought with the help of a bank loan. He’d produced it at Sunday dinner and casually informed Nate, Robert and his brothers that he was starting a bull-breeding business while he worked at the ranch with a view to eventually have his own full-time breeding operation.

  “You should have seen their jaws drop,” he’d told her. “Once I explained how lucrative it was, they all wanted a piece of the action. I admit, at first I didn’t want to let them buy in, but that lasted about two minutes. You can’t hold a grudge against family.”

  And that was how Cody came to own a part share in five breeding bulls in the first year. He pulled in steady income from the stud fees, which supplemented his wages and prize money. He, Kelly and Ricky had moved back to Sweetheart and bought a small house on two acres on the outskirts of town, the deposit a combined wedding gift from the whole Starr clan.

  They’d married only a week ago in an intimate, family ceremony held in the orchard among the blossoming cherry trees, where pink and white petals drifted like confetti on the warm spring breeze. Kelly’s dad and stepmother had flown north for the wedding and Shawna and Buck had been included as surrogate family. The ceremony was followed by a reception at the big house. Half the town had been invited. Kelly and Ricky were warmly welcomed by all and she was still pinching herself to see if she was imagining the richness of her new li
fe. Best of all, being reunited with her father had led to closer ties. Kelly was already planning a visit to see him and his wife in Arizona sometime this summer.

  But for now, Ricky was back in first grade at Sweetheart Elementary and reunited with his buddy, Jordon. Kelly was waitressing at the Cherry Pit and making plans to go to college in Missoula in the fall.

  Cody had given himself five more years on the circuit before he estimated he could support himself full time with breeding bulls. It might be years before he could afford property for a ranch but in the meantime Ben was agreeable to boarding Cody’s bulls. Together they were discussing making Cody’s rodeo school a reality.

  The loudspeaker emitted static. Kelly held up a hand. “Shh, they’re announcing the winner.”

  “First prize in bull riding…Cody Starr,” called the MC. “How about a big round of applause, folks. This is Cody’s first ride out since dislocating his shoulder last year in Marietta. Welcome back, Cody!”

  Afterward, down behind the chute, Kelly had to wait her turn to hug Cody as his parents, brothers and grandfather surrounded him, eager to offer their congratulations. Ricky wormed his way through the scrum and was rewarded by being hoisted into the air by Cody. The boy shrieked with delight and hugged his hero. Kelly’s eyes filled with tears. Cody had filed adoption papers for Ricky and now her son had a daddy, the most wonderful father in the world.

  With the lunch venue still undecided, the family made their way to the parking lot, bantering back and forth about the various options.

  “Listen up, everyone,” Cody said, cutting through the babble in a quietly authoritative manner he hadn’t possessed six months ago. “We’ll go to the Garden Café. They have outdoor tables and a huge menu including burgers, salads, you name it. You guys can drink beer if you like but I’m ordering a big bottle of champagne. I’ve got a lot to celebrate.”

  “You never did tell us where you’re going for your honeymoon,” Linda said. It had been postponed so Cody could ride in the Logandale rodeo.

  “The next rodeo, what else?” Cody quipped.

  Kelly sighed with a good-natured, tolerant smile. Rodeo was in his blood and she couldn’t change that. Nor did she want to.

  “You did good today, son,” Nate said, clapping a hand on Cody’s shoulder.

  Cody nodded his low-key appreciation of his grandfather’s approval but Kelly could tell he was moved. Then he unlocked the door of his new truck and Ricky scrambled in, clutching Cody’s newest buckle as if it was made of precious metal.

  Kelly smiled up at her husband and stroked a hand over the black leather vest, now an indispensable part of his rodeo wardrobe. She would never tire of the sexy glint in his eye or his loving grin. “Still think you’re a screw-up?”

  “No, thanks to you.” He took her in his arms and buried his face in her neck, his next words muffled. “You’re the best thing that ever happened to me.”

  “I’m so happy,” she said, hugging him back. “I never thought my life would turn out so well. Thank you.”

  “Thank you,” Cody murmured fervently and then drew back to gaze at her, his eyes playful. “I was kidding about the rodeo for our honeymoon. How does Hawaii sound?”

  Her eyes widened. “Hawaii sounds wonderful!” Then she smiled so hard her cheeks hurt. “You keep on surprising me.”

  “Darlin’, wonderful is exactly what you are.” Gently, he touched a fingertip to the dimple on her right cheek. “I’ll keep surprising you. Just you keep on smilling.”

  The End

  The 79th Copper Mountain Rodeo

  Book 1: The Cowboy Meets His Match by Sarah Mayberry

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  Book 2: The Bull Rider’s Return by Joan Kilby

  View the series here!

  Book 3: Cowboy Come Home by Sinclair Jayne

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  Book 4: The Cowboy’s Last Rodeo by Jeannie Watt

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  Book 5: The Rodeo Cowboy’s Baby by Heidi Rice

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  Enjoy en exclusive excerpt from

  Come Home Cowboy

  Sinclair Jayne

  Book 3 in the 79th Copper Mountain Rodeo

  Keep reading below or buy now!

  “Marietta Montana was founded in…”

  Boone gripped the steering wheel of his Chevy Colorado truck. He knew when the town was founded. He knew the names of the original founding families and had attended school with their descendants. Hell, he even knew where the skeletons in many of those families were buried or stuffed in the closet. He was Marietta to his marrow.

  And that was the problem.

  He was being a jerk. Tuning Piper out. Something he’d never done. She read the Copper Mountain Rodeo website. He hadn’t told her Marietta was his hometown. That he’d attended the Copper Mountain Rodeo since he was in diapers. That he’d won his first event—mutton busting—at age four there.

  He hadn’t once mentioned that they were heading down the mountain to his hometown.

  But not to his home.

  Not to his family.

  Dick move and he knew it.

  But he and Piper were never meant to go this far. Tour with him through the summer. Or less. That had always been the plan when he’d met her. Dillon two weeks ago had been the end of this road for them. Staring down the barrel of September. He thought at the end of August he’d put her on a plane to wherever she wanted to go. Only he hadn’t. Hadn’t said a word about goodbye. Instead he’d driven the horse trailer with the small living quarters from Dillon to compete in White Sulphur Springs.

  He’d won a first in steer wrestling and bareback and third on the bull. And instead of celebrating at the bar and dancing, he’d taken Piper out to dinner and bought an obscenely expensive bottle of wine. Wine! A Bordeaux—whatever that was. And then he’d taken her to a spa so they could sit in the hot springs.

  And he’d had a damn good time.

  Not a cowboy in sight.

  He hadn’t mentioned the airport.

  Or how he should be ending it that night.

  Or definitely this morning.

  Or that the next stop on the Montana pro rodeo circuit was his hometown. And that his father was one of the rodeo planners. And his family would all be there expecting him to come home—stay at the ranch. Sit with them during all the social events like the picnic, steak dinner, pancake breakfast. Work the ranch the week after before heading to Great Falls.

  And all that was now shot to hell. He wiped his forehead with the back of his hand.

  His family didn’t know about Piper. She didn’t know about them.

  And he had no idea how he could keep it that way.

  He glanced over. She was wearing a cute racer-back sporty sundress and one of his shirts tied around her slim waist for warmth. Her hair was in a messy knot on top of her head that he could barely resist pulling out. She sat cross-legged and was scrolling through the website like she did for every rodeo—fully immersed in the experience.

  In two miles, she’d lose cell service.

  He should tell her now about Marietta. His family.

  But his tongue stuck to the roof of his mouth. His throat dried. He felt like someone he didn’t know.

  And he definitely didn’t like.

  Boone scowled at the twisting steep grade ahead.

  He’d met Piper in May. In California at the beach. A cliché and he damn well knew it.

  Cowboy sees the ocean for the first time and a girl with long, red-blonde hair and longer legs, wearing one of those lacy bikinis. Cowboy loses his mind. Boone mocked himself. He was not admitting to losing his heart but he sure as hell felt hollow when he thought of cutting her loose.

  Piper had tossed him on his dumb ass harder than any prime, pissed-off thrashing bull or bronc.

  Head over heels as the country singers crooned.

  Piper was way out of his league. Boone had known it then, and he knew it now. Didn’t make a lick of difference. He rode bareback broncs and bulls and w
restled steers to the ground for fun, prize money and to prove a point. He’d never backed down from a challenge. And Piper had seemed like the biggest one of his life. So he’d tried his chances.

  “Travel with me for a bit on the rodeo tour this summer,” he’d impulsively asked after they’d spent an afternoon and evening together. “You can see Montana.”

  Piper had two college degrees and had lived all over the world. She’d danced professionally. He’d expected her to laugh at him. Instead he’d watched her get her certificate in massage therapy in a small Saturday afternoon ceremony in a teacher’s home garden, and then she’d packed up a small leather backpack and a duffel bag of her clothes and climbed in his truck.

  And here they were. September.

  And neither he nor Piper had said anything about ending it.

  But he had to. There was no place for them to go.

  He’d just turned twenty-five.

  At his age his dad had been a rodeo god. Two-time bull-riding champ and four-time bareback. He’d had a case of buckles, a shelf full of trophies and enough prize money to rescue his family’s ranch from bankruptcy. Hell, at twenty-five his father had met one of Montana’s most beautiful and accomplished rodeo queens and married her three months later. Within a year they had their first baby.

  “I saw her ride, and when she got off the horse and smiled at me, I was done. End of the line. Thought she wouldn’t give me a chance but I was gonna do my best to ride to the end of the bell.” Boone had heard his dad tell that story enough and the parallels were not lost on him although Piper had been on a paddleboard, something he hadn’t even known existed until he saw her on one.

  But that was the end of the similarities with his dad. Boone had buckles. He had wins. But nothing like his dad. He had money saved, but wasn’t sure it was enough for the down payment to buy the small spread that was coming up for auction later this year. He’d coveted that small piece of land partially bordering his family’s ranch since his teens.