The Cowboy Meets His Match (Fatherhood)

by Roxann Delaney

  He slammed out of the stall, causing the horse to shy, but he turned back. “Okay. Go. That’s what you want, that’s what you get. Stop by and say howdy sometime when you’re in the area.”

  “I will,” she answered.

  He took three steps toward the big barn door and saw Jonah standing there. “What do you want?” he growled.

  “I want you two to stop being so selfish and pigheaded,” Jonah answered, walking toward him. “I don’t think I’ve ever known anybody as stubborn as you two are, except maybe my dad. Stop blaming each other. I came here because I wanted to meet the people who gave me life. I wanted to meet the girl who wrote a letter thanking the two people who would raise me and be the parents the two of you couldn’t be.”

  Jake shook his head. “This would have happened whether you’d come or not. Erin wants to rodeo. That’s the end of it.”

  “And you call her stubborn,” Jonah said.

  Jake heard the sound of boot heels on wood behind him but ignored it. “You don’t know what you’re talking about.”

  “You don’t think so?” Jonah asked. “Okay, then. But if the two of you can’t admit that you love each other and make it work out between you two, I’m out of here.”

  Jake sighed. “It won’t work, Jonah.” He turned to look at Erin, who stood there, white-faced. “I’ll cut you a check before the end of the day.”

  Her chin came up. “Give it to my brothers.” Without another word, she brushed past him and walked out, while he and Jonah stared after her.

  Jonah turned back to him. “Wow. You sure don’t know much about women.”

  Jake couldn’t argue. When it came to Erin, he didn’t know anything.

  Chapter Eleven

  “What are you doin’, girl?”

  Erin looked up from stowing things away for the drive and saw Ada in the doorway of her motor home. “I’m competing in a rodeo tomorrow in Chandler,” she announced, smiling.

  “What for?”

  Erin had begun to wonder the same thing. “To win, hopefully,” she answered, doing her best to maintain the smile.

  Ada lowered herself onto the easy chair. “So I heard.”

  Chuckling softly, Erin put her extra boots in the closet where she could grab them quickly if needed. “Then why did you ask?”

  “Because I didn’t believe it.”

  “Now you know it’s true.”

  “Erin Walker, you look at me.”

  Wishing she didn’t have to, Erin did as Ada said.

  “Stop trying to smile like you’re happy,” Ada grumbled, “because I know you aren’t. I’m not a fool like some people. I know the people I care about.”

  “I know,” Erin whispered. But some people—one in particular—didn’t know her as well as they thought they did. “It’s what I’d planned, Ada, before I even pulled in the lane last February.”

  “Plans can change if the right thing comes along.”

  Erin gave her a sideways glance. “You mean the right person, don’t you?”

  Ada waved away the question with her hand. “Thing, person, it doesn’t matter. What matters is in your heart.”

  “So I heard.”

  “Don’t you throw my words back at me, girl,” Ada warned. “I know what I’m talking about. The mister and I had our own hard times, but when it came right down to it, love made the difference.”

  Unable to clear the lump in her throat, Erin nodded.

  “Now, Jake is actin’ like a bull in a china shop, stompin’ around the house, and only the good Lord knows what’s goin’ on inside him. But outside? I saw the men scattering when he headed their way.”

  “He’s a little upset,” Erin managed.

  “Upset? That man is angry.”

  Erin nodded. “At me.”

  “Maybe, but I’m not so sure.”

  “I am.”

  “Then there’s that boy of yours, Jonah. He’s wearin’ a scowl almost as mean as Jake’s.” When Erin didn’t reply, she went on. “You’re gonna lose the two best things in your life, honey, if you don’t do somethin’.”

  Frustrated, Erin dropped to the sofa. “It’s not my place to do anything. I’ve done all I can. The ball, as they say, is in Jake’s court.”

  Silence dragged on for what seemed like an eternity, and then Ada spoke. “He loves you, honey.”

  Erin pushed down the hope that sprang to life. “Did he tell you that?”

  “He didn’t have to tell me,” Ada said. “I see it in his eyes every time he looks at you. And I see the same in yours.”

  Erin didn’t argue. She did love him, but maybe too much. And maybe she had too much pride. She couldn’t explain it to Ada, though. Or Jake. If she could, maybe they could fix this.

  “Go see him before you leave,” Ada said, shoving slowly to her feet. “Tell him what’s in your heart.”

  Shaking her head, Erin stood. “Jake and I have already said all there is to say. I’m going, he’s staying. That’s where it ends.”

  “You’re chasin’ the wrong dream,” Ada said from the doorway. “You already did that, and you’re too stubborn to let it go.”

  “I want to go back to the circuit and prove myself,” Erin said, a little louder than she meant to. “I want to be a winner. Don’t you understand?”

  “Honey, you’ve always been a winner,” Ada said softly, “to everyone who’s ever known you. You don’t have to prove anything. Not to me, and surely not to folks who don’t know you, except as some little thing that rides a horse around some big ol’ barrels. Search your heart for what it is you really want, then go after it. Do whatever it takes to get it, just like you did with your racin’.”

  But Erin didn’t feel she did get it with her racing. In another year or two, she would be one more unknown. Younger girls had been stepping up, long before she gave up and came home. Even Shelly had mentioned it more than a year ago and again recently.

  “That’s what I’m doing,” she told Ada. “I’m doing whatever it takes to get what I want.”

  With her hand braced on the door frame, Ada studied her. “Are you sure you want to live that hard life again? Is that what you really want?”

  Erin tried to answer but couldn’t, so she nodded.

  Ada’s loud sigh seemed to bounce off the walls. “Then come give me a hug. I don’t know when I might be seein’ you again, so it’ll have to last a long while.”

  Smiling, Erin walked to the door and slipped her arms around Ada’s ample waist as Ada enveloped her in a motherly hug. “I’ll miss you, Ada,” Erin said, trying not to cry. “And I’m sorry I can’t do what you want me to do.”

  “It’s not what I want you to do, child, it’s what you want to do. It’s whatever is in your heart.”

  Stepping out of the embrace, Erin nodded. “Thank you, Ada. Nobody knows how to talk to me the way you do. You’ve always been there when I’ve needed you the most. And this time I’ll stop by to see you when I’m in the area. I promise.”

  Pressing her palm to Erin’s cheek, Ada smiled. “I know you will.”

  “Let me see if Dylan will loan me his truck, and I’ll drive you back.”

  Ada waved her away. “I drove my old car over here. It’s sittin’ there by the big house, and your brother was nice enough to show me where you’re livin’. I’ll go back the same way I came.”

  Erin stood in the doorway and watched until Ada disappeared around the far side of the house. She’d barely had a chance to spend time with her good friend, but she would make some time whenever she could.

  With a sigh, she returned to packing things away so they wouldn’t fly around her on a bumpy road. But the sound of her phone ringing made her stop. Picking it up, she saw Shelly’s number displayed and answered with a smile.

  “Wh
at are you doing?” Shelly asked.

  “Battening down the hatches,” Erin said, laughing, and hoping Shelly wouldn’t notice that she wasn’t as happy as she should be.

  “Good. I was afraid you might have changed your mind.”

  “No, I’ll meet you at the campground early in the morning. I probably won’t sleep a wink tonight.”

  “I’m glad you’re excited. We’ve reserved a space for you next to our RV, so you don’t have to worry about finding one.”

  Erin pushed everything from her mind except the hour drive and the rodeo itself. “That will make it easier.”

  “Is everything all right?” Shelly asked.

  “Everything is fine,” Erin answered.

  “Okay, but if something happens or you change your mind—”

  “I won’t.”

  “Then we’ll see you tomorrow,” Shelly said, and ended the call.

  Still trying to forget everything that no longer mattered, Erin went back to work. By tomorrow at the same time, she would be in the saddle, making sure MacDuff was ready. Together, they would be winners.

  * * *

  JAKE WATCHED ADA park her car, then walk up the porch steps and into the kitchen. “Did you forget something?” he asked her.

  “No,” she said, grabbing her starched apron and tying it around her. “I went to tell a friend goodbye.”

  “You tried to talk her out of going, that’s what you did.”

  “No, sir, I did not. Erin does what she wants, and nobody can make her do otherwise.”

  He had no argument for that. “Good.”

  “I only told her to search her heart for what she really wanted,” Ada continued. “And I’ll tell you now to do the same thing. That’s all I have to say about it. Now why don’t you sit down and eat somethin’. All that growlin’ and stompin’ makes a person hungry.”

  “Not me,” he replied. “I’m just fine.”

  He turned to leave the kitchen, but as he did, he heard her mutter, “I can see just how fine you are, and it isn’t good.”

  Nobody seemed to understand that going after Erin would be the worst thing to do. He loved her. He always had. Tying her down when she wanted to be free would be bad for both of them. He wouldn’t stop her, no matter what Ada or Jonah or even Gary and the crew had to say. Erin would do what she wanted to do. Only then would she be happy. Experience and mistakes had taught him that.

  In his small office, he settled at his desk, planning to catch up on the book work he’d left undone for too long. But the sound of a vehicle interrupted his plan, and he looked out the window to see Dylan’s truck. “Not now,” he said, wishing for the solitude he craved.

  Stepping out onto the porch from the side door, he waved as both Dylan and Luke climbed out of the truck. When they walked around the porch, after saying hello to Ada, he met them and invited them into his office. “I should have known you’d show up. Everybody thinks they can fix things.”

  Dylan frowned at him. “The only one who can fix this is you.”

  “I tried. It didn’t work.”

  “Then try again,” Luke said. “Erin has her pride, but—”

  “And so do I.” Jake wished he hadn’t said that. His pride wasn’t what kept him from going to Erin and begging her not to leave. “She’s been planning to go back since she got here. Did you know that?”

  Shaking his head, Dylan answered, “No, but I’m not surprised. But I thought—”

  “We both thought she’d change her mind,” Luke finished. “Especially because of you and Jonah.”

  “Well, she didn’t,” Jake stated. “And she won’t.”

  Dylan’s frown deepened. “Don’t be so sure. She may be stubborn, but when it comes to people she cares about—”

  “Did you try to talk to her?” Jake asked.

  “We did.”

  “And?”

  Dylan shrugged.

  “She’s made up her mind,” Luke said, and leaned against the desk. “And you’re the only one who can change it.”

  “No,” Jake replied. “I can’t. I won’t even try. So you two might as well go back home, treat your ladies to something special tonight and tell your sister goodbye with a smile.”

  “Women,” Dylan said with a grunt. “Can’t live with ’em and can’t stay sane without ’em. How’d they get such a hold on us? Makes me crazy sometimes.”

  “You have to know how to handle them,” Luke said.

  “Is that right?” Dylan asked him. “And you’re an expert on this, I guess.”

  “No. No expert. But there has to be something.” He looked from one to the other. “Maybe we could go to Chandler and watch her ride. If she knows she has our support, she might give in.”

  “Or not,” Jake said, “unless you want to follow her around to every rodeo thinking she might finally give it up and come home. I’m telling you guys, she’ll only dig her heels in deeper.”

  “I have a better idea,” Dylan said.

  Jake didn’t know if he really wanted to hear it, but went along with it anyway. “What’s that?”

  “Lou’s.” When neither Jake nor Luke responded, Dylan explained. “We go now and stay until it closes.”

  “And that will do what?” Jake asked.

  “Get you through this day, and tonight you’ll either be too drunk to care or passed out until Erin is well on the road to Chandler.”

  “What time is she leaving in the morning?” Jake asked.

  “About seven,” Dylan answered. “It’s an hour drive, maybe more pulling a horse trailer with an RV, but she probably wants to check out the arena early and get in a little practice.”

  Or something else, Jake thought. “She’s meeting a friend.”

  “She has a lot of them on the circuit, some of them barrel racers like her,” Luke pointed out. “So what do you think? Send your wranglers home early and go to Lou’s?”

  “What about Glory and Hayley?”

  “If we explain, they’ll understand. Right, Dylan?”

  Dylan stared at him. “We have to explain?”

  “No,” Jake said, “you don’t. In fact...” He moved around to behind his desk and pulled open a drawer, then set a bottle of fine bourbon on the desk. “There’s beer in the kitchen and anything else you’d like in the liquor cabinet.”

  Luke looked at Dylan. “Sounds like a plan.”

  Dylan agreed with a nod.

  Jake pulled three tumblers out of the desk and placed them next to the bottle. “I’d say we have everything we need except a little ice.”

  “In the kitchen?” Luke asked, pushing away from the desk and heading for the door. “I’ll get some beers, too, if anyone wants any.”

  Dylan and Jake shook their heads.

  “Suit yourselves,” he said with a shrug, and walked out.

  “How about a little music?” Jake asked, and reached behind him to turn on his system. “Any requests?”

  “Garth, George, or something newer. Anything that isn’t that weepy stuff.”

  “You got it.” With the punch of a button, the room filled with the sound of fiddles, guitars and country twang.

  They both looked up when Luke hurried into the room, balancing a six-pack of beer in one hand and an ice bucket in the other. “Look out. We’ve been nailed.”

  Ada appeared in the doorway, her hands on her hips and a scowl on her face. “What are you boys up to?”

  “Havin’ a little party,” Dylan answered.

  “Oughta be a wake,” she muttered. “If you’re gonna be drinkin’, let me get you some food. Then I’m goin’ on home to watch me some television.” Turning around, she closed the door behind her and was gone.

  “She doesn’t seem to appreciate a celebration,” Dylan said,
causing the other two to laugh.

  “I heard that,” came from the other side of the door.

  “Hey, Ada,” Jake called out, “would you let the men know to stop by my office before they leave?” When he didn’t get an answer, he shrugged.

  “Do you want to send them home?” Luke asked, popping the tab on a beer can.

  “Gary will be by soon if he doesn’t see me outside. We can always invite him and the others to join us.”

  Dylan looked around the room as he filled two glasses with ice and liquor. “I don’t think there’s room in here.”

  “You’re right,” Jake agreed. “Let’s keep it to family.”

  Dylan handed Jake a glass and lifted his own. “To family.”

  The others followed suit, then tipped up their drinks. “Now that’s what I call smooth,” Dylan said. “But I can’t have much. And don’t mention it to Glory or Erin. I’d never hear the end of it.”

  “Why’s that?” Jake asked, shoving his desk chair into the middle of the room.

  “I did a bit of drinking before Glory set me straight. I hate to say it, but she was right.”

  “They always are,” Luke said. “Trouble, too. But it’s hard to live without them, and I wouldn’t trade Hayley for all the money in the world.” He took another drink of his beer. “Hey, remember that time...”

  Three hours later, after the wranglers had been sent home and the three of them had dredged up old memories, good and bad, Jake stared at his half-filled glass. It was only his second one—and he found he enjoyed the company more than the liquor. But it was enough to make him think in circles—until he remembered what else he’d stashed in his desk drawer.

  He stood and rounded his desk, then pulled out another drawer and took out the high-heeled shoes Erin had left in the barn. “I’ll be right back,” he said, and started for the door.

  “Going somewhere?” Luke asked.

  “For a walk,” he answered. “But stay and enjoy the refreshments. I won’t be gone long.”

  “I’ll bet he’s going to see Erin,” he heard Luke say, but he didn’t hear Dylan’s response.

  Outside, the heat hit him, and he looked up at the sky, the sun edging closer to the horizon. Night would be along soon enough, and he thought about going back inside to finish off that half glass and more.