by Cat Johnson
Logan shook his head. “I hesitate to say this because I bet Emma will hate it, but I kinda like the name Red for him. It’ll be less confusing when both he and my dad are in the room.”
“See, I can be helpful sometimes. I’m going to enjoy teaching him to ride and to rope. And who’s gonna put you on top of your first sheep, Red? That’ll be your Uncle Tyler.” He glanced over the baby’s head at Logan. “Yes, I know. Technically, I’m not his uncle, but I don’t care. I want the title, and Tuck and Becca don’t seem to be cooperating and giving it to me legitimately.”
Logan laughed. “Give them some time. Until then, I’m happy for you to be an honorary uncle. The mutton bustin’, though, we might have to discuss.”
Tyler frowned. “That city girl wife of yours is going to fight me on it, isn’t she?”
“Good chance.” Logan dipped his head in a nod.
“Humph. We’ll see. Won’t we?” The baby laughed at the face Tyler made at him. Maybe he wouldn’t mind having one of these of his own. It would sure be fun working to make one. Remembering that morning in the kitchen, he glanced at Logan. “Hey, did your dad leave today’s newspaper around? I needed to look at the classifieds.”
“I think it’s in back.” Logan frowned. “What are you looking for in the classifieds? You moving out of your parents’ house?”
“No. Not as long as I’m living with Mom and Dad rent free, I’m not. I’m looking for a puppy.”
“For you?” Logan’s brows shot up high. “You better talk to your parents about that first, or you will be looking for an apartment to rent.”
“The dog’s not for me. It’s for a friend.”
“A female friend?” Logan asked.
“Yes.” And hopefully, his soon-to-be girlfriend.
“Really? You’re serious enough about a girl that you’re ready to be a doggy daddy?” Logan looked surprised by that.
Tyler laughed. “I guess I am.”
Chapter Twenty-Seven
The book sat in Janie’s lap, open but unread as thoughts of where Tyler could be and what he might be doing swirled through her mind.
It was exactly one week since she’d found him, pants undone, hiding in her truck. Was he in town right now, jeans open wide, but with someone else? And why?
None of the different scenarios she could come up with gave her any solace, nor would they as long as she was still in the dark.
This was why she shouldn’t have begun anything with him. This crazy, illogical insecurity and feeling of dread as she waited for the day this thing with him—whatever it was—would be over.
Stupid Rene. Telling her she could just have fun with him. Janie should have known better. She wasn’t wired to just have fun with a man. The fact that she’d married right out of college proved that.
The idea of enjoying a sweet, good-looking, hard-bodied cowboy for a fling might sound like fun when being thrown around over some wine between girlfriends. The reality was far different.
In fact, she was going to tell Rene that, right now. She grabbed her cell phone and punched in a text.
The phone rang barely a minute after she’d hit SEND. Janie answered and heard her friend ask, “I clearly must have missed something, but what is my fault and why do I have to go to a rodeo because of it?”
“You encouraged me. It’s your fault I let myself fool around with Tyler.” Janie lowered her voice for the last part. She was alone in the house, but who knew if Tim or even Khriste could be close enough to Rene to hear her through the phone.
“Mmm, mmm. You should be thanking me for that.”
“Well, I’m not because now I’m like a crazy woman.” She was lucky she hadn’t given in to one crazy thought she had and gone driving around town looking for his truck and stalking him.
“Just relax.”
“I can’t relax, and now I promised to go to the rodeo he’s riding in tomorrow. You know what that means, don’t you?”
“Oh, yeah. I do. I haven’t been in a while but I surely do remember all those hot cowboy butts. Rodeos are like a Wrangler-and-chaps buffet.”
Janie sighed. That was exactly her fear. That there would be a thousand females of all ages there and, unless they were blind or crazy, they’d be after Tyler. True though it was, that wasn’t what she’d been getting at. “It means you have to come with me.”
She shouldn’t have agreed to go in the first place. It felt too much like she was his girlfriend going to watch him ride. More than that, she knew rodeos and how things worked. The number of pretty young things throwing their boobs at the riders, trying to get their attention, would be frightening. She couldn’t handle being there alone. She needed her friend for support.
“Okay.”
Rene’s answer halted Janie’s panic. “You’ll really go?”
“Sure. It’s about time I took Khriste to her first rodeo. I can’t believe I haven’t before. She’ll love seeing the barrel racing, and once I tell her Tyler’s riding, there won’t be any keeping her away.”
Janie blew out a breath in relief. “Thank you. I appreciate it.”
“Jeez, it’s not like you asked me for a kidney or something. It’s a rodeo. You really need to learn to chill out.”
“Yeah, okay.” Janie rolled her eyes. “I’ll work on it.”
She didn’t see that happening as long as she was sleeping with a man eleven years her junior or while she still had a mountain of bills to pay, or two fields full of cut hay yet to be baled and sold.
“So we good? Can I go now before Tim commandeers the remote and changes to the Hunting Channel?”
“Yes, you can go.” She smiled. “Say hello to your man for me.”
Rene let out a laugh. “Yeah, you say hello to yours, too.”
Janie disconnected the call without comment. Besides his not being there, Tyler was by no means her man. Janie’s curiosity about where he was returned.
A knock on the back door sent her heart racing. She tossed the book aside, hopped off the bed, and let herself hope.
That soft knock, barely loud enough for her to hear it from upstairs in the bedroom, seemed so typically Tyler, she felt to her core that it had to be him. It was his considerate way of saying he wanted to see her while being reluctant to wake her if she was already asleep.
She reached the darkened kitchen and saw his shadow through the glass, the cowboy hat so familiar to her now. She flipped on the lights and got a better look at his hopeful yet contrite expression. No wonder she was powerless against this man. Who could possibly resist him when he was as beautiful on the inside as he was on the outside?
She unlocked the door and pulled it open. “Hi.”
“Hey, there.” His smile made her want to forget everything—her doubts, her worry. Tamping down her excitement, she waited to hear whether he’d tell her where he’d been. “I know it’s late, too late to just show up, but I didn’t want to call the house and wake you. And I don’t have your cell number or I would have texted first to make sure you weren’t already asleep.”
“I wasn’t sleeping.”
“Good. I couldn’t stand not seeing you. I spent the whole time I was working at the store thinking about you.”
“You work at a store?” Janie frowned. As confusing as his confession was, his revelation had her spirits lifting. He hadn’t been out with the guys, or out with a girl. He had been working. “What store?”
“I fill in here and there at my neighbor’s shop. He had a stroke last year and needed help—”
He never got to finish. She let out a laugh even as she fought tears. Warmth filled her chest, chasing away the cold fear as cautious hope and pure joy overwhelmed her. The relief she felt couldn’t be contained. It bubbled to the surface as she jumped him.
Janie threw her arms around his neck and crashed her mouth against his.
Tyler pushed the door shut before he wrapped his hands around her waist. Kissing her as they moved, he backed them farther into the room.
“Not th
at I’m complaining . . .” He kissed her again and then broke away to continue, “But what did I do to deserve this very nice reception?”
“Just you being you. Come upstairs.”
“Gladly.” Smiling, he grabbed her hand and pulled her toward the door leading out of the kitchen and toward the staircase.
She tugged to stop him. He glanced back. “What’s wrong?”
“I have to lock the door and turn off the lights.”
His smile widened. She guessed he knew exactly what she was thinking. That once they got upstairs, neither one of them would be coming back down again until morning.
Just to make sure they were really on the same page, she asked, “Do you have your overnight bag in the truck?”
“I do. You know, just in case.” He smirked while looking adorable.
“You might want to go and get it now so you don’t have to later.”
He grinned. “Yes, ma’am.”
Chapter Twenty-Eight
Rene sighed and stared ahead. “God, I love horses.”
Janie followed Rene’s line of sight and shook her head. There were horses, all right, but in front of the animals was a line of ropers waiting to move to the other end of the arena, where they’d start their runs.
The cowboys, all dressed in jeans and facing away from the stands as they watched the action of the event before theirs, gave the audience at this end of the arena a perfect view of their backs—and their backsides.
She shot Rene a sideways glance. “Mmm-hmm. Right. It’s the horses you’re interested in. I’m sure.”
“It is.” Rene glanced down at Khriste. “It’s important to teach my daughter all aspects of equine sports. She can be an Olympic jumper, or a professional barrel racer, or even a team roper, if she wants to be. Right, baby girl?”
“When’s Tyler up?” Khriste wasn’t interested in the man buffet her mother still ogled. Only Tyler. Much like Janie. She’d been keeping a close eye on the ropers, just as Rene had, but she was concerned with one in particular.
“I don’t know, baby. Ask your Aunt Janie. I bet she knows all about what Tyler’s doing.”
Janie frowned at Rene, then glanced down at Khriste. “Soon. The tie-down roping is up next.” She decided to get Rene in trouble, since her friend had no qualms about throwing her under the bus. “I think Tyler already rode in the first event. The bronc riding. You know, the one that we missed because we were late.”
Khriste’s mouth dropped open and she turned to glare at her mother.
“Mom.” The girl made the single short word stretch out extra long, clearly showing how annoyed she was. “I told you we were gonna be late and miss things. Important things.”
“Yeah, Rene. Important things.” Janie smiled as she jumped on board with Khriste’s indignation.
“Sorry.” Rene wrinkled her nose at Janie, but the damage had already been done, judging by Khriste’s scowl.
They’d arrived after the events had already started because Rene had picked Janie up late. Rene had tried to convince Janie that Khriste hadn’t been ready on time, but after all the years they’d been best friends, Janie knew the truth. Rene ran on her own schedule, and rarely did it match everyone else’s.
Arriving late and not having time to talk to Tyler probably wasn’t such a bad thing. What would they have done in public, and in front of her best friend and godchild? Stood awkwardly, like polite friends who hadn’t been in the same bed just twelve hours ago?
Things were already complicated enough with their relationship limited to the privacy of her house. She should have known being anywhere with Tyler in public would make it even more so. She should have said no to his invitation. Made up some excuse—
That thought halted dead in its tracks as Tyler turned to face her and scanned the stands. She saw the moment his eyes found her. He smiled wide, and even at that distance, she could swear she saw a twinkle in his blue, blue eyes. Her heart pounded harder. She had to bite back a cuss at the realization that she couldn’t even see the man without being affected by him.
It was time for Tyler and the other ropers to move and he had to turn away, but still she couldn’t tear her gaze away from him as he leapt easily into the saddle. If she’d thought he was handsome before, she’d been mistaken. There was no sight more beautiful—though that word didn’t seem appropriate—than Tyler in the saddle.
He was soon lost to her sight in the group of riders moving toward the ropers’ box. Janie glanced at Rene and found she was under scrutiny. Rene’s brows rose but before she could utter even a word, Janie said, “No comments, please.”
Rene pressed her lips together. “I wasn’t gonna say a thing.”
Somehow, Janie had trouble believing that. There was nothing Rene could say anyway that Janie hadn’t already thought herself as she debated the future of this thing she had with Tyler, including how maybe it wouldn’t be so bad if she just gave in and let herself fall for the man.
The wide swing of the pendulum when it came to thoughts of him only proved to her she was crazy. Being with him made her so. Yet here she was, breathless from a smile and craving another.
“I see Tyler!” Khriste’s excited exclamation dragged Janie back to the event. “He’s getting into that little cage.”
Janie raised a brow. Born and raised in Oklahoma and the girl knew nothing about roping. “Rene, you really should have taken her to a rodeo before now.”
“Sorry. I had other things to do. You could have done it.”
“I had a few things to do of my own.” Erasing her scowl, Janie put an arm around Khriste. It was partially her fault. She should have taken it upon herself to bring her godchild to an event. She’d just have to correct that oversight now. “It’s not a cage, sweetie. It’s more like a starting gate where the ropers have to wait until the calf is let loose and they can rope it.”
When Janie had been in college and riding barrels, she always had liked the tie-down event the best, but she’d never given in to the lure of dating a roper.
The fact that Tyler was a roper and she’d always had a weakness for them wasn’t helping her confusion one bit. All the old triggers from the past came back with a vengeance, resulting in a visceral reaction based on a long-standing attraction to the men in the sport, right along with her caution regarding getting involved with one.
But she was already involved, wasn’t she?
Ironic how she’d managed to get through her teen years and her college years, right up until her meeting and marrying Tom, all without falling for a roper. Not until she was thirty-six had she fallen victim to a rodeo cowboy’s charms.
Her, and who knew how many other females. She hadn’t missed the number of women—girls, really—who were watching Tyler just as closely as she was. God, how she hated that.
The calf was released into the arena, and it took off in a crooked path across the dirt. Seconds later, Tyler and his horse were in hot pursuit. With the piggin’ string held between his teeth, and his legs controlling the well-trained cutting horse, Tyler swung the rope above his head and let it fly.
Even aimed from the back of a horse at full gallop, the loop of the rope landed true, sliding over the calf’s head to settle around his neck. Tyler leapt from the saddle. As the horse came to a dead stop, the man ran at full speed to where the calf was held by the rope tied to the saddle horn.
She’d always wondered whether the horse could reason out what he was doing and why, or if he just knew the steps so well he repeated them without thought. Either way, it was a beautiful thing. Man and horse worked in a well-practiced synchronicity that had always fascinated Janie.
The gelding took a step back to keep tension on the rope, holding it secure and taut around the calf’s neck until Tyler could get to him. Tyler lifted the two-hundred-plus pound calf and flipped him onto his back on the ground. He took the string from between his teeth, wrapping it around three of the calf’s legs, securing it in a half hitch before he thrust his hands into the air to
stop the clock.
The entire thing, from Tyler leaving the box to the time he threw up his hands to tell the judges he was done, took only seconds. Eight point nine seconds to be exact, according to the announcer. It was a good time that would possibly put Tyler in the lead. He must have realized it, too. He grinned as he released the calf. It rolled to its feet and took off running as Tyler gathered up his rope and headed back to his horse.
“Aunt Janie, did Tyler do good?”
Janie realized she should have been explaining things to Khriste, but Tyler had been too much of a distraction. Not a surprise. “He did very good, sweetie.” The next rider took his position in the box. “Want me to explain the rules to you so you understand?”
“I understand. The cowboy catches the cow and then lets him go.”
“You’re right. That’s exactly it.”
Rene smiled. “Can’t argue with her there.”
“I guess not.” Janie laughed.
Leave it to a child to break things down to their simplest form. She could learn something from the girl. Maybe things didn’t have to be so complicated all the time.
The rest of the ropers took their turns, but Janie didn’t see a whole lot of them since she kept watching for Tyler, who was still at the other end of the arena.
“Mom, I have to go to the bathroom.”
Rene glanced at Janie. “I guess we’re heading to the Porta-Johns. Lucky me. You want to come?”
Janie laughed. “As tempting as it sounds, no, thanks. I’m good.”
“Yeah, I figured. We’ll be right back.”
“Okay.”
As Rene and Khriste headed off to the facilities, the condition of which would no doubt be pretty horrendous, considering the event grounds were packed and it was a hot day, Janie decided she’d be waiting until she got home.
“Did you see Tyler’s run?”
The question had her turning, her mouth opening to answer automatically until she realized the stranger was asking the question of her friend. Both girls stood close to the rail, but Janie hadn’t noticed them until just now when she’d heard his name.