The Bull Rider's Baby

by Brenda Minton

  Trust that God knew His plan for her life, and she should know that it would be the best thing for her. Trust that God knew how things were going to work out, even when she didn’t.

  Lean not unto your own understanding.

  While Keeton had been riding that bull, she’d done a lot of trusting. She’d had to block a lot of images. And she’d stood her ground, faced her fear.

  It had felt pretty good. And then adrenaline had evaporated and she’d felt nothing but shaky and weak.

  In the distance she could hear the band setting up. She led Lucky to the trailer and he stepped inside as if he’d been trailered his whole young life. Not once had she ever wanted a mule. Never. She’d grown up riding some of the best quarter horses in the country. But Lucky the mule kind of changed things for her.

  She smiled at that thought. Once again she’d found her thing.

  “What’s that smile for?”

  She turned and smiled at Keeton. In the distance she heard the band singing a country song about taking chances. They could leave here the way they came. Or they could see what might happen if they took a chance on each other.

  “That smile is because I’ve found what I love.”

  “Me?”

  She laughed and then ignored his statement. “I love mules. All my life I’ve had quarter horses, like a good, respectable Cooper. But I now know that I love mules. I think I might buy more.”

  “Stop the presses.” He reached for her hands and pulled her close. “Sophie Cooper is a mule person.”

  “I know.” She smiled because it came easy, smiling in his arms, being held by him as they swayed to music in the distance.

  “What do we do, Sophie? Do we take a chance? Do we walk away and always wonder? Do we stay friends or see what will happen with us? Forget who we thought we were going to be and see who we can become?”

  They were swaying to lyrics similar to what he said, and she thought about it, about jumping in and not regretting. He leaned, nuzzling her neck, holding her close. He smelled a little like the rodeo and a lot like Keeton. She could feel his heart beating close to her chin as she rested her head on his shoulder.

  “I want to.” She looked up. Unsure. Unsteady. “I want to see what happens.”

  He leaned and she closed her eyes. Swept away by the moment she forgot where they were. She didn’t care who saw. She didn’t think about what people might say or who they might tell.

  His lips were warm on hers and she wanted nothing more than to be in his arms, feeling him hold her tight. She moved her hands from his shoulders to his neck. Yes, her grandmother had always warned her that dancing could lead to necking. She smiled at the thought and Keeton whispered her name, whispered words she didn’t hear.

  Sirens ripped through the night. They pulled back from each other, looked toward the crowd that had gathered around the makeshift dance floor. The band stopped playing and someone shouted for Jackson.

  “We need to see what’s going on.” Keeton held her hand and they headed back toward the arena.

  Sophie couldn’t think about what might be happening. She couldn’t stop thinking about the declaration they’d just made and how they’d deal with it tomorrow, when it wasn’t a moonlit night with stars twinkling in a velvety dark sky and the scent of honeysuckle in the air.

  Tomorrow when it was broad daylight and reality couldn’t be ignored.

  Reality. As they got closer to the crowd, Jackson spotted them and hurried in their direction. Sickening dread welled up inside Sophie as her brother got closer. Keeton’s hand tightened on hers.

  “It’s nothing,” he assured her as they stopped and waited for Jackson.

  “Nothing?” Sophie looked up at him. “It’s something or Jackson wouldn’t be looking for me. It’s the houses, again. Why?”

  “You don’t know that’s what it is.”

  “Don’t I?

  Jackson had been followed by his daughter, Jade. “Soph, the call is for your place.”

  Her place? All of the air left her lungs and the world became a blur. Keeton told her to take a deep breath. She couldn’t. Jade had thrown her arms around Sophie.

  “The barn, Sophie, your barn,” Jackson repeated until the words cleared her mind and made sense.

  Thirty seconds had passed. She breathed in and out, Keeton’s hand on hers. Jade holding her tight. Why? Who would be so against a few houses that they’d set fire to her barn?

  “We should go.” Keeton had slid his arm around her waist. “I’ll drive you.”

  “Lucky.” Her mule.

  “Travis can take him to the main barn.” Jackson put his fingers in the corners of his mouth, whistled loud and waved for Travis to head their way.

  “Okay.”

  She needed to take charge, make decisions.

  Jackson’s radio blasted and someone on the end said they were on scene, the barn was engulfed but they’d control it and protect the main house. Sophie wiped at her eyes.

  “Let’s go.” Jackson shot Keeton a look. “Drive her. I’m heading that way.”

  A few minutes later they were in the truck. Keeton glanced at her and she shrugged and looked out the window of the truck into the dark night. Ahead she could see the orange glow of fire against the dark night sky.

  “I just don’t get it,” she whispered and then she covered her eyes and thought, prayed. “I’m so sorry you had to leave Lucy with your parents.”

  “They really don’t mind. And I want to be with you.”

  “Thank you.” They slowed to turn on the road that led to her house. Now she could see the flames. There were flickering lights from emergency vehicles, bright headlights and people everywhere.

  “The police are here,” Keeton announced and she nodded. She saw the police cars.

  “My quiet, anonymous life.” She shook her head. “Why did I think this would be easy? I thought I’d be able to build these houses, no one would ever know it was me. I never thought someone would want to stop me.”

  He kind of laughed, and she looked at him. He gave her a half smile, an apologetic look. “You thought no one would know?”

  “Yeah, I did.”

  “Why does it matter?”

  It was her turn to shrug. “I guess it doesn’t. It used to, but now it doesn’t seem to be that important.”

  They got out of the truck and walked toward the barn, toward emergency vehicles, firemen, police officers. Someone really wanted to stop her from building those houses. They wanted it stopped so badly they were willing to torch her barn.

  A police officer approached. She didn’t know him but he smiled and looked from Keeton to her. “Ms. Cooper, I have to ask you a few questions.”

  “Of course.” She wished she had answers.

  The questioning lasted for thirty minutes. And at one point she started to ask him if she was a suspect. She looked at Keeton and he must have known because he shook his head. Okay, fine, she wasn’t going to ask.

  Out of the blue came the question she hadn’t expected. “Do you know the Gordons?”

  “Of course I do.”

  “Have they said anything to you about this property, contacted you in any way?”

  “We’ve talked. I offered to help them and even offered them a portion of the land I bought. They didn’t want it. They’re older and want to live in town. Mr. Gordon is working as a manager at one of our apartment complexes.”

  “I see. Did you know their nephew is volunteering at your development?” The officer continued to write in his notebook.

  “Yes, I knew that. He’s out of work and wanted to help friends.”

  “Okay, that’s all I need for now. I’m really sorry about this, Ms. Cooper. And I do want to warn you to be cautious un
til we can make an arrest.”

  “Okay, I will.”

  Keeton held her close and she didn’t know what to think. She leaned against him, but leaning on him seemed wrong. What would she have done had he not been here to turn to? She would have driven herself. She would have taken Lucky to her parents’ house and she would have dealt with this situation.

  Good or bad? She didn’t know, not right then.

  “I have to go talk to Jackson.” She pulled away from Keeton’s side.

  “Do you want me to go?”

  She shook her head. “No, you need to go get Lucy. I’m good. I can handle this.”

  “I know you can. But if you want me here…”

  “I’m good.” Stubborn. Strong willed. Afraid to rely on him too much.

  Before he walked away he leaned and kissed her cheek. “Call me if you need anything. And don’t be afraid to need a friend. I’m not here to take over. I’m just here.”

  She nodded and before he could step away she touched his cheek and allowed herself a goodbye kiss.

  * * *

  Keeton drove to Myrna Cooper’s where he found his parents sitting in the lamp-lit living room. They were sitting side by side on the sofa, his mom was holding Lucy. They looked up and smiled when he walked through the door.

  “How’s Sophie?” his mom asked.

  “She’s good. The barn is a complete loss but her house is okay.”

  His mom stood and handed Lucy to him. “She’s missed you, I think. And I wasn’t asking about Sophie’s barn. Tonight couldn’t have been easy for her.”

  “Was it easy for any of us?” Keeton sat down on a rocking chair and gave a push with his foot to set it in motion. Lucy rested in the crook of his arm.

  His dad looked at his mom. She finally spoke. “It wasn’t easy but I think I needed to do that. I needed to face my fears.”

  “We all have to do that from time to time.” He smiled down at his daughter with her drooling, lopsided baby grin. He’d dressed her in a denim romper and little boots for the rodeo. His mom had changed her into a sleeper covered with pink lambs.

  His lawyer had called the other day and said he’d gotten a letter from an attorney representing Becka. She wanted visitation rights. It wouldn’t be easy, letting her see their daughter, but he’d do it. If it meant he got to keep Lucy, he’d do it.

  “Keeton, we’ve all suffered,” his mom started. “I won’t regret or feel guilty for what I did. I couldn’t stay here with the memories.”

  “Mom, I know that.”

  “I want to apologize. I could have done things differently. You shouldn’t have to buy back land that would have been yours.”

  “I’ve only bought twenty acres.”

  “Is there any way to get the rest?” his dad asked.

  “No, there isn’t. Sophie bought part. I think a hunting lodge bought the rest.”

  “We could try.” His mom looked sincere as she made the offer. “I could help. There are rental houses from the money we walked away with. I could sell some of our rental houses and free up some cash.”

  Buy it all back. He leaned back and continued to rock Lucy. She closed her eyes, opened them, closed them again. Her little hand came up and found his collar. This had become the nightly sleeping ritual and he smiled because he had gotten as used to it as she had. Finally he shook his head in answer to her question.

  Six months ago he’d wanted all of the land. Having it had been the most important thing to him. Now it didn’t matter. He shrugged. “I don’t need it all.”

  Having all of the land wouldn’t make his family whole. The land wouldn’t fix what had been broken. He looked at Lucy, then at his parents. Time had a way of taking care of broken things, mending them. He thought about scabs he’d had as a kid. His mom would tell him to leave it alone, don’t pick at it, let it heal.

  He’d done a whole lot of picking after Kade’s death. He’d done a lot of his own blaming. He’d blamed his mom for his dad’s alcoholism. He’d blamed his dad for not being strong enough to hold on to his family and his land. He’d blamed himself.

  He’d picked and picked, and then he’d let it go and let it heal up. Looking at his parents he saw something he hadn’t seen in a long, long time. He saw a family. Even if they didn’t get back together, his parents could be grandparents to Lucy, they could be friends.

  Funny how circumstances had brought them all here together at the same time. Funny? He looked up and said a quick, silent thank-you.

  But what about Sophie? Where did she fit in this grand plan? He kind of hoped she fit in his life, the way he’d thought she might, even years ago.

  Convincing Sophie to give them a shot might be a whole new challenge. He’d felt her lose herself in his arms tonight. She’d let go of some fears. And then she’d pushed him away.

  Because? He thought he knew why. Because she needed to be in charge of her life, not consumed by people. Or even by him. He had grown up in a quiet house with a younger brother and two parents who had given them plenty of space.

  Life as a Cooper would have been a whole lot different. Life as a Cooper would have meant always having someone involved. He remembered as kids, Jackson had always been the brother tailing Sophie, getting in her business, involving himself if he thought she needed help. Blake had been almost as bad.

  Once, years ago, she’d had a flat tire. He’d stopped to help fix it. She’d told him she could do it herself. And five minutes later, as he stood there watching, letting her do it, her brother Blake showed up. He took the jack and the tire iron and changed the tire, ignoring her protests that she could have done it herself.

  He grinned and thought he might remind her of that. He hadn’t tried to change that tire. He’d known full well that she could do it herself.

  “I should head home.” He stood up with his sleeping daughter in his arms. It wasn’t an easy maneuver with a bad knee and Lucy sound asleep. He managed, though, and he didn’t fall or break anything. His dad stood, hobbling on his new walking cast. That must mean they were leaving together.

  “I’ll go, too.” His dad looked down at Keeton’s mom and she smiled a little. “Take care, Doris.”

  “I’ll see you in a few days, James. We’ll find a good program.”

  His dad turned a little red and cleared his throat. Men like his dad were used to handling things. They didn’t get counseling, treatment, or really ever admit they had a problem. Sometimes that worked for them. Sometimes it all fell apart.

  “That’ll be good.” His dad limped to the front door of the house. “I appreciate it.”

  Keeton’s mom followed them to the door. “It’s been a long time, but I think the one thing we’ve learned in the last few weeks is that we’re still a family. We’ve had a lot of time and distance between us, but we can still be there.”

  Keeton kissed her cheek and walked down the steps. He was buckling Lucy into the car seat when his dad hobbled up.

  “Doing okay, Dad?”

  “Yeah, guess so. I guess there’s something to talking things out. Maybe we should have talked after…after Kade…”

  “After he died?” Keeton turned and his dad was leaning against the side of the truck looking up at the sky.

  “Yeah, we should have talked. I should have asked you how you were doing.”

  “I don’t know if I would have answered.”

  “Maybe not, but I should have asked.” His dad looked at him now. “How you doin’, son? Now, I mean.”

  “I’m doing good, Dad. I’ve been good for a long time. I felt guilty for a long time. I was pretty angry with you, and with Mom. But I was a kid and that’s what a kid does. And then I just settled with my life, got my degree and rode bulls.”

  “But you missed living h
ere.”

  “Well, yeah, I did. We’re talking like I’m sixteen, not thirty-six.”

  His dad laughed a little. “Guess I’m late to the game. We should have had this conversation years ago.”

  “Probably so. Now it’s just time to let it go and move on.”

  “But you’re okay?”

  Keeton walked around the front of the truck and got in on the driver’s side. He closed the door and started the engine as his dad climbed in on the other side.

  “Dad, I’m good.”

  “You going to marry Sophie Cooper?”

  “I haven’t gotten that far into the plan.”

  “Seems like a good fit.” His dad leaned back in the seat and closed his eyes. “I think Kade…”

  Keeton nearly closed his eyes, but he caught himself. “Dad, don’t.”

  The last thing Keeton needed to feel like was a replacement. He’d walked away from Sophie years earlier because that’s what he would have been.

  He’d told her that night, the night after Kade’s funeral, that he wanted to be in her life but he wasn’t going to stay and be a replacement, the guy she settled with.

  He’d been young. She’d been heartbroken. It had been a kid thing to do and say. She’d cried and probably called him a few names he deserved.

  Looking back he realized he’d done them both a favor. If they’d stayed in each other’s lives back then, they might not have survived the emotions. One or both of them would have questioned why they were together.

  After all of these years, if they gave this a chance, they would know it was real, not leftover feelings. Not Keeton coming in second.

  Chapter Fourteen

  On Monday Sophie stood in the yard looking at what used to be her barn. A pile of charred lumber and blackened tin that used to be the roof was all that she had left of a structure built nearly one hundred years earlier. In her arms, Lucy fussed and chewed on her fist. The baby gave up on the fist and rubbed her mouth on Sophie’s shoulder.

  “Teething or hungry?” she whispered to Lucy and kissed the baby’s soft head. “We’ll go inside and get a nice bottle of formula. Maybe you need a nap.”