Dusty ran out of the arena area and gave Max a great big hug.
“That was amazing.” He lifted her off her feet and swung her around. “You were right all along.”
The revival committee crowded around.
Dusty looked at every one of them and said, “We were all wrong. Thank God you didn’t give up.”
Max said, “I’m glad I didn’t give in to pressure to quit.”
Charlie and Angus Lincoln approached, each holding one of Josh’s hands.
“That was fun, Dusty.” Josh’s little pipsqueak voice cut through the noise of the crowd. “I want to do that someday.”
Dusty stared at his parents holding Josh’s hands. “They were with you?”
Charlie nodded and stepped close to him.
“I’m glad they were safe,” Dusty said, “but shouldn’t your loyalty be to me?”
Charlie kissed his cheek. “Someone else needed me for a while.”
Dusty smiled. “Thanks for taking care of my girl.”
Before Max could object that she was capable of taking care of herself, Marvin approached.
Max didn’t know what to do about Marvin. Once upon a time, he had saved her and her son from destitution.
Then he had betrayed her.
What was she to think?
“Could I have a word with you?” he asked.
She stepped away from the group, but sensed the intensity of their regard.
One thing she knew about the inhabitants of Rodeo was that they cared about each other.
Marvin scuffed the toe of one of his boots in the dirt. “I’ve never done anything worse in my life.” He refused to look at her, but hung his head and ran a finger under his nose.
“You’re like a daughter to me,” he mumbled. “You and Josh are the only family I have. I should have trusted you.”
He looked at her then, with all of his misery etched on his tanned and wrinkled face. “I’m sorry, Max.”
Her pulse pounded so hard in her ears, she barely heard his rough, quiet apology.
Max wrapped her arms around Marvin. When all was said and done, he was the only father figure she had. And she loved him.
It wouldn’t be smart to throw him away.
While true that he should have had more faith in her, as should all of her friends, she had enough understanding that her ideas had been pretty far off the wall for them to envision the way she had.
She heard Marvin sniff. When she let him go, he turned away, pulled a large handkerchief out of his pocket and blew his nose.
“You’re a better person than me, Max,” he said, “and I thank you for your forgiveness.”
Before she had a chance to tell him she loved him, he walked away, probably because the emotions had become too intense.
“Mom, can we go to the petting zoo? I want to see the baby animals.”
Max cleared heavy emotions from her throat and said, “Sure, Josh, but first we have to watch Dusty’s bull riding.”
“No,” Dusty said.
Max held up her hand, understanding why Dusty wouldn’t want her there. Maybe her nerves would transfer to him. “Dusty, it’s hard for me to watch, but if you’re going to be in it, I’m going to watch. I’ll be fine. That’s final.”
Dusty took her arm in his and drew her away from the group. She noticed his limp and frowned.
“Why are you still limping after so long?” she asked.
“All of the practicing for the polo match took its toll.” He leaned close. “Max, I didn’t enter the bull riding.”
She stopped walking. “You didn’t enter? After persuading me to have it? Why not?”
“I was afraid I would injure my knee permanently. I could do only one discipline in the rodeo.”
“Then why participate in the polo match? Why not just bull ride?”
“I wanted to honor you. After all of your trouble getting the polo included, how could I turn my back on it?”
“You mean you chose the polo match over bull riding for me?”
He stopped and looked down at her with all of the love that seemed to be in his heart, and all of it aimed at her.
Max’s own heart almost burst with happiness, with a quiet joy that she hadn’t known since the birth of her son.
That had been the most special event of her life, but the joy had been tempered by fear of not knowing how to take care of this new little creature on her own?
But this? With Dusty? Pure, unadulterated jubilation. Nothing prevented her from giving herself over to it completely.
“I don’t need bull riding,” Dusty said.
“At all?”
“I’m high on life, Max. I’m high on love for you. I don’t need eight seconds of terror to affirm that I’m alive.”
“No more bull riding?”
“No more bull riding.”
“You would give it up for me? Not just for today, but for always?”
“Yeah, I would. Same with all the rodeo events. If you’ll have me as a partner, I want to help you run the ranch.”
“Really?”
“Yeah, really. You’ve been doing an amazing job, but you need help and I need to be close to you. These past couple weeks, I’ve enjoyed working on the ranch as much as setting up this rodeo.”
He brushed his hand across her new, refined haircut. “What do you think, Maxine Porter? Are you up for a partner in ranching and parenthood and life? For a partner in love?”
Max’s heart split open with bliss.
“Yeah, Dusty Lincoln. I’m up for all of that.”
She rested her head on his shoulder. “There’s one thing I won’t abide in my house, though, Dusty.”
“What’s that? Wet towels on the bathroom floor?”
“No.”
“Whiskers in the sink?”
“Nope.”
“Empty toilet paper rolls?”
“Not even that.”
“Then what?”
Max giggled. “No cowboy of mine is ever, ever allowed to wear macramé around his neck.”
Dusty threw back his head and shouted with laughter.
* * *
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ISBN-13: 9781488086007
Home on the Ranch: Montana Rodeo Star
Copyright © 2018 by Mary Sullivan
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This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents are either the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events or locales is entirely coincidental. This edition published by arrangement with Harlequin Books S.A.
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