Racing Christmas

by Shanna Hatfield

  He had no problem finding Brylee’s rig. It was the same one she’d driven six years ago. He loaded Rocket without incident. The horse seemed to know it was time to go as he settled into the trailer. The poor critter needed a bath even worse than he did, but that would have to wait until later.

  Shaun took off the rain slicker he’d pulled on earlier, turned it inside out, and covered the driver’s seat before he climbed in the pickup. He drove close to the medic’s trailer and left the pickup running as he ran around to the passenger side and looked for something to drape over the seat, assuming Brylee would still be covered in mud. He grabbed a fleece blanket from behind the seat and used it to cover the leather seat then hurried over to the trailer and tapped on the door.

  “She’s awake and not happy when I told her who was coming to get her. In fact, she tried to walk out of here until I threatened to have her transported to the hospital.” The doctor tipped his head to where Brylee rested on a long bench with her foot elevated.

  “I’ll say it again so you both are clear on the fact that she absolutely must stay off that foot for at least seventy-two hours. If the swelling is down then, she needs to go in and get a cast on it. In the meantime, she should have ice on it for twenty minutes several times a day. Understood?”

  “Yes, sir,” Shaun said, taking the crutches the doctor held and carrying them outside. He slid them behind the seat then returned and stood over Brylee, ignoring the way her entire body stiffened at his presence. “I know you’d rather have the devil himself help you, but it looks like you’re stuck with me, Bitsy. Let’s make the best of it, shall we?”

  The frost-glazed glare she tossed at him would have left most men frostbitten, but Shaun merely smiled. He bent down, scooping her into his arms before she could protest.

  The doctor smiled as she spluttered indignantly, insisting he put her down and let her use the crutches as he carried her outside.

  Gently, Shaun set her on the passenger seat, wishing he’d minded his own business. Holding her close stirred up emotions and longings along with a truckload of hopes and dreams he’d long ago buried and didn’t want released from their cold, cobweb-shrouded tomb. How could he have forgotten how well she fit in his arms? How much he liked her there? Brylee was the one he never forgot and couldn’t get out of his head or heart.

  Regardless, it would be an ice-coated, below-zero day during the midst of a summer heat wave in the desert before he’d admit it to anyone. Especially the woman who looked like she’d shoot him stone cold dead if she had a gun in her hand.

  “Here’s a pillow to cushion her foot,” the doctor said, lifting Brylee’s leg and setting it on the pillow he tucked against the dashboard. “Remember, absolutely no walking on that until you’ve been to see a doctor about the cast. Understood?”

  Brylee smiled at the doctor and nodded. “Understood. Thank you so much, sir, for taking good care of me. I greatly appreciate it.”

  Shaun swore frozen sticks of butter would have melted at the warm sweetness of her tone. She gave the doctor another charming smile as the man offered her an encouraging nod and shut the door.

  The doctor slapped Shaun on the back. “Good luck with that one,” he guffawed, far too gleefully for Shaun’s liking.

  “Gee, thanks, Doc,” Shaun said, his voice dripping with sarcasm. He shook the doctor’s hand then hurried around to slide behind the wheel.

  When he started the pickup and looked over at Brylee, she sat with one hand clenching the strap of her seatbelt and the other gripping the handle above the door.

  “You need something before we go?” he asked, putting the truck in gear.

  “I’m fine.”

  He pulled away from the medic trailer and turned on the windshield wipers since it had started to rain again. “You don’t seem fine. Are you sure something isn’t bothering you.”

  “Nothing is bothering me,” she ground out, maintaining her death grip with her eyes squeezed shut.

  “Sure seems like something.” Shaun knew her well enough to know she was ten different kinds of mad. The exact reasons why he had yet to decipher. He wasn’t sure if depending on him for a ride, or at missing out on a win, had upset her the most. If Rocket hadn’t gone for a skid in the mud, she would have easily captured first place. But that was rodeo life. One day, you were on top, the next you were literally stuck in the mud.

  However, considering her polite and courteous manner with the doctor, he had to assume she hadn’t moved past her vow to hate him for the rest of his life.

  So much for good deeds going unpunished.

  His stomach grumbled with hunger. Shaun was starving and realized he hadn’t eaten anything since breakfast. He saw a drive-through just ahead and turned into the parking lot. “Mind if I grab something to eat?”

  “Go ahead,” she said. Her clipped tone hinted at her underlying fury.

  “Want anything?”

  She opened her left eye and glared at him. He took that as a no and parked the truck, but left it running as he jogged inside and placed an order to go.

  In less than five minutes, he was back in the pickup. He handed her a cup of hot chocolate. She took it with a nod of thanks, but didn’t say a word as he peeled the wrapper back on a big, juicy burger and took a bite before pulling back out on the road.

  “Want a bite?” he asked, holding the half-eaten burger toward her. “It’s greasy goodness between two semi-stale buns.”

  Her nose wrinkled up on the end and she flapped a dismissive hand at him. “Whatever.”

  He finished the burger then dug into the paper bag for a handful of fries. “Sure you don’t want some?”

  “That’s okay.”

  Shaun assumed her annoyed tone meant she could have been dying of hunger but wouldn’t accept a single morsel from him.

  “Look, Brylee, I’m just trying to help out, you know. Help an old friend in a moment of need.” Shaun glanced at her again. The horrified yet livid look on her face made it clear that was the wrong thing to say.

  “Wow!” The way she said that one word made him think he was one step away from her reaching behind the seat for a crutch and bludgeoning him with it.

  He blew out a long breath and kept his thoughts to himself for the remainder of the trip. Brylee kept her eyes shut, but did intermittently take small sips from the hot chocolate.

  Forty-five minutes later, he pulled up in front of the big Kressley ranch house.

  Brylee looked at it with interest as Shaun got out and jogged around the pickup. She opened her door and would have stepped down, but he gave her a warning scowl. Before she could protest, he took her in his arms and carried her down the front walk and up the porch steps.

  She remained silent, but she clamped her lips together so tightly, he wondered if she’d ever pry them open again. A memory of just how soft those lips had been beneath his, of how delicious they’d tasted, made him take a stumbling step as he neared the door.

  Kash yanked it open before he could knock and Celia hurried toward them down the hall.

  “I’m so sorry about your accident, Brylee. Kash said you need a place to rest for a few days.” Celia beckoned them inside. “We’ve got plenty of room and Barb will love having someone to fuss over.”

  “Barb?” Brylee asked as Celia motioned Shaun to follow her up the stairs.

  “Our housekeeper,” Kash said, walking behind Shaun. “There’s nothing she likes more than being able to pamper someone. It’ll make her day to find you here in the morning.”

  “I really do hate to be a bother. I can call my mom to come get me. We’d have to leave her rig or mine here, though, until we can get them both home.”

  “Nonsense,” Celia said, flicking on the light in a guest room. “You shouldn’t be traveling with your injury and we don’t mind having you here at all. In fact, Kash and I are leaving the day after tomorrow along with the crew for another rodeo, but Barb and Kash’s dad will be here. One of them will make sure you get to a doctor for your cas
t.”

  “I, um… I…” Brylee’s voice cracked and tears filled her gorgeous blue eyes.

  Shaun had never been able to handle her tears. Not when each salty drop felt like it clawed away pieces of his heart. He wanted to comfort her, assure her everything would be fine. Instead, he kept silent.

  “Hey, don’t worry about a thing. After a hot shower you can sleep as long as you like,” Celia said, walking across the room and turning on the light in an adjoining bathroom.

  Brylee nodded as Shaun carried her into the bathroom.

  “Need any help in here?” he asked, waggling his eyebrows suggestively, knowing it would put a stop to Brylee’s tears and draw her furious indignation to the surface.

  Celia laughed and pointed to the door. “Out! I can take things from here.”

  Brylee gave him such a dark, hate-filled look, Shaun rubbed his chest to make sure something barbed and wicked hadn’t impaled him.

  “I’m going, but if you need help, just holler,” he said, backing toward the door.

  Kash thumped him on the back and the two of them went down the stairs to the kitchen. “Want a piece of cake?” Kash asked as they walked into the large room. “Barb made it this morning.”

  “Sure,” Shaun said. He washed up at the sink then took the glasses of milk Kash poured to the table while his boss cut slices of cake.

  When they were both seated, Kash gave him a studying look. “What are you doing with that girl?” Kash asked as they forked bites of the rich, chocolate cake.

  “Helping her, I think.” Shaun took a bite of cake so he wouldn’t have to say more.

  “She looked like she wanted to rip your head off then use it for a rousing game of kick ball.”

  Shaun grinned. “Yeah, she did.”

  “What’s going on with you two?” Kash tossed him a curious glance. “I know you dated at one time, but then you broke up all of a sudden. What went wrong?”

  He shrugged. “Just realized we weren’t meant to be together, I guess.” Shaun had no intention of getting into the nitty-gritty details of what he viewed as the biggest mistake of his life with his current employer.

  Kash changed the subject, talking about the stock they’d load for the next rodeo and what time he wanted to have the trucks pull out on Tuesday morning.

  Celia breezed into the kitchen and gave Shaun a disgusted look. “What did you say to that poor girl to get her so upset?”

  “Nothing, Seal. Honest.” Shaun held up his hands in a gesture of innocence. “She barely spoke to me after we left the medic trailer.”

  She narrowed her gaze and plopped down at the table. “Well, what did she say?”

  Shaun leaned back and recalled their limited conversation once they got on the road. “I tried talking to her, asking her questions. All I got was a string of one or two word answers.”

  “And those were?” Celia asked.

  “Fine, nothing, go ahead, whatever, that’s okay.” He tried to think if he’d missed any of Brylee’s brief comments. “Oh, and it ended with a wow.”

  Celia looked at Kash and the two of them smiled.

  “You are in deep, deep trouble, my friend,” Kash said, forking another bite of cake.

  “What did I do? What does all that mean, anyway?” Shaun asked, looking from Kash to Celia.

  “It means she thinks you are the stupidest man to ever live.” Celia reached across the table and patted Shaun on the arm, as though he was as dumb as Brylee’s responses indicated. “Don’t take it personally, she’s medicated and exhausted.”

  “It sure seems personal, considering she acted all cuddly to the doc.” Shaun stabbed his fork into his cake, stunned by his sudden cavedweller desire to pop the doctor in the nose, and for no reason other than the fact Brylee had smiled at the man.

  “Maybe it would be best to give her a little time to get her bearings,” Celia suggested. The glance she tossed at Kash didn’t escape Shaun’s notice, although he didn’t really want to know what it meant.

  He huffed with irritation. “I have no problem leaving that prickly, opinionated, stubborn woman alone.”

  Kash coughed to hide a chuckle. “I can see that you don’t. Not one bit.”

  Chapter Three

  Brylee awakened all at once, as though she’d fallen out of her dreams and slammed to the floor. Startled, she popped open her eyes and looked around a room she didn’t recognize.

  Sunlight filtered in through sheer curtains peeking from behind pale yellow drapes that were pulled back and fastened with ivory cords. Based on the bright light outside the window, the morning had to be more than half gone.

  Her gaze shifted from the window to the rest of the room. Soft yellow paint and white furniture gave the room a cheery, welcoming feel. A white and cream striped duvet covered the bed. An overstuffed white chair and matching ottoman sat in a corner of the room, next to a small shelf of books.

  The prints on the walls featured western landscapes. Near a door she thought opened into a bathroom, a large white-washed metal star hung on the wall.

  An attempt to stretch as she visually perused the room made her swallow a cry of pain. Memories of her accident the previous evening and ending up at the Kressley home came back to her.

  So did the fact that Shaun Price came to her rescue. Of all the hundreds of men at the rodeo, why did her hero have to be the one man she loathed entirely? Years ago, she’d vowed to hate him until she drew her last breath.

  If the tumultuous emotions swirling through her were any indication, she might just make good on that promise.

  Yesterday, she’d wished the ground would open and swallow her whole instead of forcing her to face Shaun. Today, she was grateful to be alive and mostly unharmed.

  A broken leg was not going to keep her from competing. She’d take a week off, get her leg in a cast, and be back on the road. If she could keep her accident from hitting the gossip feed, no one would even know she was injured.

  The doctor was sworn to secrecy, she’d already texted Savannah to keep things quiet, and she knew no one at the Rockin’ K Ranch would spill the beans. At least she thought they could all be trusted. Well, everyone with the exception of Shaun. He’d run her trust and her heart through the grinder, spitting out little splintered pieces that would never, ever heal.

  But that was long ago. She held no desire to dredge up wounds from the past when she had a broken leg to deal with and a horse that no doubt needed some attention.

  Slowly sitting up, Brylee assessed her aches and pains. Her shoulder throbbed from a bruise she’d noticed last night when she took a shower. Her elbow was sore, but not horribly so. Her back hurt a little, but getting up and moving would help that. Then there was her leg. The doctor had wrapped it in a temporary splint until the swelling went down. In fact, she was probably long overdue for an ice pack.

  The first thing she needed was clothes, the second her crutches. She glanced around the room and noticed crutches leaning against a chair on the other side of the nightstand. Her bag sat on a small wooden bench by the bathroom door.

  Celia had been kind enough last night to let Brylee borrow a set of pajamas, but she looked forward to getting into her own clothes.

  She tossed back the covers and reached out, snagging the crutches. She’d never used them before, but if it was either figure out how to hobble on one foot or stay in bed, she’d master hobbling as quickly as possible.

  With a crutch in each hand, she used them to leverage herself out of bed onto her good leg, careful to keep her injured one from touching the floor.

  “Piece of cake,” she muttered. She took a few cautious steps forward to her bag, unzipped it, and took her toiletry bag into the bathroom. After brushing her teeth, washing her face, and applying a little mascara, she braided her long hair and fastened the end with an elastic band. The mud-coated clothes she’d worn last night had disappeared and all trace of the disarray she’d created in Celia’s lovely guest bathroom was gone. She wondered if Celia or the ho
usekeeper had tiptoed in while she slept and cleaned away the mud and dirt.

  She’d hated to bring such a mess into the Kressley home last night. But they were all tracking in mud, too. That fact made her feel marginally better.

  As she dug through her bag for something she could wear over her cast, she took out a tank top and finally unearthed a pair of running shorts. She tossed the clothes on the bed and sat down to get dressed. When she finished, she reached for her purse in the chair by the nightstand, grateful for whoever had brought her things up to the room.

  She took out her phone and sent her mother a text that all was well. The last thing she needed was for her mom to worry about her being injured. She hoped to put off mentioning her broken leg until after she was back at one hundred percent. Since she’d be heading home in a month for the local rodeos, it might be challenging to keep the injury completely hidden. By then, though, she should be nearly healed. At least she hoped she would.

  The small matter of how she would get herself home, or to the next rodeo for that matter, presented a bit of a roadblock, but she’d worry about that later. For now, she needed to go check on Rocket. He’d been upset last night. Normally, she would have spent all the time needed to clean him up and calm him down. However, Savannah’s relentless insistence Brylee go see the doctor had forced her to leave Rocket sooner than she liked. Savannah promised to stow her gear, but they both knew Rocket wouldn’t let her brush him down or clean off the mud.

  The poor boy was probably covered in filth from the tips of his ears to the end of his tail. The thought that she couldn’t do anything to help him in her current state never even crossed her mind.

  She tucked her phone into the pocket of her shorts, took a deep breath, and situated the crutches beneath her arms. It took a bit of maneuvering, but she got the bedroom door open and moved into the wide hall. She could see stairs to her right and headed toward them. She almost lost her balance on the second step and decided she’d probably break her neck at that rate.