Читать книгу The Bull Rider's Baby - Brenda Minton - Страница 12

Chapter Four

The Dawson Rodeo Grounds hadn’t changed much over the years. Keeton liked that about Dawson, that it didn’t change. It hadn’t gotten sucked up in urban sprawl. Mainly because there wasn’t an urban area close enough. Sometimes they got lost tourists looking for Grand Lake. Mostly, it was just Dawson and the folks who’d been here for generations. He liked the slow pace of life, knowing neighbors, knowing the roads, the houses and what made people tick.

Not that he could figure out Sophie Cooper. Each time he thought he had her pegged, she shifted and left him scratching his head.

He pulled into the grassy parking area of the arena and parked next to a beater that had seen better days. His old truck was in similar shape but he had a new one on the way. As he stepped out of his pickup a voice shouted his name. He turned and waved at Jeremy Hightree. It was thanks to Jeremy and his skill with bikes that Keeton had money saved up to buy back his family spread.

The money would stay in the bank for now, because he’d only been able to purchase the twenty that his grandparents’ home sat on.

Jeremy headed his way. “I guess you really are back?”

“I’m back.” He reached into his truck for chaps and a bull rope.

“So, rumor has it you’ve got a kid.” Jeremy leaned against the side of Keeton’s truck, pretending to fiddle with the strap on his chaps. Keeton figured Jeremy was more than a little interested because of his own past. He was Sophie’s half brother. A Cooper, and he hadn’t known that fact for most of his life.

“I guess I do.”

“Kind of a surprise, wasn’t it?”

Keeton looked up. “Jeremy, surprise doesn’t even begin to explain it.”

“Where is she?”

Now, how did he get out of answering that question? Might as well answer because odds were, Jeremy and most of Dawson knew where Lucy was. “Sophie’s watching her.”

Jeremy grinned big, the way Keeton had kind of guessed he would. “That’s good. She’s probably a great babysitter.”

“Right.” Keeton coiled his bull rope and walked away. “Later.”

Of course Jeremy followed him. “Do you need any help over at the old homestead?”

Now, that question had merit. “Probably in the next few days. I’m going to have to patch the roof, replace a couple of windows and probably rebuild the porch.”

At that, Jeremy laughed. “I meant do you want me to bring you a casserole or something. I hadn’t really planned on hard labor.”

“You can bring me a casserole and help me patch the roof.”

“I suppose I could.” Jeremy pointed to a man in black jeans and a white shirt. “Dave has the list, he’ll let you know when you’re up and what bull you’re on.”

“Thanks.”

And then Jeremy laughed, his attention focused on the parking lot. “Well, what do you know? Is that Sophie parking her car?”

“Never.”

“No, I’m sure it is.” Jeremy pointed to the big sedan and the woman getting out.

Gone were her pretty amazing sweatpants and the tie-dyed T-shirt. Back was the Sophie in business formal. She had his baby in her arms. It shouldn’t feel so perfect, seeing her with his baby. But everything about this was out of place. Sophie in her dress slacks and blouse. Lucy in her arms. His life had somehow gotten shaken up to the point that he didn’t recognize it as his life.

“See you later.” Jeremy slapped his back and walked away.

“Right.” Keeton walked toward Sophie. She smiled a little and held Lucy close. “What are you doing here? Is Lucy okay?”

“Lucy still has a little fever.” She bit down on her bottom lip, and then looked up, letting him see tears in her hazel eyes. He had a hard time not pulling her close. He stood his ground, though, waiting for her explanation.

“What’s wrong?”

She sniffled. He’d never seen her as the type to get emotional over nothing. She raised her chin a notch and got control back.

“I couldn’t sit there and wait for you to come home. I kept thinking about you being here, riding bulls. And Lucy. She’s so little. What if…”

Even with the glimmer of tears, her voice remained strong.

He stopped her with a slight shake of his head. “Don’t. Nothing is going to happen to me.”

“This doesn’t count toward the finals. You don’t have to ride here.”

“I want to ride here.”

He used to want to ride here. He wanted to be seventeen again, living his dream, waking up each morning to a family that was whole. For some crazy reason he kept thinking he could get that back. His parents, his brother, his life.

Buying the land had been the plan. The way to get his life back.

Sophie stared at him, as if she knew exactly what thoughts were going through his mind. And she looked sorry, for her and for him.

“Sophie, this is what I do. I ride bulls.”

“I know.”

He wanted to hold her but he knew she wouldn’t want that. She had her stronger-than-steel look on her face. She wouldn’t melt. She wouldn’t fall apart.

“So wish me luck?”

“Of course, luck. And some prayers.” She swayed with Lucy in her arms. “I thought it would be easier to watch instead of being at home worrying, not knowing.”

“I understand.” He let out a sigh as they announced bull riding directly after barrel racing. “I’ve got to go.”

“I’ll find a place to sit.”

“Soph—” he stepped close because he couldn’t just walk away “—she looks good in your arms.”

Before she could protest or call him a choice name, he walked away. But he couldn’t stop smiling. Not even when they told him which bull he’d be riding. He’d drawn one of the meanest bulls the Coopers owned.

* * *

Jackson Cooper grinned, and then laughed. “You sure you don’t want to take a sick day, Keet?”

“I can ride this bull with my eyes closed.”

“I think you’ll want your eyes closed and some serious prayers before you ride him.” Jackson walked away from the fence he’d been leaning against. His smile disappeared. Great.

“I can handle him, Jackson.”

“I know you can. But tell me this. What are you doing with Sophie?”

“She’s watching Lucy for me. That’s all.”

“Mind a little advice?”

Keeton shrugged and pretended this conversation meant nothing. But Jackson had a pretty serious look on his face that warned him to tread easy. “Sure.”

“Don’t hurt her.”

“I’m not planning on it. She’s always been a friend.”

“I think we both know that isn’t true.”

“Jackson, there’s been a lot of years lived since Kade passed. There’s been a lot of time and distance.”

“I know. And here you both are, still stuck in the past.”

“I’m not stuck in the past.”

“You’re here because you can’t let go.”

“I’m here to get back what I lost.”

Jackson’s eyes narrowed dangerously. “Sophie’s on the list of things you lost?”

“No, Sophie was never on the list of things I had to lose.”

At thirty-six, he was too stinking old for this conversation. He pushed his hat back and looked Jackson Cooper straight in the eye. “Jackson, with all due respect, back off.”

“She’s my sister.”

“We’re not teenagers. She’s not a kid you have to watch over. I don’t have to declare my intentions like this is some Old West drama.”

Jackson laughed. “You have intentions?”

“I have to ride a bull. And then I plan on ignoring you.”

He walked past Jackson and climbed the steps to the platform where he would wait to get on his bull. The old Holstein bull the Coopers owned bellowed in his chute, raising off his front legs in an attempt to climb out of the metal enclosure.

It kind of made a guy wonder why he did this for a living. It also kept him praying. But his attention strayed to the stands, looking for Sophie with his little girl. He spotted them. Sophie sat near the bottom of the bleachers, next to a woman he didn’t know. She had a cola in one hand and his baby in her arms.

Things had definitely changed. For the better? Yeah, he thought so.

* * *

Sophie hadn’t attended a rodeo in years. She never watched bull riding. Tonight she had to. She’d tried cuddling up with Lucy, pretending she didn’t care. But after thirty minutes at home, thinking about Keeton on a bull, she couldn’t take it. She had to be here, to watch. As if being here would stop something bad from happening.

She knew whatever would happen would happen with or without her presence. She knew that God really could take care of things without her help.

But logic had obviously flown out the window, along with common sense and a few other personal strengths. At this point, emotion seemed to be in control. And when had that ever happened to her?

Okay, not a question she wanted to answer.

She resituated herself on the wooden bench and pretended she really didn’t care what happened in the arena. She didn’t care that Dylan, her little brother, had just settled onto the back of a bull.

Travis, older than Dylan by a couple of years, stood in the arena, ready to rescue their little brother if need be. Jackson had the role of pick-up guy, sitting on his big chestnut gelding, reins loose in his hands, but the horse in control.

Sophie’s new sister-in-law Elizabeth leaned close. “It really will be okay.”

Sophie nodded but she couldn’t ask Elizabeth what she knew. Elizabeth was sweet. She was kind; she wanted to comfort Sophie. And she knew very little of the turmoil inside Sophie at that moment.

“I know.”

Elizabeth reached for her hand. “I’ll pray, too.”

Sophie nodded again and this time she couldn’t answer. The gate flew open. Sophie had always thought of herself as a strong person. She knew how to work past her pain, how to get things done.

She closed her eyes as her little brother came spinning out of the chute on the back of a bull. She squeezed them tighter when she heard the crowd scream. Elizabeth’s hand on hers held tight.