Читать книгу Roping the Rancher - Julie Benson - Страница 11
ОглавлениеChapter Two
Boring. Calm. Uneventful. Ordinary. The words once made Colt Montgomery go stir-crazy, but since coming home from Afghanistan, they sounded pretty damned good. Of course, raising a teenage daughter on his own meant he didn’t use those words in conjunction with his life very often, but he kept hoping.
Everywhere he went in town people and life seemed the same, and yet he wasn’t. Life in Afghanistan consisted of endless monotony and preparation, interrupted with bouts of sheer terror. He spent a good portion of his day wondering if someone he was there to help would turn on him with an AK-47. Then one day he was home.
Going to a war zone changed a man in ways few could understand, but he was one of the lucky ones. He’d come home with all his body parts. Except for some minor scars and an occasional nightmare, he returned unscathed, but then he hadn’t been there for his full tour, either.
Once home, he struggled with what to do with his life. While he loved being a parent, he needed more than raising his daughter and being a rancher. Then he heard from one of his buddies, Dan, who’d lost a leg in Afghanistan. His doctor recommended an equestrian sports therapy program, but there wasn’t one near him. After that email, Colt discovered the purpose he craved in creating Healing Horses.
He’d gone through a seven-week training course to become a registered instructor. Then he started training horses and found local physical therapists willing to donate their time to recommend activities and work with clients when necessary.
When Colt finally was able to open the doors to Healing Horses, Dan was the program’s first patient.
Footsteps tapped across the wooden floor outside his office. He looked up from the stack of bills due on his desk to see his daughter walk in, and his heart ached.
He’d come so close to losing her when he was in Afghanistan, and all because of his selfishness. When her mother ran off with a computer repairman and died a month later in a car accident, he should’ve quit the National Guard Reserves. He’d known getting deployed was a possibility, but he never really thought it would happen. So much for long shots.
When he’d been shipped to Afghanistan, his younger brother came to Colorado to stay with Jess. Reed, a bachelor, made more than a few mistakes, and Jess ran away. What could have happened to her, now that gave Colt real nightmares. Pimps. Drug dealers. General crazies waiting to prey on a naive fourteen-year-old. He thanked God every day that Reed and Avery, now Reed’s wife, found Jess at the Denver airport before she got into any serious trouble.
Jess’s running away had been a hard kick to the head for Colt. This time he got the message. She was the most important thing in his life and it was high time he proved it. So he asked for a hardship discharge, left the National Guard Reserves and returned to Estes Park.
Looking at her now standing in his office, he realized every day she looked more like her mother. Same petite frame, long chestnut hair and warm coffee-colored eyes as her mother. Jess was the constant reminder of how young and in love he’d once been. Sometimes he looked at her and tried to find bits of himself. Today he didn’t have any trouble finding a similarity. Her chin pointed at him in stubborn defiance she inherited from him. He braced himself for whatever hand grenade she was about to throw his way.
“Cody Simmons asked me out to a movie on Saturday. Can I go?”
He closed his eyes for a second to regroup. Times like these he missed having her mother around to tell him whether or not he was being too much of a hard-ass. “As in out for a date, asked you out?”
“The word date was never mentioned.”
“I’m not falling for that one again.” She’d burned him with technicalities more than once before he learned to choose his words very carefully and scrutinize every one of hers for land mines. “Would you be going with a group of friends?”
“Not exactly, but—”
“Then it’s a date, and the answer is no.”
Cody was a good kid. He was an honor student, worked part-time at the Cinemaplex and was a pretty good bronc rider in the junior rodeo circuit, but none of that mattered to Colt. Just thinking about Jess dating shoved his panic into overdrive, especially since he knew what seventeen-year-old boys were like. Basically a bundle of hormones fantasizing about sex every thirty seconds. He hadn’t been much older than Cody when he and Lynn started having sex. By graduation she’d been pregnant and they were planning a quickie wedding.
No way did he want history repeating itself with his daughter.
“Your ‘no dating until I’m sixteen’ rule is so old-fashioned.”
“Then you better go get your bonnet, missy.”
Three more months were all he had before he started greeting boys at the door with a shotgun and giving them his own version of the Spanish Inquisition before he let them out the door with his daughter. He now understood why man invented the chastity belt.
“All my friends have been dating since they were fifteen. What difference will a few months make?”
“What difference will it make to wait?”
She crossed her arms over her chest, shifted her weight onto one foot and glared at him. Such determination and strength, and yet so much hurt behind those beautiful brown eyes. How could a mother walk out on such a wonderful child?
Leaving him, he got. He and Lynn had troubles from the moment the ink dried on their marriage license. She wanted so much that he couldn’t give her. Bright lights, the big city, adventure. Being a military wife and later a rancher’s wife weren’t what she had in mind.
If only he’d known that earlier, but they’d been high-school sweethearts who swore the love they felt would last forever. They were too young and foolish to know what they didn’t know. He wondered now if their relationship would’ve run its course sooner if Lynn hadn’t gotten pregnant.
But then he wouldn’t have Jess, and he wouldn’t trade being her father for anything. She was the only good thing that came out of his marriage.
“You don’t understand what it’s like being the only one who can’t date. I’ll become a social outcast.”
He bit his lip to keep from laughing at her woeful my-life-is-over look and drama queen voice. To a teenage girl everything turned into a Greek tragedy. Life with her was like walking a tightrope. One misstep, either with being too strict or too permissive, could lead to a big fall.
“In a couple of days everyone will forget that your hard-ass dad won’t let you date.”
“If I say no, Cody will probably ask another girl to go with him.”
Good. All the better.
Instead, Colt said, “If he really likes you, he’ll wait until you turn sixteen.”
“Guys have needs—”
“What the hell do you know about that?”
His blood pressure approaching stroke levels, he prayed his daughter wasn’t talking about the kind of needs he knew about all too well. His ate him up so bad sometimes he couldn’t sleep at night. Hell, he couldn’t remember the last time he’d gotten laid. Sure he’d taken the edge off, but that wasn’t the same as being with a woman. Sometimes holding one, losing himself in her warm curves and pretending they cared about each other was the only thing that would ease the ache.
For about five minutes when he’d first returned from Afghanistan, he considered dating. Then he remembered what it was like living in the small town he grew up in where gossiping was a town sport. The last thing he wanted was people talking about his love life and his teenage daughter hearing the stories.
On top of that, a casual relationship, in a lot of ways, sounded worse to him than no relationship at all, but he refused to have any other kind. One disastrous marriage was enough.
“Guys have fragile egos,” Jess said, easing his panic somewhat. “Getting turned down for a date is hard on their self-esteem. He’ll find someone who can go out with him.”
“She’s not my concern.”
“I know. I am.”
“That’s right.”
“Just because you don’t have a life, doesn’t mean I can’t have one.”
Ouch. He’d died and gone to hell, and this conversation was his punishment. “I’ve got a life.”
But her words got him thinking. What did he have other than Jess? A brother and sister-in-law. The ranch he grew up on. His therapy program, Healing Horses. Was that enough? It had to be right now. He couldn’t handle anything else. Definitely not dating and the emotional pitfalls that went along with trying to maintain a romantic relationship. Life with a teenager was exhausting enough.
“A monk has a more exciting life than you do,” his daughter said. “You’ve got work. That’s not the same. What’re you going to do when I go to college in two years? I don’t want you to end up being one of those weird old men who lives alone and talks to himself all day long.”
Apparently he hadn’t been the only one wondering what his life would be like when Jess went off to college. Part of him dreaded her leaving, while a piece of him looked forward to the freedom he’d have. For as long as he could remember responsibilities ruled his life. From the time he and Reed were strong enough to lift a saddle his father had worked his sons harder than any ranch hand. As the big brother, he’d watched out for Reed. Colt had stepped in to defuse things once their mother, the family peacemaker and punching bag, died. Then at eighteen he’d found himself in the military responsible for a wife with a baby on the way.
An empty nest and the chance to figure out what he wanted to do with the rest of his life sounded pretty good right now.
“Your life shouldn’t stop because you’ve got me to raise.”
“It hasn’t.” He picked up the top bill and scanned the paper, hoping his daughter would take the hint that he was done discussing her dating and his.
“Why don’t you trust me?” Jess accused. “I thought you’d forgiven me for running away.”
Jess’s quiet words and the clear pain in her expressive brown eyes hit Colt hard like a kick from an angry mule. He replaced the bill on the stack. “I have. I know if you’re ever that upset again, you’ll come to me, and we’ll work things out. I don’t want you to ever be afraid to tell me anything.”
Unlike how he and Reed had been with their father, who they tried every trick to avoid. The old man was as likely to greet a simple good morning from his sons with a slap upside the head as a smile, and there was never a way to predict which they’d get or change the outcome. “I trust you. It’s the boys that scare the hell out of me.”
“We’d just being going to a movie.”
He’d told himself he wouldn’t be the hard liner his father had been. He wouldn’t drive his daughter away. The last thing he wanted her thinking was that he didn’t trust her. He sighed. Time to cowboy up and prove the fact. “I’ll compromise. Make it a double date, and you can go.”
His daughter charged around his desk, flung her arms around him and squeezed him tight. “I won’t let you down,” she whispered in his ear and kissed him on the cheek. Then with one last grin, she headed for the door as Nannette McAlister, his assistant at Healing Horses, strolled in. “You’ll never guess what happened. Dad said I could go out on a double date this Friday.”
“You finally wore him down, huh?” Nannette was the kind of mother every child should have. She loved and encouraged her three children, and their friends were always welcome in the McAlister home. All she wanted was for them to be happy. His brother had found that out firsthand.
Since Reed married Avery, Nannette’s youngest and only daughter, he and Jess had been enveloped in the family fold, as well.
“I’m putting my full trust in my daughter,” Colt said to Nannette to emphasize his point with Jess. “She promised she won’t let me down.”
Jess shook her head. “I’m leaving before he changes his mind.”
“Smart girl.”
“I take after my father,” Jess said before she dashed off.
“How’s the morning going?” Nannette asked once she’d settled at her desk, and started booting up her computer.
“Better now that Jess is gone. This dating stuff is going to kill me.”
The older woman smiled knowingly. “I feel your pain. Raising Avery gave me more gray hairs than her brothers combined. I know it doesn’t seem like it sometimes, but you will survive having a teenage daughter.”
“Thank goodness you keep reminding me of that.”
When Nannette heard about him turning the Rocking M into a horse-therapy ranch, she’d immediately volunteered to help with bookkeeping. Then when they started classes, she’d assumed scheduling duties, as well. Taking the money he’d gotten from the grant Healing Horses received three months ago to hire Nannette McAlister had been the smartest thing he’d ever done.
When her computer finished booting up, she punched some keys and said, “We received another client application.” The hum of the printer filled the office. Nannette grabbed the paper, scanned the application and froze. “This can’t be the same Stacy Michaels.”
“I need a little context, Nannette. So far you aren’t making a lot of sense.”
She walked across the room and handed him the paper. “Stacy Michaels was one of the finalists when Griffin was on that ridiculous dating show.”
Colt had wondered what kind of woman went on a show like that and fought with a pack of women to win the “love” of a man they’d just met.
A woman whose moral compass didn’t point due north, that’s who.
From the little bit he saw of the show, he remembered flighty, beautiful women with long legs and short form-fitting skirts that almost showed the good china. Great to look at, but no substance. Women who’d looked down their more-often-than-not surgically altered noses at just about everyone.
After glancing at the application, he said, “It doesn’t matter if it’s the same woman or not because she wants to sign her brother up for the spring therapeutic sports riding session. It’s already started and it’s full.” He picked up his phone and punched in the number listed on the application. The sultry feminine voice that answered could get a rise out of a man two months after he was dead and buried. His pulse rate shot up like a rodeo bull out of the shoot as he asked to speak to Stacy Michaels.
“This is Stacy.”
He shifted in his desk chair. Lord, he’d been alone too long if a woman’s voice over the phone could get his imagination and motor running this fast.
“Hello? You still there?”
“Yeah. This Colt Montgomery. I run Healing Horses. I received the paperwork for your brother.” He explained about the problem with the class she registered Ryan for. “You’ll need to sign him up for our fall class.”
“That won’t work. I’m in the area to film a movie with Maggie McAlister. In fact, she was the one who recommended your program. I was hoping we could work my brother’s therapy session around my shooting schedule. I could just pop over from Twin Creeks, deal with his therapy and then head right back.”
Pop over? Did she think Healing Horses worked like the drive-through lane at McDonald’s?
“Mr. Montgomery, I’m in a bind here. I can’t lose this movie opportunity, but I have to get my brother into therapy. There has to be something we can do.”
He’d heard about Maggie filming a movie on Twin Creeks. Since becoming parents, she and Griffin had started a production company and were trying to do more projects at the family ranch when their reality show The Next Rodeo Star was on hiatus. Considering that, Stacy probably was the same woman who’d been one of Griffin’s bachelorettes.
He shook his head. His gut told him this woman would be trouble. Stacy was probably a high-maintenance city actress who had people catering to her every whim. That was the last thing he needed, but they weren’t talking about her needing therapy. They were talking about her brother.
The application indicated her brother Ryan had been in a car accident a little over a year ago. He’d suffered a traumatic brain injury that left him with impaired gross and fine motor skills as well memory problems. He’d been through two surgeries to correct his crushed legs. Despite that and extensive physical therapy, he still required a walker and struggled with balance and control issues. The kid was only seventeen.
If he told Stacy no, would she make her brother wait to get therapy until she finished her movie? He refused to be responsible for a kid not getting the therapy he needed. “We offer private classes. ’Course that’s more expensive.”
“Great. Sign Ryan up for that instead.”
Not how much more expensive? Must be nice to not have to worry about money. Now him, he pinched pennies until they cried uncle, but he’d do whatever he needed to in order to make Healing Horses work without having the program’s needs financially impact Jess’s life or her college plans.
“When would you like his therapy to start?” he asked as he jotted down the changes on Ryan’s paperwork.
“We’ll be in Estes Park Thursday. If he could start therapy next week that would be great. Having private sessions will work better than Ryan being part of a class anyway. I’m going to do everything I can to avoid shooting conflicts, but sometimes my schedule changes at the last minute. I’m hoping you can be a little flexible.”
He could see it now, calls with her saying something had come up and she needed to reschedule. Showing up late for appointments because whatever she had been doing ran long. He intended to set her straight up front. “Since we’re a new program, our physical therapist and instructors have other jobs. Rescheduling a session isn’t easy.”
“I’ll try my best to avoid any conflicts.”
Once he ended the call, Nannette asked, “Was it the same Stacy Michaels?”
“Since she’s an actress, I’m pretty sure she’s the one you met. I need you to schedule private sessions for her brother. She said they’ll be getting into town the end of this week. She’d like his therapy to start next week.” He rubbed the back of his neck, where an ache had settled. “Is she as bad as she sounded on the phone? Because she sounded like an arrogant, high-maintenance, huge pain-in-the-butt celebrity.”
“When she showed up at the ranch she looked like she was dressed for some fancy New York City cocktail party. She had on this skimpy, skintight dress and these strappy little heels. In Colorado. In December.”
His stomach dropped. “What about her attitude?”
“I’m not sure we got to see who she really was. Hardly anything that happened on Finding Mrs. Right was real. There were scripts and discussions about what would make good TV. Everything everyone said and did was for the cameras. Her being here will be different. There won’t be any cameras. This is real life. Plus, she’s not the patient. Her brother is.”
“She sounds like someone who creates chaos wherever she goes. We can’t let her upset our routine. A big part of our program is having structure and order.”
“That’s the spirit. You were in the military. Keep her in line.”
Of course Nannette, the spokesperson for the United Optimists of America, would think that. He’d been to Afghanistan and faced the possibility of dying on a daily basis, but women? No man could keep one in line.
* * *
STACY HAD FORGOTTEN how beautiful Estes Park was. Even though she wasn’t really a back-to-nature kind of gal or the outdoorsy type, the scenery called to her.
The Rocky Mountains stood guard around the small town of Estes Park, almost cradling its inhabitants. That reassuring and enduring presence resonated with Stacy. Something about the wide-open spaces eased the tightness in her chest and stilled her restlessness. The last time she was here she discovered how much slower-paced life was. That had been a huge headache for her. Now it felt as if that was exactly what she needed.
So far settling in had gone smoother than she anticipated. She and Ryan had unpacked and stocked their cabin with food and other staples. They’d met with the school, seen to his registration and he started his first day of classes yesterday. She’d met with Maggie and gotten the shooting schedule so she could schedule Ryan’s therapy sessions once they had his initial assessment.
“Now that you’ve had two days of school, are you sure you want to go Estes Park High? It’s not too late for me to get a tutor for you.”
“I’m cool with going to school here.”
Maybe he wanted a change. Since his accident, Ryan’s relationship with his friends was strained. Because he couldn’t keep up physically, his friends had moved on. Maybe meeting new people who weren’t comparing him to how he used to be would help him come back out of his shell.
“I’ve actually met a couple of kids. One of them is the daughter of the guy who runs the therapy program. She’s in one of my elective classes. Her name is Jess.”
So Rooster had a daughter. “What’s she like?”
“She’s nice. She said she knows what it feels like to be a little different than everyone else.”
“What’s she mean by that?”
Ryan shrugged. “The kids here aren’t as worried about how much money a guy’s family has. They’re more real.”
His phone dinged indicating he had a text. He scanned the message. “It was from Mom. She said she might join us next week. Can you believe it? Does she really think I’ll buy that? Next she’ll tell me to write a letter to Santa at Christmas.” Ryan chucked. “I’d probably get better results from the letter.”
“At least she’s trying.” More like Andrea was saying the right thing. Their mother talked a good game and tossed out big promises. Follow-through proved to be an entirely different matter. “She might surprise us.” But only if Grant moved back into the house and agreed to come with her. Otherwise Andrea wouldn’t leave California, but Stacy bit her tongue to keep from mentioning that.
“When are you going to quit giving her more chances? She doesn’t deserve it.”
For Ryan’s sake she kept banging her head against the wall in attempt to get Andrea to change. A teenager needed the guidance and love of a parent. He’d changed so much over the past years. Some of it was just normal teenage-attitude stuff, but she knew some of the differences were because of their mother. Every time she disappointed Ryan, every time she put her needs above his, Stacy saw a little part of her brother die inside.
“She’s going through a tough time.” She regretted her words the minute she uttered them. How could she have been so thoughtless to Ryan when he’d faced far worse than Andrea? “Not like what you’re going through, but she’s not as strong as you are.”
“She’s a selfish bitch who doesn’t care about anyone but the husband of the month.”
Out of the mouths of angry teenagers often came the harsh truth.
Part of her considered talking to him about how families should forgive and love each other no matter what, but she lacked the energy for a battle. Especially when he was right. She’d tried so hard to make up for Andrea’s shortcoming so Ryan wouldn’t grow up feeling unloved, but there was only so much she could do.
No matter how hard she tried, she wasn’t his mother.
Ryan glanced out the window. “Are you sure you know where we’re going? I think we went past this barn a little while ago.”
Stacy flashed him a bright smile. “I’ve got everything under control.”
No way would she admit she didn’t have a clue where they were. She’d never hear the end of it because Ryan had suggested they print a copy of the directions before they left the cabin. Since they were running late, she’d brushed him off saying they’d be fine with her GPS app on her phone. Unfortunately she’d forgotten how spotty Wi-Fi could be in the Rocky Mountains, forcing her to rely on her memory.
“That’s your too-big smile. It means you’re lying because you’re afraid if you tell me the truth, I’ll be upset.”
“I don’t do that.”
“You do it all the time. I’m not a kid. I don’t need you protecting me.”
They’d both grown up too fast. She’d hoped to save him from some of that, but life had a way of refusing to go along with a person’s plan.
“Okay, you win. I admit it. We’re lost.” She spotted a small ranch house in the distance to the left. “I’ll head for that house and ask for directions.” Then she pointedly stared at her younger brother.
He stared back. His right eyebrow rose and he smiled.
“Are you going to say it?”
His grin widened. “Say what?”
“I’m not going to have an ‘I told you’ so hanging over my head. Let’s just get it over with.”
“But it’s more fun to torture you this way.” His smile faded and he picked at a frayed spot in his jeans. “I know you don’t think this horse-therapy stuff is a good idea, but I researched it a lot. I think it could really help me.”
Right after the car accident, Ryan’s attitude amazed her. He’d been so full of hope. He swore he’d regain full use of his legs no matter what he had to endure. He’d remained positive during his first surgery and the countless hours of physical therapy. Then the doctors recommended another surgery. When he failed to see much improvement after the second operation, something inside Ryan withered.
He quit going out with friends. Though he hadn’t said so, she suspected being with them only reinforced what he couldn’t do. He argued with her about attending physical therapy.
“I’m tired of doctor and therapy appointments controlling my life. I want to be normal again. I want to hang out with friends, go out on a date or spend the whole day in school without getting pulled for an appointment. This sports riding program is my best bet to have that. I know you’re scared because of what happened to dad, but I’ll be okay. Everything I read about the program says falls are rare.”
But they do occur. She could handle anything but something happening to Ryan again. He was all she had. Her only family. The only one who cared about what happened to her.
No, that wasn’t true. Andrea cared about her, but only because if something happened to Stacy, who would pick up the pieces of her life when it inevitably fell apart?
“I’m praying you’re right.”
They came around a curve and a loud pop echoed around them. The car pulled hard to the left. Stacy clutched the steering wheel, pulled her foot off the gas and struggled to maintain control. Her sweaty palms slipped on the steering wheel.
“Slow down!” Ryan screamed.
“We’re fine.” She flashed him a quick smile, hoping to ease his fears and stave off a full-blown panic attack. His fingers dug into the armrest. His breathing grew rapid and shallow. “Breathe slow and deep.”
She’d veered into the other lane. She turned hard right. Too hard. The car spun. Ryan’s screams reverberated through the car as they headed for the ditch.
Images blurred around Stacy. Her hands grew numb, and then seconds later the car stopped.
“God, no! Not again!” Ryan screamed.
Thank you, Lord. He’s yelling. That means he can’t be hurt too badly.
Her heart thundering in her chest, her body shaking, Stacy grabbed her brother’s arm and squeezed. “Look at me, Ryan. Are you hurt anywhere?” His gaze locked on hers, and he shook his head. “Breathe with me.”
She inhaled deeply and held her breath for a second before slowly exhaling. She did that for a minute or two until his breathing matched hers and the panic receded from his eyes. “I’m sorry. I think we blew a tire.” She squeezed his hand again before letting go. “You handled that so well.”
“No, I didn’t. I screamed like a little girl.”
“Don’t be so hard on yourself. Remember how bad the attack was the first time you got in a car after the accident? You’ve come so far since then, but that doesn’t mean that sometimes you won’t get thrown for a loop.”
A chorus of moos and clomping hooves on the pavement around them drew Stacy’s attention. Not only had they gone off the road into a ditch, but they’d run into a barbed wire fence, taking a good section of it out. Cows making the most of the damaged fence made a break for it and wandered all over the road.
Now what? She put the car into Reverse and tried to back out of the ditch, but the tires spun in the soft ground. They clearly weren’t going anywhere.
“I’ll go for help.”
“What about the cows? We can’t leave them all over the road. They’ll cause an accident.”
She drew the line at worrying about the cows. They’d have to fend for themselves. If they were smart enough to get on the road, they were smart enough to find their way off again. “I bet animals get on the road around here all the time. People are used to watching out for them.”
“This is a tourist town. What if someone from out of town comes along? They could get hurt because we...”
Ryan’s voice broke. Stacy reached out and laid her hand over her brother’s, but he pulled away. This scene was hitting a little too close to home for him. His breathing accelerated again. His pupils dilated.
“Okay. Don’t worry.” She patted his arm. “Maybe if I lay on the horn they’ll move.”
The horn’s harsh blare hurt her ears, but the cows were apparently hearing impaired because they didn’t even twitch. She laid on the horn for a good thirty seconds this time. Nothing.
“Got any suggestions on how to get them to move?”
“Sure. We studied roping cows and ranching in school just last week.” Ryan laughed and the tension left his features.
“Smart-ass.” Stacy chuckled. This was the brother she loved so much. The one she feared might soon become smothered by his physical limitations.
She glanced at her watch. They were already late for Ryan’s appointment. “I could call someone, but we don’t have time to wait. We’re already running late.” How hard could it be to get the cows off the road? “I should be able to take care of this. In one episode of The Kids Run the Place, we went for a vacation on a dude ranch. We had a cattle-drive scene.”
“That was when you were thirteen. Can you even remember anything from that far back?”
“Gee, I don’t know. They say the memory goes the closer you get to thirty. In a couple of years I probably won’t even be able to remember who you are.” She opened the car door. “Stay here while I get the cows moving. You’ve been through enough today.”
“I’ll help.”
No way would she risk him getting hurt. They’d pressed their luck enough for one day. “I’ve got it. There aren’t many of them.”
“Just because my legs don’t work like they used to doesn’t mean I can’t do something.”
So often since the accident she’d felt she lacked the skills to deal with Ryan. At times she had to be mother, cheerleader and therapist. Being a substitute parent to a teenager had been tough enough before his accident.
“I don’t know—”
“It doesn’t matter what you say. I’m coming.”
She thought about pulling rank. With a teenager? They’d only end up having a huge fight and he’d do what he wanted to anyway. “You can help me holler at them, but stay close to the car.”
Then she climbed out of the sedan, retrieved his walker from the backseat and handed it to him when he opened the passenger door.
Lost and now chasing cows off the road. Great start to the day. Could things get any worse?
Stacy moved toward the animals. Waiving her arms, she yelled, “Go! Get out of here!”
Joining in the effort, Ryan waved his left arm and shouted along with her.
Of the cows on the road, only one lifted her head and turned in Stacy’s direction. Then the animal returned to munching on grass, without moving an inch. She searched her memory for how the cowboy at the dude ranch kept the cows moving. He’d sauntered up to them full of confidence and authority, slapped a lasso against his thigh and hollered at them. Trying her best to imitate the cowboy’s swagger, she moved forward, yelling, “Ya,” and slapped her thigh.
“Watch out, Stacy.”
She glanced over her shoulder toward her brother and her right foot landed in something mushy. “Ugh!” Her foot slid. Her balance waivered and she felt herself falling. Her backside landed hard against the paved road, but that wasn’t the worst part. The unmistakable sour smell of manure wafted around her.
“Are you okay?” Ryan asked.
Really? He had to ask? She was sitting in the middle of cow pie. Of course she wasn’t okay. “I’ll live.”
Though her shoes were goners and probably her jeans, too. She glanced at her favorite pair of shoes, leopard print Louis V stilettos ruined with cow poop, and the dam holding her emotions in check sprang a gigantic leak. Tears stung her eyes. She was so damned tired of being strong, of taking care of everything and everyone around her. Of smiling for the world when all she wanted to say was to hell with it.
The whine of a motor sounded around her. Not a car, but some smaller recreational vehicle. She closed her eyes. A moment later when the noise stopped she opened her eyes to find a hand in front of her face.
“Looks like you could use some help.”
Stacy’s gaze traveled from the hand—not a well manicured hand like the actors she worked with, but one of a man who worked hard for his living, rough and tanned—to find a tall golden-haired man dressed in faded jeans and a Western plaid shirt standing beside a three-wheeler with a small cart. She grimaced. The only thing worse than falling in a cow pie was having a cowboy with an incredible body sculpted by hard work and piercing blue eyes witness her embarrassment.
“No, I’m good. Just thought I’d sit here and reconnect with nature.”
“At least you haven’t lost your sense of humor.”
Her heart fluttered at the twinkle in his sky-blue gaze. Oh, my. He wasn’t even close to her type, but this cowboy definitely had something, and every cell in her body knew it.
