The Rebel Cowboy's Baby--A Clean Romance

by Sasha Summers

  Brooke took another deep breath. “Yes. Sure. Just keep me in the loop. We’ll get the truck situation sorted out.”

  Tess nodded. “I’ll text you. I will. Thank you.”

  “Keep that on your nose,” Kelly said to Beau, pointing at the towel-wrapped ice pack in his hand.

  “Yes, ma’am,” Beau agreed, but he didn’t seem to be paying all that much attention. Tess had taken his arm and was helping him, with Stephen, back across the field to the dirt parking lot.

  “That boy is feeling no pain,” Kelly murmured.

  All Brooke could do was sigh again. What am I doing? Tess had no reason to go. Beau and Stephen could handle this—Alice, too. Tess didn’t need to be there. She wants to be there. If Joy hadn’t started crying, Brooke would probably have talked herself into calling Tess back. But Joy was crying, loudly.

  “She and Hazel were all smiles when I left,” Kelly explained.

  “Poor thing probably saw that whole...mess between Beau and Tess and dissolved into tears.” Brooke’s pace quickened.

  Kelly burst out laughing. “It’s not that bad.”

  “You’re telling me you’d be fine if Alice looked at...at Hans Zeigler like that?” Hans was Martha’s grandson. He was on the football team with Beau and well-liked by everyone—especially the girls.

  Kelly frowned her way.

  “Uh-huh.” Brooke nodded. “That’s what I thought.” She located Joy on the lap of Hattie Carmichael—who looked close to tears herself.

  “I told Hazel that little one is just too cute not to share,” Miss Ruth said, smiling. “And look. We were just telling Hattie how good she looks with a baby in her lap.”

  Brooke shot Hattie a look of understanding. Being young and female and single in Garrison meant you were a problem that needed to be fixed. It didn’t matter that Brooke and Hattie, the county game warden, were both successful and happy as clams. They weren’t married with a passel of kids trailing after them and, until they were, the Garrison Ladies Guild wouldn’t rest.

  “She’s teething,” Brooke explained, taking Joy from Hattie. Joy quieted instantly and rested her head on Brooke’s shoulder. “You’re okay,” she murmured, pressing a kiss to her forehead. “Let’s find your teething ring.” She paused, asking Hattie, “I heard something about a big chain store wanting to buy up The First Tree and Garrison Park? Is that true?”

  “What?” Barbara Eldridge asked, repeating the question for those who hadn’t heard. All at once, the Garrison Ladies Guild erupted in outrage—earning Brooke and Hattie a reprieve from the guild’s misguided, if well-meaning, attention.

  * * *

  AUDY SAW STARS. Not the sort of stars that were there shining brightly in the wide Texas night sky overhead, though. The kind that flashed behind the eyelids after a hard fall or blow to the head. Or, as was the case now, a mix of the two.

  He heard the collective “oh” and a few gasps from the audience but knew he had to move.

  Dirt Devil wasn’t going to stand aside and let Audy be just because he’d had the wind knocked out of him. No, sir, the eighteen-hundred-pound bull would be all too happy to pound Audy into the dirt beneath him. With a quick glance, he rolled over, pushed off the ground and sprinted toward the metal fencing surrounding the arena.

  He heard a few panicked cries. One woman screamed. The thunder of hoofbeats coming right up behind him was unmistakable. For a minute, the hot breath of Dirt Devil all but singed the back of Audy’s neck. But his feet kept moving, faster and faster—his battered lungs would likely rupture long before he reached the fence.

  Closer now.

  The crowd was all fired up.

  And he was there, grabbing the top bar of the pipe railing and swinging his legs up and over before he dared look back. But before he’d let go, the fence jerked with such force that the muffled popping of his shoulder and the tingle that shot straight down his arm and into his fingertips weren’t surprising. He gritted his teeth, pried his fingers from the railing and did his best to land on his feet.

  The crowd went wild. Whistles and clapping and a whole lot of screaming. The rodeo emcee blasted “I Wanna Be a Cowboy” in his honor, so Audy sucked in a breath at the pain in his left hand, waved with his right and acted like he had all the time in the world as he made his way toward the holding pens, chutes and the ambulance waiting on the other side.

  “Hey, Audy.” Mikey Woodard set aside his kettle corn and dusted his hands off on the front of his EMT’s uniform pants. “What’d I miss?”

  “What makes you think I’m not just stopping by to say hello?” He tried to tease, he did. But he was hurting.

  “Well, your lips are gray and your right arm’s holding your left arm and you got dirt coming off your back like you recently made an unplanned stop on the ground back-first? Or something along those lines.” He pulled an alcohol wipe from a bin mounted on the inside of the open ambulance door, wiped off his hands, then shoved it into a trash bag tied to the fender. “Plus, I can tell your shoulder’s out of whack from here. Want me to take a look or are you planning on walking it off?”

  Audy wanted to laugh, but moving—like walking and talking and breathing—was more challenging than normal so he said, “I’d appreciate the help.”

  Mikey nodded. “How’s life?” he asked, moving his hands along Audy’s arm and shoulder.

  “Good,” Audy grunted.

  Mikey paused, meeting Audy’s gaze as he said, “Best relax or you’ll bruise worse.”

  “Relax, huh?” he chuckled and instantly regretted how the movement rattled around his shoulder socket.

  “Yep.” Mikey pointed. “Easier if you lie down.”

  “I can take it,” Audy argued.

  “Easier on your joint and tendons.” Mikey shook his head. “Nothing to do with your ego.”

  Audy climbed into the ambulance and lay on the paper-covered bed. “Let’s get this over with.”

  Mikey took Audy’s left wrist in both hands, taking care to keep Audy’s arm straight and level and his forearm facing down. Slowly, he moved Audy’s arm up and toward Audy’s head. It probably didn’t take more than five minutes, but by the time the soft pop rang in his ears, Audy was covered in sweat and shaky.

  “I’m guessing you won’t take a sling?” Mikey asked.

  “Why would I need that?” Audy sat up. “You fixed me, didn’t you?”

  “I fixed your arm. I didn’t fix you. Any man who climbs on the back of an angry killing machine needs a whole lot more than a shoulder pop and a sling, let me tell you.” Mikey handed him a cellophane-wrapped package. “Take it.”

  “Thanks, Mikey. I’m mighty obliged to you.” Audy took the package.

  “Just doing my job.” Mikey rubbed his hands down with another wipe. “I hear you got yourself a kid?”

  “Yeah, I guess I do have a kid.” He paused. “I mean, she’s not mine. I’m not her biological father or anything—”

  He nodded. “Whatever you say.”

  Audy sighed. “My buddy died. So did his wife. She, Joy, was their little girl. And now...I’m raising her.”

  “Sorry to hear that, Audy.” He paused. “On your own?”

  “No.” He chuckled, rubbing his shoulder. “Brooke Young and I. You know Brooke?”

  “Yes, sir.” His smile was a little too bright. “Almost got up the courage to ask her out once, too. Still planning on it. She’s something, isn’t she?”

  Audy wasn’t exactly sure what that meant, but he nodded all the same. Mikey and Brooke? He gave the man a looking-over—something that made Mikey’s brows raise high.

  “Oh. That means you and Brooke...” Mikey let the sentence hang there.

  “No.” He held up his right hand. “No. No. She and I? Well...no.” Did she make things get all scrambled up in his head? Yes. That’s why he was here. To clear his mind. No Brooke.
No Joy. Just Audy, doing what Audy did. Hanging with RJ. Having a few beers, some laughs and the company of a fine-looking woman. A woman who looked nothing like Brooke Young—and certainly didn’t treat him like she did. Like the good old days. Not that he remembered the good old days hurting like this.

  “That’s a lot of nos.” Mikey’s eyes narrowed.

  “There he is. Got your time. Got the score,” RJ Malloy called out. “You still alive and kicking?” He had a beer in each hand. “I figured Mikey’d have you patched up by now.”

  “For now.” Mikey shook his head. “You best take more care, Audy. You’ve got a little one that’ll need looking after.”

  RJ rolled his eyes. “There are plenty of bull riders that got kids.”

  Audy took the beer RJ offered him. “Yep.”

  “Audy Briscoe is a bull rider. No changing that,” RJ added.

  “I’ll drink to that.” Audy sipped the ice-cold beer.

  “Audy Briscoe was third runner-up at last year’s world championship. Third.” RJ held up three fingers. “How many folk you know that can say that?”

  Mikey shook his head. “Most of the folk I see here aren’t doing much talking. Mostly moaning. Some bleeding. A few crying.”

  Audy frowned at Mikey.

  “I’ve never seen Audy cry. You know why?” RJ went on.

  “Because he’s a bull rider?” Mikey asked. “How many of those have you had?” He eyed the beer. “And how much do you pay him to follow you around making you sound special?”

  “You wait now, I’m just getting started.” RJ grinned. “But you’re right. Audy don’t cry because he is a bull rider. A real one, too. He’s had his collarbone broken, ribs cracked, a hairline fracture in his pelvis...” He broke off. “I’m forgetting something.”

  “He gets it.” Audy cut in, not liking the direction this was going. Mikey probably wouldn’t consider his battle scars worthy of respect. He was in the grow-up-and-be-responsible camp, so Audy’s scars would be further proof that he needed to be making better choices.

  The thing was, people not approving of his choices didn’t make those choices wrong. I take care of Joy. When he wasn’t with her, he was working long hours at the ranch. If he wanted to spend his downtime riding a bull, then that’s just what he’d do.

  No, RJ was right on this one. He was a bull rider. It was in his blood. It was something he was good at—even if his scores the last few rides hadn’t reflected that. Now, just because Joy was in the picture, he was supposed to give all that up? “Thanks for tonight, Mikey.”

  “Hope I don’t see you again anytime soon, Audy.” He shook Audy’s good hand. “Tell Brooke I said hi, will you?” Mikey said. “Might have to stop in and meet this little one.”

  “Sure.” Audy nodded. No way, no how. If Mikey was interested in her, he needed to be man enough to pursue her himself. Was Brooke interested in him?

  “You two have infant CPR training?” Mikey asked. “I can get you set up.”

  “I get your angle.” RJ nodded. “Get the girl through the baby. Smart.”

  Mikey shook his head, giving RJ a disapproving look. “Actually, I think all parents should be CPR certified.”

  “Parents?” RJ’s eyes went round. “Audy? Did you hear that?”

  Audy heard it, all right. Co-guardian was hard enough. Parent? His stomach clenched tight.

  “You? A parent?” RJ kept going. “Now, that’d be a sight.”

  For some reason, Audy found RJ’s teasing on the annoying side. He wasn’t Joy’s father, he never would be. But he was...something to the little girl. RJ might be having a hard time wrapping his head around the concept of Audy being a caregiver, but Audy was getting pretty good at it. He and Joy...

  No. Tonight was a break. No thinking about Brooke or Joy—

  “I forgot.” RJ pulled Audy’s phone from his pocket. “You got a few calls.”

  Audy took the phone. “Probably Forrest...” Forrest always seemed to need him most when he was rodeoing or out. But the messages weren’t from Forrest. They were mostly from Beau. One from Brooke. And several from Doc Johnston.

  He set the beer down, put the phone to his ear and covered his other ear as he walked down the fairway—away from the booths and vendors and noise.

  “Audy?” It was Doc Johnston.

  “Yes, sir? Has something happened?”

  “Beau took a knock to the head, is all.” Doc Johnston paused.

  Audy changed direction and headed for the exit. He covered the mouthpiece to yell “I gotta go” RJ’s way but didn’t bother slowing to hear his response.

  “He’s got a concussion and a swollen nose and I’d feel better if he was watched for a bit. Miss Young has offered to take him home with her, seeing how the rest of your family is out of town and it might take a spell for you to get home. I needed to get permission.”

  Forrest, Uncle Felix and Webb had all gone to a livestock auction. Audy hadn’t exactly volunteered the fact that he was going to Jasperton, so his family assumed he was looking out for Beau—if something came up. Like now.

  His pace quickened. “You said Miss Young?” Why was Brooke there? And why had she volunteered to take Beau home? He had a feeling there was a whole lot more to the story.

  “Yes. Brooke Young.” Doc Johnston’s voice lowered, to almost a whisper. “I feel it is my duty to inform you that your brother is mighty sweet on Tess Young. Reminds me of the days when Pearl and I were young. Time sure does fly, Audy. Mark me on that one.” Audy had a hard time imagining Pearl Johnston young. Or in love. Or smiling all that much. “Nothing like young love,” Doc chuckled.

  Audy couldn’t stop himself from smiling. “Yes, sir.” As he headed across the gravel-covered parking lot, he could imagine the state Brooke was in. Tess and Beau. She couldn’t be happy. Still, she’d volunteered to watch Beau, so maybe things had changed. “Is Brooke there?”

  “She is,” Doc Johnston said. “Hold on, I’ll give her the phone. And I’ll send follow-up care paperwork home with her. You’ve had your fair share of knocks to the head, you know what to watch out for.”

  “Yes, sir, I do. I appreciate it.” He unlocked his truck, slid behind the wheel and connected his phone to Bluetooth. The engine roared to life and he put it in gear, leaving a spray of pebbles in his wake. He flew across the parking lot, took a quick look, and pulled out and onto the highway, his foot on the accelerator.

  “Audy?” It was Brooke.

  “I’m on my way.”

  She sighed. “Slow down.”

  His gaze darted to his speedometer. “How’d you know I was speeding?”

  “Your truck. The faster you go, the louder it gets.”

  “Is that so?” And why did he like that she knew that? He slowed down a hair under the speed limit.

  “Getting pulled over for a speeding ticket won’t get you here any faster. And...he’s fine. I mean, besides the concussion. His nosebleed stopped and he...well, he seems...”

  “Do I want to know what happened?”

  “I’ll tell you later.”

  His smile grew. “Tess there?”

  “Yep.”

  He could hear the tension in her voice. If this was making her tense, her being there didn’t make any sense. “I can call Kelly—Beau practically lives over there anyway—if you’d rather. Don’t get me wrong, I’m grateful, it’s just...why are you doing this, Brooke?”

  “Because—”

  “Because?” he pushed. “Last time I mentioned my little brother and your sister in the same sentence you about took my head off and now you’re offering to keep an eye on him?”

  Silence.

  Interesting.

  “Brooke—”

  “Because Tess is my everything, Audy. Well, Tess and Joy.” She muttered something he didn’t catch. “And—and I want her to be happy
.” A deep breath followed. “Yes, I have reservations and worries and doubts and...you know. But her happiness is more important than any of that.”

  Simple as that. For Brooke, that’s the way things were—without hesitation.

  It was the tenderness in her voice washing over him, breaking something loose inside and shaking him to the core. Had anyone ever talked about him like that? Had anyone ever wanted his happiness above all else? His parents maybe, but that was so long ago he couldn’t say for sure. “Tess and Joy don’t know how lucky they are.”

  There was a long pause. “Why do you say that?”

  “You have a fierce capacity for love, Brooke Young. Real and unconditional.” He’d caught glimpses of it. The way she’d smooth Tess’s hair or smile down at Joy, the tight morning hugs before Tess left and the one she got when Brooke got home from work, how Brooke listened to Tess even when she was drooping with exhaustion or held on to Joy long after she’d fallen asleep.

  “You don’t think I’m being...foolish?” The hint of fear in her voice surprised him. “This could end terribly—”

  “Or not.”

  “But they could both get hurt.” She pushed.

  “Or not.” He reached up to rub the back of his neck and winced, his left shoulder throbbing. “They’re kids. Being kids.”

  “No, Audy, I think it’s more than that.” Her whisper was breathless. “Tess is in love with him.”

  Love? He almost argued but... Kent and Dara were about Tess and Beau’s age when they said they’d known they were meant for each other. And they’d been so happy. “Well, now...” As someone who avoided anything that resembled commitment and responsibility, he’d managed to avoid any long-term entanglements. “I can’t help you much there, Brooke. I’ve yet to make the mistake of falling into that trap.”

  To his surprise, Brooke laughed.

  “I miss something?” he asked, turning off the highway onto the farm-to-market road that led to Garrison.

  “No. No. It’s just... You and I actually agree on something.”

  Tough luck, Mikey. It was a surprise, though. How had someone like Brooke wound up so jaded? Had something happened? Had she had her heart broken? It wasn’t his business but...he wanted to know. She was a good woman, any man would be better off with her beside him. And that was a fact. “I’ll be home shortly.” He turned onto Main Street. “How about I assess Beau’s...emotional state and we go from there?”