Cowboy to the Core

by Maisey Yates

  “I’m not sure I follow that.”

  “No, well, I guess you wouldn’t. You know, considering that you probably lost your virginity—” she squinted at him “—when?”

  “High school sometime,” he grunted.

  “Right. Like you don’t remember the exact moment.” Not that she wanted to think about other women touching him. But while she might be in a more emotional place than usual, she was a pragmatic soul. He’d been with other women. So what? He’d be with other women after her, too. She’d be with other men. She liked sex. She wouldn’t want to go back to being celibate.

  That little line of thinking was supposed to make her feel better. Instead, she felt hollow.

  “Fine. I was seventeen. Her name was Trisha. In the back seat of her car.”

  “Okay. So that’s my point. I thought because I knew about sex that I knew all about it. Because at my age it’s not like... It’s not like being seventeen and the wonders of sex feeling mysterious. I figured I knew. But I didn’t. Because knowing isn’t the same as doing. I understand that suddenly on such a fundamental level that it makes me aware of everything I don’t exactly get. So now I would say no, at seventeen, you wouldn’t handle all that exactly the way you should. You can’t hold yourself responsible for that. The only people you can hold responsible are the adults involved.”

  “And if my mom is one of the adults involved?”

  “I guess you have to figure out who you are if you’re not rebelling against your dad or pleasing your mom.”

  The words were strange, and echoed inside her in an odd manner.

  It made her wonder. Who was she? If she wasn’t trying to protect her brothers and her dad from having to worry about her. If she wasn’t living every moment in reaction to a loss she couldn’t even remember.

  A loss she kept insisting wasn’t hers to claim, because she hadn’t known her mother. But every moment in her life was shaped by it. Was a reaction to it. And it made her wonder things.

  It made her wonder if the Jamie that spent nights with Gabe Dalton, and made him toast and hot chocolate right back, was a lot closer to the woman she would have been if...

  No. She didn’t let herself think of that.

  There was no point to it. She was who she was. And if she could feel some different things with Gabe sometimes, then that was fine. It didn’t need to be anything else.

  “Are you ready for bed?” she asked.

  He looked up at her and grinned, looking a whole lot more like the man she thought he was, before she’d actually known him.

  “Yeah. For a while. And then I’m going to want steak.”

  “I don’t cook steak,” Jamie said.

  “I do.”

  “You said toast was the extent of your skill.”

  “I didn’t want to overwhelm you. I have a few things yet left to show you, Jamie Dodge.”

  He spent the rest of the evening showing her a few of those things.

  CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO

  GABE WAS AVOIDING his father and his mother. If Hank had gone and had a conversation with Tammy after their talk, Gabe hadn’t heard about it. And if there was one thing Hank and Tammy Dalton did not do quietly, it was fight. Hell, they didn’t do anything quietly. So if something had happened, Gabe would have known. His dad’s shit probably would’ve been on fire on the front lawn.

  That thought was a strange one, because he’d always thought of his dad as being reckless. Selfish. And everything his mother did was a reaction to that. Which was reasonable. Because his father didn’t deserve to have quarter given to him if he was going to treat his vows so carelessly.

  But whether or not his mother had just cause, in that moment he could see...the vindictiveness. When she was hurt, she wanted to hurt back. She wanted to get her own. Not that he could judge, necessarily, but something that changed his perspective on a few things.

  And it all sat heavily in his gut. But he didn’t have time to worry about it. Not now. He had just rolled into Get Out of Dodge with two horses in a trailer, ready to take part in this demonstration for the guests at the ranch.

  Jamie had already been there. She had offered to come over and help him get Gem prepared to go, but he had figured it was probably best if she stayed the night at her place and got up the next morning and had breakfast with her family.

  Mostly because Gabe had the feeling that Wyatt might be able to see down inside him, and maybe guess that he had slept with the other man’s sister. And that was basically the last thing on earth that Gabe wanted to be contending with right now on top of everything else.

  Of all the things happening in his life, Jamie was the sweet spot. The steps he was taking with the ranch were good, but they were complicated. The issues with his parents were...

  Hell, he was pissed.

  He hadn’t even talked to Caleb or Jacob about it. He probably should. But he didn’t want to. Not till he had everything settled.

  Either way, Jamie was the one thing that was fun. Working with her to get ready for this had been about the only thing he’d enjoyed the past few days. Well, except holding her in his arms every night. Taking her in his office whenever he could find a moment.

  He knew that she had some concerns about that, considering she was supposed to be on the clock, but he’d waived that by virtue of being her boss. Which she had said was not less problematic.

  But she had also kissed him enthusiastically and locked the door behind them. So he figured her protests were pretty empty.

  He pushed those thoughts to the side as he parked near the covered arena, moving around to the back of the horse trailer.

  He looked up and saw Wyatt walking toward him.

  “Morning,” Wyatt said.

  “Good morning,” Gabe responded.

  The other man stuck his hand out for Gabe to shake and Gabe took it.

  “Glad you could make it out.”

  “Thanks for inviting me.”

  “No problem. Jamie thinks the world of you,” Wyatt said.

  The words made the hair on the back of Gabe’s neck stand up. “Well, that’s always nice to hear.”

  “She practically lights up when she talks about working at the ranch.”

  “She’s great with horses. And the work that she’s putting in to help me figure out the way forward with this new endeavor...it’s great. She’s great.”

  “Yeah,” Wyatt said, his eyes searching. “She is.”

  It was safe to say that Wyatt was suspicious. That wasn’t overly ambiguous, but the strange thing was that Wyatt seemed not at all very interested in punching him in the face.

  “This is Jamie’s horse?” he asked, gesturing to the trailer. Wyatt started getting ready to open it up.

  “This one,” he said, gesturing to Gem. “She’s hers. Soon enough, she can have her back here if she wants.”

  “She told me. That she’s planning on taking off and racing pro.”

  “Did she?” Gabe asked.

  “So,” Wyatt said, assessing him closely, “you knew about it.”

  Gabe shrugged. “She mentioned it to me when I hired her on. When I was asking how long I would have before she left.”

  Suddenly, the words felt like they might have two meanings, and Gabe wanted to stay well out of that territory with Wyatt.

  “Jamie is a tough nut to crack,” Wyatt said. “I don’t know how long she’s been planning it. But she certainly didn’t let me in on it until it was all final in her head. To be honest, I’d rather not have my sister out running with that crowd.”

  Yeah, if Gabe thought about it too deeply, he didn’t particularly want Jamie out with that crowd, either. Considering he had been part of it until recently, he knew a little bit too much about the guys who were still there for his own good.

  “But you know, she’s a Dodge. Once we put our mind to
something...”

  “Jamie particularly,” Gabe said.

  And he realized that that had probably been a little bit too far, considering Wyatt was looking for tells that Gabe knew things that he shouldn’t.

  “Yeah, she’s hardheaded, that girl.”

  He cleared his throat. “More than that, though. The way that she’s helping me out with the ranch is proof of that. She’s compassionate. She’s had lots of ideas of what we could do for the boys that we’ll be bringing in.”

  “Well, that’s good. I’ll help you get the horses out.”

  He worked with Wyatt getting the horses unloaded, and then tacked up and in their pens for before the event.

  It was a fun group of people that had turned out. Jack Monaghan was there from Copper Ridge with his wife, Kate. Kate did barrel racing professionally off and on, and Jack was retired from bull riding. Jack was holding a toddler on his hip, and Kate was standing next to her horse, clearly ready to do a run. Sierra Thompson was there, too, another barrel racer from Copper Ridge. Along with Dane, Wyatt, Grant, Bennett and Dallas, Bennett’s son.

  The barbecues were fired up, the whole party being made out of the little mini rodeo event that had been included with the stay of those who were at the dude ranch this weekend.

  It had also pulled in a small crowd from town. In spite of the late notice.

  A testament, he thought, to the unwavering popularity of the Dodge family. The Daltons were revered, but they were whispered about. It wasn’t quite the same as it was for the Dodge family. Whose patriarch had earned the unending sympathy of the town, along with his four children, when he was widowed. Quinn Dodge was a salt-of-the-earth man, and if his sons had ever raised a little hell, it was all because of what they’d gone through way back when.

  The Dalton boys were born hell-raisers, from a family that people admired, but also envied, because they had done the uncommon thing of rising up above themselves. From trailer park to house on the hill. All in the same few square miles. It made people talk. It made them wonder. It made them jealous.

  And given that Hank was more sinner than saint, it didn’t seem like particularly great karma in the end.

  Gabe couldn’t much argue with that.

  Still, now wasn’t the time to be thinking about his family. He walked over to the group of cowgirls, standing together now and chatting near the end of the arena.

  “Good morning,” he said.

  Jamie looked up at him, her face getting pink. “Good morning.”

  Kate and Sierra gave him an enthusiastic hello, Kate treating him to a hearty handshake. The other two women couldn’t be more different. Kate was that practical cowgirl, dark hair in a braid, much like Jamie. Sierra had that big rodeo hair, all wild blond curls teased as big as they could get beneath that white studded cowgirl hat of hers. She had on shocking pink lipstick and glitter up by her eyes. “The kids helped with my makeup,” she said, smiling and gesturing back toward the stadium, where her husband, Ace, was sitting, along with their two children.

  “Looks good,” Gabe said.

  Sierra smiled. She was the exact kind of rodeo cowgirl he had typically had a great time with over the years, though never Sierra specifically. But as beautiful as she was, as sparkly as she was, his eye kept being drawn back to Jamie. In fact, there were plenty of beautiful women in attendance, but he acknowledged them much the same he would as jewels in a museum.

  They were lovely, but he didn’t need them.

  Jamie wasn’t like a jewel. She was like water in the desert to a parched man. Like so much more than want. Before long, Wyatt came out and began to emcee, and then Violet Donnelly came out to the center of the arena and sang the national anthem. They all faced toward the flag that was on the Dodge property, Gabe putting his hat over his heart. When they were finished, he went back to where the rovers were getting ready.

  Dallas elbowed his uncle. “Who was that?” he asked Grant. “She was pretty.”

  Grant guffawed. “Cain Donnelly will kill you. Keep it in your pants.”

  Dallas looked intrigued, and not at all dented. He kept on winding rope around his hand, an introspective look on his face.

  Just a few months ago the kid had been fascinated with Beatrix Leighton. But now Beatrix was with Dane. Teenage hearts moved on pretty quick. But one thing was for sure. Dallas seemed to have a thing for older women.

  The air was thick with dust and pine, with the sweet smell of cotton candy and kettle corn being popped up by a local outfit called Hillbilly Kettle Corn, that traveled around to all the local fairs and parades and things.

  Lucinda was here from The Mustard Seed with a big pot of chili, which she would be serving up to all the attendees after, and Ace Thompson had brought beer all the way from Copper Ridge, since his wife was riding in the event.

  There was no pot of cash to be won at the end of this event—this was all for the enjoyment of ranch guests and the townspeople—but Gabe figured chili, beer and Jamie Dodge was a whole lot better of an incentive to ride well than money ever could be. Jamie had never watched him ride.

  He would be damned if he was going to embarrass himself.

  The roping event was first, opening with Grant and Dallas, who took off like a shot behind the calf, with Grant getting the rope solidly around the calf’s neck, Dallas jumping off the horse and rushing to get three of the four feet tied as quickly as possible. Gabe stood back, his arms crossed, and laughed, banging his boot against the bottom rung of the fence. It wasn’t any kind of record-breaking time, but not bad for a sixteen-year-old kid.

  Next, it was Bennett and Wyatt, going out for team roping, and Gabe had a suspicion that father and son had a bit of a bet.

  Bennett crushed his son’s time, proving that age and experience triumphed over youth in some things.

  As a veterinarian Bennett handled wiggling calves all the time. So while he might not be a rodeo pro, he certainly knew how to get an animal into the position he needed it in.

  Wyatt was going right back in rotation for the steer wrestling, and Gabe was going to follow up behind him. The calf was released, but Wyatt was too close behind him. Gabe pounded the side of the fence. “You broke the barrier, Dodge!” he yelled.

  The judges—Sheriff Eli Garrett, Connor Garrett and Cain Donnelly—clearly agreed with Gabe’s take on what had happened.

  Wyatt had failed to give the calf the appropriate head start, and because of that, he had earned himself a ten-second penalty. And he wasn’t gonna come back from that shit.

  Of course, he still had Dane Parker to try to best. But Dane still wasn’t in top form. And Gabe wasn’t too proud to take that advantage.

  It was an unfamiliar event for both of them, after all.

  But Dane posted an ass-kicking time, getting his body off his horse and to the steer with incredible speed, and getting the animal down on the ground and tied with the dexterity he did not usually associate with bull riders, whom he considered the blunt instruments of the rodeo world.

  Dane walked back over to where Gabe was, a hitch in his step. “Let’s see how you do, Dalton.”

  Gabe took his position, getting on the horse and getting situated in the pen. And once it was time, he was off. He threw the rope, and the damn steer jerked sharply to the left. He had missed completely. He slowed his horse to a stop and shrugged, looking back at Dane and Wyatt, who were laughing their asses off.

  He looked over at Jamie, who was covering her mouth, likely to keep him from seeing her smile. He shook his head, smiling at her right back. When she put her hand down, and he saw that brilliant grin, his insides lit up like fireworks had been set off. And he’d just lost an event. Spectacularly. He had no time. Even Wyatt’s penalty was better than his.

  But he’d won Jamie’s smile. So that was good enough for him. He got off the horse and brought it back around, where one of the ranch hands t
ook him away, and Gabe started to worry about his next position.

  “You gotta quit flirting with my sister long enough for her to get set up to race,” Wyatt said, giving him a sideways glance.

  “Tell her to quit flirting with me,” he said.

  “I might.”

  To his surprise, Wyatt sounded more fascinated than angry. Damned if Gabe knew why.

  Then the barrels were all set up, and the course was ready for the three barrel racers to have their run. Sierra went first, off like a rocket, and glittering like a lure through the course, her blond hair flying in the wind as her horse turned sharp around the barrels.

  But too sharp around one. The horse’s hoof caught the side and tipped it over. In spite of the penalty, Sierra kept on grinning all the way back in. The crowd gave her some hearty applause, and then Kate was set up to go.

  Kate attacked the course with a lot of ferocity, and a lot less smiling, making every turn with precision, and racing in to the gate, posting a very respectable time.

  Then it was Jamie’s turn.

  Gabe put his foot on the bottom rung of the gate and hoisted himself up. “Come on, Jamie,” he said.

  He knew that she was good. And he knew that Gem was good. But this was a whole different test of their skill. A competition, even if it was in her brother’s backyard.

  He took a breath, and then suddenly, Jamie was off like a shot. Her horse kicked up clumps of dirt. One of them hit him in the shoulder.

  Jamie was all intensity, her mouth in a grim line, her brows lowered as she flew through the course, and back across the line, her time better than Kate’s by half a second.

  Gabe threw his hat up in the air and cheered, not caring if the response drew attention. “Thatta girl!” he shouted.

  The crew came out into the arena and started to take the barrels away in the back of a flatbed truck, and that meant that he and Wyatt were up. They were doing the only two bucking animal events.

  “You ready?” Wyatt asked.

  “Ready. Age before beauty,” Gabe said, gesturing to Wyatt.