by Jillian Neal
“Maybe he oughta skip. Look at him. He looks like hell,” Jackson fussed.
“Thanks,” Austin muttered.
“Have you talked to Summer?” Scott looked bereaved to ask.
Here was his chance. Captain Whiskey Dick and all of his cohorts leaned closer. “Not since I took her to the airport.” He hung his head.
“The airport?” Clif and Scott both cringed.
“Where’d she go?” Cam gasped.
“Back to Santa Fe. Said she never wanted to see me again. Said we were done for.”
“I’m sorry, man. I’ve never seen anyone ride like she did yesterday. She’s something else,” Jackson vowed reverently. Irritation ticked in Austin’s blood. Jackson sounded just a little too admiring for his liking.
“I’m sorry, Austin. Maybe it ain’t over. She loves you. I could tell,” Cam vowed.
Jesus, bless this cowboy. It was as if Cam had been given a script.
Scott tried to elbow Jackson discreetly. “Let’s get you back and cleaned up. Little coffee and some protein and you’ll be good as new. Take the ride on an easier bull, then at least you’ll have a score for tonight.”
If Dallas Devil was still quarantined and Austin skipped, it wouldn’t land him with a score of zero. He would just have fewer scores to make his Cheyenne average.
“I ain’t riding ever again. Cam’s right. It ain’t over. She loves me, and I have to get her back.” That statement required very little playacting on his part.
“Come on, Austin, you don’t mean that,” Clif pled.
“She’s not worth you giving up when you’re so close to the belt,” Scott huffed. Austin’s fists clenched of their own accord. He tried to remember to fight with his brains and not his brawn, but Scott would pay for that remark someday.
Shaking his head, Austin stood. “Shut the fuck up, Scott. I’m going to Santa Fe. I can’t believe I let her leave without me. God, I’m such a dumbass.” He turned towards the entrance.
“You can’t leave,” Clif demanded.
“Watch me. I gotta get her back. Nothing else matters.” With that, Austin bowed out the front doors and headed to his truck.
Now, if only he could figure out what the hell Brant and his mama were up to currently, he’d be golden. Brant was more than likely up at the PBR office screaming about his bull. Austin couldn’t exactly show up over there, and he had no idea where the she-bitch hung out. Strolling through the hotel lobby would be far too obvious, but he’d bet a good ride she was lounging by the pool, as long as Brant hadn’t figured out what Summer had stumbled upon trying to save Austin.
His heart swelled again. He didn’t have time to go on a wild goose chase looking for Jean Preston anyway. He needed to get his ass on to Burns and get what was soon to be his little family on the way. Backing his truck out of the Albany Bar parking lot, he pulled out on Capitol and joined the throngs of cars trying to get through Cheyenne.
To his absolute shock, she-bitch herself waved him down, walking right out in front of his truck. Damn it all, if that wasn’t a temptation straight out of hell. He methodically applied the brakes, though a decent portion of his brain longed to floor the truck.
Rolling down the window, his heart vibrated against his ribs. Why the hell was she looking for him? Whatever the reason, it couldn’t be good.
“Mr. Camden, Mr. Camden.” She waved a handkerchief like she was some kind of southern debutante in a hoop skirt made out of the draperies. She didn’t look frantic, just more her typical puckered-at-both-ends-with-her-hair-on-fire appearance.
“Yeah?”
She stood on her tiptoes to see in the cab of his truck. “Where’s Summer?” Austin searched her eyes, trying to figure out what exactly she knew.
“Not real sure, to tell you the truth.”
“Well, when you see her again tell her that I’ve arranged for J.J. to have a proper Stetson fitting. They’re making him one special, just from me and his granddaddy. Then I’m going to have his picture made tomorrow afternoon at 1:00 … at a studio nearby.” She stumbled over the lie, but never dropped his gaze. “I’ll be picking him up this evening. It’s Brantley’s turn again.”
Oh she was good. He had to give her that. He just bet she was having J.J.’s picture made, probably at a drugstore that made passport photos. “Doubt I’ll be able to tell Summer anything or that you’ll be able to get J.J. a hat made since she’s long gone. Probably half way to Santa Fe by now.” He wasn’t quite the liar she was, but he made do.
“What?!” And there was the panic. Well, at least he knew she hadn’t figured out what was missing from her suitcase just yet.
“I took her to the airport ‘bout an hour ago. Told me she never wanted to see me again.”
“But … she can’t … how dare she!”
Austin shrugged. “She might be on her way to her mama’s or the reservation. I’m not sure. I gave her some money, and she knows she gets to keep J.J. until after Cheyenne.” Take that, bitch. He watched fury sizzle in her eyes behind the ridiculous plum-tinted sunglasses she was wearing as she watched her carefully-laid plans begin to dissolve.
“Well … Brantley gets J.J. back … after Cheyenne, since that’s what you tricked my son into saying on your phone.”
Gall throbbed in Austin’s entire being. He gripped the steering wheel tighter, longing to inform her that he knew she’d been after his phone since they’d gotten to Cheyenne, but he refused to break character. “I’m sure she’ll be in Dallas by then. It’s me she don’t wanna see.”
“She just better be.”
“Where is he?” Summer turned in the passenger seat of Luke’s truck, searching for Austin. With every passing moment, panic crawled over her skin and tightened its choke hold around her.
“Give him a few minutes. He ain’t bad late yet.”
“What if Jean or Brant already know, and they had Austin arrested or hurt him or something? The Prestons are bad people, Luke. I swear.” She couldn’t bring herself to say what truly terrified her. What if Brant Preston and all of those morons that work for Preston Cattle and lap up Brant Preston Sr.’s shit just because he signs their paychecks had Austin — or had already murdered him?
“Darlin’, you don’t have to tell me they’re bad. It takes some pretty nasty blood to steal a kid away from his mama. That’s low down. To me, even the good Lord himself can’t be too forgiving of that, but I’m telling ya, Austin can handle himself. Give him time to get the job done right. He’ll be on in a minute.”
Handing J.J. a few more Cheerios, which he was happily devouring, she tried to think of anything but what might be happening to Austin all because of her. “Tell me about the ranch. Please. Just talk.”
Luke appeared startled, but nodded. “Uh, well, Austin’s land borders mine. We all work the cattle and the haying and everything together, but the ranch is divided out into two halves, then into six different parcels. My dad and my uncle were supposed to run the two halves and divide their halves amongst their kids, but my uncle’s a sonuvabitch and he and his wife only had Brock. We used to work that half as well, but Brock married, got himself straightened out, and took over his half back in the winter time.”
“Did that make anyone upset? I mean, didn’t all of you lose money?” This was good. Now, she could think beyond the sickening chill that kept overtaking her body.
“Nah, we love Brock. We all came up working the whole ranch together. There’s the Camden family accounts, which is where we put all the money we make off the cattle anyway. Each kid plus Mama and Daddy take out an allotment to live on after we sell, so it’s not like Brock gets a ton more than we do. We all like it that way. Money makes people crazy, and Mama ain’t having a bunch of squabbling kids. That ain’t how we were raised. We do all have separate cattle brands just so we can keep up with them all. Mom and Daddy’s cattle have the original Camden brand. Ours are mostly our initials with the arrow like the original.
“Austin usually bolsters the family account
s with what he wins on the circuit because we work his cattle for him while he’s gone; course he’s won ten times this year what he has any other. Not sure what he might want to do with all of that. Anyway, we divide out the earnings, leaving plenty in the family accounts for the next season, new equipment, stuff like that, and then we go on our way.
“Austin’s house is closer to mine than any of the others. We got houses and outbuildings all over the ranch. He wanted one of the log cabins my great-great-uncle built back when his daddy ran the ranch. It’s not fancy or anything. Mama and Daddy have the biggest house, since they had all of us youngins. But Austin’s house is nice. He redid it with some of his winnings a few years ago. Stays nice and warm in the winter storms, positioned good on his land. He can see for damn near miles. On a real clear day when the wind ain’t kicking up the dust, which ain’t too often, we can see each other from our side porches. You gotta squint, though.”
“I don’t need a big fancy house. I’ve never even had a house that was my own in my whole life. I’d be happy living in a barn as long as I have Austin and J.J., and I know they’re safe.” Summer checked the side mirror again, willing Austin’s Silverado to drive up.
Luke chuckled. “Doubt Austin’ll let you live in one of the barns. I got the impression he kinda likes knowing you’re warm, and safe, and fed.”
“Well … uh …” she fumbled for another piece of information that might interest her enough to keep her relatively calm. “What kind of horses do you have?”
“Ranch horses are all quarters. Austin’s main mount is a jet black gelding he named Lusty, ‘bout seventeen hands high, mighty thing that really only listens to him. We leave him be while Austin’s gone, but you watch when he gets you to the ranch tonight, Lusty’ll be in the west stables, waitin’ on him to come out. We can’t get the blasted horse in the stables all summer long, mind you, but that horse would do anything for Austin.”
Summer knew that feeling. She even grinned over the horse’s name. “He named his horse Lusty. Sounds like Austin.”
Luke laughed and nodded. “We run twelve horses between us. Couple of calicos, several copper colored ones. Holly used to ride competitively. She’s good, not near as good as you, but decent. She’s finishing up her masters next year, working towards her doctorate in psychology, so she sold off two of hers to help pay for State. She isn’t running cattle for the time being, so we use her land for our herds, meaning we can all run larger herds. Without her land, we all make less money. See, it works out as long as you think like a family and not like a bunch of assholes.” Glancing in the rearview mirror, he grinned. “There he is.” Relief played heavily in Luke’s tone. He could tell her not to worry all he wanted, but she knew better.
“Thank, God.” She leapt from the truck and waited on Austin to pull beside Luke’s truck on the dirt lane that ran behind Roscoe’s Filling Station. Roscoe must’ve taken the day off because there was no one around. With magnetizing force, she raced into his arms, colliding with the wall of muscle that constructed his chest. She steadied in his strength, and he cradled her head on his shoulder.
“I’ve got you, sweetheart. Everything’s gonna be just fine. Let’s get home, okay?”
She managed a nod. “That sounds really nice. I don’t think I’ve ever had a place I called home before.” Her emotions lived far too close to the surface currently. The dull ache in her gut eased in his embrace, but tears continued to taunt her eyes. She refused them. She wouldn’t be weak, not in front of him. Look at everything he was giving up for her. She would fight with him, right beside him, no matter what.
“You do now, sugar. Climb in. I’ll get little man situated. I filled up in Cheyenne, giving credence to the tale I spun about following you to Santa Fe.”
Staring at his truck, Summer’s stomach roiled. This was it. They were running away. He may have been going home, but she was running from every mistake she’d ever made in her life, running from Brant and the Prestons, running from the life she’d been living for so long she’d forgotten what it might be like not to be a rodeo gypsy and actually have somewhere warm and safe to lay her head every night. Home. Yeah, it was gonna take some getting used to. Closing her eyes and touching the macaw pendant she’d tied around her neck when she’d left for Brant’s hotel that morning, she promised herself that she would be the wife he always needed. He’d given her one week of a real life, real love; she’d more than happily give him a lifetime as long as he was hers.
Chapter Twenty-Two
Austin squeezed Summer tightly for one moment then released her. Wishing she could ask him to hold her longer, she reminded herself that they had to get on the road.
“Okay, Dallas Devil was quarantined by the PBR when Anders pushed him through that chute gate yesterday. I hung around until I found out for sure that he was being held past his qualifying time. Fate’s being far too kind with us. Little nervous it’s gonna run out at some point, but no one will expect me to ride tonight. I took a pass instead of playing at riding an unranked bull.
“Here are all of my passes to the rodeos, the midway, concerts, everything.” Austin handed those to Luke. “No one’s figured out Summer found them papers. Keep a close eye on Preston and his mama, though. She ain’t hard to miss, since she dyes her hair old-lady-orange.”
A slight giggle escaped her despite the situation. “She calls it Rose Autumn 47. Buys cases of it from the beauty supply store and makes one of their maids pull it through one of those cap things all the time. Makes her look even scarier than she does regularly.”
“Right, like I said, day-fucking-glo orange. Their room’s at the Cheyenne Suites.”
“Yeah, I was thinking I’d see if I can’t get myself a room there. Seems to me if anything’s going down, that’s where I’ll see it.”
“Agreed, and I’ll pay you back.”
Luke rolled his eyes. “I ain’t worrying about it. Get her on home. I’ll call you when I get situated and if I see anything.”
“Thanks, man.”
Summer grinned when Luke and Austin hugged. Not something you saw cowboys doing all that often. Longing took fierce hold of her. What would it be like to be a part of a real family? She still couldn’t believe she might get the chance to find out, if this really all worked out. That seemed horrendously far-fetched, however. She just wasn’t that lucky.
Austin carried J.J. in his car seat to his truck and buckled him in. Next came their bags, his stroller, and the booster seat for him to eat at that Ekta had insisted she pack that morning.
“Let’s get.” Austin climbed up in the seat. “I’d like to be home before dark if we can.”
“Will we be able to talk to the sheriff tonight? I don’t want to wait.”
“I know, darlin’. I’m gonna do my damnedest, but it’s all gonna work out. I swear.”
“Is that an Austin Camden gut feeling or is that just wishful thinking?”
He debated far too long for her liking. “Gut feeling.”
“You lying to me don’t make me feel better.”
“I’m not lying to you. We’ll figure this out one way or another.”
Summer didn’t want to ask what ‘another’ meant exactly.
Austin wished to hell he did have some kind of gut feeling about this. If it was going downhill, he’d change course and disappear with her for as long as it took to get her ex in prison. His gut offered him very little, so he barreled down I-80, praying that the ranch could be their safe haven for a while.
If it weren’t for all the shit going on, he would have been thanking his lucky stars. He was going home with Summer by his side. He couldn’t wait to get there, but willing the miles to go faster just wasn’t working.
“I’ll try not to have to pee too much.” Summer cringed.
Chuckling at her and lacing their fingers together, he considered. “Truthfully, I would kind of like to not make appearances too many places, especially once we cross the state line. Seems like every ranch family in Nebraska k
nows my family. Just a precaution. If anything should come up, I’d rather fewer people know I’m heading home. But I swear, darlin’, we’re gonna show Wes the papers you have and they’ll arrest Brant, and hopefully his good for nothin’ mama. It’ll all be over with tomorrow at the latest.”
“I hope you’re right. My life never quite works out that easy though.”
“I’m gonna call dad and tell him what’s going on. That okay with you?”
“Of course. Please tell them how sorry I am about … everything.”
Austin squeezed her hand and called his parents. He tried to quickly work through what had happened the day before, since they were there for most of it. Luke had already phoned so he was able skip the parts about Summer breaking in Brant’s hotel room.
“I’ve already spoken with Wes, son. How far out are you?” Ev asked.
“Got another three hours, Dad. I’m not too interested in any cops knowing where we are until we’ve given the forgeries to Wes, so I’m keeping it to 70.”
“I’ll have Wes out here when you arrive. You’re probably going to have to talk to someone at the NSBI, though. I don’t think the Pleasant Glen sheriff’s department is quite equipped to handle kidnapping. I knew them Prestons were sacks of horse manure, but even I’da never guessed they’d do this.”
“I quit, dad. I’m not going back on the circuit. I’m coming home to stay.” There, he’d said it. It hadn’t even hurt. Peace settled in his mind. For one split second, everything felt right.
“I know, son. I’m so damn proud of you, Austin.”
“I’m gonna go get your house ready for Summer and the baby, honey. I put an extra roast on this morning. Just had a feeling we might need more tonight. You’ll be here for supper, right?” He could almost hear a smile in his mama’s voice. Of course she’d known. She always seemed to. Austin couldn’t help but smile. God, it was so good to be going home.
