“What steer did your son draw?” Ethan asked.
The dark-haired man was more serious than his brother-in-law. But she liked Ethan McCall. He’d always been nice to her when he’d come out on a vet call to consult with her brother on DTS Ranch.
“Crossfired.”
Colt winced. “That’s a tough one.”
“Not for my son.”
“Lauren’s right. Her son’s a really good rider. I’ll have him jumping 1.10 meters in no time.”
“High praise indeed,” said Colt’s sister.
A drill team started lining up at the gate and Lauren knew from experience that the rodeo was about to start. Sure enough, the announcer gave a ten-minute call, but she became lost in her thoughts. She’d settled into life in Via Del Caballo to the point that she couldn’t imagine living anywhere else. And as she looked around, she was suddenly grateful for all the blessings in her life. She was lucky. She’d had some hard knocks, but she’d picked herself up and brushed the dirt off. Her brother had helped carry her, and for that she would always be grateful. He’d been called out of town on business—otherwise he would have been with her today. His presence was the only thing missing right now to make her happiness complete.
When the steer riding started, for once her heart didn’t try to break out of her chest. When the first rider was thrown a good twenty feet into the air, she winced, but she didn’t hide her face. She knew enough by now to know that he landed okay and that he would be fine. A little humiliated at the short amount of time he’d ridden, but okay. When it came to Kyle’s turn, she leaned forward a bit, but that was it. She saw Bren standing above him. There were a few other faces she recognized helping him, too. Friends who rode with him. Everyone helped everyone on the junior rodeo circuit.
“Well, now, ladies and gentlemen, how about a round of applause for a hometown kid. This is Kyle Danners riding Crossfired.”
The Reynolds clan whooped so loud it nearly deafened her, but it brought a smile to her face, too. These were her friends now, their hometown crowd, their extended family.
And then the gate swung open. Her breath caught. She came halfway out of her seat because Crossfired jumped so high she didn’t think there was any way Kyle could hang on. He did. Her son’s legs seemed to be glued to the steer’s side, and Kyle had been right. A big steer, as big as a bull. The animal swung left and then right, his back end so high off the ground Kyle could have reached between the steer’s ears and touched the earth below him. Or so it seemed.
And still he rode.
That’s when she started screaming. So did Colt and Natalie and Claire and Ethan. The whole place erupted and she couldn’t breathe as five seconds turned into six and then seven and finally eight.
He jumped off like a seasoned pro.
“Unbelievable!” Colt cried. “Amazing.”
Ethan leaned forward. “Your son’s going to be a star.”
She clapped her palms to her cheeks. Her hands came away wet. He’d done it. He’d ridden the biggest steer of his life...and he’d made it look easy.
“Ladies and gentlemen, there’s your new leader right there,” cried the announcer. “Ninety-one! Unbelievable.”
“Ninety-one,” said Colt. “Damn.”
Even she knew that was a good score, and since Kyle wasn’t performing in slack, they would know if he won in just a few minutes. Only three more riders to go.
“I’m going to head down.” She got up, and she was surprised to note her legs were weak. Maybe she wasn’t as calm, cool and collected as she’d thought.
“Tell him congratulations,” said Natalie.
“I’m going to tell people I knew him when,” Ethan said.
“I know,” said Claire. “It’s too bad Jax had to miss this.”
“I’m sure someone caught it on video,” said Colt.
Her footfalls were light as she headed toward the chutes. She heard the crowd cheer only to immediately groan, and she knew without looking that the next rider had fallen short. Same deal with the next one. Only one more rider to go, and so she paused near the side of the arena, leaning down so she could peer through the slats at the last competitor.
He fell off after two jumps.
She rested her head on the board, the wood cool to the touch, grateful for the support. He’d done it. Her baby boy had won his first buckle. The first of many, she knew. Bren had been right all those weeks ago. Kyle had what it took to be not just good at what he loved but great.
“He did it.”
She jerked upright. She hadn’t even heard him approach. But then, how would she over the din of the crowd.
She turned, slowly, having to take a deep breath before she looked into his eyes. “He did it.” She took a step toward him. “Thanks to you.”
He shook his head. “Don’t look at me. Kyle put in all the hard work.”
“Yes, but he knew what to focus on thanks to you.”
His caramel-colored eyes darkened. She saw his gaze fix on her lips and she felt herself lean forward.
“Bren, I can’t—”
“Lauren, I don’t—”
They both stopped talking, and for reasons she couldn’t explain, Lauren suddenly wanted to laugh. She wasn’t nervous anymore. She didn’t feel restless. She didn’t feel anything other than pure, unabashed love...love that she hoped he spotted.
“Mom! Did you see? Did you see?”
Kyle came running up to her, the biggest grin that she’d ever seen on his face. She instantly opened her arms. He rushed into them, hugging her tight, bringing her to tears for about the tenth time that day.
He might be a steer rider, but he was still her little boy.
“Did you see it or did you hide your face again?”
She laughed. She couldn’t help it. “Are you kidding? I couldn’t look away.” She clutched his shoulders, shaking him a little. “That was the best. The absolute best ride I’ve ever seen.”
Her son’s face was the sunshine on a summer morning. The glow of a millions stars. A whole ocean of happiness.
“I think I might have won.”
“Think?” Bren said. “I know you did.”
“Well, I don’t know what the other kids scored—”
“Yup,” said the announcer. “It’s official. Kyle Danners is your steer-riding champion.”
Her son, the little boy who tried so hard to seem grown up, let out a whoop of delight reminiscent of when he was five.
“I did it.” He jumped up and down. “I did it.” And then he jumped up and down some more.
“Yep,” she said. “You did.”
He all but ran back toward the chutes.
“He should cut through the arena. It’ll be shorter.”
“I don’t think he cares.”
They both turned to follow, but before she took a step, Bren stopped her with an outstretched hand. She knew what he was asking then, knew that if she took it, they were calling a truce to their forced exile. That from here on out, they would be together, through thick and thin. That whatever the future brought, they would face it together.
Her hand slipped into his.
They walked hand in hand into the arena, the two of them standing side by side as Kyle accepted his first buckle. And when it came time for him to say a few words, she couldn’t keep tears from falling as he thanked Bren and his uncle, but most of all her.
She glanced up at Bren. There were tears in his eyes, too. And then he was kissing her. She kissed him back, right there in front of God and half the town of Via Del Caballo and she didn’t care. Neither of them cared because they had each other.
“Mo-om,” she heard Kyle cry.
And then they drew back, and they were laughing, and when Kyle came over, they hugged him, and then Bren pulled her
up against his side and she knew that this was where she wanted to be for the rest of her life.
Epilogue
It was controlled chaos in the campaign office of one Sheriff Bren Connelly. The final moments had kicked down and at any second a winner would be declared.
“Well, if we don’t pull this off, it won’t be for lack of trying,” said Jerry, the man sweating even though it was a cool June evening.
“If we don’t pull this off, I’m never hiring you again,” Bren said, resplendent in his black sheriff’s uniform. Around him were a number of his deputies, and even though it really shouldn’t surprise her, Lauren was touched by the support. They had no way of knowing if Bren would win. Everyone had known it would be a tight race, and it had been. Right now the polls showed Bren leading by a narrow 5 percent margin, but that could change.
She glanced at the clock.
“Relax, honey, I’ve got this.”
She glanced up at the man she loved and knew he did have this. Whatever the outcome was, they would be okay.
“I just wish it were over already,” she admitted.
“It will be soon,” said her brother, coming up to stand alongside her. He’d recently returned from yet another one of his business trips. The last one for a while, he’d promised. She hoped so, because she’d set up a surprise. She’d be moving out of the apartment soon and in with Bren. She didn’t want Jax rambling around in his big old home all by himself, so she’d suggested he hire a housekeeper/cook, a woman named Naomi Jones who came highly recommended. He would grumble when she told him about the interview she’d set up, but he had no choice. She wanted her brother to be happy, and it just so happened that Naomi was gorgeous. Bren said she was trying to matchmake. Kyle wasn’t so couth. He’d called her a pimp. She’d threatened to wash his mouth out with soap.
A hand slipped into her own.
“Whatever happens,” he said for her ears only.
“Whatever happens.”
It’d become their slogan in recent weeks. She looked up and smiled. He clutched her hand so hard the brand-new two-carat diamond ring that still felt strange on her finger must have left a dent in his own palm. She knew then that he wasn’t as blasé as he might seem.
Whatever happened.
They’d done everything they could to help him win. Jerry had been a miracle worker. When they’d announced to the world that they were a couple, Jerry had immediately gone to work. He’d enlisted the aid of a PR strategist, a woman named Emily who’d worked her butt off to take care of damage control. As it turned out, there was no damage. The citizens of Via Del Caballo were a lot more laid-back about their age difference than they’d given them credit for. Sure, there’d been a few snickers here and there, but nobody had really cared and Emily had made sure that the citizens of Via Del Caballo all knew that she was about to graduate in the fall with a bachelor of science in nursing.
“Here it is!”
It was Kyle who’d called the words, her son peering intently up at the television screen in the one-room office that used to be a deli.
“And in a tight race for the seat of Via Del Caballo sheriff, incumbent Bren Connelly earned 62 percent of the votes, narrowly beating out challenger Hank Cresta.”
People screamed. Bren was immediately clapped on the back by one of his deputies. Someone pulled her into their arms. Natalie, she realized. The whole Reynolds clan had shown up and offered support. Lauren thought it seemed like a dream.
He’d won.
He’d really won.
Someone started chanting, “Four more years. Four more years.” Soon the whole room was shouting the words. Bren pulled her into his arms.
“Well,” he asked, “what do you say? You want to do this again in four years?”
She slipped her hands around his waist, holding him tight. “I’m willing to do it for as long as you like.”
His eyes glinted and she knew his mind had gone down a road she hadn’t intended. She laughed. He did, too, and then he was kissing her and the crowd went crazy for a whole other reason when Kyle cried out, “Mo-om!”
* * * * *
Keep reading for an excerpt from THE COWBOY’S VALENTINE BRIDE by Patricia Johns.
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The Cowboy’s Valentine Bride
by Patricia Johns
Chapter One
Brody Mason’s leg throbbed. The last of his morphine had worn off, and no matter what position he adopted in front of the crackling fireplace in his childhood home, the pain was constant.
He’d been honorably discharged from the army and given a medal for bravery—presented to him in the crisp hospital bed where he’d spent the last couple of months—but he’d never felt less deserving. While people at home called every returning soldier a hero, he saw a difference: real heroes got their buddies out alive, and Brody hadn’t managed to do that. Now he was home in the tiny town of Hope, Montana, and while his family doted on him, no one really understood. His fellow soldiers hadn’t survived the explosion that tore up his leg in early December; he was supposed to have their backs. And that hurt worse than the shrapnel.
The hospital stay had been a haze of pain meds, and every week the doctor assured him he’d be able to leave soon, but then something would hold up his recovery. Brody had missed his sister’s wedding because of an infection in his leg, and he’d been forced to watch her nuptials via webcam, which was just as well, considering that he solidly disapproved of her choice in groom. Once he recovered from the leg infection, there was a bronchial infection triggered by all the dust he’d breathed for the last year in Afghanistan, which put off his second surgery to remove the last of the shrapnel. When the surgery was complete, the nurses stopped hovering quite so much—a good sign.
Then one day in late January, a week after his last surgery, the doctor had deemed him sufficiently recovered and signed his discharge papers. Just like that. No muss, no fuss, no grandeur. His parents picked him up from the hospital and drove him home. Which left him here, sitting in front of the fireplace, trying to find a comfortable position for his aching leg.
The back door to the ranch house opened and shut, and there was the soft murmur of voices. He couldn’t make out who the nurse was...not that it mattered. He shifted again, closing his eyes against the wave of pain. Brody heard a noise behind him, and he reluctantly turned.
Kaitlyn Harpe stood at the door to the sitting room, her arms crossed over her chest. Her auburn hair hung in loose waves around her shoulders, dark eyes fixed on him uncertainly. She looked nervous to be here—and rightfully so.
“You? Seriously?” Brody wasn’t normally this much of a jerk, and he resented the words as soon as they came out of his mouth, but with the pain, his verbal filter seemed to be missing.
“I get that I’m not your first choice, but there aren’t a whole lot of nurses available in Hope,” she replied with a small smile.
Yeah, that was an understatement. Hope, Montana, was a small ranching community, and while there were two large animal veterinarians in town, medical care for people was a little sparser. Before Kaitlyn went to nursing school, her aunt Bernice was the only other nurse in town. He’d half expected to see the older woman.
Under different circumstances, he might have considered himself lucky. He’d known Kate for years and thought of her as a little sister. She’d always been sweet with a quirky sense of humor, and until recently, he would have described her as honest, too, but she’d gone along with the lie his friends and family had told him while he was away—namely that he still had a fiancée. But Nina had married his best friend, Brian, while he’d been dodging bullets in Afghanistan, and everyone had kept silent about that little fact...so silent that he’d never suspected a thing. No one told him the truth until he’d been in the VA hospital in Fort Harrison for over a month. He’d been set to be released for Dakota and Andy’s wedding when that nasty infection set in. Nina still hadn’t visited, and he’d had enough. That was when his family admitted that Nina had married Brian a few months back.
And now Nina’s sister was going to be his nurse while he recovered? It was adding insult to injury—literally.
Brody looked past Kaitlyn to where his mother stood in the kitchen, stoically ignoring them. His mother, Millie, wore an apron over a pair of jeans and a long-sleeved turtleneck, and she was rolling out some dough on the island with enough muscle to wrestle down a steer. Whatever she was baking would be leather by the time she was done with it.
Her Cowboy Lawman Page 18
