Rank

by D. R. Graham

  Shocked, she looked up at my eyes to check if I was being serious. “For what?”

  “Not kidnapping.”

  Her expression shifted as if she just remembered something. “Did they arrest you for assaulting Tawnie’s abusive ex-boyfriend?”

  Although I already assumed she would hear about that, I shook my head and pushed my hat back to pretend like I was surprised. “Did Rochelle tell you that?”

  “Maybe. Don’t blame her. Tawnie’s the one who blabs everything.”

  “I didn’t get arrested for that. He did.”

  I could tell she was still curious about what I had been arrested for, but she let it go. “Who gave you permission to do today’s pick up?”

  “Lee-Anne Roberts.”

  “Why?”

  “She was busy. You can call her if you don’t believe me.”

  “I just might.” She stared at me for a while and smiled as if she was impressed. “Did you just get a haircut?”

  “Yeah.”

  “And is that a new shirt?”

  “Yeah.”

  Her eyes scanned down to check the rest of me out. “Nice boots.”

  “Thanks. Some girl told me that my other ones were ratty.”

  “They were.” She smiled, happy that I took her advice again. “Wait here a minute. I have to get my bag.” She turned and pushed off the crutches to make her way over to the door of the daycare. One of the ladies she worked with said something to her and they both looked over in my direction. Shae-Lynn nodded at something that was said and the woman waved at me. I waved back to be friendly. It seemed to embarrass Shae-Lynn. She disappeared inside and came out a different door that led directly into the parking lot.

  I rushed over to the passenger side of the truck and opened the door for her. She turned and handed me the crutches. The truck was too high off the ground for her to reach the seat, so I leaned the crutches against the side and lifted her by the waist to help her in. She had to use her arms to pull her legs into the cab one at a time. Once she was settled, I closed the door and laid the crutches in the back.

  “Bye Shae!” a little girl shouted and waved from the back seat of her mom’s car.

  Shae-Lynn waved back as I hopped behind the wheel. The adoring way she was smiling made her look so beautiful. I was still staring at her when she turned her head to look at me. “What?”

  “You seem good at your job.”

  She shrugged modestly. “It’s just babysitting. It’s not that hard.”

  “You make them feel special. I can tell by the way they look at you.”

  Her cheeks turned pink and she stared down at her hands folded in her lap. “Thank you.” She snuck a glance at me. “What are you really doing here?”

  “Kidnapping you. You should have followed through on that criminal record check.” I backed the truck out of the parking spot and turned right onto Clark to head to the strip mall. “I just have to make a quick stop.” I drove for a block and turned into the parking lot of the grocery store.

  “Whose idea was this exactly?” she asked cautiously.

  “I’m sort of flying by the seat of my pants.” I hopped out of the truck. “I’ll be right back. Don’t run off.”

  “Ha ha.”

  I pulled out my phone as I walked across the parking lot and searched everything I needed to buy. I rushed up and down the aisles, then got in line. I could see Shae-Lynn through the window. She was talking on the phone. My phone rang as I was paying the cashier. It was Tawnie, so I let it go to voicemail and turned it off. When I returned to the truck, Shae-Lynn frowned as if she wasn’t sure whether she should trust me. I put the two bags on the seat between us. She was still on the phone and said, “Okay, we’ll see you in about twenty minutes, I think.” She hung up and stared at me as I pulled back out onto Clark. “Lee-Anne said you’re in town to show Stella to a buyer.”

  “Yeah. Your dad said it would be all right. I guess he forgot to tell you guys.”

  “I’m sure he wrote it somewhere in the fifteen pages of notes that he left for us. They’ll be home again before I can even read through everything on it.” She glanced down at the bags to snoop. “What are the groceries for?”

  “Take a look.”

  She peeked in at the ingredients for lasagne and Key Lime pie. She smiled and seemed surprised that I remembered her favourite meal. “So, you think you’re staying for dinner, do you?”

  “I owe you a dinner for taking care of Stella.”

  “Actually, you owe me about four hundred dollars.”

  “Yeah, I know. I’ll pay you back when I sell her.”

  “I’m just kidding. I wouldn’t charge you. She’s been a sweetie and Skeeter has decided she’s his girlfriend.”

  “Skeeter better be a stand up stud. I don’t want my Stella running around with just any old stallion who’s going to break her heart.”

  “Don’t you worry. He’s been a gentleman. I made sure.”

  I glanced over at her for a second, then looked back at the road. “Your strength seems to be coming back.”

  “Yeah, it’s been slow, but it gets better every day.”

  “Have you gone riding yet?”

  “No.”

  “Riding would be good rehab for your leg muscles.”

  She looked out the window. “I’m not ready.”

  “You’re scared?”

  “Yes, I am.”

  “The quicker you get back in the saddle the better.”

  She snapped her head to glare at me. “You did not seriously just say that?”

  “Yeah, why not? It’s true.”

  She reached across the cab and backhanded my shoulder. “You are such a hypocrite.”

  “What are you talking about? I didn’t quit after a wreck.”

  “Yes, you did. Just because it wasn’t your wreck doesn’t make a difference.”

  “I can get back in the saddle any time.”

  “Prove it.”

  “All right.” I pointed at her to accept the challenge. “Let’s go for a ride after I show Stella.”

  “I can’t ride Harley. He acts weird and rears up if he senses that a rider is scared.”

  “Has he been ridden since the accident?”

  “No.”

  “I’ll ride him. You can ride Stella.”

  She studied my face to see if I was joking. I was serious, so she said, “Fine.”

  “Fine.” I laughed.

  “What’s so funny?”

  “I just talked you into getting back in the saddle.”

  She tilted her head and looked at me with a sympathetic smile. “No, stupid.” She patted my knee. “I just talked you into getting back in the saddle. It was really easy, actually. I wonder what else I could convince you to do.”

  I smiled at the possibilities of that. “I’m pretty sure you could convince me to do almost anything.”

  Her eyebrows angled together, then her cheeks turned pink again. “What makes you say that?”

  “You get an expression on your face when you’re disappointed in me and I honestly don’t ever want to see it again. I’d rather just do whatever you ask me to do.”

  “Really? Good to know.” She leaned over and turned the volume up on the radio because a Carrie Underwood song had come on. She sang and tried to encourage me to sing the next line, but I shook my head. “Come on. You don’t want to see my disappointed expression, do you?”

  “I can’t sing.”

  She started into the chorus. We both laughed when she got to the line about the guy singing off key. As we drove back to the ranch, she sang along to a couple other songs and she tried again, unsuccessfully, to get me to join her on an Eric Church song.

  When we arrived, I rolled up their driveway, parked, and stared at her.

  “What?”

  “You have a beautiful voice. I really like listening to it.”

  Although she must have known she was a good singer, she seemed flattered that I thought so. “Thank you.”


  I leaned closer with the intention of stealing a kiss, and she didn’t move away, which I took as a good sign. A truck drove up the driveway behind us and distracted her.

  She sat back so we weren’t within kissing distance and said, “That must be the guy who wants to see Stella. I’m going to get cleaned up while you show her.”

  Disappointed that I’d missed my chance, I said, “Okay. Hold on. I’ll get your crutches out of the back.” I helped her out, then grabbed the grocery bags and followed her up onto the porch. After holding the door open for her, I put the bags on the floor inside the door. Lee-Anne had already brought Stella out of the barn tacked up with Shae-Lynn’s saddle and she was shaking hands with the guy. I went over and shook hands with him too. “Billy Ryan.”

  “Paul Delorme.” He ran his hand down Stella’s front legs. “I’m looking for a good match for my daughter.”

  “How old is she?”

  “Twelve.”

  I hooked my thumbs in my pockets and glanced at Lee-Anne. She shot me a look as if she was warning me not to say anything. I had to say something though. “She might be too fast for a green rider.”

  “She’s not green. She’s been riding since she was four years old and barrel racing since she was eight.” He put his fingers in Stella’s mouth. “You said you want twenty thousand for her?”

  “Yes, Sir.”

  “Do you normally ride her?” he asked Lee-Anne.

  “No, Sir. I’m a trick rider.”

  “Do you mind riding her around the ring a couple times? I want to see how she moves.”

  Lee-Anne took Stella through a series of figure eights at a lope and then breezed her for a while before making her way back over to us.

  “That’s a nice horse,” Paul said. “Do you mind if I bring my daughter by tomorrow morning? I’d like to have her ride Stella before I make my final decision.”

  I looked up at Lee-Anne. “Is that all right with you?”

  “Yeah, that’s fine. I’ll be around.”

  “Okay, I’ll come by around eight.”

  I shook his hand and walked him back to his truck. Lee-Anne hopped off Stella and was walking towards the barn when I hollered at her, “Keep her tacked up. Shae-Lynn and I are going for a ride.”

  “Really? How’d you talk her into that?”

  “I’m charming.”

  She laughed, not convinced. “I guess that’s one name for it. You want to ride Misty?”

  “No. I told her I’d ride Harley to shake the cobwebs off him.”

  She nodded even though she didn’t seem to agree it was the best idea. After Paul drove away, I went into the house and picked up the groceries from the floor. The kitchen was at the back of the house, so I took my boots off at the front door, and crossed through the living room. There was a picture of Shae-Lynn and Lee-Anne riding together on a pony in a frame on the mantle. They were probably only about four and five years old in the shot. There was also a series of black and white photos. One was of their dad hollering and snapping the reins during a chuck race; one of Lee-Anne hanging upside down off Misty in a suicide drag; and one of Shae-Lynn coming around a barrel tight on Harley.

  Once I made my way to the kitchen, I heard a door open down the hall. A blow dryer started humming. The pie needed to chill for three hours, so I washed up and mixed the ingredients for that first, slid it into the fridge, and started on the lasagne.

  I was working on the third layer when Shae-Lynn rested her shoulder on the archway that led from the living room and said, “Hey.”

  I turned my head to look over my shoulder. She was wearing tight jeans and a cotton blouse with skinny straps. The fabric was sweet with tiny flowers on it like something a little girl would wear, but the fit was sexy. It made me think thoughts that her dad would have definitely not appreciated. Her hair was curled into loose waves and her cheeks were powdered with something light pink and sparkly. Her eyes were lined with a charcoal colour that made the green of her irises seem as if they were backlit. I was about to say, “Holy shit,” but I stopped myself and it came out more like, “Ho.”

  She frowned and then laughed nervously as if she wasn’t sure how to take it. After scanning the countertop she said, “You’ve been busy.” She leaned on her crutches and made her way over to stand next to me to dip her finger in the tomato meat sauce. When she touched her fingertip to her tongue to taste my creation, I was hit by another urge to kiss her. “Not bad,” she said and moved away as if she knew what I was thinking. She reached over and grabbed a handful of grated cheese to sprinkle it on top of the row I just made. “How long did it take you to find the cheese grater?”

  “A long time.” I looked up at the big farmhouse clock above the table. It was seven-fifteen. I smiled because, although she didn’t need to, I liked the fact that she put that much effort into getting ready. “You were in there for a long time. Did you fall asleep in the bath or something?”

  “No. I just took my time. I thought it was going to take you longer to show Stella.”

  “He wants to come back tomorrow with his daughter so she can ride her.”

  “Oh.” She paused to let the information sink in. “Does that mean you’re staying in Calgary?”

  “Yeah, I guess so. I’ll crash at a hotel and come back in the morning.”

  To my surprise, she said, “You can stay here.”

  I glanced over to check her expression. I knew she didn’t mean to suggest that anything was going to happen, but I wanted to make sure she wasn’t just being polite. “I don’t want to put you out.”

  “We have three guest rooms. It’s fine.”

  Spending as much time as possible with her sounded good to me. I pretended to be focused on the cheese so she wouldn’t see the grin on my face. I wanted to be clear in my head about what was going on, though, so I didn’t end up getting crushed. Without looking up I said, “You look nice. Do you have plans with Nate tonight, or something?”

  She opened a drawer to take out a box of tinfoil, then covered the lasagne. “No. I don’t have plans with anybody tonight. Except, you did say something about going for a ride.”

  Relieved that the effort she put into getting ready wasn’t for someone else, I opened the oven door and slid the dish in. “Okay, we have forty-five minutes. You ready, scaredy cat?”

  “Oh. I’m ready. Are you ready?” she challenged.

  “I just need to get my boots on, which might take the entire forty-five minutes since someone convinced me to wear boots that aren’t broken in.”

  “You don’t have to do everything I say.”

  I chuckled, not sure I could stop myself.

  She smiled, maybe from the confirmation that she had me by the reins. Or, maybe from the visual of me wrestling my boots on. “I’ll meet you outside.” She pushed her shoulder into the back door and manoeuvred the crutches to step out onto the back porch. Feeling like I’d done three shots of whiskey, I walked back through the living room and sat on the bench near the front door. As I was bent over fighting with the leather, my heart rate sped up to an alarming rate. I took a deep breath before I went outside.

  Lee-Anne had tied both horses to a hitching post at the side of the house. Shae-Lynn’s crutches were leaning against the fence and she was standing next to Stella holding onto the horn. I walked over and gave her a leg up. She had to use her arms to lift her body weight until she was centred in the saddle. I slid her left foot into the stirrup then walked around the other side to do her right foot. “How’s that feel?”

  “A little bit weird. It kind of feels as if I’m going to slide off.”

  “You look good. I’ll let you know if you’re leaning.” I adjusted the stirrups on the saddle that was on Harley and checked the cinch. My hands were sweating, so I wiped them on my jeans before I grabbed the horn and put my foot in the stirrup. As soon as I was seated, Harley reared up.

  “Harley, whoa,” Shae-Lynn said sternly.

  His front hooves pounded down on the gro
und and he dropped his head trying to throw me. I clenched the reins and pulled back. He side walked, then spun to his left, which made me lose my seat a little. “Whoa,” I shouted and pulled back hard on his mouth. He bucked, spun again, and reared up. “Easy, easy easy,” I repeated, not at all easy myself. He reared up again and I considered jumping off.

  “Relax, Billy,” Shae-Lynn yelled. “He’s reacting to your nervousness.”

  His hooves pounded down again and made my weight lurch forward. I released the tension in the reins and exhaled, trying to make my body relax. Harley shook his head a bunch of times and then tried to bolt, so I had to pull back on him again. I sat softer in the saddle. Eventually, after circling him a bunch of times, he settled down. “Whoa, easy.” I exhaled and trotted him in a wider circle around Shae-Lynn and Stella.

  Once I had control, I looked over at Shae-Lynn and winked.

  She grinned. “You all right?”

  “He’s squirrelly. The wreck must have traumatized him.”

  “No. He’s just responding to having a scared rider on him.”

  I smiled to dismiss that theory. “That can’t be it since I’m not scared.”

  She laughed at me. “You can lie to yourself and to me, but Harley knows the real reason you stopped bull riding.”

  “He’s squirrelly.”

  “Whatever you say. Let’s go before you get worked up again.” She clicked her tongue to make Stella walk on then she turned to look back over her shoulder. “Be good, Harley. Billy’s a little nervous.”

  “I’m not nervous. He’s squirrelly,” I shouted. I exhaled heavily one more time and gave Harley a gentle leg squeeze. “Come on, buddy, don’t make me look bad.” He flipped his head around a couple more times and then trotted to catch up to Stella and Shae-Lynn.

  Chapter 18

  Shae-Lynn and I rode along a stream for a while, then cut across to a trail that led through a stand of trees. The terrain got steeper and rockier as we made our way up to a ridge. The trail widened as we crossed a grassy pasture, so I moved Harley up next to Stella. Shae-Lynn glanced over and smiled, relaxed.

  “How do your legs feel?”

  “Good.”

  “We should turn back or the lasagne will burn.”