The Cowboy Way

by Christine Wenger

  He touched his hat. “Good night.”

  She leaned over to give Kevin a kiss, but she saw his eyes dart to Jake and back to her. She got the message: He wasn’t a kid.

  She held out her hand to shake his. “Good night, cowboy.”

  He shook her hand. “’Night, Mom.”

  Jake winked at her, and it loosened the lump in her throat. Her little boy was growing up.

  “Have a good time,” she said.

  “I sure will,” Kevin said. “Let’s go, Jake!”

  She watched from the porch as Kevin wheeled and Jake walked next to him. Jake had laid a hand on Kevin’s shoulder and, silhouetted in the moonlight, they almost looked like father and son.

  If only things had been different. If only Brad had not been an alcoholic. If only she’d known that he’d relapsed. If only there hadn’t been that awful accident.

  If only she could be sure Jake Dixon didn’t drink.

  If only she didn’t like Jake Dixon so much.

  That admission shocked her, and she filed it in the back of her mind. She didn’t want another man in her life, especially another man who might have a drinking problem.

  An hour later, as she was reading a magazine, she realized that she’d forgotten to pick up a program from the mess hall. Out of habit, she was about to tell Kevin where she was going, but then she remembered that he wasn’t there.

  She stepped into her shoes and walked down the path back to the mess hall. As she passed the corral, she saw Jake talking to his father. In one of Jake’s hands was a clipboard that he was looking at under the glow of an overhead light. In his other hand was a bottle of beer.

  He lifted the beer to his lips and took a long draw.

  Her stomach lurched and a shiver of dread crawled up her spine. Beth kept to the shadows and took the long way back to her cabin, past the boys’ bunkhouse.

  Her guard was back in place.

  Eight o’clock in the morning came mighty early for Jake, since he didn’t get to bed until about two.

  He had some minor details to work out on both Wheelchair Rodeo and the Challenge, but he was convinced that with a couple of phone calls, he could concentrate on Wheelchair Rodeo.

  He stood in the shower of the ranch house, letting the hot water sluice over him. Maybe it would help his leg and his back and everything else that was aching.

  Mentally, he geared up for the days ahead. There were thirty kids this year and about the same number of cowboys and volunteers. The majority of kids couldn’t ride a horse. On the campout, those kids would ride in a couple of hay wagons in their wheelchairs. Other kids, like Kevin, who had the consent of his physician, were okayed to ride on the special saddles he had had custom made with back and side support and safety belts.

  It all required a great deal of training, medical releases, alertness, and a lot of doctors on staff along with EMTs, nurses, cowboys and other volunteers who donated their time. In exchange, he made sure that everyone got front-row seats to the Gold Buckle Challenge.

  Since Beth was a volunteer, she’d be there with Kevin. He liked the fact that she’d see Jake ride in the Challenge.

  But he’d be riding against his doctor’s advice. Dr. Mike Trotter had told him that it wasn’t a good idea—that he should sit it out so he didn’t get injured even worse. But he had to ride at his own event, for heaven’s sake. So he was going to ignore Trot and cowboy up.

  He dressed in a hurry and entered the kitchen, where his mother handed him a cup of steaming coffee. His father nodded at him over the newspaper.

  “Ready for another year, Jake?” Emily asked.

  “Ready as I’ll ever be. How about you both?”

  “All set,” Dex Dixon said.

  Emily wiped the kitchen table. When the sponge came near Dex, he lifted the paper, the way Jake had seen him do hundreds of times before. What would it be like to be that in tune with another human being?

  “Maybe there is one thing you can do,” Emily began.

  Jake immediately grabbed his clipboard and a pen to write it down. “What’s that, Mom?”

  “I think that Beth Conroy needs to go out and have some fun. Why don’t you take her dancing?” Before Jake could respond, she turned to Dex. “Don’t you think so, dear?”

  Dex lowered the paper so that only his eyes were showing. “Sounds like a good idea to me, Em.”

  Jake slid his clipboard onto the counter and crossed his arms. “If this isn’t a setup, I don’t know what is. You two have to stop your matchmaking. Just because you had a couple successes with Cousin Laurie and Harry at the feed store and Betty Summerville and Rich O’Brien—”

  “Don’t forget Miss Spader, the librarian, and Delbert Montrain,” Em added.

  “The jury’s still out on that one, Em,” Dex said.

  Jake shook his head. “Beth Conroy and I don’t have a thing in common. Besides, I’m too busy with Wheelchair Rodeo.”

  “Son, you have it organized inside and out. Your mother and I can keep an eye on things tonight. You go out and have a little fun.”

  “Dad, it’s my responsibility.”

  Dex waved him away. “We’ve all agreed to share the responsibility. Now, go ask that little gal out and kick up your heels.”

  “And,” Em added, “don’t forget that she’s a contest winner. We owe it to her to show her a good time.”

  “I agree with your mother. Both of you certainly could use a good time.”

  Em laid a hand on Jake’s arm. “After the campfire, the kids will be going to bed. We have more than enough volunteers, and most of them are well-trained veterans of the last two WRs. There’s nothing that we can’t handle.”

  No sense arguing with them, and he wasn’t about to tell them that he’d already thought about asking Beth out. That would just encourage them. “Okay. I’ll take her out. If I don’t, I’ll never hear the end of it from you two.”

  “Fine.” Dex got up from his seat at the table and looked at his watch. “Let’s go. We don’t want to be late for the opening.”

  As Jake tucked his shirt into his jeans, they walked out to the flagpole. His mother would lead the Pledge of Allegiance. After that, his father would read his Cowboy/Cowgirl Prayer. He had written it for the first Wheelchair Rodeo three years ago, and reading it was now a tradition.

  Jake scanned the crowd for Beth. He spotted her standing off to the side, not by Kevin. Maybe what he’d said about giving the kid some space had actually struck a chord with her. She had on a dark pair of jeans that looked new and a pretty blue T-shirt. Her hair looked like spun gold in the morning sun.

  He knew the exact second she spotted him. Her mouth thinned into a tight line and she looked away. What the hell had he done now? Thinking back to last night, he remembered leaving her cabin on good terms.

  The woman could be as prickly as a cactus—but there was something about her… She was both tough and vulnerable. It would have been easy for her to crumble when her husband died and Kevin was injured, but she was a fighter.

  He’d made it a point to read Kevin’s file. “I want my mother to have a vacation because she looks tired all the time and she worries too much,” the boy had written. That little bit said a lot.

  Maybe she did need a night on the town and a little Jake Dixon charm.

  He decided to ask her out. They’d drive over to the Last Chance Saloon on the outskirts of Mountain Springs. They’d do a little boot scootin’, have a few laughs and a couple of drinks.

  Yes. That’s just what Beth Conroy needed.

  He looked tired.

  Or hungover.

  Or both.

  Beth glanced over at Jake. He had dark shadows under his eyes and there was a slight slump to his shoulders. He stifled a yawn.

  Last night, she had been tempted to go storming over to the boys’ bunkhouse, pound on the blue door and wheel her son right out of the place.

  But when she’d glanced through the window, the kids had been gathered in a circle and a coup
le of cowboys were telling stories.

  So she’d backed off.

  Looking away from him, she listened as one of the kids played an off-key trumpet. K.C. and Ramon raised the flag. Emily Dixon led everyone in the Pledge of Allegiance.

  Then it was Dexter Dixon’s turn to speak.

  “As sure as the sun rises and sets each day

  And the mountains stand strong

  We will try to do our best.

  Not just now, but every day of our lives.

  That’s the cowboy and the cowgirl way.”

  There was a moment of silence and then Dex Dixon shouted, “Welcome, contestants and volunteers, to Wheelchair Rodeo!”

  Beth hooted and yelled with everyone. She was just wishing she had a cowboy hat to throw in the air like everyone else, when one suddenly appeared in her hands.

  “Thought you’d like it,” Jake said.

  The deep voice, the unique scent, the blue eyes with the laugh lines, the thin scars on his face, the complex cowboy who thought to bring her a hat—this was the package that was Jake Dixon. He had the power to get her blood boiling with one sentence.

  “Try it on.”

  It fit perfectly. “A white hat must mean I’m a good guy.”

  “Are you?” Jake asked.

  “Absolutely.”

  He shrugged and grinned. “Too bad.”

  Her breath caught. “Yes. Too bad.” For just once, she’d like to throw caution to the wind and do something totally out of character, maybe even with Jake Dixon.

  “It was one of the first hats I won at a small rodeo in Kaycee back when I was in high school. It was too small for me, but it fits you perfectly. It’s yours.”

  “Thank you” was all she managed to say before Clint Scully grabbed Jake’s arm and asked him a question.

  Cowboys with clipboards began dividing the kids into groups. Kevin wheeled away without a goodbye.

  “Well, I’d better get moving,” Jake said, looking back at Beth. “What do you have planned for the day?”

  “I’ll watch the program a bit, but first, I’m going to join the crowd at the mess hall and have some coffee. Then there’s a book calling me that I borrowed from the lobby library. I’m looking forward to rocking on my porch and reading it.”

  “How about going dancing with me tonight?”

  His question took her by surprise. It seemed like a lifetime ago that she’d last danced.

  “Kevin’ll be fine. There’s a bonfire tonight and a sing-along. There’ll be plenty of marshmallows along with plenty of supervision.”

  “I-I—” It was on the tip of her tongue to decline, but she couldn’t get the words out.

  “Nothing fancy. Just jeans. How about eight o’clock? I’ll be free by then.”

  She didn’t answer.

  “Great! I’ll pick you up at your cabin.”

  Before she could catch her breath, he was halfway to the corral.

  “Why didn’t I say no?” she mumbled, but she knew the reason.

  She wanted to go.

  Chapter Six

  Beth had planned only to have coffee at the dining hall, but Cookie insisted that she needed “fattening up” and handed her a dish heaped with home fries, scrambled eggs, bacon and a slab of ham. He was a beanpole of a man who obviously didn’t eat his own cooking.

  What could she do? Cookie had obviously never heard that greaseless cooking was a good thing.

  She found a newspaper at one of the tables and sat down with her red plastic tray. Taking a sip of coffee, she opened the Wyoming Angler and read about how the trout were biting at Absaraka Lake and the best bait were night crawlers and salmon eggs. Ick.

  She was reading that for catching catfish the angler should do something with chicken liver, when Emily Dixon pulled up a chair across from her.

  “How are you doing, Beth? Having fun?”

  “I am. It’s a wonderful place. And I’ve never had so much time alone. It takes getting used to.”

  “And Kevin?”

  “He’s in his cowboy glory. I can’t thank you enough for picking us to win your contest. A week here is just what we needed. My cabin is so homey, and I love the mountains and the horses and the fresh air—just everything.”

  “Dex and I love every square inch of this ranch. So does Jake, but he doesn’t spend a lot of time here, with all the traveling he does. My other boys are busy going off in other directions. Jake’s our only hope to take over the ranch.”

  Beth swallowed a mouthful of eggs. “How many other sons do you have?”

  “Ty is in vet school at Cornell University in New York. Cody can’t decide if he’s going to be the next Alan Jackson or a social worker, so mostly he’s a professional student. He’s at Texas A&M, probably changing his major as we speak.” Em clasped her hands together. “I have a daughter, too. Karen. She’s going to the University of Nevada at Las Vegas. Our Karen has always enjoyed the big-city lights and excitement.”

  “And Jake’s the bull rider,” Beth said. “He never went to college?”

  “The ink wasn’t dry yet on his high school diploma when he went on the road to follow the rodeos, but he has excellent business sense and a way with animals and children.”

  “Yes, he does,” Beth said.

  “All the women chase after him, too, but no one’s struck his interest. Until you.” Emily’s eyes twinkled. “I hear you’re going dancing tonight.”

  Beth’s mouth hung open like a trout in Absaraka Lake anticipating a night crawler or a salmon egg.

  “He wanted to take you dancing something fierce, so of course, Dex and I volunteered to watch things here.”

  “That’s…really nice of you.” Beth was at a loss for words.

  “Jake’s a good man, Beth. He’s just been dealt a couple of bad hands lately.”

  “He seems to be a good man, but…” She didn’t want to question his mother about his drinking problem, nor the half-dozen other worries she had about getting close to him.

  “But?”

  She hesitated. “But I’m not looking to get involved. Not with Jake. Not with anyone.” Beth toyed with the fried potatoes on her plate.

  “No one’s asking you to get involved.” Emily patted her hand. “You just go and have fun on your date. Everyone will keep an eye on Kevin.”

  Her heart fluttered. Date? She hadn’t considered that she was going on a date. That put a whole different light on things.

  A volunteer with “EMT” on her name tag approached their table, requesting Emily’s attention on a supply matter. They both said their goodbye’s and hurried off. Beth was alone again, glad she didn’t have to think about Jake or dates or anything else.

  She took a bite of ham, speared some fried potatoes, picked up the Wyoming Angler and read about using worm harnesses to catch walleyes.

  To work off her cholesterol-laden breakfast, Beth decided to take a walk around the grounds. She found herself drawn to the corral and the horses gathered in the shade of the barn.

  A petite woman with short red hair and freckles came over and introduced herself. Maggie told her that her daughter was in the Wheelchair Rodeo program and was just about to have a riding lesson in the corral.

  “My son Kevin’s in it too. It’s a great program.”

  “It definitely is. Heather couldn’t talk about anything else for months.”

  “Kevin was the same.”

  They were talking more about their kids when suddenly, a young girl about Kevin’s age flew out of the barn, wheeling frantically into the corral. Long red hair streamed out behind her and she sobbed to the point of hiccups.

  Maggie grabbed the top rail of the fence and yelled. “Heather! Heather Ann, what are you doing?”

  There were horses in the corral and, tame or not, it wasn’t good for Heather to be there alone. As Beth and Maggie began to climb the corral fence to rescue the girl, Beth noticed two cowboys rushing toward Heather. Jake appeared from nowhere and began walking toward the girl. He waved the
volunteers away.

  Beth put a hand on Maggie’s arm. “Wait a second. Let’s see how Jake handles this.”

  Heather stopped wheeling as Jake called her name. Struggling on the uneven ground, he finally reached her. He knelt on one knee, his hand reaching out to steady himself on the arm of Heather’s chair.

  “What’s wrong, honey?”

  She tried to talk, but all she could do was hiccup.

  “I have to go to her,” Maggie insisted.

  “Trust me. Just wait.”

  Maggie reminded Beth of herself. A few days ago—yesterday even—she would have flown over the fence and run to Kevin. Now she was the one telling this young mother to wait before intervening?

  Jake pulled a red bandana from his pocket and handed it to the girl. “So what’s the problem?” Jake asked Heather. “It can’t be as bad as all that.”

  “I don’t like my horse.” Heather sniffed. “I was too late to get the horse that I really want. That horse was taken.”

  “What horse do you have now?”

  “Smoke. He’s a boring gray. I want the beautiful golden one.”

  “Smoke’s real name is Smoke Signal. He’s the great-great-grandson—actually I don’t know how many greats—of a horse that was owned by an Indian warrior. A real Indian princess loaned Smoke to Wheelchair Rodeo. Did you know that?”

  The small hitch in her shoulders ceased as her eyes grew as wide as saucers. “Really?”

  “Really.” Jake nodded. “Her Indian name is Gentle Fawn, and she doesn’t let just anyone ride Smoke. They have to be really special. Just like you.”

  “Really? Wow!” She wiped her wet face with the bandana. “Can I meet Gentle Fawn?”

  “You’ve met her already. She’s the bunkhouse nurse, Fawn Murray.”

  “Fawn’s a real Indian princess?”

  “She sure is. Ask her. Now, let me see about getting you that palomino.”

  “No! Um…uh, I think I’d like to keep Smoke Signal after all.”

  “Are you sure?”

  “Yes.”

  “Okay. Now, do you think you can help me up?”

  Heather laughed as Jake clowned around trying to stand from his squat position. But having seen him limp often in the past couple of days, Beth knew he probably couldn’t get up easily. She wanted to help him herself, but knew it was better for his ego if she just stayed in the shadows.