The Cowboy Way

by Christine Wenger

  Jake finally stood, paused to take some deep breaths and rubbed his leg. Then he wheeled Heather into the barn.

  “Do you think that story about the Indian princess and all is true?” Maggie asked Beth.

  “Well, Fawn Murray is a nurse in the girls’ bunkhouse. I’ve met her.”

  “You know, Beth, Jake’s really wonderful with kids.” Maggie sighed. “And the man is gorgeous.”

  “Yes,” said Beth. “Yes, he is.”

  For the rest of the day, she couldn’t get Jake out of her mind or out of her vision. No matter where she went, he seemed to be nearby with a riding class, a roping class, or sitting on a bale of hay flipping papers over his clipboard.

  Later, while she was on her porch reading, a riding class, led by Jake, came off the Chisholm Trail.

  She admired how he looked at one with the horse. There was no question that Jake Dixon was a real cowboy. He wore the traditional boots and hat and the clothes, but there was something more. Not only did he look at home in the saddle, he looked like part of this rugged place.

  He waved as he rode by. “Hey, how about saddling up Thunder and joining the next class in a half hour? We’re riding the Santa Fe Trail. You could use more practice for the overnight trail ride.”

  “Sure.” She put a bookmark in her place. She could have hurried inside, but she took the opportunity to watch him ride away….

  Then she dashed inside to get her cowboy hat and to put on some makeup. She never wore the stuff when she wasn’t working, but today she would.

  It wasn’t just being with Jake that made her eager. She welcomed the opportunity to ride Thunder again. Hurrying into the barn, she grabbed a carrot from the bin in front. She stopped at Thunder’s stall and fed it to him, then ran a hand over the velvety softness of his neck.

  “We’re going for a ride, Thunder.”

  The horse nodded his great head as if he understood.

  “I’m going to saddle you, and I’d appreciate if you’d help me out.”

  Thunder shook his head from side to side.

  “Aww…come on.”

  She saw his saddle blanket on a rack. Easy. After getting the saddle, she heaved it up on his back.

  “Now, don’t blow yourself up. I don’t want to push my knee against your belly. Promise me.”

  The horse didn’t move.

  She set up the cinch and tightened it with all her strength.

  “Thanks. Now the bridle.” She pulled it from the hook.

  He let her put it on without a problem.

  She took in a deep breath and let it out. “I think we’re all set now.”

  Her nerves were jumping with excitement. She was going to ride, and she was going to ride with Jake. She liked his company, but she wasn’t sure about her date with him. That was too…well…intimate.

  She heard a sharp whistle and took it as a signal that the Santa Fe Trail ride was starting. Leading Thunder out of the barn, she joined the others.

  “Is he cinched tight?” Jake asked. “You don’t want to fall off, saddle and all.”

  “As tight as I can get it.”

  “I’ll check it.”

  He started to get down from his horse, but she waved him back. She didn’t want him to exert himself. “No. It’s fine. Really.”

  Jake nodded. “Mount up, then.”

  It took her four tries of hopping on one foot to get into the saddle. When she did, she gave a thumbs-up sign. The Wheelchair Rodeo kids applauded.

  Jake returned her thumbs-up, then motioned with a jerk of his head for her to fall in line next to him.

  He gave her a wink as she joined him. “We’ll be riding drag.”

  She must have looked puzzled, so he added, “At the end of the line. I want to keep a good eye on the kids.”

  “Is everyone ready?” He held his arm up as if he was making a right turn.

  “Ready, boss!” K.C. was leading the ride. A young cowboy she’d met at the chuck hall last night by the name of Troy was positioned in the middle.

  “Are the Wheelchair Rodeo riders ready?” Jake shouted.

  “Yeah!”

  “Then let’s ride,” Jake said, pointing his finger at the woods straight ahead.

  As K.C. nudged his horse forward, the rest of the horses fell in line.

  After they were under way, Jake turned to Beth. “When I saw you reading on the porch, I remembered that I wanted you to get some more practice in. Kevin’s all set. He rode this morning and right now he’s roping. He’s a great little roper. I think he’s going to win the competition.”

  She already knew exactly what Kevin was doing, but it was nice of Jake to let her know that Kevin was okay.

  “Hope I didn’t disturb your plans for the day,” he said.

  “No. Not at all. I was hoping for the chance to ride again.”

  “Then you’ll like the Santa Fe Trail. It goes through the woods and the prettiest meadow that you’ve ever seen.”

  “Sounds wonderful.”

  She took a deep breath. Whenever she smelled pine from now on, she’d always think of the Gold Buckle Ranch and riding Thunder. She’d think of Jake Dixon too.

  “Jake?”

  “Yes?”

  “I saw you with Heather Ann. You were wonderful with her.”

  “It was nothing.”

  “It was everything. You made her feel special.”

  Her eyes met his, and he smiled.

  Then those blue eyes twinkled with mischief. “Why, Beth, be careful. I might think you’re starting to like me.”

  She chuckled. “Heather loved your Indian princess story.”

  “It was rather brilliant, wasn’t it?”

  “Sure was. Is it true?”

  “A cowboy never lies.”

  She laughed. “Is that part of the cowboy code of honor?”

  “It’s Jake Dixon’s code of honor.”

  Beth liked that. Jake didn’t lie, and he was wonderful with kids—two admirable traits. He was also kind to animals and looked great in jeans. What more could a woman want?

  They rode in silence, comfortable with each other. Beth enjoyed the chirping of the birds and the clip-clop of the horses’ hooves on the path. The kids were chattering happily but she was able to block them out and just take pleasure in the scenery—and the man next to her.

  Soon they broke out of the cool of the woods into a meadow of wildflowers. The transition took her breath away. The breeze moved the flowers and the tall shiny grass in an undulating rhythm. It was much warmer here, and the scent of flowers permeated the air. She recognized some of the flowers from the bouquet that Jake had given her.

  “I wish this could be bottled into perfume. I’d always wear it.”

  “And I’d always move close to you so I could smell it.”

  She laughed. Jake had a way of making her laugh—the way Brad used to when they were just married, but that was a long time ago. In recent years, she couldn’t remember a time when she’d laughed as much as she had on this trip.

  But she had to stop comparing Jake to Brad—even though Brad was her only point of reference.

  Beth leaned over in the saddle to look at a monarch butterfly sitting on a lacy, white flower and suddenly found herself flying sideways through the air, the flower and the butterfly rising up to meet her.

  She gave an unladylike grunt when she landed on the ground, saddle and all, right on top of her hat. She hoped the butterfly had escaped death. The kids laughed.

  Thunder nudged her with his nose, then dipped his head to graze.

  Jake dismounted and was by her side as fast as he could manage. He winced as he knelt down next to her. He was probably in more pain than she was.

  “Are you hurt?”

  “Only my pride.”

  He moved the saddle off her as if it were a toy, not thirty-five pounds of leather and whatever. He picked up her hat. It looked like a lopsided dinner plate.

  “K.C, move ’em out. Troy, you take drag. We’ll cat
ch up.”

  “Okay, boss,” K.C. said as Troy took position.

  Jake knelt down next to her as she lay in the wildflowers. His hands moved up and down her legs, checking for broken bones.

  She took a deep breath. His touch was gentle yet firm, sending tiny waves of pleasure through her.

  “Jake, I’m fine. Let me up.”

  As he changed position, she could see how he was hurting by the pain etched on his face.

  “Let me check your arms for broken bones.”

  He was so close. So close that she could see several tiny scars on his face. She couldn’t resist reaching up and touching one just below his eye.

  Jake stopped and stared at her.

  “Where did you get this?” she asked, not moving her finger.

  “Colorado Springs.”

  She could feel his breath on her face as he studied her, looked intently into her eyes as if he were thinking…wondering…

  She knew what he was going to do, knew she should stop it before it started—but she couldn’t. Only this once, she told herself. Maybe then she’d stop dreaming about him, stop fantasizing about him, stop wanting to touch him.

  Just this once.

  Lowering his head, Jake touched his lips to hers. It was tentative at first, as if he was testing her, wondering if she’d stop him—but she didn’t. The kiss deepened. Her hands clamped onto the soft material of his shirt, and she let them run down the length of his arms.

  She wanted to feel his weight on her, pressing her into the flowers. She heard herself moan as he traced her lips with his tongue. It had been so long…so long.

  And it felt so good.

  “Beth?”

  She heard her name, a mere whisper on the wind, like the butterfly that had danced on the white flower.

  “Beth.” His voice was strained. “I’d really like to finish what we started here, but I have to get back.”

  Her eyes shot open. Her cheeks flushed warm. “Oh!” What was she thinking? What was she doing? “I—I don’t know what came over me.” She scrambled to get up, to move as far away from Jake as she could. “I’m sorry. I must have…”

  “No. Don’t apologize! I’ve wanted to do that since you got off the plane.”

  She wanted to take the next plane back. “You must think I’m just another one of Jake Dixon’s groupies, right?”

  “I never said that.”

  “But that’s the way I feel.”

  “We both just did what we wanted to. What’s the harm?”

  The harm was that she wanted more from him than just one kiss. A lot more.

  She brushed herself off. “Let’s just get back to the others.” She picked up the saddle and lugged it over to where Thunder was grazing. She saddled the horse and pulled the cinch as hard as she could.

  Glancing back, she saw that Jake hadn’t moved. He was sitting, propped up by his arms, chewing on a blade of grass and watching her.

  “You have to knee him in the tummy,” Jake said.

  “I can’t.”

  “Then the same thing will happen again.”

  “Will you do it?”

  “Yeah, but I’m going to need a hand up. Will you get me the rope hanging from Lance’s saddle?”

  “I’ll help you up.”

  “I’m too heavy for you.”

  She did what he asked. “Are we going to drag you behind Lance all the way back to the Gold Buckle?”

  He laughed. “You’d like that, wouldn’t you.”

  She raised her eyebrows. “Well…”

  She watched as he worked the rope. He had it moving in a circle over his head. With a sharp jerk of his arm, he lassoed Lance’s saddle horn. She had to admire his skill.

  “Will you lead Lance slowly? Too fast and I’m going to go headfirst—and you’ll get your wish.”

  She led Lance as slowly as she could until Jake was on his feet and had dropped the rope. After a while, when he was steady, he walked over to Thunder and put a knee in the horse’s side. Beth groaned.

  “What kind of gentleman are you?” Jake asked. “You shouldn’t have done that to the lady.” Turning back to her, he held out his hand, and she thought he was going to kiss her again. She took his hand, but instead of another breathtaking kiss, he handed her Thunder’s reins. “He’s all set. You can get back on now.”

  In one smooth motion, he was on Lance’s back and gathering up the rope and looping it in a circle. Tying the rope to the saddle, he squinted at the distance.

  “If you’re ready, we could gallop across the meadow and catch up to the others. How about it?”

  She felt a warm rush of excitement. “Let’s go.” It only took her three tries to get into the saddle this time.

  He gave her some instruction. “Just relax. Feel his gait and go with it. Feel the motion. If you want to slow down, pull very gently on the reins. If things get out of control, yell and I’ll stop him. Ready?”

  She nodded.

  “Let’s go!” he said.

  Thunder was definitely up for a run. It felt as if the horse had launched himself off a springboard. The meadow was a blur of color as she raced behind Jake. The wind licked at her hat, so in a quick motion she pushed it down tighter on her head.

  Jake set the pace. At first she thought it was much too fast, but as she got more confident, she wanted to go even faster.

  She decided it would be fun to try to pass him, so she nudged Thunder a little with her heels. She leaned forward like jockeys do at a race. The horse’s muscles moved beneath her thighs. His mane flew in her face. The wind whipped her cheeks. She could hear Thunder’s blowing as he ran, hear the thud of the horses’ hooves.

  “Whooo-eee!” Jake yelled. He seemed to be enjoying the race as much as she.

  Still she didn’t have a prayer in beating him. The big black was too fast for Thunder, and Jake was too good a horseman for her.

  Beth could see other riders up ahead as Jake slowed Lance to a walk and Thunder followed suit.

  “Now that was fun!” she said.

  “Terrific! You did a great job. We’ll have to do that again sometime.”

  “I’d love to, but next time, I want a little head start.”

  He grinned but shook his head. “No way.”

  They rejoined the others and slowed to a meandering walk. Finally, she was able to reflect on the kiss they’d shared. She touched her lips. Had they really kissed? The butterflies still in her stomach told her they had. Passionately. Hard.

  But she reminded herself that nothing more could come of it. They were from two different worlds. And besides, she didn’t want to get involved with anyone, especially not Jake Dixon. He was the type of man she could easily lose her heart to. And she didn’t want a man in her life, not now. She was happy living with her son, just the two of them.

  But first and foremost, Jake Dixon was a drinker. She remembered the altercation at the airport, and then seeing him drinking last night. No way was she going to let another drinker in her life.

  More than that, he had hurt someone when drinking, and she couldn’t risk that ever again. She had ignored it once and Kevin had paid the price.

  Then why had she accepted his invitation to go out tonight?

  The first thing Beth noticed when her eyes adjusted to the dim light and smoke of the Last Chance Saloon was that people were sitting on saddles at the bar. Saddles for bar stools were a bit unusual, but that wasn’t what bothered her.

  “I thought you were taking me dancing. This place is a bar.”

  “It has a bar, but it’s also a pool hall, a meeting place and a restaurant. It’s where singers get some audience time with their bands. It’s where we can dance. We don’t have to sit at the bar.”

  He guided her to a small table by the dance floor, which was packed with people doing some kind of line dance.

  Jake’s foot tapped to the music. “Ready to boot scoot?”

  She tried to forget that she hated bars. “I should have told you to wear stee
l-toed boots,” she joked.

  “Never fear. Just follow me.” He held out his hands and she took them.

  With both his hands on her waist, they did some quick fox-trot-like steps. He was easy to follow. Then the tempo of the music increased and he had her twirling and promenading.

  “Ouch!” Jake said, as she stepped on his foot.

  “Sorry, this is all new to me.”

  “Yee-ow!”

  She laughed. “What are your feet doing under mine, anyway?” She was having a great time, and knew he was teasing her, but soon she realized that Jake was favoring his leg. “I’m kind of hot,” she lied. “Would you mind if we sat down for a while?”

  “No problem.” He led her off the dance floor and pulled out a chair for her, then just about collapsed onto his. He stretched his right leg out in front of him and let out a long breath.

  “How about something to drink?” he asked, when the waitress came to their table.

  “A glass of ice water, please.”

  “A glass of ice water for the lady, and I’ll have a beer.”

  She cringed at the thought of watching him drink. She realized that not everyone had a problem as extensive as Brad’s, but she hated what alcohol did to people. The waitress returned and set the water in front of her and beer before Jake. Before Beth could blink, he raised the bottle up to her in a toast and took a long draw. Setting it down, he licked his lips as though he didn’t want to waste a drop.

  She didn’t want to see Jake drink, didn’t want to watch him start down that path. She excused herself, went into the ladies room, splashed water on her face and fixed her makeup. Taking a couple of deep breaths, she walked back to the table—to find Jake surrounded by several gorgeous women.

  He stood when he saw her approach. “Ladies, would you excuse me? Beth and I are going to dance.”

  Jake’s “groupies” parted after eyeballing her from head to toe. They reluctantly waved goodbye to him. Two gave suggestive winks, and one heavily made-up, maroon-haired, well-endowed young woman slipped a piece of paper—with her phone number?—into the pocket of his shirt.