Although there was no way that twenty minutes had passed, he removed the poultice and lowered his leg to the floor. Emboldened he pushed himself to the edge of the couch and, putting all of his weight on his left leg, he stood. He shifted his weight so that it was evenly distributed.
And felt absolutely no pain. None.
He whirled around as he heard the screen door open. His eyes met Fiona's curious gaze.
"Unbelievable." He took a step toward her, hardly able to believe that his ankle could take his weight. It felt better than it had this morning. He took several more steps toward her. "Fiona, what have you done to me?"
Chapter Ten
Fiona's heart soared when she saw Cody walk without wincing. Her gold glitter had worked its magic. She resisted the urge to clap her hands together like a small child who'd just been awarded the grand prize. Instead, she cocked her head to the side and smiled playfully. "Now who wants to sit around and talk?"
Cody's answering grin, and the relief that practically radiated from him, made her decision to tap into her precious supply of glitter worth it.
Within the half-hour they had packed up, loaded Chica into the horse trailer, and were on I-10 west headed for the Arizona border.
Within twenty-four hours, while sitting in the stands at the rodeo grounds, Fiona knew that she was in terrible trouble. The ride into Tucson had been wonderful, Cody felt in top shape, the boys had been absolute angels, and Cody's cowboy buddies had been warm and welcoming. Cody himself had been kind, attentive, sweet...the perfect gentleman. These had been the best few days of her life. And she'd never been more miserable.
She gazed around the rodeo grounds, her eyes and ears registering a myriad of sights and sounds. There were families, cowboys, groups of friends, animals all existing in harmony, all gathered together to celebrate a sport that was more American than baseball. This was Cody's world, every bit as much, or even more than the ranch back in Texas was. This was his past, and his future.
Fiona closed her eyes and struggled to conjure up an image of Piccadilly Circus. Leicester Square. Buckingham Palace for crying out loud. But she came up with nothing. And that was a sign. A sign it was time for her to go.
How could she have lost all connection to her dream life in just a few days? No, this was insanity. Her arrival in Texas, trip through New Mexico, and now her time in Arizona was nothing but a massive distraction from what she really wanted. It had to stop.
She knew just who to call.
"Liam, I need your help," she spoke in a low whisper into her cell phone. "Is there any way you can come here? Please."
"Turn around."
Fiona did and nearly jumped out of skin to see he was standing right behind her. "Liam!"
He shoved his phone into his pocket and leaned in to kiss her cheek. Fiona took a quick step back and looked around.
"Oh, sorry, is your cowboy around?" Liam didn't try to hide his amusement. "I don't want to cramp your style."
"Don't be silly, and don't call him my cowboy." Fiona took Liam by the elbow and guided him to an area of the bleachers that were relatively empty. "Thank you for coming so quickly," she said after they sat.
Liam smiled. "You need me, we're here."
"We?" This was going to take some getting used to. She glanced around. "Tessa's here?"
"She said she wanted to come and see what it is about cowboys that make so many mortal women weak in the knees, or something like that." He patted her shoulder. "But I'm here for you so tell me what's going on. Where's Cody?"
"He wanted his nephews to try mutton busting."
Liam laughed loudly enough that several spectators turned to look at them. "I love it. You sound like a proper cowgirl. You look like one too." He studied her red leather boots. "I bet you'd like a pair of those covered in gold glitter, wouldn't you?"
Fiona groaned. "Don't talk to me about gold glitter."
"It sounds like I got here just in time, judging by the look on your face. What do you need?"
"Get me out of here."
"No." He stood.
Fiona pulled him back down. He'd never denied her a single request in all the years they'd worked together. Why was he starting now? "Don't leave. Please."
He shook his head, his expression sympathetic. "I can't help you with this. It's between you and Cody. But I understand how scared you are."
"I'm not scared."
His eyebrows rose. "Aren't you?"
Her eyes filled with tears. She shook her head but couldn't manage to speak. She'd never been able to lie to Liam. She wiped away her tears.
Liam reached into his pocket and handed her a neatly folded white cotton handkerchief.
She laughed through her tears. "Thank you." She dabbed her eyes. "A gentleman with a handkerchief for a damsel in distress. Such an old-fashioned notion."
"You know, Fiona, some of the best things in life never go out of style. Like good manners, and like love."
She stiffened. "Who's talking about love?"
"That's why I'm here, so let's not pretend we both don't know that." His gaze was probing. "Matters of the heart don't usually go according to a master plan. Falling for someone who comes from a different world than the one you live in can really shake you up."
Fiona nodded. "I can't believe any of this is real. Is it some kind of test?"
"Test?"
She searched his face for a sign that he was being coy but she couldn't see any evidence of it. "I thought perhaps you were testing my resolve to see if I really wanted to go to London."
"Do you?"
"Yes. Of course I do. It's not like I have a real choice to make here."
Liam's smile was kind. "You make whatever decision you need to, and I'll support you totally. But you owe it to yourself to at least be honest when you make your choice."
She nodded, her throat was tight with unshed tears.
Liam placed an arm around her shoulders. He didn't say anything. He didn't have to. He'd always understood her a heartbeat before she understood herself.
"Now," he said after several long moments, "I'm going in search of my wife before she decides to trade me in for a cowboy." He stood and drew her to her feet. He squeezed her hands. "And you have two little boys and one grown man down there that want you to be with them. That's where you belong."
"Thank you doesn't seem like enough." She laid a hand over her heart. "I'm so lucky to call you friend."
"Right back at you. It's our life's work to make other people's wishes come true, but that doesn't mean that our wishes can't come true too." And then he was gone, taking the bleachers two at a time until he disappeared out of sight.
Fiona watched him go with more than a little regret. He made everything sound so easy, as if she should know where she belonged. In London? Or with Cody? But it wasn't clear.
Not to her.
***
"How can I ever thank you?" Cody held Fiona in his arms, swaying in time to the music. He'd felt like a shy school boy when he'd asked Fiona if she'd like to attend the annual Barn Dance with him. The feel of her this close to him was as near to heaven as he'd ever imagined he was going to get. Her head lay on his shoulder as if they'd been custom made for each other.
"Your ankle doesn't hurt?"
"I've never felt better." Those were the truest words he'd ever spoken and he wasn't just referring to his ankle. "Are you going to tell me how you made my sprain disappear?"
She lifted her head and looked him square in the eye. "Nope. It's an old family secret so don't ask again."
"Yes, ma'am." He tightened his hold on her. "But I owe you, remember that."
Fiona laid her head back on his shoulder without responding, which struck him as odd. She'd been quiet all evening. Preoccupied? Worried? He couldn't tell. But maybe it was just the newness of the rodeo circuit. The horses, the crowds, the hectic energy of the holding areas, arena, the excitement and anticipation in the air; it was home away from home to him. But he could see where it mig
ht overwhelm someone new to it. "You're not worried about the boys are you?"
She laughed. "I'm more worried about your brave soul of a friend who volunteered to watch them. I don't think he or his wife will ever be the same again."
Cody grinned. "This evening will probably put them off having kids for awhile."
"You can't fool me." Fiona looked up at him. "You were about to burst from pride when Mitchell managed to stay on the back of that sheep a full four seconds. Admit it."
"Okay, yeah, I'm proud." They twirled around the dance floor in silence for a few moments. "It's special to see the boys experience a piece of my world."
He felt Fiona stiffen in his arms. "What's wrong?" But right in the middle of the dance floor wasn't the place for her to confide in him. He led her off the dance floor and out of a set of double doors to an outdoor patio. He stopped when they were in a quiet corner. "What is it?"
She shook her head but wouldn't look at him.
"Hey," he placed a finger under her chin and lifted it so he could look into her eyes. "Fiona, I want you to know that you can say anything to me." He cupped her face in his hands and traced her cheekbones with his thumbs. "Anything." He watched as her eyes grew moist.
"Can we talk about it later, Cody? Please."
"Of course." He leaned down and kissed her forehead. "Consider it a standing offer."
"Thank you." Her voice was barely above a whisper.
He took a step back and held out his hand to her. When she took a hold of it, he felt a rush of warmth straight to his heart. "I think we'd better call it an evening."
"Right, you've got your big ride tomorrow."
He nodded. He did need to get some rest and shift into competition mode but that wasn't the main reason he'd suggested they head back to the hotel. The truth was that if he spent so much as another moment with her, he wasn't going to be able to trust himself to remain a gentleman. He wanted to spend forever with her. And as crazy as that made him, he was going to tell her tomorrow.
Right after his ride.
Chapter Eleven
"Boys, look. There's your uncle." Fiona pointed to where Cody stood in the midst of a group of cowboys. The clothes he wore, faded blue Levi's, a crisp white cotton shirt, black boots and a black cowboy hat, made him virtually undistinguishable from the other competitors. He wore his compe titor number on the back of shirt but she didn't need that to pick him out of the crowd. Her eyes went straight to him as if he were the only man around. To her he was.
"Look, he's waving to us," Mitchell cried. Both boys jumped to their feet and waved their arms wildly. Fiona waved along with them, her face stretching into a huge smile when Cody tipped his hat in her direction. When he laid his hand over his heart, she did the same, and for a single magical moment it was as if they were the only two people in the world.
After the national anthem, the first event of the day was team roping. Much to her surprise, she enjoyed it immensely. Between the beautiful breeze, sunshine, and the blue sky, Fiona decided that February in Arizona was a small slice of heaven. The second event was tie-down roping and watching it gave Fiona a newfound appreciation for the teamwork between a cowboy and his horse. Between the novelty of watching new events, the gorgeous weather, and the boys' good company, she was able to keep her anxiety about watching Cody compete at bay.
"And now, Ladies and Gents, it's time for the competition that wears and tears at a cowboy's body more than any other. That's right, it's time for the bareback bronc riding event." The team of announcers both had mesmerizing voices that went a long way to keeping Fiona interested. She sat on the edge of her seat.
"Our first competitor is twenty-two year Tanner Bradshaw from Bismarck, North Dakota. How about we show Tanner a warm Tucson welcome before he rides?"
The crowd responded with enthusiastic cheers as the chute burst open. Fiona watched in shock as the horse bucked so high and so hard that it hardly seemed to have its hooves on the ground for three of the eight second ride. She held her breath until the two pickup men got close enough to carry the rider off.
She sat back in her seat, her heart hammering. "What went wrong?" she asked Mitchell. "Why did the horse go crazy like that?"
The boys exchanged puzzled glances. "The horse didn't go crazy. That was a good ride," Mitchell explained. "It just didn't like the flank strap." He pointed to the horse who was trotting out of the arena. "See how calm it is now?"
Fiona watched the horse exit through the gate before glancing around at the other spectators who filled the stands. No one looked particularly disturbed by the fact that a horse had bucked so furiously that the cowboy on his back looked like a rag doll trapped in the jaws of an angry dog. And Cody was going to do this? The thought turned her stomach.
"So now we just need to hope that your uncle gets a really quiet, calm horse."
"No!" Brian jumped to his feet. "That's not what we want."
"Why ever not?"
Mitchell frowned at his little brother. "Sit down and let me explain this." He turned to Fiona. "Both the cowboy and the horse get a score based on how they perform. So we want Uncle Cody to get a horse that bucks hard and high."
"And what does your uncle have to do? Just hold on?"
Mitchell nodded. "Yes, with one hand. The other he has to keep in the air." He shrugged. "That's pretty much it."
Except that wasn't it because the next cowboy came out of the bucking chute on a horse that looked every bit as wild as the first, yet the buzzer sounded half way through his ride. "Alright, Ladies and Gents, let's hear it for Sawyer Hale from Stillwater, Oklahoma. He'll be heading home with nothing but the memory of an appreciative Arizona audience."
Fiona looked at Mitchell. "What just happened?"
"He didn't mark out," he said with all the aplomb of a seasoned rodeo veteran.
"English, please."
Mitchell leaned in closer as if to answer discretely and save her the embarrassment of anyone overhearing her naive question. "He's supposed to keep his spurs above the horse's shoulders when he comes out of the chute, at least until the horse's feet hit the ground for the first time."
Fiona stared at him. "You're a pretty clever little guy to know all of this."
Mitchell shrugged, a half smile on his lips. "I have my moments."
Fiona laughed and ruffled his hair affectionately. "Yes, you do." She turned to Brian. "Doesn't watching this make you nervous?"
"Not really. None of those horses weigh anything close to what a bull does. Some of them can weigh two thousand pounds. Now that would hurt if one kicked you, wouldn't it?"
Fiona nodded, but she left unsaid that a bucking horse could do plenty of harm to a person who wasn't wearing either a helmet or a suit of body armor. Clearly, the boys were proud of their uncle and if they were too young to be terrified by what he was doing, she wasn't about to enlighten them.
The wait for Cody to ride was excruciating. Her heart was in her throat each time a competitor rode. When Cody's turn came, Fiona had to force herself to breathe.
When the chute opened and the announcer began commentating on Cody's ride, she prayed as fervently as she ever had for the seconds to tick by without incident. But by the end of the third second, Fiona knew something was wrong. Whether it was her gut instinct or the slight hesitation in the announcer's narration, she didn't know. She jumped to her feet but couldn't tell what wasn't right, other than that the horse was bucking awfully close to the railing.
"What's wrong?" she asked aloud, but the boys were too fixated on watching the ride to answer. However, a man sitting in front of her turned around, his face grim.
"That rider's going to have to get off that horse now or else he's likely to get pinned against the chute, which makes it easy for the horse to kick the life out of him." He shook his head. "He should just let go and forfeit the ride."
Transfixed, Fiona stared in horror as Cody held on. The sound of the horse's hooves slamming into the metal barrier echoed through the open air are
na. As if through an echo chamber, she could hear the indecision in the announcers' voices as they tried to describe a ride gone very wrong. Fiona glanced at the clock. How long could eight seconds possibly last?
As if in answer to her question, the buzzer sounded. Along with everyone around her, she stood and watched in horror as Cody was trapped on the bucking horse. There was no room for him to jump off. The horse's bucking intensified as if it knew its eight seconds were up and there was still a human on its back. A flurry of activity ensued around the gate, voices rose, and the pickup men worked to entice the horse away from the railings. There was no way they could remove the flank strap until the horse moved, but it only continued to furiously throw Cody's body against the metal siding.
She felt Brian tug on her hand. "Miss Fiona, what's happening?"
But she couldn't respond. She couldn't move. She could barely breathe. She closed her eyes against the horror of what was happening but she opened them again as a collective horrified gasp rippled through the arena. She strained to see through the commotion but she couldn't see Cody's white shirt. He was down, between the horse and barrier.
"Fiona," a voice next to her called.
She whirled around. It was Liam. His grave expression told her that Cody's world had just forever changed.
***
Cody struggled to open his eyes but his eyelids, as heavy as steel, wouldn't cooperate. He needed to move, wanted to move, but he couldn't. Not a muscle. Breathe. He could breathe. Barely. His chest was heavy. Why weren't his eyes opening? Trying to think was like slogging through waist deep mud. An image of Fiona and the boys flitted across his mind but he couldn't catch it before it was gone. Why didn't anything hurt?
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