Beau: Cowboy Protector

by Marin Thomas

  “Lay off, Dad. You were a crappy father to Duke and me when we were kids. You haven’t earned the right to tell me what to do with my personal life. And just because you have feelings for Jordan doesn’t mean your relationship with her is more important than mine with Sierra. It’s your problem if you can’t live with that.” Beau walked off to the barn.

  “Where are you going? Your brother and Angie will be here any minute.”

  “I’m not hungry. Eat without me.” Beau went straight into his workshop. He had a few finishing touches to put on the Phillips saddle. Depending on how long he remained angry with his father, Phillips might get some fancy stitching in the leather that he hadn’t asked for.

  Less than an hour had passed when Duke appeared in the doorway. “I suppose Dad sent you out here,” Beau said.

  His brother didn’t deny the charge. Duke nodded to the saddle stand in the corner. “Is that one finished?”

  “Almost. I’m working on the toe fenders.” Beau motioned to the bench where various strips of leather lay.

  Duke examined the intricate stitching along the seat. “Pretty fancy for a work saddle.”

  “You didn’t come out here to discuss my leather-working skills, did you?”

  His even-tempered twin didn’t rise to the bait. “I remember the belts and wrist bands you made in middle school. You’ve come a long way from those days.”

  “I have you to thank for telling me I was nuts not to make money off my hobby.”

  “You repaid me when you made a saddle for my eighteenth birthday,” Duke said.

  “Keeping that a secret was tough.”

  “Is that why you put a lock on your workshop door?” Duke asked.

  “Heck, yes.” Beau dabbed a cloth in linseed oil then polished a toe fender.

  “You used to come out here when Dad was in a bad mood,” Duke said.

  “And you’d lock yourself in your bedroom and watch Westerns.” Beau set the cloth aside.

  “Is everything okay between you and Sierra?” Duke had finally stopped beating around the bush.

  “We’re fine.” They weren’t, but damned if Beau would discuss his troubled love life with his brother.

  “Dad wants you to back off for a while and allow Sierra a chance to come to grips with the reality of her situation,” Duke said.

  The last thing Sierra needed was to be left alone. Look at the trouble she’d already gotten into—drinking too much and drag racing. The risks she’d taken sent his blood pressure skyrocketing.

  “Angie and Jordan put a plate of leftovers in the fridge for you.” Duke checked his watch. “I’m on duty this afternoon.” He paused at the door. “Just a heads-up…Dad and Jordan are going to the movies later and he wants you to move the bulls to the north pasture.”

  “Figures.”

  “I could call Dinah. Maybe she can cover for me while I help you,” Duke said.

  “I’ll be fine. Thanks, though.”

  After Duke left, Beau flung the oil rag across the room. He didn’t want to give Sierra more space, but he didn’t have much of a choice.

  Space or no space, he and Sierra weren’t through yet.

  * * *

  SIERRA WAITED UNTIL the last possible moment before turning out the diner lights and heading up to her apartment. She’d managed to avoid her aunt all day but knew an inquisition awaited her. “It’s just me,” she said when she entered the living room. Her voice woke Jordan who’d fallen asleep on the couch with a book in her hands.

  “What time is it?”

  “Ten-thirty,” Sierra answered.

  “You’re closing up awfully late tonight.”

  “I did a little extra cleaning.”

  “Sit down.” Jordan patted the sofa cushion next to her.

  Sierra obeyed. “How are things between you and Joshua?”

  Her aunt’s cheeks turned pink. “I stayed the night at the ranch with him.”

  She and Beau had been…while Jordan and Joshua had been… Don’t go there. “I’m happy you and Joshua are getting along so well.”

  “It’s deeper than that, dear.”

  “You mean you might move here permanently?” That would be one worry off Sierra’s mind, knowing her aunt was close by to help her through the tough times ahead.

  “I’m fifty-eight years old and I’m not getting any younger. I want a second chance with Joshua, but first I need to make sure you’re okay.”

  “What do you mean? I’m fine.”

  “I have no doubt you will be fine, but right now you’re running scared.”

  Sierra opened her mouth to protest but nothing came out. Okay, so she was frightened of going blind. Most people would be, but that didn’t mean she was running from anything.

  “You didn’t tell anyone where you were went yesterday.”

  Guilty.

  “Beau said I should ask you what you were doing in Billings.”

  “I’m an adult, Aunt Jordan. I didn’t think I had to check in with you or my employees.”

  “That may be, but it was inconsiderate not to inform someone of your whereabouts. What if I’d gotten ill? Joshua wouldn’t have been able to reach you.”

  Guilt pricked Sierra. “Just because my eyesight isn’t the greatest doesn’t mean I have to give up my privacy and let everyone know my business.”

  “I understand how you’re feeling right now. You want to believe the test results were wrong and you’re praying the disease will somehow cure itself.”

  Yes, Sierra was struggling to accept her fate but deep down she felt time was running out and every minute that passed was a minute she couldn’t gain back before she went blind. No one was going to stop her from living each day to the fullest. “Aunt Jordan…”

  “Yes, dear.”

  “What did you do after the doctor told you that you’d eventually lose your sight?”

  “I cried for twenty-four hours straight. Poor Bob didn’t know what to do with me.”

  “After the tears…what then?”

  “A sense of urgency took over inside me. The first week I remained awake almost twenty-four hours a day, worried I’d miss something exciting if I went to sleep.”

  Bingo! That’s exactly how Sierra felt. “Did that feeling pass?”

  “Eventually. Your uncle insisted I needed something to focus on other than my deteriorating eyesight so he told me to get a job.”

  “A job?” That wasn’t the answer Sierra had expected.

  “Bob said I had to be able to take care of myself as I grew older, especially if I outlived him, which happened to be the case. And he was protecting his own interests.”

  “How so?”

  “He didn’t want my blindness to prevent him from doing the things he’d always enjoyed in life, like taking a yearly fishing trip to Canada with his buddies. He knew he couldn’t travel if he had to worry about leaving me alone at home.”

  “You make adjusting to your blindness sound easy.”

  “Easy?” Jordan laughed. “I was terrified. And the worst part was that I couldn’t show Bob how scared I was or he’d have slacked off on his tough love, and the progress I’d made would have been for nothing.” Jordan reached for Sierra’s hand. “I wish I’d had someone to confide in. Someone who’d gone through what I was going through. Someone to tell me that it would be okay. That I’d be okay.”

  Sierra wished she could ask Beau to stand by her side and help her, but she refused to be a burden to him. “I don’t know what I’m going to do if I have to sell the diner,” Sierra whispered. Cooking was her life’s blood. If she was forced to give up her sight so be it, but not being able to cook…that would be devastating.

  “Why would you have to sell the diner?” her aunt asked.

  “How would I know if one of the employees took money from the cash register? Or stole food from the pantry? They could rob me blind—no pun intended—and I wouldn’t know.”

  “Then don’t allow yourself to be taken advantage of. Memorize every inch
of your kitchen and pantry and rely on your friends to help watch over your employees.”

  “It seems…overwhelming.”

  “Running the diner will allow you to lead a fulfilling life. Even when you can’t see the food you prepare, you’ll be able to taste it. You’ll find that when you lose your sight, your sense of smell and taste will improve and that might even make you a better chef.”

  Sierra drew strength from her aunt’s reassurances. Nothing would weaken the blow of living in darkness, but working in the diner would give her a sense of purpose and a place to be every day—better to fumble around the kitchen than to sit in her apartment and feel sorry for herself. “I’m going to miss seeing the golden color of a perfectly baked pie crust and the soft pink tinge of my almond-raspberry frosting.”

  And Beau’s beautiful brown eyes.

  “Never underestimate the power of your memory. Your mind will recall all your favorite things in brilliant color.”

  As her aunt’s words soaked in, Sierra decided that once she tackled her bucket list she’d settle down and plan for her future. With her aunt’s help she was determined to keep the Number 1 Diner the most popular restaurant in town.

  * * *

  WEDNESDAY MORNING SIERRA entered the diner kitchen and set her backpack by the door. Before she’d taken a step toward the coffeepot, her cell phone went off. She checked the number. Beau. Again.

  Since she and Beau had returned from Billings on Sunday, he’d left her numerous voice mail messages. He claimed he was calling to make sure she was okay. Okay from what? Their lovemaking? The drag race? Their argument before leaving the motel? She understood her actions worried Beau and that he wanted her promise she wouldn’t go off and do something crazy, but right now the only person she was making promises to was herself. As a matter of fact, Beau’s overprotectiveness had pushed Sierra to schedule her next adventure sooner rather than later, before he or anyone else changed her mind.

  Sierra filled her thermos with coffee, grabbed her backpack and almost made it out the door before Irene waltzed into the kitchen. Darn. Sierra had been hoping to escape the diner without having to answer any questions.

  “Will you be back before eight or should I close up tonight?” Irene asked.

  “I’ll be back.” If she wasn’t, that meant she was stuck sleeping in her car in the mountains.

  “Have fun…wherever you’re off to.”

  “Thanks, Irene.” Sierra slipped outside, got into her car and drove toward the Bull Mountains where she planned to meet up with a bungee-jumping group and take her first and only leap off the railroad trestle bridge that spanned Sweetwater Canyon. The drive would take a half hour, and then the group would hike another twenty minutes to the bridge. Sierra’s blood pumped faster as she imagined free-falling three-hundred feet—the length of a football field.

  After today’s jump, the remaining items on her bucket list weren’t as exciting—a cruise, a shopping spree along Rodeo Drive, a Broadway play, a trip to Europe, and she wanted to visit Egypt.

  When Sierra parked at the ranger’s station she searched her backpack for her bucket list so she could cross off bungee jumping, but it was nowhere to be found. She must have left it in the pocket of her other coat—the one she’d worn Sunday to the racetrack. Backpack in hand, Sierra introduced herself to the other jumpers.

  By the time the group reached the trestle bridge, Sierra was huffing and puffing. Their leader, Scott, attached the gear to the bridge then checked the safety equipment. Sierra chatted with Lisa, a twenty-two-year-old graduate student from Montana State University who was visiting family in the area. She and her boyfriend, Alan, had planned this jump to celebrate their recent engagement. Sierra would have loved to invite Beau along today, but he’d have insisted the jump was too risky.

  Once the equipment was ready, Scott asked if Sierra would like to jump first and she agreed. He helped her into the body harness, which served as a backup to the ankle attachment, then he checked the length of the braided shock cord, explaining that it needed to be significantly shorter than the three-hundred-foot drop to allow the elastic to stretch. Once Sierra was ready, Scott assisted her over the bridge rail to a small platform that extended away from the structure. Sierra refused to glance down, instead she looked straight ahead at the beautiful pine-covered butte at the far end of the canyon.

  “Whenever you’re ready, Sierra,” Scott said.

  “I’ll take plenty of pictures.” Alan’s hobby was photography and he’d offered to snap photos of Sierra’s jump.

  One…two…three! Sierra launched herself into the air. The rush of the cold wind hitting her face snatched her breath as everything around became a blur. She’d been falling forever when the rope snapped her backward toward the top of the bridge—the going up almost as much fun as the going down.

  When Sierra’s rebound leveled off, she felt a hard jerk and the body harness tightened around her chest with crushing force. For a few terrifying seconds she twirled in a circle, then hung suspended over the dry riverbed filled with large boulders and jagged rocks. Her heart pounded with fear and her mind raced with horrifying images of the rope snapping sending her spiraling to her death. She resisted glancing over her shoulder, fearing any unnecessary movement might sever the cord.

  “Don’t move, Sierra! Help is on the way!”

  Her fate in the hands of others, Sierra dangled over the bridge, wishing she’d told Beau that, even though they couldn’t be together, she loved him.

  * * *

  “YOU SITTING DOWN?” Duke asked when Beau answered his cell phone.

  Beau had just finished loading hay onto the flatbed and was heading out to fill the bale feeders in the pasture. “Sitting down—fat chance.” He wiped his sweaty brow with the sleeve of his flannel shirt. “I’m working my ass off. Dad’s at home showering for his date with Jordan tonight. What’s going on?”

  “It’s Sierra.”

  Beau’s heart gave a tiny lurch. Sierra had ignored his phone calls the past few days and although he didn’t want to admit it, he was hurt. “What’s she gone and done now?”

  “I’m on my way up to the Bull Mountains. We got an emergency call from the park ranger. A bungee jumper got their gear caught on the old Johnston Railroad Trestle Bridge.”

  Beau swallowed hard as he walked quickly to his truck. He knew in gut without even asking. “It’s Sierra.”

  “’Fraid so. You heading up there?”

  “I’m on my way.” Cussing up a storm, Beau peeled out of the driveway. Once he turned onto the highway he dialed his father’s cell and left a message. He tried hard not to think about Sierra hanging precariously off a bridge. What the hell was she thinking—bungee jumping? She wasn’t a daredevil. She was a woman who spent her days cooking in the kitchen.

  By the time he arrived in the parking area at the head of the trail leading to the bridge, his muscles were tied in knots. He spotted Sierra’s car and several other vehicles, as well as Duke’s patrol unit. It was the fire-and-rescue truck that sent a cold chill down his spine. Making sure he had his phone, Beau entered the path. He’d never walked so fast in his life, and when he arrived on the scene he almost had a heart attack. Sierra dangled at least two hundred feet over the side of the bridge. Her head drooped forward and Beau feared she’d passed out. As he approached the group, he listened to the forest ranger speak.

  “We’re going to drop another rope down to Sierra and she’s got to attach it to the harness. There’s a small metal ring on the front where the clip can be secured.”

  The forest ranger pulled out a bullhorn and shouted instructions to Sierra, asking her to raise her hand if she understood him. Sierra lifted her arm only a few inches. Beau prayed to God she didn’t pass out before she attached the rescue rope to the body harness.

  The forest ranger tossed the rope over the bridge away from Sierra, then guided the rope closer until it bumped her body. No one said a word as they watched and waited for Sierra to grasp the rope. A
fter two attempts she held the end.

  “What’s wrong?” Beau asked the park ranger when Sierra fumbled with the self-locking hook.

  “She might be having trouble finding the ring. It’s small.” The ranger shouted encouragement but just when she located the ring, the safety rope slipped from her hand.

  Beau was sweating profusely as Duke stood at his side. The park ranger once again wiggled the rope close to Sierra and this time she succeeded in attaching the clip to the ring. The forest ranger and the bungee-jumping instructor slowly hoisted her up—the longest minute of Beau’s life. When they lifted her over the rail he rushed forward but was blocked by the paramedics who began taking Sierra’s vitals.

  Duke clamped a hand around Beau’s arm and he was grateful for the bruising hold. He’d rather square off with a bull any day than suffer the overwhelming helplessness he felt right now as he watched the paramedics work on Sierra.

  “Is she going to be okay?” he asked. No one answered. Unable to stand back and watch any longer he broke free of Duke’s hold and squeezed between the two paramedics. “Sierra, its Beau.” He knelt by her head. “Can you hear me, honey?” When her eyes remained closed, he leaned down and whispered, “You’re going to be okay. Hang in there.” She had to be fine—he refused to believe anything else.

  The hike down the mountain with Sierra on a stretcher was long and arduous. When they reached the trailhead, Duke spoke to the paramedics. “I’ll give you guys an escort.” Before Duke climbed into his patrol car, he said, “I’ll call Dad and let him know where they’re taking Sierra. Meet you at the hospital.” Duke flipped on the emergency lights and led the way out of the park. After the rescue truck left, the park ranger packed up his gear and drove off. The bungee-jumping instructor looked like he needed a drink and offered to buy the young couple a round at the Open Range Saloon. Beau imagined news of Sierra’s mishap would spread like wildfire if it hadn’t already.

  Once the parking lot cleared and Beau was left alone, he walked into the bushes and heaved until his stomach was empty. Feeling shaky, he took a bottle of water from the cooler he kept in the backseat. Sticking out from beneath the cooler on the floor was a sheet of notebook paper that didn’t belong to him. He tugged the paper free.