Rodeo Legends--Shane

by Pamela Britton

  “Shane, we gotta go,” called his brother still atop his own horse.

  Shane waved, turned back to Kait and gave her a quick peck on the cheek. “When I’m done roping today, he’ll want my autograph, too.”

  The blonde woman came forward with her pen in hand. Kait signed an autograph for the boy. And it was a relief to finally admit to himself that he was done fighting it. He wanted her in more than name only.

  “Shane,” said his brother. “We gotta go, buddy.”

  He finished writing his name with a flourish, smiled at the blonde beneath the hat, then glanced at his wife.

  His wife.

  Damn, he liked saying that.

  “You should get her autograph, too. She’s way more famous than me.”

  He slapped Kait on the butt, shooting her a flirtatious smile, but as he turned away, he caught a glimpse of her mother’s face. She seemed bemused. Or maybe happy. Maybe even a little bit relieved.

  He knew exactly how she felt.

  Chapter Thirteen

  He won.

  Kait had watched him back his horse between some fences only to shoot back out a split second later and chase after a baby cow that he somehow managed to rope in a matter of seconds—four and a half, to be exact. And then his brother had done the same thing to the back legs of the cow, and it’d all been over so fast she wished they’d had a replay of it on the big screen. Instead the only thing the big monitor showed was Shane’s smiling face and his name above the words NEW LEADER that flashed and then exploded like confetti on the screen.

  “You weren’t kidding when you said he was good.” Her mom leaned in next to her, but she still had to raise her voice to be heard over the roar of the crowd.

  “And this isn’t even his usual event,” Kait muttered.

  She was tempted, boy was she ever tempted, to go down and congratulate him, but she told herself to stay put. She didn’t need to be on her feet more than she had to be. And Shane wouldn’t want her down there. He’d be busy getting ready for the bull riding.

  Her stomach flipped end over end again.

  So strange to be the one sitting in the grandstands. And yet... She felt pride, too. Shane and Carson ended up winning the team roping. That made it two in a row, something the announcer told the audience of rodeo fans applauding their approval. They watched cowboys try to ride bucking horses next, a few of them getting tossed so high in the air it took her breath away.

  Would that happen to Shane?

  “You okay?” her mom asked.

  Nervous, scared, but most of all troubled that she seemed so emotionally invested in the welfare of a man she barely knew.

  “I’m fine.”

  Bull riding came all too quickly. She tried to spot Shane across the arena behind the bucking chutes. They all looked the same, though, the cowboys with their low-brim hats and shiny chaps painted all different colors. There was no leaderboard to tell her when he’d go or even what chute he’d be in, so she had to sit and wait as one cowboy after another was tossed, trampled and, in one case, run over. It made her ill.

  “You look nervous.”

  “I’m fine,” she repeated again, more forcefully this time. She caught a glimpse of her mother’s face, however, and she could tell she knew her daughter wasn’t “fine.”

  “Ladies and gentlemen, put your hands together for a local cowboy next. Shane Gillian, four-time NFR qualifier and California’s leading bull rider, according to the standings.”

  She felt as though she’d stepped off the edge of a cliff. She’d never experienced anything like it.

  Her mom grabbed her hand. One look at her mom’s face and she knew she understood.

  Why?

  Why was she so afraid? It wasn’t like they were in love.

  He’s the father of your babies.

  Yes, but that was all he was to her. Right?

  “Shane will be riding a bull called Lightning Rod today, and let me tell you, ladies and gentlemen, this bull is one of the best. Bred by California’s own Four Star Rodeo out of Cottonwood, California. He had an average score of 89, but that’s only if he’s ridden.”

  Her fingers must have been cutting off the blood flow to her mother’s hand.

  “Looks like we’re about ready to go. Stomp your feet if you want to watch a local cowboy win.”

  In the grandstands, hundreds of feet rattled the aluminum slats. It sounded like thunder.

  The chute opened. Kait gasped because the bull didn’t wait to buck. He came out front feet in the air, Shane clinging to his back. She covered her mouth with her hands and stood, watching Shane cling to the animal’s back as it bucked and bucked and bucked, turning this way and that, Shane’s hand up in the air, his legs moving. Spurring, that was what he’d called it. He spurred the animal on.

  She sank back down on her seat.

  She’d never seen anything so exhilarating in her life. Not even when she’d watched the open-wheel cars in Europe last year. That was just a few seconds of cars passing in front of their spectators’ box followed by long pauses until it happened again. This went on and on and on, or so it seemed. The buzzer sounded, but Shane was already flying off, as if he’d known in his head how long he needed to ride, and he probably did.

  “Ladies and gentlemen,” the announcer cried. “How about that for a bull ride?”

  More feet stomped. People yelled. Someone cried out, “We love you, Shane,” and Kait just sat there, stunned.

  “That was amazing,” her mom said.“I can’t see how anyone could possible beat that.”

  Kait agreed.

  Her mom would be proven right. They would watch four more bull riders, but none of them would come close to matching Shane’s score of ninety-one.

  When it was all over, she told herself she didn’t need to see him. She could send him a text message. Tell him she’d been feeling ill. She didn’t need him to know how exhilarating she’d found it watching him compete.

  “Don’t you want to go down and congratulate him?”

  “We don’t need to do that.” She held up her hand and the stamp someone had placed on the back of it. “I don’t want to get in the way.”

  “He’s your husband, Kait. It might look strange if you don’t.”

  Her mom had a point. But if she were honest with herself, she wanted to see him. It dawned on her then that she’d never really been with a man who was competitive in a sport. She’d always been the one running off to a racetrack somewhere in America. So it was a unique experience to be the one on the sidelines, cheering someone on.

  Cheering a sexy someone on.

  She shoved that thought away with a mental thrust of willpower. The place was packed, and she and her mom had to duck and dodge people with drinks in their hands and little kids running ahead of harried parents. She was almost relieved when they pushed through the crowd, having to go all the way around to get to exhibitor parking area. Then it was like trying to find a needle in a haystack. All the trucks and trailers looked alike. She’d seen the Gillian Ranch trailer parked in front of the stables and incorrectly assumed it would be easy to find.

  “At this rate we might need to ambush that guy on his golf cart.” Her mom shot her a worried glance. “Maybe you should sit down for a minute.”

  “There it is,” she said, relieved, the logo of their ranch clearly visible on the side of a trailer as big as a house. He hadn’t seen her. He was busy taking care of his horse, had removed the saddle, the horse’s back wet with sweat. He was hanging something up. Hay, she realized, and his brother was off to the side talking to a pretty girl.

  “Congratulations,” her mom said, which drew Shane’s attention and she watched as his eyes sparked with happiness when he spotted them. “Kait told me you were good, but I had no idea how good until just now.”

  “I got lucky,” he said,
quickly finishing his task. “Drew a good bull.”

  Humility. He had it in spades. It was something she’d noticed about him before.

  “You weren’t lucky.” Kait hung back a little. Truth be told, she felt out of place. This was his world not hers, and it was strange to be the odd man out. Plus she was afraid of horses, something she had yet to share with Shane.

  “Thanks,” he said, and she wondered if he’d come over to her again and kiss her senseless like he had earlier. She could still feel where his lips had touched her own, but he didn’t move from the side of her horse. “Come on over and meet Hotrod.”

  Her mom snorted. Kait shot her a look. Her fear of large animals was well known in the Cooper family.

  “I’m kind of tired.” She smiled back. “I just wanted to say congratulations before we head back home.”

  “You’re leaving?”

  She nodded. “I don’t want to overdo it.”

  “You can’t leave now. I thought we could go to dinner.”

  “We already ate.”

  “We did,” her mom said. “Sorry. It’s been forever since I had a corndog. But I think you and Kait should ride home together.”

  What?

  Her mom smiled at her before nodding. “He’s always so busy back at the ranch. Spend some time together.”

  “It wouldn’t be just the two of us,” Kait said quickly. “His brother will be with us.”

  “No, he won’t.” Shane shot his brother a wry smile. Carson still stood talking to the two girls. “He’s catching a ride back home with someone else. Wants to stick around for the dance tonight.”

  Kait didn’t want to do it, though. Yes, she’d hated how he’d kept his distance all week, but she’d told herself that was for the best. And, yes, she’d had the odd thought or two that maybe their marriage could turn into something more real, but that had been a brief lapse in sanity.

  It’s just a drive home.

  She glanced at her mom, who smiled at her secretively. She knew what her mom was trying to do. Knew this was her way of forcing them together. Knew her mom hoped they could work things out, too, but there was so much more to it than that. Yes, she could no longer deny the chemistry between her and Shane. A week of him sleeping on the couch had taught her that. But it took so much more than sexual attraction to make a relationship work. They both had high-profile careers. How in the hell could they have a meaningful relationship if one of them was always jetting off somewhere? Her job required her to be at a racetrack four days a week, two of those on the weekend. His job required him to compete on the weekends, too. So that left them what? Three days together? Impossible.

  “Go on,” said her mom, shooing her with her hands. “Drive home with your husband. I insist. Wanted to do a little sightseeing while I was here, anyway. I’ll just do it today.”

  No. No, no, no.

  She pleaded with her eyes, but her mom just shook her head, and she knew that Cooper stubbornness well. Her mom had made up her mind and there’d be no changing it. For whatever reason, she wanted her to spend more time with her husband.

  A husband who didn’t want her.

  “I’ll go sit inside the truck.”

  * * *

  IT DIDN’T TAKE him long to load up the horses. Carson helped out, just as soon as he’d torn himself away from the women he’d been trying to charm the pants off of...literally.

  The gold of his wedding ring caught the glint of the sun as he set his hands on the steering wheel and turned toward his wife. To be honest, he half expected Kait to be asleep and he was surprised when she turned and said, “I can rent a car if you don’t want to be with me.”

  “What?”

  She couldn’t be serious. He shook his head. “Why in the heck would I want you to do that?”

  “I don’t know. I just thought...”

  He started up the truck, the big diesel vehicle rumbled to life and he let it idle while he waited for an answer. “You just thought what?”

  She pushed her lips together in obvious disgruntlement. “I just thought you might want to keep on avoiding me like you’ve done all week.”

  So that was it? It’d bothered her that he’d kept his distance.

  I’ll be damned.

  He put the truck in gear, careful to avoid hitting a steer wrestler who waved at him as he pulled out. Everyone knew everyone on the rodeo circuit and so he smiled and waved back before saying to Kait, “I wasn’t avoiding you. I was trying to give you space.”

  Did she have any idea how hard it’d been to keep away from her? How difficult it’d been to stay on that damn uncomfortable couch? And right now? For him to not reach out and touch her? With her hair loose around her shoulders and that gauzy off-white blouse thing she wore, she looked like something out of a Western-living magazine.

  “You gave me space all right,” she mumbled.

  He bit back a smile. He had to force himself to concentrate on getting out of the rodeo grounds without running over an exhibitor or spectator. That was good, too, because something about her words had him feeling hopeful. It gave him the courage to say what was on his mind, even though it was a full five minutes later before he had what he wanted to say all worked out.

  “I think we should make this a real marriage.”

  She turned to face him so fast her hair fluffed out. “Excuse me?”

  “You know...” And still he fumbled for the right words. “We should turn this into a real relationship. The whole nine yards. The full Monty.”

  Her stare was the unblinking kind. “Did my mom put you up to this?”

  He pulled his gaze away from the road so he could shoot her a frown. “No.”

  It was a relief when she turned away to stare out the front windshield. She didn’t seem all that happy to be having the conversation, though, and that gave him pause.

  “Okay, look. I’m going to be completely honest,” she said, half turning toward him. “I’ve been thinking that maybe we should go our separate ways.”

  He flinched.

  “Permanently. After the babies are born and we figure out all the custody issues.”

  “What?”

  She nodded. “I’ve done the math, Shane. My race schedule plus your rodeo schedule plus travel time to your place in California and my place in North Carolina.” She pinned him with a stare. “And I’ve come to a conclusion.”

  He could see what it was in her eyes.

  “There is no way we could ever make this work, not without dragging our kids all over kingdom come.”

  “Yeah, but, we’re making it work right now.”

  “Because I’ve been grounded. What about after the babies are born? Will you follow me to North Carolina? Because if you don’t, you’ll barely see the babies. And I can’t move to California. So how would it work?”

  He got that. He’d been racking his brain all week about how to solve the same problem. It would mean uprooting his whole life. Changing his game plan.

  Severing ties with his dad.

  His old man would never forgive him if he took off to parts unknown. He would look at it as a serious step backward, even though there was no reason why he couldn’t continue bull riding from the East Coast. The horses and the roping and riding cutting horses? That would go by the wayside unless he found a job somewhere doing the same. But he could make it work, even though he could practically hear his father’s voice.

  Leave your family? For a woman?

  “Look,” he said, “we’re good together. I think if there’s a chance we can make this work for real, we should give it a try.”

  She finally stopped shaking her head, but only so she could look directly at him. “It’ll never work out.”

  “Not with that attitude, it won’t.”

  She released a sigh of exasperation. “Do you know how many marriages I�
�ve seen fail in the racing industry? Good marriages. Solid ones. And they didn’t fail because someone cheated or they grew apart. I’ve lost track of how many times I’ve been told it’s the business we’re in. It sucks the life out of you, and I’m one of the lucky ones. I work for my family. I don’t have the added burden of always wondering if I’ll have a job next season. It’s the time, Shane. Always on the road. Always flying around the country. Always making an appearance somewhere. Never at home. Plus...” She looked out the window for a second. When she met his gaze again he could see the seriousness in her eyes. “...I don’t want to be separated from my babies. I think they should live with me, and I know that’s a big thing to ask, but you can visit them whenever you want. I’d make it as easy on you as possible, and more importantly, I think it’d be better for the kids. My race schedule is crazy, but plenty of drivers bring their children with them. There’s even a mobile day care center at the track. And I’ll be on the West Coast often enough that’d it’d be easy for you to visit. We could work it out.”

  It felt like she hit him. “You mean you don’t want to share custody?”

  “No. I mean, you’ll see them. I just think I should be the primary care giver.”

  “So what were you expecting me to do?” he asked. “Play it by ear on when I can see my kids?”

  “Something like that.”

  He’d never felt more disheartened in his life. He’d thought they’d had a shot. After a week of sleeping on the couch and wishing like hell he could just go to her, he’d hoped there was something there. To hell with that. He knew they had a connection. But she wanted to push it aside. To ignore it. To take on the burden of having the babies live with her while he...what? Became a part-time father? Not on his life.

  “I’ll think about it,” he said.

  But he wasn’t going to think about it in the way she wanted. No. He’d just have to work harder to bring her to his way of thinking. The rest of it, well, they’d find some way to work it all out.