His Last Rodeo

by Claire McEwen

  “Meet Rachel,” Nora said. “She’s pretty special, isn’t she?”

  Kit nodded and felt something settle into her heart. “She’s perfect.” And knew that now there was one more thing that she’d miss when she finally left town.

  * * *

  AFTER THE HORSES ARRIVED, Tyler had left them in Garth’s care and spent most of the day at the construction site with Aaron, going over decisions. He’d even jumped into the work when one of the framers had called in sick. It had been a long day and it wasn’t over yet. He was taking a shift behind the bar tonight. But first, he wanted to check on the horses one more time.

  He’d found Garth leaning on the fence, watching Rachel and Carson eat. “Great first day on the job,” Tyler said as he joined him.

  “Seems like the horses are settling in just fine.” The old man nodded his approval. “You picked a couple good ones. Rachel is mighty pretty and strong, too. And Carson, well, that is one tough horse. You could ride him all over these mountains and he wouldn’t tire.”

  “I’m going to count on you to give them both regular exercise. I doubt I can take them out often enough.” His hunch that Garth missed riding was confirmed by the smile the other man couldn’t contain.

  “I’ll make sure they both have everything they need.”

  “I’d like to get at least two more horses. Maybe in a few weeks, once we get into a routine here, you can come with me to pick them out.” Garth would never let Tyler buy him a horse. But if there was one at Todd’s ranch that his friend liked, Tyler would make sure to get it and turn it over to Garth full time.

  “It’s a good thing Todd’s doing,” Garth said. “Training these mustangs.”

  “Better than letting them suffer under the government’s neglect. And you can’t beat Todd’s prices.” Todd charged an adoption fee to cover his expenses and that was it. “Anyway, I’d better get up to the bar before it gets too busy. I’ll see you tomorrow, Garth.”

  “Night, Tyler.”

  He watched Garth walk to his truck, happy to see the pride back in the man’s posture. Glad he’d been able to help Kit and right his own father’s wrongs.

  He walked through the barn to make sure it was all locked up. He was looking forward to being behind the bar with Kit. The problem with avoiding her so much was that he’d missed her. Seeing her at the barn today had confirmed what he’d suspected. Staying away from Kit didn’t diminish how he felt. Not one bit. So he might as well take any chance he could to be around her while she was still here.

  Emerging from the barn, he was surprised to see Kit leaning on the fence, watching the horses devour their hay. “Didn’t expect to find you here,” he said quietly from a few feet away, so as not to startle her or the animals.

  “I know I need to get up to the bar...” She looked a little flustered.

  “It’s okay. You have time.” He stopped next to her. Rachel’s head lifted and she eyed him cautiously, then blew out a heavy breath and went back to eating. “I didn’t know you still liked horses.”

  “I don’t usually.” She bit her lower lip, as if she was worried. “I think they’re beautiful, but I never really felt like I wanted to be around them much. But Rachel... I don’t know. She’s just so pretty.”

  “You used to be a great rider.”

  She flashed him her familiar sardonic grin. “I think the last time I was on a horse was with you. So basically a lifetime ago.”

  “Well, I need to start getting to know her and Carson before I ride them. Maybe you can help with that.”

  “How does that work? Getting to know a horse. Do you talk about your childhoods? Play trust games?”

  He laughed and Carson glanced his way. “You do this. Spend time near them. Put a halter on them and take them for walks around the pasture. Brush them. Feed them. Even though Todd has trained these two completely, they were wild not long ago. So it’s better to make sure they trust you before you start riding them.”

  “I’d like to try it,” she said. “But I might not be much good at it.”

  “You’ll be fine.” He pointed at Rachel, who had moved closer to the fence and stood a couple feet away from Kit. “She likes you. She wouldn’t come that close if she didn’t.”

  Kit reached slowly through the fence rails, holding her knuckles out. Rachel instantly looked up from her food, brought her nose to Kit’s hand and snuffled.

  Tyler wished he had a camera, to catch the delighted smile that lit Kit’s face. “What did I tell you? She trusts you already.”

  “What time do I have to get here tomorrow to practice my horse whispering?” Kit said quietly.

  “They’ll have their breakfast at seven. So how about nine?”

  “Okay,” she said. “I’m up for it.”

  “Kit.” He wasn’t sure how to say what he wanted to say. She faced him, waiting. “I’m sorry I got weird, about you leaving,” he finally said. “I understand why you want to go. I guess I’m worried that I’ll miss you when you’re gone. But that’s no reason not to spend time together before you go. Let’s do stuff together. We could go riding, hiking, whatever you want. But I don’t want things to be awkward between us anymore.”

  “Neither do I,” she said, and took a step toward him. He opened his arms and she wrapped hers around his torso in a quick hug. “I’ve missed you, too,” she murmured as he reluctantly let her go again. “I’m sorry if my travel plans upset you.”

  “Nah, I’m good,” he lied. “As long as you teach me all your bartending tricks before you go.”

  “What kind of tricks?” she asked, turning to take the path toward the bar.

  “I dunno.” He fell into step beside her. “What do you have left up your sleeve? How about some good shaker tricks? Like in that Tom Cruise movie.”

  Her peals of laughter rang like bells in the quiet evening. “You want to be like the character in Cocktail?”

  “Well, maybe not that whole dance routine thing, but I wouldn’t mind flipping a few glasses around.”

  Her smile was everything he needed in this moment. “I’ll see what I can do, cowboy.” They’d reached the bar and she tugged open the door, holding it for him. “Go wash some of that horse dust off before you get behind the bar tonight.”

  There was a streak of dirt on her cheek, and he brought his thumb up to wipe it off. “Same to you, actually. Who knows? I might make a cowgirl out of you yet.”

  “Good luck with that,” she said, turning toward the women’s room.

  He watched her go, thinking that there were so many sides to her. The sweet girl he’d caught looking longingly at his horse tonight. The businesswoman who was keeping this renovation project on track. Tonight he’d get to see sassy, sexy Kit behind the bar. If he was lucky, he’d get his friend back as well. He tried to ignore the voice in his head, cautioning him that he liked all these sides of her way too much for his own good.

  * * *

  KIT SLID THE halter tentatively over Rachel’s soft nose. The mare huffed out a breath visible in the cool morning air, but let her slide the strap over her head and buckle it.

  “Good,” Tyler said quietly. “Now you know what to do from here, right?”

  Kit took hold of the lead rope, its rough coils familiar in her hand. “I think so.”

  “I’ll start walking Carson. Rachel will want to follow him, but make sure you hold her still until you’re ready. You’re making friends, but you’re also the boss here.”

  Tyler and Carson started off and Kit waited until there were a couple horse-lengths between them. “Let’s go,” Kit said, and Rachel moved forward instantly, clearly concerned that Carson was leaving without her. “Steady,” Kit assured her. “We’ll keep up.” The mare settled, walking briskly by Kit’s side, but not pulling anymore. And Kit tried to get used to the huge animal being so close.r />
  At first, Rachel’s big presence made Kit jumpy. But after a while, it was as if the horse’s hoofbeats beat a rhythm that drove tension away, leaving a quiet satisfaction behind. The mare’s movements kept Kit present, right here in this moment. And as they walked through sage-dotted meadows with majestic mountains rising nearby, she realized that this moment, walking with Tyler and the horses, was a very good place to be.

  * * *

  LATER THAT WEEK, on Friday morning, Kit tried to remember that peaceful feeling as she and Tyler sat at a table in the bar and tried to figure out the new decor for the Dusty Saddle or the Last Rodeo or whatever Tyler was going to call it. He’d gone quiet about the name, which had Kit nervous. Because it probably meant he’d come up with something he knew she’d hate. Which wasn’t really her problem. It was his bar, and he could name it whatever he wanted, but still, she couldn’t help wondering.

  “Tell me what you like about this.” She pointed to the red-and-white-checked fabric sample Tyler had pulled out.

  “It’s cheerful,” he answered. “And it’s kind of rustic, right?”

  “Well, yes, it’s cheerful,” she admitted, searching for the right words. “If you like the tablecloths they put in Italian restaurants.”

  “Oh,” he said, looking bemused. “I didn’t know.”

  She’d been too blunt, and she tried to fix it. “Let’s go over the design again.”

  “I was thinking of this color for the walls.” Tyler indicated a burnt-orange paint strip.

  “It’s going to look all Southwestern.”

  “Well, Southwestern is Western, right?”

  “We sound like an old married couple,” Kit groaned, putting her head down on the table. “One of those bickering couples who never agree on anything.”

  Tyler grinned, stretching lazily in his chair, arms over his head. Kit tried not to notice the way his T-shirt pulled tight over his abs. “Well, we’ve known each other long enough to earn bickering rights.”

  “I didn’t realize there was such a thing.” Kit giggled. “But now that I know that I have them, I’m going to bicker hard in support of this cream color for the walls. And then all the trim could be this warm brown stain,” she added, pointing to the sample. “And then we could pick a matching color for the booths.” She opened the sample book and showed him a strip of rich burgundy fabric. “See? Warm, simple, welcoming.”

  “But won’t one solid color be boring?”

  “Maybe we could do a subtle pattern. But we’ll also have a bunch of stuff on the walls. The new sconces are going in, plus we’ll have all the old signs and saddles. And the new glass case of your rodeo memorabilia. I think boring is the least of our worries.”

  “All right, then,” Tyler said. “You’ve convinced me. Go ahead and call in the order. No more bickering.”

  “Oh, good,” Kit said, rubbing her eyes. She’d come in early to walk Rachel every day this week, because it made her feel happy to be around the sweet, beautiful horse. But she was going home to crawl into bed after this and try to get some sleep. “What’s next?” she asked, stifling a yawn.

  “Nothing,” Tyler said.

  “What do you mean, nothing?”

  “What I mean is that we just made the last decision about decor. After this order, we just wait for construction to finish up, then it all gets delivered and installed, and we’ll be ready to open.”

  No more ordering. It was amazing to contemplate. A relief to realize. They’d spent hours this past week making decisions like this. Debating patterns and chair shapes and table sizes. “I can’t believe it,” Kit said, feeling a strange twinge of loss. It had been a huge challenge to figure it all out, but it had been kind of fun turning Tyler’s dream into a reality, one design choice at a time. “How many weeks until we have to close?”

  “A couple. Aaron says the last week of August. Then we can reopen at the end of September, if we push.”

  “Gosh,” she said, trying to take it in. “It’s really happening, isn’t it?”

  “I think we’re on schedule.”

  “So does that mean you’ll have time to teach me how to ride again?”

  He threw back his head and laughed, and the rich sound filled the empty bar. “Words I never thought I’d hear. But yes. I’ll have time to teach you to ride. And I’d be happy to do it. You want to start now?”

  “Right now?” Her desire for sleep fell away at the thought of riding Rachel.

  “Yup.” Tyler’s dimples slashed down his lean cheeks. “When I said I’d make a cowgirl out of you, I wasn’t kidding.” He stood and held out his hand, and she let him pull her out of her seat. And they walked down to the barn together.

  “She’s so pretty.” Kit ran the brush over Rachel’s coat, a mottled dark gray, as if storm clouds were rolling over her. Her mane fell down her neck in gray and white waves. Kit held out her hand and the mare’s black nose found her palm and nuzzled softly, whiskers tickling.

  “You’ve done a great job with her so far,” Tyler said.

  “Thanks for letting me spend so much time with her.” Kit stepped back as the mare raised her head and snuffled at her hair. “Now come on, that’s not hay.”

  “Nope, it’s silk,” Tyler said, reaching for Rachel’s halter to pull the mare a few steps back. He didn’t seem to realize he’d given her a romantic compliment. “I remember our last ride. It came to me on the way here.”

  “You do?”

  “It was our junior year. We went riding in the hills behind my family’s ranch. You were on that palomino you liked so much.”

  “Sunrise—such a sweet horse.”

  “When we got back, your dad was all excited because he’d gotten me into this bull-riding clinic a friend of his was organizing. He pulled me away to talk about it, and when we were finished, we turned around and you were gone. There was Sunrise, unsaddled, brushed down, but no Kit.”

  The memory was so old, it shouldn’t still carry a sting. “I remember that.”

  “What happened after that ride?” Tyler asked. “Why’d you leave? I feel like that day is the last fun memory I have of us.”

  “You and my dad were talking rodeo. I guess I realized that you two had this connection that I could never share. And I didn’t want to be the third wheel anymore.”

  “I’m sorry about that.” Tyler’s voice was quiet; his hand stroked Rachel’s nose in long sweeps. “I can see it now. How it must have felt, him paying all that attention to me. I didn’t think about it—I was so hungry to learn everything he knew.”

  Kit shrugged. “You were a kid. It wasn’t your job to know.”

  He smiled. “I do remember that you joined cheerleading pretty soon after that.” Mischief cast a gleam in his eyes. “I remember you, in that uniform.”

  Her face went a little hot and her heart went a little proud because she’d worked out really hard and worn that uniform well. “It was fun. Something of my own, you know? That had nothing to do with my dad or you.”

  But it had. Because her dad hadn’t even realized Kit was on the cheerleading squad. Hadn’t been home to see all the time she’d spent at practice or drilling with her pom-poms in the backyard.

  That had been the start, Kit thought, of her personal rebellion. Of eventually quitting the squad and layering on the makeup. Of skipping class to meet Arch and let his older-guy, bad-boy attention become the balm that soothed her orphaned soul.

  “So are you ready to ride?”

  It was a simple question, but it felt complicated. Because he was inviting her back to those days before she donned her tough-girl shell. Back when she was just a girl galloping these rugged hills with her best friend.

  And like any armored animal, the thought of life without that shell seemed uncomfortable. Maybe even impossible.

  “You promis
e you won’t laugh at me? Because you’ve spent all these years as rodeo king, and I’ve been behind the bar.”

  “I’ll never laugh.”

  “Even if Rachel dumps me in the dust?”

  “I remember how you rode. You never hit the dust. Just left me in it.” His eyebrows rose in a slow challenge. “I’m getting you a saddle.”

  A part of her wanted to say no. To shy away from the good memories he’d excavated. Without them, it would be so much easier to walk away from this town. From the bar. From Tyler.

  But it was too late. She ached to be on a horse again. To be that girl who’d known horses better than she’d known herself. “Fine. Get the saddle.” She stroked Rachel’s sleek shoulder as she watched Tyler disappear into the shadows of the barn, wondering what else he’d dug up besides memories just now. Because along with the old hurts about her dad and her old love of horses, there was a warmth deep in her heart as she watched him go. A soul-deep knowledge that she’d carried with her growing up. That he was her friend. That he had her back. That somehow, in some way, he was the boy for her.

  * * *

  SEEING KIT ON a horse again was a little disorienting. On one hand, Tyler recognized his childhood friend immediately. She swung a leg easily over Rachel’s back, tucked her red cowboy boots into the stirrups and backed the mare neatly away from the fence. She took charge like she’d been in the saddle yesterday, rather than over a decade ago. Her whole posture on horseback was familiar to him, her squared shoulders, her legs strong in the stirrups, her seat so solid in the saddle.

  But this wasn’t the young girl he’d chased over the hills. This was Kit, with hair that fell to her waist in black waves, with beauty that stole his reason and a mind that ran circles around his.

  The smile she gave him was shy, so un-Kit-like, it woke him up. He realized in an instant what kind of limb she was going out on to take up riding again.

  “You look great up there. Like no time has passed.”

  “But it has.”

  “Not today.” He encompassed the Dusty Saddle with a general wave in its direction. “None of this has happened. It’s just you and me riding again. Give me a minute and I’ll get Carson saddled.”