The Forgotten Cowboy

by Kara Lennox

  “And the fur,” said Chad. “We’re in Texas and it’s not even that cold. Who needs a fur coat? Where are the animal rights activists when you need ’em?”

  “Not attending a livestock auction, surely,” said Devi.

  Willow realized that most people in the crowd were corporate big shots and rich restaurateurs, here to bid on the prize-winning steers, which they would later barbecue. She doubted many people had come specifically to see Cal.

  She hoped they would at least watch.

  “There are some seats up front,” Penny said, pointing.

  “Oh, I don’t want to—” Willow started to object, but she found herself dragged along with the crowd. She hoped Cal wouldn’t spot her. He probably wouldn’t, she reasoned. She’d cut off her hair recently, so that now the wavy locks barely brushed her shoulders. She certainly had no intention of approaching him or talking to him. She just wanted to see him, get her Cal fix.

  At eight o’clock, an unseen announcer informed the audience that the show was about to start. Most people didn’t pay attention or stop talking. Willow had this fleeting urge to stand up on her chair and tell everyone to shut up. Didn’t they realize that what they were about to see was truly amazing?

  Then Cal entered the sawdust-covered arena to a smattering of applause. Oh, Lord, he looked good, dressed up in his cowboy best—boots, jeans, fancy western shirt, chaps and a snowy Stetson that emphasized his burnished tan.

  Penny issued a low whistle. “Oh, man. Don’t tell me you let that one get away.”

  “’Fraid so,” Willow said glumly. Looking at him, watching him move, didn’t just make her heart ache. Her whole body hurt.

  “Who dumped who?” Penny wanted to know.

  “I guess technically he dumped me. Although, come to think of it, I was the one who pushed him in the lake. I was ready to give up med school to stay with him, but he wouldn’t let me do it. He said I’d regret it.”

  “Was he right?”

  “Yes,” Willow answered in a small voice. “But sometimes I wish I could live two lives at the same time.”

  “My boyfriend lives in Boston,” Penny groused. “He works for the Red Sox. I applied to med schools up there, but…” She shrugged. “Here I am.”

  “But you’ve stayed together?”

  “Yeah. That’s what unlimited cell phone minutes are for.” She looked a little glum, though.

  Cal began talking into a wireless mike attached to his shirt. His introduction was obviously memorized and a little stilted, Willow thought. Few people were paying attention. But as he warmed to his subject, he strayed from his rehearsed comments and loosened up a bit. The crowd got a little quieter.

  “But y’all aren’t here to hear me talk,” he said. “Let’s bring out my first patient. I’ve never met this horse you’re about to see. In fact, less than forty-eight hours ago, he was running free on the plains of Montana. I don’t know how old he is, but he’s probably never had contact with humans until now.”

  A high-pitched horse squeal punctuated Cal’s sentence. Then some snorting and the unmistakable sound of a horse trying to kick down a stall.

  Penny reflexively grabbed Willow’s knee and squeezed. Just as Willow spotted where the horse was penned up, the gate opened, and a couple of tons of furious wild horse burst into the arena, neighing and bucking and spinning like a tornado. Then he broke into a fast gallop, nearly running headlong into a fence before skidding to a stop, turning and galloping again.

  Every eye in the crowd was watching now. No one said a word.

  Cal just stood in the center of the arena, his hat in one hand now. “Cyclone here hasn’t seen too many fences in his day,” Cal said, sounding not the least bit intimidated by the fact that he could be kicked to death any moment. “His instinct is to run as far and as fast as he can from what he perceives as threats to his life, and the barriers are frustrating him. My first job is to show him I’m not a threat. So I just stand here real still until he gets curious about me.”

  Willow compared Cal’s performance to the first time she watched him, when he was working with the old plug Danny. Then, he’d pretty much ignored his audience. Now he was playing to them like a natural show-man. She wouldn’t have guessed his public speaking skills were so strong.

  Had someone coached him? she wondered, a surge of jealousy coursing through her. She should have been the one to help him prepare for this big moment.

  The horse continued to run. Cal kept up an interesting patter until the horse slowed. Then, just as predicted, it started watching Cal, obviously curious.

  The first time it approached, Cal waved his hat in the horse’s face and it skittered away—just as he’d done with the Shetland pony, Pepper. “I’m letting him know that I’m not ready to play yet. I want to communicate to this horse that, while I won’t hurt him, I’m also the boss. Horses are big on hierarchy. If I let him establish dominance, I’m doomed.”

  “This is so interesting,” Penny whispered. “He’s kind of like that horse whisperer guy.”

  “He uses some of the same techniques,” Willow whispered back. “But a lot of what he does is uniquely Cal.”

  After a few more rebuffs, Cal allowed the mustang to stand near him. The horse’s head was down, his ears forward. He seemed to be waiting for some sign of acceptance. Cal offered him a carrot. The horse meekly accepted it, but he jerked away when Cal tried to stroke his neck. Cal turned his back on the horse and walked away. In moments, the horse followed him—trotting after him like a puppy, just as Willow had predicted.

  A few more minutes of this back and forth, and Cal had nylon halter and a lead rope on the horse.

  “I don’t have time tonight to actually ride him,” Cal said. “That would take a few hours.”

  A collective gasp rose from the crowd. These were horse people; they knew how long it took to break a completely wild horse by traditional methods. Weeks, not hours.

  “I know y’all are anxious to get to the auction, so me and Cyclone’ll be on our way. But my business card is attached to the auction program if any of you want to talk—” He stopped, and Willow realized he was staring squarely at her. For a few moments he was struck silent, and a look of sadness came over his face. The horse, who only a few minutes ago would have loved to kick Cal’s head off, seemed to feel the sadness. He nuzzled Cal’s cheek and gave a low, soft whinny.

  “He’s looking at you,” Penny whispered.

  The crowd didn’t know exactly what was going on, but they sensed it on some level. The silence was deafening.

  Finally, Cal looked away. “Uh, anyway, if you want to talk, give me a call. Good night, and good luck with your bidding.”

  The applause thundered across the arena. Cal, his grip firm on the mustang’s lead rope, leaned in and whispered something to him. The horse’s ears twitched and his matted tail swished, but that was the only indication that the applause bothered him.

  As Cal disappeared through a gate with one final wave, Willow knew that merely seeing him wasn’t going to be enough. She had to talk to him, tell him what a great job he’d done, what a brilliant idea this was. He was bound to be deluged with calls.

  And she needed to thank him.

  “I have to go find him,” she said, standing up.

  “You go, girl,” Penny said with a double thumbs-up. “Don’t let him get away again.”

  Willow worked her way through the crowd, then wandered around until she found a way down to the arena floor level. She had to duck through one No Admittance gate, then sweet-talk her way past a security guard, but she finally located the animal pens. Lots of 4-H and Future Farmers kids were hanging out with their prize-winning animals. Lots of sad faces—they would be saying goodbye soon.

  She didn’t need to ask where Cal was. She just followed the excited voices and found the area where the most people were congregated. A large, heavily fortified pen had been set up for the mustang stallion. Several people, mostly kids, were gathered around, some standi
ng on the metal fencing to see over.

  Willow worked her way up to the fence. Cal was inside the pen with the horse, which looked much bigger this close up. The horse was placidly munching hay. Cal was gently brushing the horse’s mud-speckled neck. His lips were moving, so she knew he was talking to the animal as only he could. His attention was one hundred percent on the horse. He was in a zone, what she jokingly called his “animal zone,” where he tuned out everything but his communication with whatever beast he was working on.

  She knew, too, that the horse was listening. One ear was rotated backward, pointing directly at Cal.

  Willow moved around the pen until she was in his line of sight. She stepped up onto the first rail of the fence, but she didn’t say anything. She knew he didn’t like to be interrupted when he was this tightly bonded with one of his animals. She contented herself with watching him, drinking in the sight of him, the tenderness in his face, the gentle way he touched the wild horse.

  Suddenly, he saw her. He jumped, startled out of his semi-trance. “Willow?”

  The horse reacted, too. The moment Cal took his total attention off the mustang, it wheeled around faster than the eye could follow and kicked Cal right in the head. With a surprised look, Cal crumpled to the ground.

  Chapter Fifteen

  Several people screamed as Cal hit the sawdust. Then everyone was talking at once. Willow just stared in horror, knowing this was all her fault. She shouldn’t have distracted Cal when he was penned up with a dangerous animal.

  No one was rushing in to Cal’s aid.

  “Get the paramedics!” someone shouted.

  “I doubt the paramedics will go into that pen with that horse,” someone else said.

  “Oh, for heaven’s sake!” Willow climbed the rest of the way over the fence and into the pen. The wild horse snorted and pawed the ground threateningly, but Willow was far more scared for Cal than she was about the horse. She pointed her finger at it. “You just back off, buster!”

  This seemed to work. The horse did back off a couple of steps, though he kept his bewildered gaze on Willow.

  She knelt down by Cal’s side. He was unconscious but breathing. She felt his carotid artery, which pulsed with reassuring strength.

  She needed to get him out of the pen. She was trying to figure out where to grab on to him when his eyes fluttered open.

  “Oh, Cal, thank God.”

  “What happened?” He rolled onto his side and pushed himself up.

  “Easy. Take it slow. Your new best buddy kicked you in the head.” She was not a doctor yet, but she saw no sign of injury other than the bruise forming at Cal’s temple.

  He stared at Willow with bleary eyes. “Who are you?”

  Willow’s heart just about stopped. “I’m Willow.”

  “No, you’re not. Willow has really long hair, hangs all the way to her butt.”

  “I cut it,” she said almost desperately. Now she had an inkling of how Cal had felt when she didn’t recognize him, and it wasn’t pleasant. “I didn’t have time to mess with it. And I thought cutting it would make me look more mature.”

  He shook his head. “I told Willow in no uncertain terms that she was not allowed to cut her hair.”

  “All right. I cut my hair because I was mad at you. I needed an outward sign of my independence from you.”

  He just stared at her, uncomprehending.

  Two paramedics in white had arrived. The crowd made room for one of them to approach the fence. “Sir?”

  Cal waved and flashed a loopy smile. “Hi.”

  The man looked at Willow. “Can you get him out of there?”

  She stood up and offered her hand to Cal. “Can you stand up?”

  He did, with some difficulty. “Wow, can you stop everything from spinning around?”

  She put an arm around his waist and let him lean on her. “C’mon, Cal, let’s move.” Slowly they progressed to the gate, where someone opened it just wide enough that they could slip out. She breathed a sign of relief at escaping the horse, which could have turned them both into mincemeat at any time.

  The paramedics took over. They got him onto a stretcher, despite his weak protests that he was okay.

  “Was he unconscious at any time?” the paramedic asked.

  “Yes. And he’s disoriented. He doesn’t recognize me, and I’m his girlfriend. Um, ex-girlfriend.”

  The paramedic frowned. “Let’s roll.”

  “Can I go with you?” Willow asked desperately. “I’m in med school.” She didn’t add that she’d had exactly five weeks of medical education to date.

  The paramedic rolled his eyes. “Yeah, come on.”

  After they loaded Cal’s stretcher onto the ambulance, Willow climbed in herself. The paramedic who stayed in the back to treat Cal had a quick consultation by phone with a doctor, then started an IV and put a cold pack on Cal’s head.

  “Cal?” Willow said, touching his arm.

  “Hmm? Oh, it’s you. The one who’s not Willow.”

  The paramedic exchanged a worried glance with Willow.

  “Willow’s going to be a doctor,” Cal informed them.

  “Yes, I know,” Willow said softly.

  “I’m still in love with her. Did you know that?”

  Tears sprang into Willow’s eyes. Her throat felt thick. She couldn’t answer.

  “I sent her away. Kind of like the way I sent that mustang away. He was curious, but he wasn’t ready to bond. I had to send him away for his own good.”

  “Willow’s not a horse,” Willow managed. “And she wasn’t just curious. She was in love with you, too.”

  “Maybe she was,” Cal said. “But I couldn’t let her turn her back on her dream, could I? Not after a twist of fate took it away, then another one gave it back? I know what it’s like to chase after a dream. It’s almost the best feeling in the world. If a person is lucky enough to have a dream and the means to go after it, they’re almost obligated to do so, don’t you think?”

  Willow nodded, though she wasn’t sure Cal could see her. His head was immobilized in a cervical collar, his face pointing straight up at the ceiling.

  “Don’t you think people ought to become the best people they can be, so they can give the world everything possible?”

  “Yes, I do believe that.”

  “If Willow had given up her dream to help me achieve mine, I’d be cheating her of something important. And it might have stood between us forever. She might have even started to resent me.”

  Willow didn’t agree out loud. But she’d come to the same conclusion herself.

  “Do you want to know the worst thing?”

  She nodded, not sure whether he could even see her.

  “I wanted to be selfish. I wanted to keep her all to myself and let her give it all up. I was so close to doing just that.”

  “But you didn’t.”

  “No, I hurt her instead. I didn’t enjoy it, and I feel guilty about it every day.”

  “She’s coping,” Willow said.

  “If I tell you a secret, you promise not to tell Willow?”

  The paramedic raised his eyebrows at this. He was listening intently.

  “I won’t breathe a word to her,” Willow promised. She wouldn’t have to.

  “I own this old dairy farm in Lancaster. You know where Lancaster is?”

  “Yes.” She remembered that he’d told her about the farm his grandmother had left him, that he was leasing out the land for grazing.

  “I’m spending every spare minute I have to fix up the old place. It’s got an old farmhouse on it, and barns and paddocks. It’ll make a great training facility. Instead of traveling all over, I can sit back and let the animals come to me.”

  “That’s a great idea!” And he would be close, so close. Lancaster was maybe a thirty-minute drive from her apartment in East Dallas. Willow’s heart pounded with excitement.

  “I figure by Christmas, the place’ll be livable. I’m going to ask Willow to marry me
then. Not like I did before—that was awful, asking her to shack up with me and then saying that maybe, someday, we could get married. No wonder she didn’t jump at the chance. Talk about wishy-washy.”

  Willow was the one who’d been stupidly wishy-washy, but she decided not to point that out. She couldn’t have talked, anyway. Her throat was clogged with tears. Tears were streaming down her face. She sniffled loudly.

  “I’m gonna get a ring and get down on one knee and everything. See, she could live at the farm and still commute to school. It’s a bit of a drive, but she could quit her part-time job if that would help.”

  She wondered how he knew she had a part-time job. Had he been checking up on her? Of course he had. Nana would have filled him in on every detail, if he’d acted interested.

  “That way, we could both chase after our dreams. ’Cause you know what? Dreams are a lot more fun when you can share them with someone else. I’ve been lonely without Willow’s support and encouragement.”

  “Yeah, I know what you mean. But why wait? Why don’t you ask Willow to marry you now?”

  “’Cause I want the farm to look better before I show it to her,” he admitted.

  “Willow has a great imagination. She’ll see the potential.”

  “You think?”

  She unfastened her seat belt and moved to stand over Cal, so he could see her. “Willow will say yes. I guarantee it.”

  Just then the ambulance made a violent sway and Willow fell practically on top of Cal. The paramedic cleared his throat in disapproval and Willow tried to get herself upright. But she found Cal’s arms holding her prisoner.

  “Hi, Willow,” he said, just before he kissed her.

  “I can’t allow you—excuse me,” the paramedic tried, but Cal ignored him.

  Willow indulged in the kiss for only a few seconds. What if she sent Cal’s blood pressure soaring and he hemorrhaged? She, if anyone, knew that brain injuries weren’t something to trifle with. She pulled away.

  “You wicked, wicked man. You knew it was me all along.”

  “Not the first fifteen or twenty seconds. You cut your hair. Had me all confused.”