A Bull Rider to Depend On

by Jeannie Watt

  After stowing his duffel under the bunk—at least there was room for that—he came back out into the living room/kitchen, where his brother was now settled in the living room, beer in one hand, remote in the other.

  “You know...if you wanted to invest in a bigger trailer, I’d go halves with you.” He’d offer more, but his brother was proud. A little too proud sometimes.

  “This’ll do for now.”

  Jess had always been the careful twin—except in the arena. Once atop a bull, he rode with the best of them. The only problem was that he was never able to commit himself to a season. To take that risk.

  “One of us has to have a job,” he’d say whenever Tyler badgered him to go pro. Ironically, Tyler was now the one with the money. No house, but money. Thankfully one was rather easily parlayed into the other.

  “How long are you going to save?” Tyler asked as he got a beer out of the tiny fridge and joined his brother on the beat-up sofa their mom had left behind during the big move. He propped his foot up on the wooden chest that served as a coffee table.

  “Before...?”

  “You make some kind of a move?”

  Jess changed the channel. A couple of times. “Until I feel ready. Okay?”

  Tyler put up a hand. “Just checking.” Again.

  Jess changed channels Again. Ty figured it would be another night of watching five minutes of a show then moving on as his brother became restless, but instead he muted the television and put the remote on his lap. “Skye came to see me today.”

  Ty had years of practice not reacting to Skye’s name when it came up. He’d had a raging crush on her for as long as he could remember. She’d hated him for as long as he could remember. No matter what he did to impress her, it didn’t work, and eventually he’d given up and decided he really didn’t like her all that much anyway.

  But he did. When they’d gone to high school, he’d even asked her out once. She’d thought he was poking fun at her and never gave him a chance to explain. Off to college she went, and when she came back, she was engaged to Mason. Ty’s friend. A guy he liked just fine, but sometimes had a hard time respecting. Being around the newly engaged couple had been Ty’s own private hell.

  He knew for a fact that Mason never would have asked Skye out in the first place if he hadn’t known that Tyler had a thing for her. Mason and Tyler had competed in all venues of life, and in this case, Mason had won. Skye had refused to give Tyler a chance, and that had always stung a little.

  Tyler put his feet up on the trunk in front of him. “Why did Skye come to see you?”

  “She needed a loan. She’s behind on some payments and can’t nail down a cow loan.”

  “How much behind?”

  “I didn’t get a dollar amount. She needs the cow loan.” Jess raised his eyes to meet his brother’s.

  “I can lend her the money.” He spoke flatly, as if he had no emotional stake in the matter.

  “Yeah,” Jess said. “I mentioned the possibility and...” He gave his head a small shake. “She wasn’t in favor.”

  “But you’re telling me anyway.” He knew his brother wasn’t twisting the knife, so...

  “I thought you’d want to know.”

  “Why?”

  Jess lifted an eyebrow, and Tyler let out a breath as he dropped his gaze to study the toes of his dusty boots. The thing about being a twin was that it was pretty hard to keep the guy who looked like you from reading you. He’d denied having any kind of lingering feelings for Skye after she’d married Mason—had said that he’d moved on from that hopeless affair—but Jess wasn’t fooled. Ty knew because he could read his twin as easily as his twin read him.

  “Right,” he muttered. The situation between him and Skye was complicated—or at least it was on his end, where feelings of guilt, frustration and resentment were coupled with an attraction that refused to die. On her end, it was simple—he was the bad guy who’d encouraged her husband onto the path of self-destruction, and she’d made no secret of her beliefs.

  He was guilty to a degree. Despite Skye asking him to stay far away from Mason while on tour, he hadn’t seen where a few wild nights would hurt anyone—but he also hadn’t known how far Mason would take the whole partying thing. By the time Tyler realized what was happening, it was too late to do anything about it. The most unfortunate part was that there wasn’t a good way for Tyler to defend himself. How did you tell a woman that she didn’t know everything about her husband and his code of ethics?

  You didn’t. Not after that guy was dead.

  Jess cleared his throat. “Skye won’t be happy about me telling you, but I thought...you know.”

  Tyler shot his brother a quick look, read the concern on his face and wondered if it was for him or Skye. He couldn’t help but smirk as he said, “That she might be desperate enough to accept help from the bad twin?”

  “Something like that.” Jess picked up the remote and changed the channel again. “It might give you a chance to smooth things with her.”

  Tyler gave a yeah, right snort as the pitcher on the screen threw a perfect strike. “She doesn’t want them smoothed.”

  “She doesn’t know the facts.”

  Nor would she...although he had to admit that this might be an opportunity to show Skye that he wasn’t the jerk she thought he was. He might have had difficulties controlling his wilder impulses back in the day, but beneath it all, he was a decent guy. Just like his twin.

  And as far as Mason was concerned—Mason was always his own boss and Skye needed to accept that.

  * * *

  WHEN SKYE GOT off shift at one thirty, Jess Hayward was waiting for her by her car.

  Only it wasn’t Jess.

  The warm smile on her face cooled as she realized that the guy loitering at the edge of the parking lot was Tyler Hayward. With the exception of the small scar on Tyler’s chin, the brothers were nearly identical, right down to their haircuts—but there was something different about the way they stood. And moved. Skye had learned long ago to tell them apart at a distance. If Jess was walking toward her, she went to meet him. If it had been Tyler...she’d changed direction to avoid whatever irritating thing he was about to do to her. When they were younger, he’d threatened her with various amphibians. As they’d grown older, frogs and salamanders had changed into smart-ass comments.

  “Good morning,” he said as she stopped several feet away from him.

  “Good morning,” she echoed coolly, knowing instantly that Jess had ratted her out. With the best of intentions, no doubt, but now she had to deal with Tyler.

  “You’re looking good, Skye.”

  A compliment. That was different.

  “You, too.” She spoke with polite indifference, but, infuriatingly, the fact of the matter was that he really did look good.

  He shifted his weight and folded his arms over his chest, as if debating how to launch into what he’d come to say. “We haven’t talked in a while, Skye.”

  That was true. With the exception of him offering stiff condolences at Mason’s funeral, they hadn’t spoken since they’d faced off in the parking lot behind the Shamrock Bar almost two years ago, shortly after she’d discovered that Mason had been gambling again. She’d asked Tyler to stop encouraging her husband to go out. He’d told her he would. He’d lied.

  Skye got her keys out of her pocket. No longer smiling, she tilted her head. Waited.

  Tyler took the plunge. “Jess told me that you are in need of a loan.”

  She shook her head. “Not any longer.”

  “Ah.” He looked as if he wanted to ask why, but her stony expression must have made him think twice.

  “Thank you for asking.” She hoped that would cause him to move along, and indeed he did take a couple of steps, but toward her rather than toward his truck.
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br />   “You know...” he said, his expression becoming serious. Too serious, really. “...we’ve had our differences, but I was Mason’s friend—”

  “That was the problem, wasn’t it?” The angry reply burst out of nowhere, and Skye instantly clamped her mouth shut to keep from saying more. She needed to get out of there, away from this guy who so easily triggered her. She moved around him to her car, but before she could open the door, he put his hand on it. Her gaze jerked up, and he dropped his hand.

  “Mason was a grown man, Skye. He made his own choices.” His voice was so low and intense that it was little more than a growl.

  And you didn’t help matters. The words teetered on her lips, but she bit them back. She wasn’t getting into this. Not here. Not now. She forced her expression to go blank and uttered a lie. “I’m sorry, Tyler. That was uncalled for.” His gaze narrowed, telling her he wasn’t buying the false apology. “It was a busy shift, and I’m a little tired. I didn’t sleep well.” Total truth, there. “I appreciate your trying to help.”

  “The offer stands.” The way he spoke made her wonder why.

  “I’ll keep it in mind.”

  And she’d file it under Fat Chance. She was not asking for help from the man who was in a large way responsible for the situation she was now in. The very fact that he offered...

  “I need to go, Ty.” Before I tell you what I’m really thinking.

  He studied her, as if debating whether or not to prolong the conversation, and she in return studied him, her gaze unwavering. He was handsome. Dark and lean and dangerous looking. Ty had always kind of intimidated her. He was so different from his easygoing twin, who’d been one of her best buddies growing up. Funny how those things went.

  His mouth tightened a little as they silently regarded one another, the atmosphere growing more charged by the second, and for some reason the movement of his lips caused a tiny ripple in her midsection.

  Yes. Dangerous.

  Skye tore her gaze away and opened the car door. When she closed it, a wave of relief washed over her.

  Safe.

  * * *

  OH YEAH. That had gone well.

  Ty forced his tight jaw muscles to relax as he walked back to his truck while Skye all but laid rubber in her hurry to get away from him. It was obviously easier for her to blame him rather than Mason for the trouble she was in. He understood, but that didn’t mean he had to like it.

  Nope. He pretty much hated it. But what could he do? Chase her down and tell her the truth about her husband? He might be angry, but he wasn’t that angry. He needed to let this go, focus on the here and now, on the things he could control, like where he lived.

  Instead of getting into his truck, he reversed course and walked into the café.

  “Hey, Ty.”

  Angie Salinas greeted him with a wide smile. See, Skye... Angie likes me. And Angie probably had more of a reason to dislike him, because they’d dated in junior high for almost a week, before he broke up with her on Valentine’s Day. He was a smooth operator back then.

  “Angie.” He smiled up at her as she waved him to a booth. “I don’t need a menu.”

  “Know what you want, eh?”

  “Grilled chicken.”

  “Sandwich?”

  “Just the chicken, but go ahead and charge me for a sandwich.” He ate all the protein he could to keep his muscles in shape, stayed away from useless carbs. As he’d gotten older, he’d started paying more attention to things like diet and exercise. Funny how a body could get beat around for only so long before it started requiring extra attention.

  “Salad or something?”

  “A salad would be good. Dressing on the side.”

  “You got it.” She jotted a few words on her pad and headed off to the counter.

  Ty drank some water, did his best to tamp down the irritation still lingering after his encounter with Skye, then pulled out his phone and went to the real estate listings. He and Jess might have been womb-mates who could practically read each other’s minds, but if they had to share that tiny trailer space for much longer...well...he saw no good coming of that. It was time to move out.

  A house would be nice, but he had nothing against buying a used trailer, as Jess had done. In the beginning anyway. The important thing was that he wanted to buy whatever he decided on and own it free and clear while he had the bucks to do so. Traveling the circuit was expensive. Keeping his bare-bones insurance policy was expensive.

  When Angie brought his food, he put his phone aside. “I’m looking to buy some land,” he said. “Know of anything?”

  Because if anyone was going to know anything, it was Angie. She had six siblings and she worked in a café.

  She cocked a hip, frowning a little as she thought. “Nothing springs to mind, but if I hear of anything I’ll let you know. If you’re around.” One corner of her mouth quirked up. “Will you be around?”

  “I’m not retiring, if that’s what you mean. I’m just planning for the future.”

  “That is so out of character, Ty.”

  He grinned at her and she smiled back before heading to another table. It really wasn’t out of character, but Jess was so responsible that by contrast he appeared to be reckless. He had his moments, but deep down, he wasn’t all that different from his brother.

  Try telling Skye that.

  He wasn’t going to tell Skye anything. Why beat his head on a wall?

  Chapter Three

  As soon as she got home, Skye took off her uniform and put it directly into the washer before pulling on worn jeans and a crewneck sweatshirt, dressing in quick jerky movements. She wanted to stop thinking—to turn off her brain and just...be.

  As if.

  It was going to be another sleepless night. She was certain of that, just as she was certain that Tyler was to blame...although it wasn’t in the way that she usually blamed him. He’d simply uttered a truth that she hadn’t wanted to hear. A truth that had echoed through her brain for the entire trip home.

  Mason was a grown man. Mason had made his own choices.

  She knew that. But he’d also had an addiction that his friends could have helped him manage. They didn’t. End of story.

  She gathered her hair into a ponytail, slapped on a ball cap and headed out the door to take care of her menagerie.

  Skye loved animals, as had Mason, which was why she now had so many mouths to feed in addition to the cattle. Cattle she wouldn’t have for much longer if she couldn’t secure a loan to buy the hay she needed to feed them. If she had to sell the cattle at a loss, see all of her hard work go by the wayside, it was going to kill her. She could catch up on the truck payment if she sold, but without that cow money being there when she needed it, she couldn’t afford the ranch. And if she couldn’t afford the ranch, then she was going to have to give up her livestock.

  Her animals had been the one thing that had seen her through after Mason had died. How could she even think about giving them up?

  Simple. She couldn’t. And she wouldn’t.

  Her mini-donkey, Chester, came trotting across the pasture with the old mule, Babe, not too far behind as Skye walked the short distance down the driveway to the barn. Chester ducked under the bottom wire of the fence as if it wasn’t there and continued on to Skye, stopping directly in front of her. Skye reached out to rub his wiry forelock, shaking her head as Babe gave a loud protest from the pasture.

  “You know it upsets him when you do this,” Skye chided the little donkey, who rubbed his head on her hip, almost knocking her over. Babe called to his buddy again in his rusty voice, and Skye gave the little donkey a push. “Back to the pasture.”

  The donkey showed no signs of minding, so Skye went to the dwindling haystack and tossed several flakes of alfalfa over the fence into the low feede
rs. Chester shoved his way back under the wire and joined his friend, who was already tossing hay in the air, looking for the good stuff. Vanessa, the Canada goose she’d rescued from the creek when she’d been a hatchling, waddled out of the barn and into the pasture where Skye’s mare, Pepper, and Mason’s gelding, Buzz, grazed near Mr. Joe, the horse who’d raised her. The grass was tall and would feed the three for several weeks. The cows had decent pasture, too, on the remnants of the newly cut alfalfa field. Her closest neighbor, Cliff, had cut her hay twice this year... Thank goodness for good neighbors. But the fields hadn’t produced nearly enough to see her through the winter.

  Hay. Money. Problems.

  She had one more bank appointment. A smaller bank that was friendly toward ranchers—probably the first place she should have gone, except that it was in a small town thirty miles away from Gavin, and she felt a loyalty to the bank that had given her the mortgage. The bank that was not one bit interested in working with her now that she’d hit a bump in the road.

  She understood the concern, but it wasn’t like she wanted the money for a vacation or something. She wanted the money so that she could make money to pay back the bank and thus save them both a lot of headaches and hassle. The bank guy didn’t see it that way.

  She felt hopeful about the new bank, though. She’d gone to school with the loan officer and felt certain she could talk to him as a person, explain the run of bad luck and exactly how she planned to work her way through it. One loan. That was all she needed to prove herself.