Dancing With Danger: Book 8: Dancing Moon Ranch Series

by Patricia Watters

  "Good idea," Genie replied.

  Genie began unloading their bags from the car. During her third trip upstairs she knew there were many more bags than she'd wanted to bring, but after she'd made the impulsive decision to go to the Kincaid Ranch, she found herself adding items to her growing pile of belongings—toys she knew Abby would want, extra clothes in case they stayed a few days longer, old shoes for hiking and jeans for riding—and by the time she was ready to leave, she realized she'd unconsciously packed for far longer than intended.

  She was in the bedroom, hanging clothes in the closet, when she heard the high-pitched sound of Abby's laughter. Curious, she went to the window and, to her shock, saw Josh, dressed as a clown, riding the Brahma bull they'd seen in the pasture, but now the bull was wearing a hat with a flower on it. Then the bull sat down like a dog, sending Josh sliding backwards and landing on his butt, which had Abby laughing excitedly while jumping up and down.

  And all Genie could think was that the man she'd pegged as the last man she wanted to be involved with was doing exactly what she feared most. Teaching Abby that a two-thousand pound bull was a pet. So, it was time for Nurse Ratched to go into action.

  ***

  When Josh saw the front door of the Kincaid's house fly open, followed by Genie marching toward him with a scowl on her face, he knew he was in trouble but didn't know why.

  "Are you insane?!" Genie cried. "I thought I made it clear to you about Abby and that bull. This is exactly what I did not want to happen, but bearing in mind that you never paid attention to anything you were supposed to do at the hospital, I guess I should have expected as much."

  Oh boy! Nurse Ratched in full form, Josh noted. "When bulls are raised as work animals they're not any more dangerous than horses," he said. "And the only reason I did this was to show you that Ferdinand's gentle enough for Abby to learn to ride on. She'd also learn early on that horses and bulls are animals to respect." Turning to Ferdinand, he placed his hand on the bull's shoulder and said, "You might as well lie down, boy. This could take a while."

  A moment later, Ferdinand folded his front legs beneath him and rolled onto his side, sending the hat with the flower askew.

  Genie stared at Ferdinand, lips parted, eyes wide, like she couldn't quite believe what she was seeing, then the scowl came back, and she turned to Josh and said, "Like I told you before, Abby will not be riding a bull!" She folded her arms, planted her mouth in a slash, and glared at him.

  "Okay, fine then," Josh snapped. "Abby won't ride."

  "No!" Abby cried. "I want to wide Ferdan!"

  "Absolutely not!" Genie barked.

  When Abby started toward Josh with her arms raised for him to pick her up, Genie grabbed the back of Abby's shirt to stop her, then eyed Josh with vexation, and said, "Now see what you've done! You might have been raised in an environment where no sense of self-preservation is instilled in children, but that's not the way I'm raising Abby." She turned, and clamping her hand around Abby's arm, tugged her, whining and crying, into the house, sending the front door closing sharply behind.

  "Well, that certainly went well," Annie said. "What on earth were you thinking, bringing Ferdinand over here to the house? You know Genie's position on bulls and rodeo clowns."

  Whipping off his curly orange wig and pulling off his bulbous red nose, Josh wadded them up and shoved them into the pocket of his oversized pants, and said, "Maybe I needed a reminder before I did something stupid."

  "Something stupid like what?" Annie asked. "Falling in love with Nurse Ratched?"

  Josh gritted his teeth. He loved Annie as a sister-in-law, but he wasn't in the mood for her teasing. "It'll be a cold day in hell when that happens," he said, just to set things straight.

  Annie laughed, a clear sign that she didn't believe a word of it, which she affirmed when she said, "In the meantime, you might not want to be quite so in-Genie's-face with Ferdinand in case you change your mind."

  Catching movement in one of the front windows, Josh looked over and saw Genie watching before she backed away, which surprised him…

  Annie glanced over and said, "She likes you too."

  Josh looked at Annie, baffled. "What are you talking about?"

  "Genie. She thinks you're hot."

  Josh let out an ironic laugh. "How in hell did you come up with that?"

  "Call it woman's intuition," Annie said. "Does that change things?"

  "Change things how?"

  "Your feelings for Genie."

  "I don't have feelings for Nurse Ratched," Josh said, to set Annie straight, though he knew from the expression on her face that she wasn't buying it, any more than he was. But the episode with Ferdinand was a reminder of why he'd better set aside whatever he had going for the woman and get back to the reason he was at the ranch, which wasn't to dress like a clown and make a damn fool of himself…

  "At least you captured the heart of one Matthias sister," Annie said.

  Josh couldn't help smiling as the image of an endearing little face took form. "Yeah, I managed to do that. She's a cute kid."

  "She doesn't see her father much," Annie said. "He's a well-known magician and he's always contracted to do shows all around the country. He won't even be here for Abby's fourth birthday in a couple of weeks. It's sad. She just lost her mother and her father's too busy to get away. What Abby needs is an in-house father, and that's at the top of Genie's list in finding a husband."

  Josh looked at Annie, dubiously. This smacked of matchmaking. "If you're thinking I belong on that list, think again. Professional bullfighters are on the road about 150 days a year."

  "No family then?" Annie asked. "Maybe a cute little son like Cody, or a precious little daughter like Abby. It all comes in a tidy little package called wife and family."

  "I want a family," Josh replied, "which is why I plan to marry a woman who loves rodeo, maybe a champion barrel racer. So when looking for a wife, Genie's pretty low on my list too."

  Annie sighed deeply and pursed her lips, the way women did when they found themselves losing an argument but didn't want to concede. "And your plan for your kids is what? To train them to house sit while you and Miss Champion Barrel Racer follow the rodeo circuit?"

  "Look," Josh said, feeling increasingly irritated, "I'm years away from getting married so this whole conversation is irrelevant. Ferdinand, up." He nudged Ferdinand with his toe and Ferdinand raised his head, rolled upright, lifted his haunches and planted his front legs beneath him. Once standing, he nuzzled Josh, who reached into his pocket and gave Ferdinand an alfalfa nugget.

  When Josh started to walk off, with Ferdinand following behind, Annie called after him. "Incidentally, Genie loves to square dance," she said.

  Josh paused and eyed Annie with skepticism. "You have a reason for telling me this?"

  Annie shrugged. "She also loved horseback riding when she was here before, and not more than thirty minutes ago she said she'd like to go on an overnight."

  That got Josh's attention. The thing was, what Annie proposed—Genie going on one of his overnights—had been a fantasy he'd relived many nights when up on the hilltop surrounded by guests, some couples cuddled together and nibbling on each other, others comfortable with years of married life and just enjoying each other's company, and he couldn't help wondering how it could have been if he'd managed to get something going with Genie after Ryan and Annie's wedding, and she was at the overnight with him.

  But it was illogical imagining her as part of his life. Other than her one ride on a horse two years ago, she knew nothing about horses. In fact, she was about as far removed from the woman he imagined sharing his life with as any woman could be. The problem was, when he was around her, his brain seemed to get scrambled, along with his power of reason.

  "Ferdinand, come," he said. "We've worn out our welcome here." As he started off, with Ferdinand plodding behind, he couldn't help glancing at the window again, and when he caught a glimpse of Genie's face in the shadows before she backe
d out of sight, he was puzzled why she was watching him. As for Annie's comment that Genie thought he was hot, Annie was way off base on that one. But even if there was some truth to it, there was no way in hell he and Genie could share a life together. The two of them were a complete mismatch.

  CHAPTER 3

  Within the hour, Ruth and Matt Kincaid returned from Pine Grove, and any doubt Genie had about arriving at the ranch unannounced and not being welcome vanished when Ruth gave her a hug, and said, "Honey, it's good to see you again, and we all hope you can stay a while." She turned to Abby then and opened her arms, while saying, "Sweetheart, come give Grandma Ruth a hug." Moments later, Abby was wrapped in Ruth's arms.

  After a few seconds Abby wriggled free, cocked her head back and looked way up at Matt, and said, "If Gwama Ruuf's my gwama, are you my gwampa?"

  Matt looked a little baffled about how to respond. Genie could imagine him trying to concoct a reasonable explanation as to who he was in the scheme of things, so Genie said to Abby, "Lots of times special people become aunts and uncles and grandmas and grandpas, so since Grandma Ruth and Grandpa Matt are special, you can think of them as grandparents."

  Seeming to accept that without question, Abby said, "Gwampa Matt, will you take me widing on a horse?"

  Matt picked Abby up, which surprised Genie, and he said to her, "I tell you what, bucko. If Genie says it's okay, I'll take you for a ride around here right now."

  Abby grinned and looked at Genie for confirmation.

  Genie nodded. "Yes, honey, you can go."

  After they'd left, Ruth said to Genie, "Annie and Ryan are expecting you for dinner. Annie said to tell you it's a barbecue and to dress western and come as soon as you can. If it's okay, Abby and I will make cookies after she gets back from riding, and she can have dinner with us."

  "That's fine, but are you sure?" Genie asked. "Abby can be a handful at times."

  Ruth got a kind of wistful look on her face when she said, "Annie was a little over two when she was taken from me and I missed all those early years. Having Abby here is special."

  Genie had forgotten about Annie's abduction years before, and now, having Abby, she couldn't imagine how it would be if someone kidnapped her, to never know what happened to her, or where she was, or what horror she might be enduring. The thought was almost unimaginable. "Abby will love making cookies," she said. "I'll get back early enough to tuck her in bed. We have a regular nighttime routine."

  "Matt had a regular nighttime routine with Annie when she was little too, so if you don't make it back in time, I'm sure he'd love to do the honors. So have a good time with Ryan and Annie."

  "Thank you," Genie said.

  As Genie started out of the room, Ruth said, "Honey, I hope you'll stay a while. I like having another woman around, and having Abby is… well, like I said, special."

  When Genie saw the look of sincerity on Ruth's face, she couldn't resist the urge to give her another hug, and when Ruth's arms went around her, it was almost like having a mother again.

  After Genie changed into jeans and a western-cut shirt that was among those hanging in Annie's closet, she left for Annie and Ryan's. But as she approached the vicinity of the barn, she was surprised to hear what sounded like rap music coming from inside. It wasn't the monotonous kind of rap she disliked, but more like hip hop, and it was accompanied by a swishing noise and what sounded like thumping on the floor. Curious, she followed the sound to the doorway where she'd found Abby earlier and stepped inside, then stopped and stared in shocked surprise.

  A short ways off, and with his back to her, was Josh, who was jumping rope to the music, but instead of jeans and western boots, he was wearing a tank top, knee-length athletic shorts, and athletic shoes, and he was jumping rope on what looked like an interlocking foam mat.

  She realized, early on, that this was not ordinary jumping. The rope was swirling over and under, and crisscrossing in a blur as Josh kept the rhythm going. Then gradually he started turning as he jumped, at once stepping high in time to the rhythm, like climbing stairs, then changing jumping patterns, all the while moving in a counter-clockwise circle around the perimeter of the mat. It wasn't until he'd come around and was facing her squarely that he spotted her watching him. Still, he kept the rhythm going, but now he had his eyes fixed on her as he continued jumping while not missing a beat.

  She wondered if he felt awkward with her staring at him, yet she couldn't seem to take her eyes from him, like she was transfixed. He continued jumping, and again the rope alternated between crisscrossing in front, and swishing in a fast loop, then crisscrossing in back, and swinging under his legs, and back to basic jumping, but instead of one loop per jump, he'd revved it up to two loops per jump, followed by three loops.

  Then the sound of a bell rang out, and he stopped.

  With that, Josh left the mat, punched off the CD player and hung the rope over a hook. Yanking off his tank top, he reached into a bucket of water, and dragging out a washcloth, sponged it over his face and neck, then dragged it down his chest "Do you do this every day?" Genie asked, though her attention was definitely not on rope jumping as she watched tiny dribbles of water run down Josh's muscular torso.

  "Sure. There's no better way to improve agility, coordination, quickness, footwork and endurance," Josh replied. He dipped the washcloth again and flopped it over his shoulder, then reaching behind, began seesawing it back and forth across his back, while saying, "It also heightens mental acuity because you have to stay constantly aware of tripping over the rope. But after rope conditioning, most bulls seem sluggish and it's not hard to stay ahead of them." He dropped the cloth into the water and reached for a towel that was draped over a hook.

  As he was running the towel over his shoulders and behind his neck, all Genie could think was that even if his rope training gave him an edge over the bull, his body could still be broken, or crushed, or run through by a bull's horn. The whole idea made her mad. "Fatigue can dull the senses," she said. "It's a badass profession."

  "That's where you're wrong," Josh argued. "Being a bullfighter's a noble profession. I put my life on the line to keep other guys from getting gored or stomped on."

  "Fine then, let's start with professional outfits," Genie said, feeling in an argumentative mood because she was frustrated to be stupidly attracted to a man who was determined to get run through by a bull. "Firefighters with their bright red hats and tan duck overalls are the envy of every little boy, and cops and military men get uniforms that make them a hundred percent more attractive to women, and movie and TV superheroes get superhero costumes that peg them as the superheroes they are, and from all these uniforms and costumes you can get an idea of their line of work by what they wear. And then there's the rodeo clown."

  "Bullfighter," Josh corrected.

  "Well then, let's make that badass bullfighter because it's a badass profession which requires the most badass, demeaning, and confusing costume of all because kids watching the rodeo see clowns with face makeup playing around with two thousand pounds of pissed off, insanely angry bull and think it's a game."

  Josh let out a short grunt of aggravation. "It's not about going out there and acting like an idiot for a couple of hours. It takes a lot of preparation to be able to connect with whatever crowd is there that night."

  "Connect with a crowd?" Genie said. "I'd think you'd be more concerned about connecting with a bull."

  "I am, but my goal is to connect with the crowd while at the same time distracting the bull."

  "And while you're out there doing that, you're still painted up like a clown and making yourself look silly while putting your life in danger numerous times during one rodeo, and you do it because Rob Smets and Flint Rasmussen do it."

  Josh eyed her, curiously. "What do you know about them?"

  "I did a little online research," Genie replied.

  "Why?"

  "Because after your stay in the hospital I wanted to learn what it was that draws men like you to a
sport that seems as senseless as Russian roulette." Genie had no intention of letting him know that she'd continued to surf the internet to learn about what Josh did because she couldn't seem to stop herself.

  "So, what did you learn, other than we're all a bunch of idiots?"

  "Actually, I learned that rodeo clowns… umm, bullfighters," Genie corrected, "need to be agile, fast, and able to determine how a bull will behave in any situation, and also be able to entertain people during the boring parts of the rodeo when a giant bovine isn't kicking the crap out of a guy or trying to spear him with a horn and flip him out of the arena."

  Ignoring her comment, Josh retrieved the rope, reset the timer, punched the CD player and started in again. Facing Genie squarely, while saying in a voice that was unusually even for a man who was springing up and down, "Jumping's a great cardiovascular workout. You should try it. Ten minutes is equivalent to running an eight-minute mile. You can start out with a series of basic jumps then do alternate foot jumps—" as the rope swished so fast it was a blur, Josh's feet alternated up and down like he was climbing steps "—then you combine that with crisscrosses—" keeping the beat, his hands crossed in front of him then moved to his sides on the next jump, then crossed in front again, all the while the rope continued swishing in a fast blur "—then you add a series of side swings "—the rope twirled in sync at his side, then was back in a loop over his head "—and include a series of double unders—" he jumped high, sending the rope swishing twice before his feet struck the mat "—and you can end with a James Hirst—" in an instant, he was into a back flip that terminated in a split on the mat before returning upright to continue the simple jumping he'd started with.

  After a few minutes the timer went off again and he stopped, clicked off the CD player, tossed the rope over the hook and returned to the bucket to drag water down his chest again, which had Genie breathing even more heavily than before, while Josh looked barely winded.