by Cat Johnson
“I figured I’d look up my old bull-riding teacher, Cooper Holbrook. He’s still in town. He was the first guy to put me up on a bull. Said I was a natural.” It was a good memory. One he’d always have, no matter what happened.
“I don’t know about that, kid.” Slade shook his head. “You know what happened with Cooper, don’t ya?”
“No, what happened?” Skeeter frowned. His mother had just seen Cooper’s truck in town. How could anything have happened to him?
“I heard he gave up teaching. Even totally got rid of all his stock. Took up drinking instead.”
Skeeter’s eyes widened at that revelation. “Why? He was so good at teaching.”
“Not exactly sure. I heard something happened with his partner he couldn’t get over.” Slade shrugged.
This news was more than Skeeter could handle. But it sounded too unbelievable anyway. There were always rumors in this business. The better the rider, the worse the talk. He wouldn’t believe it until he saw it with his own eyes. And he’d make a point to visit Cooper’s place as soon as he got home.
So deep in his own head, Skeeter barely listened as the conversation continued around him.
“If we do all try to get together, the thing we have to consider is where would we ride?” Chase looked from one guy to another. “We need a stock contractor willing to let us get on some practice bulls.”
“And someplace that either has room for us to camp out there, or a cheap hotel nearby since it seems some of us will be traveling a distance.” Garret staring pointedly at Skeeter made him feel even more guilty they were all changing their plans for this break just to help him.
“You guys don’t have to do—”
“Shut up. We’re doing it.” Aaron cut Skeeter off. “Now let’s think. Who’s in the area who’s got decent bucking bulls and would be willing to let us get on them?”
“Butch Davis’s place is in western Mississippi. That’s pretty central.”
The mention of Butch’s place made Skeeter pay more attention. Riley would be there, which would be no hardship. But so would Butch, and his glare alone could scare the hell out of Skeeter and most of the other guys. He couldn’t even imagine asking the guy for a favor, such as if a bunch of guys could just practice on his prize-winning buckers.
Skeeter decided he better say something before one of these nut cases whipped out a cell phone and called to ask him. “Butch is a big-time contractor. I mean, he’s raised seven out of the last ten bulls of the year. He wouldn’t let us just come there and hop on them.”
“Sure, he will.” Mustang let out a snort. “Maybe he won’t let us get on Renegade. That bull’s worth too much and he can’t risk him getting injured in the practice pen, but some of the younger stock? The green ones he’s hoping to put in competition in a year or two, hell yeah. He probably can’t find enough riders to take ’em out for a spin.”
“Well, you can ask him, Mustang. I’m thinking I’d better not. He caught me just looking in Riley’s direction this weekend and I thought he was gonna pull out a shotgun and run me off.” Aaron shook his head, laughing. “I can’t imagine he’s gonna want us there at his place with her around.”
That Aaron had been looking at Riley was an interesting fact. One that made Skeeter feel something he hadn’t thought about before when it came to her—his competitive side kicking in. He guessed before he’d always assumed they were all in the same boat when it came to Riley. She was cute and also totally off limits, so no one had a shot. But then she’d given him her number, which meant what? Probably nothing. Still, knowing Aaron had his eye on her almost made Skeeter a little jealous. Just what he needed, more emotions flying around in him. As if he wasn’t confused enough about everything going on.
“We could exchange chores for practice time,” Chase suggested.
“Yeah, who wouldn’t be grateful for some extra hands around the place?” Garret turned to look at Aaron. “And if you keep your eyes and your hands to yourself, we should all be good.”
Aaron scowled. “And if you weren’t married to my sister, you would be looking at Riley too.”
“With Butch around?” Garret rolled his eyes. “No, don’t think so. Unlike you, I’ve got a brain in my head and I’d like to keep it there.”
“All right, boys. No bickering like a couple of little girls. Let’s get back on topic. We’ll have to ask, but if he’s game, who’s in?” Mustang looked around the table.
“I could stand to brush up on my skills, I’m sure.” Garret nodded. “I’m in.”
Slade dipped his head as well. “Hell, I’m in too. I go batty not being able to ride during the time off.”
“Jenna will be okay with you being in Arkansas instead of visiting with her in New York over the break?” Mustang asked his traveling partner.
“She’s flying down to Texas tomorrow. After this visit, I’m hoping there won’t be any more long-distance shit.”
Mustang’s brows rose as he stared at Slade. “Something you need to tell me?”
Slade snorted out a laugh. “Not here and now there isn’t. No.”
Skeeter and the rest of the guys watched the exchange with interest until Chase broke the silence. “So what do you say, Skeets? If we can arrange it, will you do it?”
“If we can find a place willing to let us ride, Butch’s or wherever, then yeah, I’m in.” What did he have to lose?
If it did all work out, Skeeter figured he could learn a lot by hanging around a man with as much experience with bulls as Butch had. It wouldn’t be any hardship to spend some time around Riley either. Sure, Butch would likely flay any guy who touched his daughter, but that didn’t mean they all couldn’t be friends. A girl as nice and cute as she was who also knew as much about bucking bulls as any man in this business—that was a rare find. How could a guy not appreciate all that?
Mustang brushed his hands together. “It’s settled, then. I’ll give Butch a few days to get settled back home and then I’ll give him a call. See where we stand. You guys all go home and enjoy a few days with the families, but be prepared. If he agrees we’re gonna work hard and long.”
“Bull-riding boot camp. I like it.” Chase grinned.
Mustang cocked a brow. “We’ll see how you feel once it starts.”
Chase laughed. “You don’t scare me. My brother wakes me up at five to run with him every morning when I’m home in Oklahoma. Rain, snow, heat. Don’t matter.”
“Good.” Mustang leveled his gaze at Chase. “You’ll be in charge of arranging the physical training schedule then.”
“All right. Done.” Chase grinned. “Be my pleasure.”
Garret groaned. “Great.”
Aaron laughed. “We’ll work hard, but I also expect to play hard when the work is done, so I’ll be in charge of bringing the cooler full of beer.”
Chase shook his head. “Your sorry ass had better be out of bed every morning with the rest of us.”
“It will be. Don’t you worry.” Aaron turned in his seat and craned his neck one more time. “I’m going to find that waitress. She must think we’re just here to hang out and bullshit, but I need to eat.”
Skeeter watched Aaron go in search of food. The rest of the guys kept talking about possible training exercises and other stuff for this boot camp they were planning. All because of him. It was a little overwhelming but nice. He had good friends. Skeeter just hoped he’d get to keep being with them.
He had to get back on this tour.
Chapter Five
Riley made good time and pulled into their town before dawn. That could have been because there wasn’t another soul on the road. But more likely it was because once Butch had fallen asleep, she had stopped worrying about the speed limit. Her father would have bitched about her speeding had he been awake, but lucky for her, he hadn’t been.
They were hauling six bulls tonight with the smaller of their two stock trailers. She knew the truck could handle it, and the speed had helped her stay awake. Creepin
g along at the legal limit on an interstate with nothing to look at would have lulled her to sleep for sure.
The trailer bounced and rocked as Riley steered from the smooth roadway onto their gravel drive. She slowed to a crawl and headed toward the bull pasture.
“Dad. We’re here.” Riley cut the engine and turned in the driver’s seat. “Dad. Wake up. We have to unload.”
“Huh? Oh, yeah. I’m up.” Her father sat forward in his seat and reached for the passenger door handle before he stopped and blew out a breath.
In the midst of opening her own door, Riley paused and looked back. “You all right?”
“Yeah. Sore as shit. I should’ve known not to sleep in the truck.” He rubbed his left shoulder with his right hand. “I’m paying for it now. Even my fingers are tingling.” He cringed and clenched his fist a few times.
“I’m sorry.” Maybe she should have woken him up during the drive. Moving around in the seat was better than being in one cramped position for hours.
“Not your fault, baby girl. Just me getting old. Come on. Let’s get ’em unloaded. My stomach still feels like crap. I’ll be happy to be done and get inside.”
“Okay.” With one more glance at her father, Riley climbed down from the cab.
There were half a dozen champion bucking bulls waiting not so patiently to be off loaded from the twenty-four-foot stock trailer. As if they sensed they were home, or maybe even smelled that they were, they were ready to get out. Their stomps and an occasional bellow told her that.
“Hang on, boys. I’m coming.” She’d already backed the trailer right up to the fencing of the pasture. All she’d have to do is open the gate and then set the ramp the bulls would walk down from the back of the trailer to the ground.
They were all experienced in the procedure, both humans and animals. They’d done this enough times. Good thing, because her father wasn’t looking well. As he came around the side of the trailer, he seemed to be breathing heavier than normal. Like he was winded from just that short walk. The quicker they got done, the better she’d feel. Him too.
“Dad, I can handle this if you want to go inside.”
“Hell, girl. The day I can’t unload my own trailer is the day you might as well put me in the ground.”
“Fine. You open the gate. I’ll get the ramp.” She’d let him try to help, but she intended to do as much as she could so he didn’t have to.
Riley skittered up the ramp and unlatched the trailer door. Most stubborn man alive, Butch Davis was. But Riley was his daughter and she’d give him a run for his money.
The bulls were as anxious to get to their home as Riley was to get to hers, so unloading took barely any time at all. Soon, she and her father were dragging their tired butts into the house.
“You want me to make you something to eat? You never had dinner.”
Her father shook his head at her offer. “Nah. I’m still not feeling right. Damn fast food. Must’ve been what I had for lunch. I’m just gonna lie down on the couch for a minute then hit the shower and bed.”
“Okay.” Riley didn’t remind him they’d had the same thing for lunch and she felt fine. She’d let it go and if he wasn’t better in the morning, they’d deal with it then. Though getting him to even consider a doctor would be a battle. Maybe she could talk to the pharmacist in town about what to give him besides the antacids for a bad stomach.
With that plan in mind, Riley kissed her father on the cheek. “I’m hitting the shower then I’m heading to bed. Good night.”
“Night, baby.” He plopped heavily onto the cushions, looking every bit his age plus some tonight.
Maybe they should use this mid-season break as a vacation. As much as her father liked to try out the new stock at the smaller events, and as much as Riley wouldn’t mind running into Skeeter at them, they could use some downtime at home.
She’d talk to her father about the break in the morning too. Though getting him to take time off would be as hard as getting him to the doctor.
Men. Too stubborn for their own good. Yet she still wouldn’t mind having one in her life. What did that say about her? Maybe beneath the stench of bull, under the denim and leather and arena dust, there was a girly girl buried deep. It would just take the right guy to bring her out.
Riley showered off the stench and dirt that was part of her everyday life. She slipped into shorts and a T-shirt before she braided the still-damp length of hair she brushed over her shoulder. It was long past bedtime and closer to sunrise when she was finally ready to hit the sack.
Exhausted, she was about to crawl beneath the covers when she realized she’d never heard her father go to bed or even into the bathroom. Knowing him, he’d fallen asleep on the sofa, which wouldn’t help the stiff shoulder he was complaining about any. She’d have to wake him up so he could move to his bedroom and get a proper night’s sleep.
Barefoot, she padded to the living room and leaned over the back of the couch. Just as she expected, Butch was there and apparently sound asleep. In such a deep slumber, he wasn’t even snoring, which pretty much never happened.
“Dad.” She spoke softly at first, hoping to not startle him. When he didn’t wake, she raised her voice and repeated, “Daddy.”
He still didn’t stir. “Daddy, wake up.”
Frowning, Riley reached down and jostled him, noticing in the dim light of the living room lamp that his coloring looked awful. She laid a palm against his cheek. His skin felt cooler than it should. “Daddy?”
Her heart clenched as panic began to set in. No. It wasn’t possible. She swallowed past the lump in her throat and forced herself to press two fingers to his throat. The pulse she searched for wasn’t there.
The one person she had left in the world could not leave her.
Battling the hysteria rising within her, she ran around the couch and kneeled, pressing her ear to his chest. No sounds of breathing. No heartbeat. She ran for the phone and punched in nine-one-one. It hadn’t been that long since he was up and joking with her while helping to unload the bulls. He could not be gone. They’d have to bring him back.
Why hadn’t she taken that CPR course they’d offered in high school? If he died, it would be her fault. She should have taken him right to the hospital when he said he didn’t feel well. She should know what to do now to save him.
“Nine-one-one. What’s your emergency?” The voice on the other end of the phone didn’t hold half the comfort Riley needed it to. Worse, the only answer she had to the seemingly simple question was a sob.
“You home yet?” Aaron’s voice on speakerphone filled the cab of Skeeter’s truck.
“Not yet. Soon. I’m about to get off the highway.”
“You should have stayed here for the night like I wanted you to. We could have gone out. Then you could have started fresh in the morning.”
Skeeter let out a snort. “If we’d gone out, I wouldn’t be fresh. I’d be hung over in the morning.”
And he’d had enough of Aaron trying to cheer him up for one weekend. He didn’t need a repeat. That he’d let it happen at all had been a one-time lapse in judgment on Skeeter’s part. He had no issues with meeting a girl and having a little bit of fun, but to have her led to his bed, and have Aaron right there doing what he’d done…it was too much for Skeeter.
“What are you going to do at home?” Aaron asked, dragging Skeeter away from memories of last night and back to the conversation.
“I wanna spend some time with my mother. Don’t forget, she only has me.”
“Yeah, I know. I’m lucky my parents have each other and my sister to bother. And now Garret too.” Aaron laughed.
“I think you’re enjoying that a little too much.” Skeeter shook his head.
“What? That the main topic of conversation at every family dinner is when Garret and Silver are going to give them a grandchild? Oh, hell yeah, I am. You should see it. Garret gets all red in the face and Silver gets all pissy about how she has a career and kids will have
to wait. It’s great. I sit there and love every damn minute of it.”
Skeeter laughed. “You’re so bad.”
“Eh, they’d laugh at me if the situation was reversed.”
“Yeah, they would.” Skeeter flipped on the directional and, slowing for the exit, signaled for the turn off the highway.
His mother’s spaghetti and meatballs weren’t far away now. He’d have to call her and tell her he’d be home very soon so she could put the water on to boil. Boy oh boy, would he be happy to get out of this truck and put some of his mother’s good home cooking in his belly.
“Well, I’ll let you go. I gotta meet Garret and Silver at the bar. Talk to ya later.”
“Later.” Skeeter disconnected the call with a heavy feeling in his chest. Would they all stay such close friends now that Skeeter was off the tour?
Even if they did, things wouldn’t be the same. Garret and Aaron would ride together to the events without him. They’d probably both room with Chase whenever Chase’s girl or Garret’s wife wasn’t with them, just like the old days. Back a few years ago, when they were all starting out, they’d been so poor they couldn’t afford their own room. It had been four in a room for every event and Skeeter had been one of them.
Now, they still shared rooms even though they were making a pretty decent living riding. No need to waste money, and it was a habit for them all to be together. All of them except for Skeeter. He wouldn’t be one of the four anymore.
The familiar scenery did nothing to soothe him this time. This trip home and the sight of the town where he’d been born was only making Skeeter antsy. He needed to do something to shake up his riding. Hell, to shake up his whole damn life.
Yeah, the guys had talked about that bull-riding boot camp, but who knew if it would ever happen. They all had lives to get back to during the break. And Butch Davis letting a bunch of riders camp out at his place and hop on his championship bulls, or even his green stock, seemed like a long shot at best.
No, Skeeter couldn’t count on anyone else to fix this. He had to do it himself.
