The Bull Rider's Buddy

by Lynn Collins

  Cash had thought it sounded like a good life, but lately, he’d felt lonely. He’d probably have his week vacation holed up in his cabin with the bottle of rum just like Masey had predicted. “I guess.” He turned his head and stared up the narrow mountain road, trying to see past the curve. Not really interested, but trying to play nice, he asked, “What about you? Curtain climbers crawling on your leg while you work from home?”

  “Ha, I wish I worked at home. No, we’re in a converted warehouse in St. Louis. Cube central. Four days a week, ten hour shifts. Then I get three days with the kids and the hubby goes off to work a similar schedule. We don’t see much of each other, but we only have to put the kids in day care one day a week. So we save a ton of money.”

  Cash thought Amy’s life sounded a lot like his, but she had kids to play with—at least part time. “I work too many hours. I manage the family restaurant.” He laughed, then regretted the response as pain shot through his chest. “Ouch. I guess I should change that to own The Pancake House since the folks have moved to Florida. I’m the only Dillon left in the area, so everything falls on me.”

  “Sounds like a lot of responsibility,” Amy prompted.

  He knew she didn’t care, but since she needed to hear him talk, he unloaded with his plans for the future. He told her how he’d thought he’d wind up with Lizzie and how he’d screwed up his one shot at a vacation. “I wanted to feel sand under my toes, drinking way too much, and have sex with a complete stranger.” He blushed even though Amy couldn’t see him through the distance between them. He’d probably shocked her. “Now, I’m stuck here just because I had to make one more delivery so that the food wouldn’t get cold. I suck at priorities.”

  Amy laughed. “Cash, you don’t suck at priorities. You know what’s important. Mexico will still be there when you’re better. Who knows, maybe something good will come out of this whole thing. Is Lizzie the woman who was just here? Are the two of you dating?”

  “No, that’s June. I missed that train a long time ago.” Cash thought about that day in the hallway when she’d approached him.

  “Isn’t she coming back?” Now Amy sounded concerned.

  “I meant, I had a shot with her, and I let my buddies think I was too cool for the new girl.” Cash leaned his head back on the headrest and pulled the blanket closer. He felt the chill coming in the cab of the truck. “June, she was amazing. I knew it the first time I saw her. Kind of a bookworm, but all I wanted to do was take her hair out of that ponytail and run my fingers through the length. She still looks like that girl I knew.”

  “Sounds like she was worried about you. Maybe you could rekindle the fire now?” Amy said, her voice wistful.

  “I don’t think she’s going to be willing to give up a great life in Boise as a lawyer to play house in a Podunk town like Shawnee. Besides, she liked the quarterback. Those days are long gone.”

  “Attraction isn’t based on what you do Cash, it’s about who you are. I’m sure June still sees you the same way she did when you first met.”

  Cash closed his eyes for a minute, trying to make sense of what Amy was saying. His brain wouldn’t let him focus so he changed the subject. “All I can see is I’m probably going to have to get a new truck.” But June’s face came to mind again. What was it about that woman that kept him coming back to thinking about her?

  “I don’t think getting a new truck is a tragedy in most men’s playbook. You going to stay with the same make?” Amy asked.

  Before he could answer, he heard the distant roar of a snowmobile. June. His eyes closed and he saw her covered in flour when she answered the door. Then he saw a younger version, standing in the hallway at Shawnee High. She’d been tiny, her voice squeaky when she’d walked over to his locker, ignoring all the other guys and told him how amazing he’d been in the game that weekend. He’d liked her. He’d watched her for months, always a book in her hand, surrounded by giggling girls, but seeming different.

  He’d been a senior, too focused on college less than a year away. Getting involved with a freshman would have been stupid. She’d stayed on his mind for months after he’d left for the university up north. When he’d come back for Homecoming, he’d found out she’d moved with her mom and that had been it. He’d missed his shot.

  The roar of the snowmobile engine brought him back to reality. Now, he could see her, angling the snowmobile close to the truck. She looked cute, he thought, in a stuffed panda sort of way, the coat she wore making her twice the size she’d been in the kitchen.

  “Cash? You okay?” Amy’s voice filled the cab. “What’s that noise?”

  “June’s back to save me.” As he said the words, he wondered if they held more meaning than he knew.

  The door to the truck opened and June stood there, worry showing in her eyes. “You okay?” she asked, repeating the question that Amy had just asked him.

  He smiled, wanting to touch her cheek for some reason. He nodded to the dashboard. “Amy was just telling me she was going to ditch her St. Louis husband and come live in the mountains with me. We’re going vegan.”

  The laugh came from both sides of him, Amy and June but it was the operator who spoke. “Not likely. One, I love my husband almost as much as I love a good steak.” She paused. “Wait, that came out wrong.”

  “You done flirting, big guy?” June took his arm

  “Talk to you later, Amy. Have a good life.”

  “I’m contacting the emergency hotline now, letting them know you’re on your way. Are you taking any specific roads? I can’t really bring anything up on the map showing where you are.”

  “There’s only one road from here to town. Mostly dirt. If it’s got a name, it’s probably been forgotten. Tell them we should be at the highway turn off in about thirty minutes. If we’re not there within the hour, something’s gone wrong.” June put Cash’s arm around her shoulder. “Can you scoot out?”

  “Good luck,” Amy said. “I’ll stay on the line until I hear the snowmobile take off, so if you need something, just holler.”

  “And you’ll bring it from St. Louis?” Cash asked. “You are so wanting my hot body.”

  June laughed. “I think she’s going to be glad you’re off her line.”

  All he could feel was pain. June’s petite frame stirred under his arm. It wasn’t fair that he was this close and couldn’t even enjoy the touching. As they moved, he had to suppress the urge to scream as the pain intensified. His chest throbbed. They hobbled to the sled which seemed farther and farther away as Cash felt the energy drain from his body with each step. When they reached the sled, he fell more than dropped onto the ground. His breath came out more like a whimper, the pain blinding him for a second. Groaning, he crawled on his hands and knees to the sled, batting away June’s attempts to help. He collapsed on top. As the sharp pain subsided, June moved his legs together, covered him in a heavy blanket, and strapping something across his body. He looked down at bright orange bands. “Seriously, bungee cords?”

  June pulled a stocking cap over his head and then added what felt like a fur hood. Whatever it was made of, the thing was warm. He probably looked like a rabbit. Or one of those older women who came in to the café after cross-country.

  “We had to improvise. The sled wasn’t made to keep a large man stable.” She leaned back on her heels, checking the bands. “It’s going to be cold you know.”

  He nodded. The best thing that could happen was he’d fall asleep on the drive, but he doubted with the bumps and chill he’d be less than conscious. The pain would be a sonofabitch. He just hoped the ambulance would be waiting for him when they got down the hill. June shouldn’t have to carry him any farther than that. He focused on her. “Hey – I want to tell you something.”

  She leaned closer, her black hair falling over him, the smell of a floral shampoo filling his senses. “You need something out of the truck? Should I lock it?”

  He shook his head. “No, I mean, that’s not what I wanted to tell you.” H
e pulled on his arm but it was already tied down.

  “Settle down. You have to be tied in so I don’t lose you down the mountain.” Her smile widened.

  He blew out a breath then said, “I remembered you from that day in the hallway. I saw you.”

  June hadn’t known what to say. She checked his straps one last time, then tapped his arm. “We’ll talk when we get down the mountain.” As she steered the snowmobile down the steep road, slick in spots, snow too deep in others, she thought about his words. “I saw you,” she whispered. She slowed to take a turn and glanced back at Cash. She hadn’t thought he’d remembered her embarrassment. Even now, her cheeks felt hot thinking about his eyes that day. He’d seemed amused, at least before his friends had started cracking jokes and calling her his groupie.

  She’d never talked to him again, ducking into rooms when she saw him in the hallway, using the library as a hiding spot. When her mom had called to ask her to come home, she’d jumped at the chance to leave Shawnee. Even now when she visited, she stayed out of town, hoping she wouldn’t run into Cash or his football crew buddies. But fate had brought them together.

  She set her jaw and tried to ignore the blush that she knew wasn’t caused by the chilled air on her face. All she had to do was get him down the mountain. Then someone else would take him to the hospital and she could go back to her old life, the one where Cash never saw or talked to her again. The one that she’d built so very carefully.

  She sped up the progress ever so slowly. Fifteen minutes later, the highway in sight, all hell broke loose.

  3

  Cash woke up in a hospital bed. His ribs had been wrapped so his amateur diagnosis of cracked ribs had probably been spot on. He glanced around the bed until he saw who occupied the side chair. She leaned forward, touching his hand.

  “We’ve been so worried about you.” Masey smiled. “Maybe next time you’ll actually listen when I tell you to run and run quickly.”

  He barked a laugh, then groaned. “Can’t a man be on his death bed without an ‘I told you so?’”

  “You could be on a beach somewhere.” Masey reminded him.

  He eased up the bed with the remote. “With my luck the plane would have fallen out of the sky with a freak accident. Or the resort would have been taken over in a drug cartel revolution.”

  “Drama queen.” She grabbed her purse and stood. “I better get back to the restaurant now that you’re not dying. We need to make some money to afford this luxury suite.” She kissed him on the cheek and ruffled his hair. “Glad you’re alright.”

  He watched her slip on her coat. “Hey, did someone come in with me? A woman?”

  She shook her head. “No one said anything to be about a woman. Was she in the accident too?”

  Cash closed his eyes. He’d been too late telling her how he felt. She didn’t want him. And apparently she couldn’t even bear to be with him long enough for the ambulance ride to the hospital. Or maybe he’d just imagined telling her his feelings. Either way, she wasn’t here. “No, she brought me off the mountain.”

  Masey stood in the doorway and watched him, a look Cash thought was pity on her face. Or maybe it was worry. “Then she’s a hero. I don’t know what I would have done if something had happened to you up on that road. You’re kind of an okay kid for a total pain in the butt.”

  “Thanks, I think.” He waved as Masey disappeared into the hallway. Soon after that, his doctor came into the room and explained that Cash would be discharged tomorrow, barring any complications.

  “Did you talk to June? The woman who brought me here?” Cash wondered if maybe she was still sitting in some waiting room, drinking bad coffee and waiting for him to wake.

  The doctor pulled a pen light out and shined it in Cash’s eye. “What did she look like?”

  “Tiny, slender, long black hair.” He sighed. “Pretty amazing actually.”

  The doctor pocketed the mini flashlight. “Didn’t see a woman when Rick brought you in, especially not one looking like you described. I’d remember her.”

  Cash leaned back. Maybe he’d imagined June and the entire episode. He’d heard of head injuries doing that. He tried one more time. “How did the ambulance get called?

  The doctor checked the chart. “Says here that your car’s phone system called them and they found you at the side of the road.”

  He thought about making the pie. No way had he imagined this whole thing. Imagined June. He decided to leave the subject alone until he was released. No use the doctor thinking he’d hit his head and was seeing things that weren’t there. Like a woman who stirred his senses, embodying home despite her lack of domestic skills.

  “So I can get out of here tomorrow?” Cash looked down at his body, covered by the white sheet. “Nothing except a few cracked ribs?”

  The doctor raised his eyebrows. “Ribs you’ve apparently cracked before. Are you a risk taker, Mr. Dillon?”

  “Ex professional football player.” Cash grinned. “You must be new in town or else my playing days are old news on the rumor mill.”

  “Guilty as charged. St. Luke’s sent me up from Boise for the season. Your regular internist is off for a few months backpacking Europe.” The doctor made a note in the file and then closed it.

  “Let me guess, you either drew short straw or you ski.”

  The doctor laughed. “Ski. I jumped at the chance to live ten minutes from the best slopes in the state.” He held his hand out. “Robert Nelson.”

  Cash took the offered hand. “Make sure you stop by The Pancake House. I’ll treat you a meal as a welcome gift.”

  “Sounds good.” Robert glanced at his watch. “Better get rounds finished. If you need anything just have the nurse page me. Unless you do, you’re out of here first thing in the morning. I’ll have my receptionist set you an office visit in two weeks. If you’re healing like you should be, you can go back to work then.”

  “Strong incentive not to bother you.” Cash chuckled then inhaled sharply.

  Robert shook his head. “I don’t see a problem, but if you think you can get by the nurses, go ahead and try. They can smell pain.”

  “I’m sure I’ll be fine.” He held up his hand, stopping the doctor’s next words. “But if I need something, I’ll call. Right now I could use some food. I had planned on eating in Boise so I haven’t had anything since breakfast.”

  “I’ll send in a nurse. I’m sure we can get something. The kitchen stays open late for staff.” Robert tucked the chart under his arm and left the room.

  Cash reached for the remote and turned on the television. Scrolling through the channels, all he found was reruns. Even his sports channel was doing a football retrospective. He found the country music channel and leaned back, biding his time until he could leave and return to his cabin. “Happy vacation to me,” he said bitterly.

  The next morning, true to his word, the doctor had left orders to release Cash. He had a prescription for painkillers and an appointment for a checkup in two weeks. Masey had come to pick him up, stopping at Shawnee Grocery, to procure his prescription and to fill bags with staples. “We’ll drop off lunch and dinner daily until you’re back to work.”

  “Good. That will give me plenty of opportunities to discuss delivery issues with our driver.” Cash waited in the car as Masey ran into the store. He watched as the few cars on the road flew by, and wondered when or if he’d get his truck back. He sighed.

  “What’s the problem now?” The driver’s side door opened and Masey stuffed two bags into the back seat. “I’ve never know you to be such a Debbie Downer.”

  He hadn’t even seen her walking back across the parking lot. “I liked my truck.”

  “Leave it to you to worry about getting a new truck. From the guys at the repair shop, yours is totaled. They came in for dinner last night after the tow truck dropped it off.” She started the car and fell silent for a minute. “Bill said he didn’t know how you made it as hard as you hit the rocks.”

 
“I live right, what can I say?” He hated the worry he heard in her voice. “Look, I’m fine. But thanks for everything. I appreciate it.”

  “Now that’s better.” Masey smiled and turned up the stereo. Cash leaned his head back and closed his eyes. It was going to be a long two weeks.

  By Friday, he was ready to start tearing up the cabin. The bathroom needed remodeling, as well as the kitchen. He hadn’t spent this much time at home for, well, forever. He lay on the couch and channel surfed, not staying on one station long enough to even get interested in anything. A knock sounded at the door. He glanced at his watch. Early for lunch. “Come in,” he yelled.

  The door swung open and all he could see was a box. When it lowered, June stood in his living room. “You look better than the last time I saw you.”

  His heart pounded. He ran a hand over his hair wishing now he’d taken time to clean up that morning. “I’d been thinking you were a mirage. No one seemed to know you rescued me.” He stood from the couch.

  “When Rick arrived in the police van, I left you with him and headed back up the mountain to check on Grandmother. Snow started really coming down about half way down the mountain. I wasn’t sure if I stayed around if I’d get back up before spring. She puts up a good front but the woman needs someone there. I haven’t told her, but I’m either moving back to the cabin or she’s moving to town.” June set the box on the floor. She sat next to him, scrunching her nose. “I hate to be rude, but have you showered lately?”

  Cash grumbled. “I haven’t felt like it. Besides, I’m wrapped.”

  “I can re-wrap you. Go take a shower, relax, and I’ll wrap your ribs when you get out.”

  Cash raised his eyebrows. “What’s in the box?”

  “That’s a surprise. Go, take care of yourself. I’ll still be here, I promise.” June grinned.

  Surprisingly, the shower felt great. And for the first time in days, his mood lifted. He soaped his chest, wincing a bit when he hit a couple spots. When he toweled dry and returned to his bedroom, a pair of brightly flowered swim trunks lay on his bed. “What are these?”