Christmas At Love House: Bittersweet Interlude (Bull Rider #3)

by Mary J. McCoy-Dressel

  Instead of going on her way, Velia stood in front of her without saying a word. She reached out and smoothed hair behind Natale’s ear. Her gaze went toward the door she just came out of.

  “It wasn’t what you’re thinking, Velia.”

  With the silkiest voice, she shook her head slowly, “I’m not thinking anything, darlin’. Though you have a bit of a mustache burn.”

  She lifted her hand to cover it. Foley only had a touch of scruff but her tender skin felt the chafe when he had kissed her, not that she cared, but the fact Velia had mentioned it brought heat to her face. “How can you not think the worst? I came out of Foley’s bedroom.” Dio, help me through this. “We only talked and….” She paused, for it’d be best to stop there.

  Velia shrugged. “Because I know you. Be glad it was me who saw you and not Caulder.”

  “You know I’ve fallen in love with him.” Natale lowered her eyes as if she were guilty of something more than she should’ve been.

  Velia lifted Natale’s chin until they were eye to eye. “I see it all over your face…and his.” Velia folded her arms but changed her mind and rested her hands at her midriff. “I married at your age. I’m well aware of what it’s like to be in love at eighteen. It’s no different than falling in love at thirty-two. Same as when I met that cowboy. The feelings are just as real, but when love is real, it’s totally different. I ask that you be careful and aware of what’s going on with Foley. You do need to understand his life. It’s not all as it seems, Natale.” Velia hugged her. “I love you both.”

  “Grazie.” Natale broke the embrace and explained that Foley wanted her to be aware of his condition and was willing to help her in doing so.

  “He’s a good guy, sweetie. And you’re a great girl.” Velia smiled. “Sounds like a good match. Come down when you’re ready. Alba’s going with me to take pictures, too. I’m thrilled she’s into photography. Do you want to come?”

  “I have some schoolwork to go over, but thanks. Don’t let Foley get hurt.”

  She chuckled. “That’s like telling me not to let Caulder get hurt.” Velia went toward the stairway.

  “Velia?” When Velia lifted her chin to acknowledge her, Natale smiled. “Thank you for understanding.”

  Nodding, Velia continued downstairs.

  ***

  Foley went back upstairs to his room to change his jeans in case his chance to ride came up. Natale’s bedroom door was closed. The idea of her asking, no, telling him to stop bull riding didn’t surprise him. He’d heard it enough times from others. Nobody got it except Caulder and the other riders. Family didn’t understand and he didn’t expect them to, yet, it’d be nice if they did.

  Downstairs, he pulled on his coat, hat, and gloves then shuffled outside to get in the car with Caulder, Torre, and Alba. Jase followed in his own car. Velia would come along shortly after getting Kase situated with his grandmothers.

  On the way, he mulled over the sight of Natale waiting in his bedroom. The vision of lying atop her while her body trembled beneath him—filled his thoughts. Shaking his head to clear it, he peered out the window as they drove. He had to be sure she was sure. Heavy flakes fell and got harder before they arrived at Aiden’s section of McCutchen Ranch. Stepping out, the immediate smell of horses, manure, and rank bulls seeped into his nostrils. Smells like home! “This should be fun riding in snow. Cold though.”

  “Your ass will warm up the bull, don’t worry.” Caulder laughed. “Not sure we’ll ride, Foley. I mean you’ll ride. Velia will personally kick my ass if I do.” At the ranch they got out, and his cousin pulled up behind them.

  Foley chuckled internally. As if Velia would be able to stop Caulder if he had wanted to. He’d known that stubborn cowboy long enough to know he lived to ride. “Hah, you never listened before. How can you anyway, all bruised up?”

  Alba peered over her shoulder. “I can take pictures of his handsome face even if he doesn’t ride.” She stuck out her tongue to catch snowflakes. Alba casually asked Foley, “Are you friends with Lance from Caulder’s team?”

  Foley crossed his arms in front of him. “Yeah, I know him. He’s been to my ranch to look at my bulls. I wouldn’t say we’re friends. Why?”

  “She likes him,” Torre said razzing her.

  Alba stuck her tongue out at her brother. “Shut up, Torre. I was just asking. Stupido!”

  “Yeah, sure.” Torre turned his nose up at his youngest sister.

  Caulder shoved his arm. “Leave your sister alone. Listen to yourself sometime when you’re talking about the girls. Remember, you wanted to join the Army because they have girls.”

  Alba huffed. “Sì, stupido frattelo!”

  Foley ran his gloved hand over his chin. He was surprised Natale hadn’t rattled off a bunch of Italian curse words when he had held her earlier. Not that he could even explain it to himself why he had told her she couldn’t leave his room. In a feat like that, he couldn’t continue to blame it on his injury. It was true that he hadn’t wanted her to leave, even if she shouldn’t have been there in the first place.

  All he wanted to do was protect that girl…not scare her. Well, that wasn’t all he wanted to do, and it wasn’t the injury speaking, either. She wanted him, but what did she know? She’d never been in love before, while in his short past, he had loved and lost. They strutted up to the barn while Aiden waited at the door. Bringing his thoughts back to the present, he grinned. “Say the word. I’m riding.”

  Aiden chuckled. “Let’s ride a bull, cowboys.”

  Torre was the first one in the barn.

  Caulder halted Foley. “Between you and me… Are you all right to ride? I see you favoring your leg today.”

  “You said you had some tame bulls here. I’ll stay away from his PBR bulls. My leg’s been killing me since we arrived. Must be the cold weather. I took a pain pill before we left.”

  “Better watch those things—”

  “I know. I’ve been reminded once already today. This is one of the milder ones which probably won’t do shit. I’m good to ride.” Caulder headed into the barn but Foley called him. “Wait up.” When he caught up to where Caulder had waited, he peered at the ground before meeting his gaze. “Do you think Bobby will have a problem with me and Natale being together?”

  “Well, hell, how do I know? How much does he know about you two?” Caulder waved to a ranch hand who had come out of a stall.

  “Bobby knows we’ve been dating. I’m taking her to the prom.” Foley grinned like a high schooler. “Me, at a high school prom at nearly twenty-three years old. Wahoo.”

  Caulder bumped his arm. “Come on. Let’s see what kind of mood these critters are in today. For the record? None of them are tame.”

  “Y’all know I don’t dance very well. I’ve been told I look more like a bull doing a two-step.”

  “Talk to Velia. She’ll give you a couple spins around the dance floor.” He nudged Foley toward the rear of the barn. “You know I went to a prom once. You have a few days left here, but damn, you sound like a teenager yourself. Man up and learn to dance. Women love it when we dance with them.” Caulder chuckled then rolled his eyes. “Listen to what you have me saying now. Go find yourself a rotten-mean, bastard of a bull.”

  Torre and Aiden got the bulls into the front pens. Jase had decided to give it a try. His adrenalin must’ve kicked into high gear, or a bit of razzing from Caulder had done him in.

  “Gear up,” Aiden told Torre. “You riding, Foley? I have one here that won’t kill you.”

  Foley adjusted his hat and removed his jacket. “Sure, let’s go for it. Got some chaps around here?”

  “Chaps hell. Grab a rope, cowboy. Tack room’s that way.” Aiden left him standing in the snow between the barn and pens.

  ***

  Caulder strode into the tack room as Foley put on a protective vest then pulled a leather glove on one hand. He picked out a bull rope and together, they made their way to the ring. First up, Torre climbed over the rai
l and onto the back of a bull. To Caulder’s surprise, Torre wore a helmet. Caulder nodded to Foley and grinned, giving him a thumbs up. The kid’s will to ride had outweighed his stubbornness. Step one to his teaching.

  Foley peered at the helmet in his own hand. “Guess the kid doesn’t wanna end up like me.” He rubbed his temple in a circular motion while his gaze followed Torre’s ride. The eight second buzzer rang out loud.

  “Yeah! Awesome ride, Torre.” Caulder lit up with pride as he congratulated the kid.

  Torre loosened his rope and took a dive off the bull. He got up from the sandy snow with a grin big enough to stretch the width of the Grand Canyon, and ran around doing fist pumps like a crazy fool.

  “Way to go, Torre,” said Aiden. “The next one won’t be so easy.”

  “Sì! Bring it on,” Torre said as he did a back flip.

  “Don’t get too confident there, kiddo. Be proud but stay in control. Concentrate.” Caulder nodded to Foley. “Go on in there if you still feel like it. Your turn.”

  “Yes, sir.” Foley patted Torre on the back when he came back to the chute. “Y’all need to listen to Caulder there. That’s advice from a three-time world champion. I had listened a bit in my day, but I should’a listened fully.”

  At the bucket chute, Foley tossed his leg over the rail and stood there with both feet on the top rung without getting on the bull. Velia pulled up with her dad in the car and they both got out.

  Caulder held his hand up in a pretend surrender to Velia. “Don’t worry, I’m not riding.” Hell, he didn’t even go up to the chute. He hurt bad, worse than he’d hurt in a long time. Gritting his teeth at the thought of Abe Collins, there was nothing he could do now but wait it out until he healed. He wasn’t sure what hurt more. The actual fractures and bruises or the fact the asshole caught him off guard, or the fact he wasn’t up there getting on a bull right now.

  The police had called him earlier, explaining they had questioned Kyle Costello. Checking their computers, it was obvious Costello and Collins had worked together to extort money from Caulder. They got into a hell of a lot more than they had planned when they came up with their poorly-thought-out idea to abduct Kase for money. His hands fisted, thinking of the possibility—the reality of Collins being close enough to his child and his wife to have carried out the plan. He closed his eyes a minute, seeking calm before he exploded.

  Costello’s grudge for Caulder nearly beating him to death, had dug at him for all these years until he had come up with a plan. Damn idiot. Since knowing Ric Armano, he’d never condoned certain things he had done in his life, but now he considered asking… No, don’t go there.

  Abe Collins had spilled it all during questioning. They’d better be put away for a long time. Caulder made a mental note to call his good friend, Paulo, to explain that Kyle may not be going to prison for attacking Paulo’s wife years ago, but at least, hopefully, he’d be going to prison for something. Sometimes things did turn out in the long run. Karma. Neither one of them better ever come across his path. Caulder took his attention back to the chutes, putting the thought of those two away for now to observe the goings-on. Breathe.

  Foley peered at Alba. “Get your camera ready, girl.” She stood right up there in the midst of it all…camera at the ready.

  “I got you, Foley.” Alba plopped Foley’s cowboy hat on her head, raised her camera to focus, her fingers poking out of the fingerless gloves, and she took a picture. “Ride that bull, cowboy. Yeehaa.”

  Ric Armano went to stand beside Caulder at the rail down below. Velia slipped the camera strap over her neck as she went atop the chute. “Foley, you sure you’re all right?” she asked as she lifted her camera.

  Caulder chuckled upon hearing her. That’d be like his wife.

  With a snarled lip, Foley peered at her. “Yep. Make sure you’re in focus, Velia. Don’t let that l-l-little girl show you up.” Foley eased his butt onto the bull before putting on his helmet. He lowered the helmet to his lap and strummed his fingers against the face guard, subtly shaking his head. Without looking up, he mumbled, “Let me out, Aiden.” His helmet dropped to the ground and the bull bucked in the chute.

  Velia laughed and glanced at Caulder down by the rail. “I’ll try not to let her—”

  It was too late for Foley to get out.

  Aiden and Torre already had hold of his vest to pull him off the bull and the ranch hand dragged the gate open to let the bull out. “Foley?” They helped him to sit on the wooden deck.

  “What do we do?” asked Torre, his chin quivering and hands shaking.

  “Bad idea.” Caulder made his way up the steps, but the guys were there to help. “You having one of your seizures, Foley?” he heard his dad ask.

  Foley peered straight ahead with a glazed look in his eyes but he was somewhat coherent. Velia held Caulder’s coat sleeve. Observing Alba biting a nail, with eyes wide and her body tense, she wrapped her arms around her. “It’s okay, honey. He’ll come out of it. It doesn’t hurt him.”

  “I’m scared. Is he going to start twitching and shaking?” She buried her face against Velia’s shoulder.

  “No. It’s frightening to see, but it affects his consciousness more than anything. He doesn’t have that other kind, honey.” She patted Alba’s back and watched as Foley sat to relax. “It breaks my heart too,” she whispered.

  Foley sat there for a while. He looked around at all of them when he was able to focus, but remained quiet as if trying to figure out what happened. His chest heaved with each breath upon recognition.

  “You okay?” Aiden asked. “Damn lucky. Another few seconds, you’d have been in the ring.”

  Foley made eye contact with Velia then glanced back at the chute. “R-right.”

  “Let’s give him a few minutes,” Aiden said. “He needs some time.”

  A short time later, Foley closed his eyes, saying, “I’m all right.”

  “We’ll take you home when you’re ready, Foley,” said Caulder. Jase and Torre helped steady him down the steps, though he managed on his own.

  “Bring him inside,” said Aiden. “No one’s here and it’ll be quiet for him. Maybe Gram’s nurse is still around.”

  Foley licked his lips, then gulped. “I’ll be all right now, Aiden. It’s over.”

  Aiden called for one of his ranch hands to bring the golf cart over. “Either way, you’ll rest.”

  “You take it easy for a while.” Caulder placed his hand on Foley’s shoulder, unsure of how often he had this kind of episode. “There’s no hurry.” He glanced at Velia and gave a subtle shake to his head. What a mistake it was to let him ride. Well, they hadn’t let him ride. He was an adult who had made his own decision. He rode at home all the time. This could’ve happened if he was home sitting at the table.

  “I’m calling Natale.” Velia removed her phone from her jeans pocket, saying to Caulder in a commanding voice, “If she wants to be involved, she needs to understand this part of his life, too.”

  Foley took a seat on a bench beneath an overhang and lowered his head to peer at the snow around his boots. He placed his palms together as his elbows rested on his knees. “Y’all don’t have to talk like I’m not here, or sit around like a herd of turtles. I’m fine now. Don’t call her.”

  Caulder reached for her hand before she dialed. “Are you sure? Look how it frightened Alba.”

  “Yes, I’m sure. She’ll want to know,” Velia stated adamantly. She turned her back to dial, proceeding to tell Natale the news, against Foley’s wishes. When she came back to where Caulder stood, she told him she’d pick up Natale.

  “Take me home.” He shrugged as he stood up, and he glared in Velia’s direction. “I said don’t call her. Take me back to your place, Caulder. No one has to go to any trouble. I’m okay now. The rest of y’all stay here and continue.”

  “Torre, you drive my car back. Foley and I will ride with Jase.” Caulder peered at Foley and nodded. “You’ll be okay, buddy.”

  Foley sp
layed his fingers out in front of him. “You guys don’t get it. It happens. It’s over. I am okay.”

  ***

  When they pulled up, Natale paced on the front porch in her light blue parka, the hood over her head. She ran out to the car when the door opened, almost slipping from the fresh layer of snow. “Foley?”

  Great. Speaking through gritted teeth with forced restraint, he spoke as kindly as he could, “Not now.” Sighing heavily, he dismissed her with his hand. When the three of them entered the front door, they removed their boots. He proceeded up to his bedroom with Caulder near his side. She stayed right behind them and when he lay on his bed, Natale sat beside him. She ran her hand over his hair. “Ignore me all you want. I’m not leaving.”

  Dammit. No. “I don’t want you here now. It’s embarrassing enough.”

  “You want anything, Foley?” asked Velia when she entered the room.

  “Water. I can get it.” If everyone left him alone, he’d be fine. This would pass. This was new to them, but not to him, unfortunately. He had to take his pills more regularly—twice a day instead of two at night. This didn’t happen when he remembered to do the pills the way they were prescribed. What had he been thinking trying to medicate himself his own way?

  Velia pulled the door the rest of the way open to leave. “Stay where you are. I’ll run down to get you a bottle.”

  He wished Natale would stop touching him, and he brushed her hand away again. “Don’t touch me right now.” Maybe if he showed an attitude, she’d leave him alone. This episode brought reality to the forefront. Why bring her, or any woman, into this up-and-down bullshit?

  Caulder paced to the window, leaned against the sill hugging his ribs, and said nothing.

  Foley blocked his eyes with his arm after giving Natale a condescending glance.

  She scooted back. Foley turned to his side away from her. He peered at Caulder at the window. “Can you take these people and leave me alone for a while?”