Lassoed Into Marriage

by Christine Wenger

  “How about if you go to the bathroom, and we’ll get dressed and meet all of Uncle Sully’s friends?”

  “The bull riders? Like Uncle Sully?”

  “That’s right, Rose,” Sully said from up front. “You know some bull riders, don’t you? Your mom and dad told me that you watch me on TV. You’ll meet the other bull riders now, and some of them have little girls your age that you can play with. Is that cool?”

  “Cool,” Rose said, swiping her face with the sleeve of her flowery nightgown. “I have to go to the bathroom now. And I want my big girl panties.”

  The motor home came to a stop, and Lisa saw Sully waving out the large windshield.

  “Sure,” Lisa said, helping her get up from her bed. “Let’s get ready.”

  “I’ll be right back,” Sully said, climbing out of the driver’s side door. “I’ll find coffee and bring you back a cup.”

  “I’d be eternally grateful.”

  Lisa got Rose ready for the day, changed her bed back into the dinette and popped a cartoon into the DVD for her to watch while she ate her cereal.

  Lisa left the door of the bedroom open a crack while she dressed so she could keep an eye on Rose.

  Sully arrived several minutes later with two white foam cups.

  Coffee. Finally.

  He sat opposite Rose in the dinette. “There’s a little girl named Lacy who wants to play with you, Rose. She has a Mary doll just like yours and she has a dollhouse.”

  Rose slid out of the dinette and stood. “Can I go now and play with her?”

  “Whoa! Finish your breakfast first, honey. Lacy is eating breakfast right now, too. There’s plenty of time for you two to play, and her momma said that she’d take you both to the playground.”

  Playground? What an excellent idea. At least the girls wouldn’t be playing in a parking lot.

  She was grateful to Sully for arranging a playmate for Rose. She needed to be around kids her own age, but, of course, he never thought of her safety, especially around cars.

  Lisa finished applying her makeup, then looked over her shoulder to see her reflection in the mirror hanging on the door of the closet.

  When she opened the bedroom door and walked out, Sully raised both eyebrows and grinned.

  “What?” Lisa asked.

  “You look like you’re ready for a walk on the red carpet, not a rodeo,” Sully said.

  Rose bounced in her seat. “You look pretty, Aunt Lisa. Doesn’t she look pretty, Uncle Sully?”

  Lisa held her breath. She didn’t want him to answer that question. She didn’t care about his opinion of her looks. She just wanted him to think that she was a good caretaker of Rose. She was just about to change the subject when he said, “Yes. Yes, your aunt Lisa does look pretty.” He boldly stared at her from the top of her hair, which she’d tamed into submission with mousse, to the tip of her designer sandals.

  Her cheeks heated as she met Sully’s gaze. She couldn’t remember the last time she’d blushed at a compliment, but her face was currently on fire. Sully thought she was pretty and for some reason she felt like she was in free fall.

  “Don’t you have jeans and a T-shirt, though?” he asked. “I think you’d be more comfortable.”

  The rosy-pink glow faded. Lisa pulled the cord on her parachute and landed squarely on solid ground.

  “I’m comfortable.” She took a deep breath. “Besides, I don’t have jeans and my other shoes are heels. I haven’t exactly had time to go shopping, you know! This is a DKNY blouse and the slacks are from the new collection of a designer that I met in New York City, C. Z. Bofino.”

  “I’m sure all those initials mean something important, but here, at the bull riding, all you need is a pair of Wranglers and a T-shirt.” He handed her one of the foam cups. “I’ll be right back. I know where the merchandise is. I’ll shop for you.”

  “You’ll what?” Lisa stood in the middle of the motor home, not believing her ears.

  “Turn around,” he said twirling his finger in a circle.

  “I will not.”

  He walked around her with his hand on his chin. “Okay. I think I know your jean size. What size shoe do you wear?”

  Lisa rolled her eyes. “You are not buying me clothes!”

  “What’s your shoe size?” he asked again.

  “Eight.”

  “Trust me,” he said, leaving by the side door.

  Lisa sat in the spot that he’d just vacated. “Your uncle Sully is too much,” she mumbled more to herself than Rose.

  Rose was too busy watching cartoons and eating her cereal to pay her much attention, so Lisa looked out the window at the riders and their families milling around the RVs.

  Without exception, they all wore jeans.

  It was then that Lisa realized that Sully wasn’t concerned about her being comfortable. He was concerned about his friends being comfortable around her.

  Obviously, stepping out of his RV dressed like she was ready for a cocktail party wasn’t going to cut it with this crowd.

  It wasn’t that she was putting on airs or being intentionally insensitive. She truly didn’t bring a lot of clothes with her.

  She had jeans, but they were all back at her apartment in Atlanta. And she only wore a T-shirt when she jogged.

  She couldn’t imagine wearing a shirt with an illustration of a rearing bull on her chest all day long.

  Did that make her a snob?

  Sully walked back into the RV with his arms full of bags and boxes.

  He walked into the bedroom and put everything on the bed. “Try this stuff on.”

  Walking into the bedroom as he walked out, she shut the door behind him. Picking up the folded denim, she shook them out. There was that Wrangler patch. This was like high school, and she was trying to fit in.

  She slipped her slacks off and stepped into the heavy denim. Zipping up the zipper and snapping the snap, she stood and looked in the mirror. Not bad!

  Off went the designer blouse as she picked up a T-shirt. Shoot! A screaming yellow shirt. Just what she’d wanted! She put it on and tucked it in. Next came a black belt with shiny silver conchos and turquoise. She liked that a lot.

  The next box contained a pair of leather boots with a green saguaro cactus on both sides. At the base was a howling wolf. In the background was a full moon.

  She slipped them on. She would never have picked them out herself, but for some reason, she liked them. And they fit!

  Sully was incredible. Had he been around that many women that he knew women’s sizes?

  Opening the bedroom door, she walked out. She was greeted with a long, low wolf whistle from Sully.

  “Looking good, Lisa.”

  “You are pretty, Aunt Lisa.”

  Lisa bent over to give Rose a kiss on the forehead. “Thanks, sweetie.”

  “Let’s go meet everyone and grab some breakfast,” Sully said with his hand on the door.

  “Should I bring something?” Lisa asked, mentally taking inventory as to what she had to contribute.

  “Not this time. And don’t worry about lunch. I’ll make a big pot of chili.”

  He took Rose’s hand and helped her down the stairs. Then he raised his hand to assist Lisa.

  “I’m okay,” she said, listening to her new boots clunking down the stairs.

  They were greeted with smiles, hugs and high fives. Lisa noticed immediately that Sully was well-liked and that any friend of Sully’s was a friend of theirs.

  Rose got a lot of hugs, and the little girl grinned. Then her playmate Lacy arrived with a princess doll in one hand and a pink tote shaped like a castle in the other.

  The two girls, instant friends, went off to play on a picnic table. Lisa and Sully followed, taking seats near the girls
.

  “Help yourself to the buffet,” Lacy’s mother, Darlene, said. “I’ll watch the girls.”

  “Thank you,” Lisa said, glancing at Sully.

  “Don’t worry,” Sully whispered. “Darlene will take good care of Rose. And we’re only going over there.” He pointed to the buffet tables about ten yards away. “We have to stop hovering. We’re going to give her a complex.”

  “We’re not hovering—we’re watching her. She’s only three, Sully.”

  “You know what I mean,” he said.

  It took a half hour to reach the buffet. Everyone wanted to talk to Sully. He shook hands with their kids and signed autographs. He ruffled the hair of boys, tipped his hat to the girls and tickled the feet of babies.

  In spite of him not wanting to hover over Rose, she noticed that he was always glancing over at the little girl and seemed ready to sprint to her at a moment’s notice.

  Her heart warmed to him. They might have their differences, but so far he was a great caretaker for Rose, and he obviously enjoyed all kids.

  They helped themselves to pancakes that Silvano Perez, a Brazilian rider, was cooking on a grill hooked up to a generator. There were muffins, bagels and a variety of fruit and cereal on the table.

  As they were sitting at a table eating, a tall, thin cowboy approached with a brown gear bag over his shoulder and a toothpick hanging from his lips.

  “Look what the wolves dragged in,” he said to Sully, then slapped him on the back.

  “Look what the wolves didn’t want. Hi, Tate.” Sully turned to her. “Lisa, this is Tate—”

  “Porter. I know. I’ve seen him on TV.” Lisa held out her hand. “Nice to meet you in person.” He was more handsome in real life, she noticed.

  “Tate, this is Lisa Phillips, my sister-in-law.”

  Tate tweaked the brim of his hat and shook her hand. “Woo-hee! Sully, where did you find this angel?”

  She could listen to his Texas drawl all day.

  “In Salmon Falls, New York,” Sully answered.

  “What were you doing in New York?” Tate asked, still holding Lisa’s hand.

  “Long story. I’ll tell you over a case of Lone Star.”

  Tate laughed. “I’m looking forward to that.” With an extra shake, he let go of her hand.

  “Are you two traveling together?” the cowboy asked Lisa.

  She nodded. “With our niece, Rose. She’s playing with a little girl named Lacy.” She pointed. “Over there at the picnic table.”

  Tate grinned. “My Lacy sure loves to play with her dolls.”

  “Lacy’s your daughter?”

  “One of them. I have five sweet girls: Sarah, Jennifer, Melissa, Julie and Lacy. Six sweet girls, if you count Darlene, and I do.”

  “He’s been busy,” Sully said. “And he just won’t leave Darlene alone.”

  “I gotta get me at least one cowboy. So we keep trying.” Tate laughed.

  Just then four dark-haired girls came running to Tate, hugging his waist and legs, wherever they could reach according to their height. Laughing, he sat down, cross-legged, as the girls climbed all over him.

  “Let’s go get your mother and take a walk over to the playground. What do you say?” Tate asked.

  A cheer went out from the girls, and they walked together toward Darlene.

  “I’ll get Rose,” Lisa said to Sully, tossing her empty paper plate into a plastic garbage bin. “We can take Molly for a walk around the neighborhood.”

  “Let Rose come with us,” Tate shouted over his shoulder. “We’ll keep an eye on her. Why don’t you two relax for a while? You just rolled in.”

  Darlene approached the group with Rose and Lacy. “What’s up, Tate?”

  “We’re going to the playground!” the girls shouted.

  More kids gathered and more parents around the group. Soon a huge group was going to the playground.

  Sully knelt down to talk to Rose. “Do you want to go to the playground with Lacy and her mom and dad?”

  Rose grinned. “Yes!”

  “Sweetie, I thought I’d try and take a nap before the bull riding. I’m a little tired,” Sully said.

  Lisa had almost forgotten that Sully drove all night and hadn’t slept. He certainly needed some rest. He had to be his best for the event tonight.

  “I’ll go with you, Darlene,” Lisa said. “I can’t leave you with all the kids, and—”

  “Lisa, you look a little tired yourself. Go catch some rest,” Darlene said. “Tate will help me.”

  Lisa looked at the RV. Sully had released the awning and there was a nice patch of shade. She’d love to stretch out on a lawn chair and close her eyes for a while.

  “If you’re sure you and Tate can handle the kids, I’d love to sit a while without moving,” Lisa said.

  Several women had overheard their conversation and stopped.

  One of the women, wearing a T-shirt that said “Cowboys do it in eight seconds,” smiled at her.

  “Going to bull riding events with our guys is like being at one big block party without the booze,” she said. “We keep an eye on each other’s kids, and we’re just one big happy family.”

  “Only we’re not dysfunctional!” said a woman pushing a stroller.

  “It’s like a commune here!”

  Lisa’s stomach roiled.

  “Yeah,” Darlene agreed. “I never thought about it that way, but we travel together, eat together, watch everyone’s kids and whatever. Hey, we’re the cowboy commune.”

  Commune?

  Over her dead body!

  Lisa flashed back to a long dormitory with rows of bunk beds. She was always on the top bunk, and Carol always took the bottom. Lisa had lived in fear that she’d fall out of bed, so she’d spent most of the night listening to everyone snore and trying not to move on her thin mattress.

  Every day had been the same as the other. School was optional, and playing was encouraged. White was the dress of the day, day after day, gauzy, billowy white.

  She attended school faithfully. On many days, she was the only one there. But even school was different from what she longed for. She wanted orderly rows of desks; instead she learned her lessons while sitting on the grass or hiking in the woods. And she never had the same teacher two days in a row.

  At the end of the school day, she couldn’t wait to see her parents. Unfortunately, they were always busy—planting, harvesting, cooking, drumming, singing, dancing.

  Lisa had longed for a schedule, a routine, some kind of order and organization. She even remembered making up her own schedule until one of the parents found it and tore it up, telling her that she should enjoy her childhood and that schedules were for those who were slaves to the clock.

  One of the reasons Lisa enjoyed being a pilot was the fact that she lived by schedules and timetables.

  Now a sense of déjà vu slammed into her, and her throat felt too dry to swallow. Lisa took Rose’s hand. “We’ll meet you all at the playground. I have to...um...go back to the RV.”

  Her voice sounded scratchy to her own ears, and she didn’t miss the looks that were exchanged before she left.

  I’m not a snob. Really, I’m not, she thought before she hurried back to the motor home. She helped Rose up the stairs, then walked in behind her.

  Sully was shirtless and shoeless, wearing only a pair of cutoff jeans. She wondered if he usually slept in his underwear but put on the cutoffs as a concession to them.

  And she knew he wore white briefs because she’d seen them in the laundry basket.

  On any other date and time, she might better appreciate how buff he looked, but bitter memories of the Happy Life Commune were foremost in her mind.

  She tried to remain calm, but she wanted to jump behind th
e wheel and drive away from the...uh...block party.

  She didn’t know why the woman’s words had gotten to her, and she knew she was overreacting, but she couldn’t stop herself.

  “Sully, I can’t do this. Please take us to a campground. I can’t live in a cowboy commune.”

  Chapter Six

  “I gotta go potty.”

  “Go ahead, Rose. Yell if you need help,” Lisa said.

  Sully waited until his niece closed the door to the bathroom. “Sit down, Lisa, and tell me what’s got you upset,” Sully said.

  “I just want to go to a campground.”

  “C’mon, Lisa, talk to me. What’s this about a cowboy commune?”

  She sat on the dinette bench. “Sully, you know my background. My parents are hippies left over from the sixties. I grew up in communes, and I hated that kind of life. Carol embraced it, but I didn’t.”

  He sat down opposite her. “Carol must have known that about you.”

  “Of course she did,” Lisa said softly. “And I’ll never understand why she trusted me to be Rose’s guardian.”

  “Trusted us,” Sully said. “Do you think that Rick and Carol might have answered that question in the letter the lawyer gave us?”

  Lisa lowered her eyes. “I’m not ready to open it yet, Sully. I’ll know when.” She looked at him, and handed him the envelope. “It’s addressed to you, too. If you want to read the letter, go ahead.”

  He looked at the envelope, but didn’t make a move to take it.

  “When you think that the time is right, we’ll open it together,” he finally said.

  She seemed relieved. “Thank you. That’s really nice of you.”

  He winked. “I have my moments.”

  Lisa smiled. “I guess you do.”

  Suddenly completely exhausted, he rubbed his hands over his face to wake himself up. It was getting harder and harder to keep his eyes open.

  “I’m going to help Rose take a bath,” Lisa said.

  He nodded. “Be careful of using too much water. We’re pretty low.”

  “Okay.”

  He slid between the sheets of his bed. He could smell Lisa’s flowery scent clinging to the linens.