Lassoed Into Marriage

by Christine Wenger

  They were just about ready to take Sully to the operating room. They told Lisa that she could accompany them as they wheeled him down the hall.

  Just as he was about to enter the O.R., she kissed him on the forehead again—the only spot where he wasn’t battered—and whispered in his ear, “I love you, Sully. Get better, hear? I can’t do this alone.”

  And then she prayed some more...and let her tears fall.

  * * *

  “I just saw the surgeon—three to be exact. My bull riding career is over,” Sully said quietly, evenly. “No Vegas for me this year or any other year. There go all my plans. If I’m not a bull rider, what am I?”

  Lisa had never seen Sully so down. After five days in the hospital, he was ready for discharge. He would still need a lot of follow-up care in Albany and Syracuse, but he was deemed fit to fly home tomorrow.

  “Bull riding is what you do, but it does not make you who you are, Sully. You’re a father to Rose. You’re my friend and partner in raising her. You’re a mentor to a lot of young bull riders. You are kind to the kids who adore you. You are many things.”

  He turned his head away. “By the way, you were right, Lisa. You were right when you said that there’s no future for us. So, let’s just remain friends and get marriage right off the table. We wouldn’t want Rose to pick up on any discord or animosity between us.”

  “That was before, Sully. I was wrong. I wasn’t willing to take a chance on us. I guess I was just...scared. But all that has changed, Sully. We’re going to get married. Remember? You got down on one knee and asked me. You gave me a ring to seal the deal.”

  He studied her. “Everything has changed, Lisa. Don’t you get it? All my money will probably go into paying for all this.”

  “I’m not marrying you for your money. I have enough for the both of us.” Lisa’s heart sank, and she felt sick to her stomach. “Forget about money, for heaven’s sake. We love each other. We are partners. We can work through this.”

  “You won’t love me for long after you have to do everything. I’m going to need foot surgery and spinal surgery, so I’m going to be in a wheelchair for a long time, and I can’t drive, and then there’s rehab and then—”

  “We’ll do it all. Together. That’s what people who love each other do.”

  “I’ve never had to depend on anyone. That’s not me.”

  “So change.”

  He turned away.

  “Look, Sully. You’re going to walk again, so count your blessings. Some others aren’t as lucky as you. And you’ll be there for Rose because you won’t be straying farther than Carol’s garden in the back of the Victorian for a while!”

  Sully didn’t smile.

  “That was a joke, Sully. A joke!”

  He sighed. “You might as well know that I’ve been thinking of calling Glen Randolph and telling him that I’ll turn over Rose’s guardianship to you. You’ll make a better parent, anyway.”

  “Dammit, Sully. Haven’t you heard anything I’ve said?”

  Lisa felt the blood rush to her head in anger. She tried counting to ten, but she only made it to three.

  “The surgeon must have removed your heart instead of your spleen, and your brain must be broken instead of your ribs and your cheekbone. Or maybe it’s the morphine talking, but we are a pair, cowboy. Remember, yin and yang? So snap out of your funk before we fly out of here tomorrow. Rose hasn’t seen you in a week, and I don’t want her to be scared...or disappointed.”

  Tears came to her eyes, and she turned to leave before Sully saw them.

  “Lisa?”

  She didn’t move. “What?”

  “Find someone else to love. I’m not worth it.”

  She took a deep breath, slid her beautiful ring off her finger and handed it to him. “Give this back to me when you stop feeling sorry for yourself and realize what you’re losing—Rose and me. Besides, we promised Rose that she’d be a flower girl at our wedding, and we don’t want to let her down. And someone gave me the gift of ballroom dancing lessons, and I’m holding him to it.”

  * * *

  Sully didn’t want to scare Rose, so he put his cowboy hat over the bandages on his head. The bandages covered a row of thirty stitches and a strip of scalp where they’d had to shave his head.

  He’d lost a couple of teeth, and his mouth was damn sore, so he barely moved his lips when he talked.

  There was more, but he had to wait to get home to start rehab and have a couple of operations.

  Home. Funny how “home” was the Victorian, not his motor home.

  He looked at Lisa’s engagement ring, which he wore on his pinkie finger. After the stupidity he spewed yesterday, it would serve him right if Lisa left his butt on the curb instead of picking him up at the hospital in a taxi. He realized what a dope he’d been, especially after a group of his fellow bull riders stopped in to see him.

  They kicked his butt even more than Lisa, and she’d done a very thorough job.

  She was right. He’d walk again, and others weren’t that lucky. He’d been reminded of that when Jerry DiNardo had rolled in with his wheelchair. Jerry had been thrown by a bull some twenty years ago and had been confined to a wheelchair since. Yet Jerry worked his ranch, went to rehab every day and volunteered for every new treatment that came his way with the hope that he’d walk again.

  Jerry had married a special woman and adopted a bunch of kids. He said that he was the happiest man alive, and there was no reason for him to feel sorry for himself.

  Sully felt like a petty jerk and vowed that he’d have the shortest rehab possible. He’d work like a rented mule and show Lisa that he didn’t mean what he’d said. It was just a momentary lapse in good sense when he realized that all his goals had crashed and burned around him.

  Then he realized that only his bull riding plans had to be changed. His personal life was like a dream come true. He still had Lisa and a daughter he loved.

  He had a lot of explaining and apologizing to do. Fingers crossed that Lisa would accept his apology.

  There was a slight knock on the door, and Lisa entered his room.

  “Just answer one question,” she said, barely stepping into his room. “Have you snapped out of your funk, or do Rose and I leave for the airport without you?”

  He sat up straighter in his wheelchair and removed his hat. “Can you ever forgive me for...for being such a jerk?”

  “I downgraded you to B-movie actor for your lack of acting ability.” She smiled slightly. “So, what’s the plan? If you are running away in your motor home, maybe I should point out that you are unable to drive. Or are we going back to being a three-person family living in Salmon Falls?”

  “I like the Victorian, but I really love the two ladies who live there with me.”

  He held out his hand to Lisa and held his breath that she’d take it.

  She did.

  He kissed the back of her hand and then pulled her toward him, giving her ample time to resist.

  She didn’t.

  She kissed him ever so gently on the side of his mouth, due to the stitches on his upper lip. He wanted so much more and made a mental note to get to the dentist first, so his mouth would be in better kissing shape.

  “Will you marry me again?” He held up her engagement ring and held his breath.

  “I thought you’d never ask, again.” She held out her hand and he slipped it on her finger. Then he kissed the back of her hand.

  When he looked up, there were tears swimming in her eyes.

  “Aw...why are you crying, Lisa?”

  “I’m happy. Can’t you tell?”

  He grinned. “I guess I’ll have to get used to it.”

  Lisa slipped her hand from his as a nurse appeared with a wheelchair for Sully. “Rose can’t wait to
see you.”

  “Where is she?” Sully asked.

  “Downstairs in the taxi with Barbara.”

  “What if I had decided not to come home?”

  “I knew you’d come to your senses. You’re a tough bull rider, Brett Sullivan, and you’re not a quitter. I gave it a lot of thought and I think you might have been offering me a way out of our engagement, although I don’t know why you thought so little of me to conclude that I wouldn’t stick around to help you and would just walk away.”

  “You’re not a quitter, either. I should have known.”

  Lisa shook her head. “I just think you’d just forgotten about the traditional ‘in sickness and in health’ part of the marriage vow. It’s the health part that’s the easiest.”

  Sully slid his hat onto his head. “Then it’s good that we’re going to get the hard part over with first.”

  Epilogue

  “It was a beautiful wedding, Lisa. I especially enjoyed it when you and Brett danced together. Why, it almost seemed that you two had been taking lessons!” Sully’s mother smiled as she flipped through pictures in a photo album. “And I am so sorry for doubting you and Brett.”

  The other grandparents nodded.

  Lisa chuckled and took Sully’s hand. “We had the same doubts.”

  Rose skipped into the dining room, wearing her princess/bridesmaid dress yet again. Lisa had to beg her to take it off so she could wash it from time to time.

  “Aunt Lisa flew our new plane to Loz...Loz...”

  “Las Vegas,” Sully supplied.

  “Las Vegas. Right, Uncle Sully?”

  “That’s right, sweetie.”

  Lisa smiled. With Sully’s new contract as a PBR announcer, they’d decided that they’d all travel together on the weekends as much as possible, and that meant that they’d all flown together to Las Vegas for the PBR Finals.

  Lisa and Sully had gotten married on the grounds of the South Point Hotel and Casino after the Finals were over. All the parents had flown in for the wedding, which had been packed with bull riders, stock contractors, pilots and flight attendants.

  Today, though, the celebration was in Rose’s honor. Lisa lit the pink candles on the child’s pink birthday cake.

  “Blow out the candles, Rose!” Lisa clapped.

  “One-two-three-four! I’m four years old now.”

  “You’re getting to be such a big girl,” Sully said, snapping pictures.

  The grandparents grinned. They had flown in for Rose’s birthday celebration, her nursery school play and, most importantly, her official adoption in family court by Sully and Lisa, which would take place tomorrow.

  Sully and Lisa had explained at length to Rose that they would like to make her their “official” daughter, if she’d like that. She agreed as long as her mommy and daddy would still watch over her in heaven.

  “You really made those chicken tenders, Lisa?” her mother asked.

  “And they were even edible,” her father added.

  “Yes, I did. They’re Rose’s favorite. And I made the baked potatoes and the salad. I even made the dressing. I bought the cake, though.”

  Sully put his arm around her and squeezed. “Lisa has graduated to Cooking 201 now.”

  “Amazing,” said Lisa’s mother. “I never would have believed that Lisa would actually cook.”

  “And that Sully would stop riding bulls,” Sully’s father added.

  Lisa and Sully exchanged a knowing look. If their parents only knew the ups and downs they’d experienced, mostly due to Sully’s accident... But it made them even stronger.

  But Lisa didn’t want any of that kind of talk around Rose, so she hurriedly cut the cake and passed it around so they all could concentrate on eating.

  “Rose, why don’t you sing the song about the flowers and frogs to your grandparents while I talk to Uncle Sully for a moment? Okay?”

  “Okeydokey!”

  Lisa took Sully’s hand and they walked over to Carol’s garden. Sully had a slight limp, but the doctors felt that as more time passed, even that would disappear. They took a seat on the bench.

  “It’s time to finally open Carol and Rick’s letter, Sully. It’s the day before we go to adopt Rose. It’s the right time.”

  He put his arm around her shoulder. “Are you sure you can handle it?”

  “Yes.”

  She pulled the letter out of the envelope, took a deep breath, then read:

  If you’re reading this, then we aren’t here in the physical world.

  You might be wondering why Rick and I decided to appoint you both as guardians for Rose. It’s because we couldn’t think of two more loving parents for our little girl (other than us, of course).

  We know you can’t stand each other (!), but we hope you’ll put aside your differences to do what’s best for Rose.

  We always thought you two were perfect for each other. I can see you laughing now, but miracles do happen.

  Raise our daughter as if she were yours. Love her and remember that we love you both immensely.

  Kisses,

  Carol and Rick

  P.S. Lisa, take care of my garden, or I’ll haunt you. C.

  * * * * *

  Keep reading for an excerpt from Her New Year’s Fortune by Allison Leigh

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  Chapter One

  New Year’s Eve. A night of mystery.

  Just like she was mysterious. Beautiful. Exotic. And definitely mysterious.

  Dark, auburn hair spilled in waves down her back, kissing the golden spine revealed by the cut-down-to-there black cocktail dress that clung to her lithe figure. Her companion’s dark blue gaze was focused intently on her face...dropping to her lips as she took a small sip of her martini. Slightly dirty, just the way she’d ordered. She lowered the cocktail and leaned a little closer to him, feeling more than slightly naughty. Beneath the table, she slipped her foot out of her sinfully high black heels and subtly slid her toes along his ankle...

  “Excuse me, miss. Miss? Miss?”

  The fantasy spinning inside Sarah-Jane Early’s head popped like a bubble of spent soap and she focused on the tuxedo-clad man standing in front of the hostess station she was manning at Red, looking none too patient. She was there not to daydream, but to help see to the needs of every guest of the wedding reception that had commandeered the popular Mexican restaurant for the night, and she quickly smiled. “Yes, sir, how can I help you?”

  The man tugged at his skewed bow tie, casting a glance off to one side. “How do I get to the Red Rock Inn?” His question was hurried, and muttered half under his breath. She could have told him he needn’t have bothered trying to be so quiet. For the past three hours, the music from the reception had made conversations nearly impossible. She leaned a little closer to give him the directions to the hotel. He nodded, and took time to thank her before moving away to hold out his hand to the woman he’d obviously been waiting for.

  In seconds, they were hurrying out the front
door of the restaurant, the man’s arm wrapped possessively around the woman’s hips. It was obvious to anyone with eyes in their head that the couple couldn’t wait to be alone.

  She knew there was no point in envying a couple in love...or even a couple in lust, or she’d be spending her life in a constant state of envy. Still, Sarah-Jane sighed and shifted her weight from one foot to the other.

  Fantasizing about wearing killer heels was one thing. Actually doing it was another. She wished she’d have just worn a pair of shoes from her own closet. She had a pair of black pumps. Admittedly they were nearly ten years old, purchased by her mother who had insisted that Sarah-Jane needed to wear the modestly-heeled things for her high school graduation. But they were leather and having been worn only a few times since, were still in good condition.

  She glanced down at the shoes she was currently wearing. If she were honest, the only thing in common these shoes had with the old ones in her closet were that they were black. She twisted one foot this way and that, and sighed again, a little wistfully. The shoes that Maria Mendoza had insisted she wear were beautiful. The velvety suede was as black as midnight and certainly suited the clinging black cocktail dress she was wearing better than her sensible old pumps.

  Just thinking about the dress had Sarah-Jane’s fingertips twitching at the hem of it, as if she could eke out another few inches of cloth where there was none. The hem of the dress stayed midway down her thighs, where it had been since she’d donned the garment earlier that day. She couldn’t do anything about the hem anymore than she could do something about the diagonally-slashed cutout neckline that exposed much more of Sarah-Jane’s cleavage than she liked. If she weren’t positively devoted to Maria, who not only owned the restaurant along with her husband but also owned the knitting shop where Sarah-Jane really worked as an assistant manager, there’s no way she’d have worn something so unsuitable out in public. She was a lot more comfortable in the pullover shirts and khaki pants that she wore at The Stocking Stitch. She wouldn’t win any fashion awards, but at least she didn’t have to worry that people might think she believed she could carry off such a look.