The Final Turn (Cajun Cowboys Book 2)

by Patricia Watters

  "Then you'd wait for me?"

  "I can't make that promise, chère."

  "But you said you loved me."

  "I do, and I also loved the woman I was fixin' to marry, even started building a house for her, but it turned out we had different goals."

  "You seem to fall in love pretty easily," Piper said in a glum voice.

  "It's been two years since my breakup, but I'm twenty-six and ready to move on. I'm a man of simple needs, sugah. Ranchin's in my blood. I love workin' cattle with my brothers, and I want someone who'll be eager to share that kinda life with me. I'll also need sons to help run the ranch and daughters too if they're willin' to stay around after they marry."

  Piper said nothing because the reality was staring her in the face. She'd fallen in love with precisely the man Ace was—a cattle rancher who loved working with his brothers because they were a close-knit family, a man who wanted someone to share that life with—which didn't include tracking around the country. But maybe God in His infinite wisdom would take Rags out of the equation. Unlike claiming races, which feature horses who'd never won a race, the horses running in the upcoming race would be the fastest two-year-olds in the state and beyond, fillies who were there because, like Rags, they were challengers who wouldn't be intimidated.

  On the other hand, Rags could break a track record, and Ace's resolve to keep her on the ranch would go by the wayside because she'd be worth too much money, and buyers would be lining up.

  While she mulled over that depressing thought, Ace pulled her to a halt and tucked a finger beneath her chin and said, "No decisions have to be made tonight, darlin'. In the meantime…" He pulled her into his arms and threaded his fingers through her hair, tipping her head back, and covered her mouth with his, evoking a longing she couldn't deny, and as the kiss deepened, she curved her arms around him and kissed him back, a long, lingering kiss that spoke to her of a life they could have, and dreams they could build together, and a future that would be theirs, not his and hers, if not for her single-minded quest to prove something she was beginning to question.

  Again she found herself wishing Rags would stop winning races and just go back to being a goofy muffinhead who liked to play ball in the pasture with her buddies, and shake her squeaky toy, and run around the track with Cricket for the pure joy of feeling the wind on her face and the dirt flying beneath her hooves. Yet, she still couldn't seem to let go of her lifelong dream of a triple-crown prospect.

  ***

  Piper faced her father squarely, fists clenched in knots of frustration, lips pursed in exasperation, her desire to run off with Ace and end this standoff almost overwhelming. That last thought was ludicrous, of course, because Ace hadn't given her that choice. He hadn't even asked her outright to marry him, only implied it would happen if they could work things out, meaning, if she could give up her dream and live his instead, when all she was asking of him was to wait a couple of years while she made a name for herself as a female jockey…

  "Like I said before," her father cut into her thoughts, "I'll see hell freeze over before another of my daughters marries a Broussard."

  "Then you'd better start preparing for a long cold freeze because my marrying Ace is a distinct possibility." Which it wasn't, but she'd at least lay the groundwork and avoid an implosion later in case marrying Ace became a reality.

  "Then you'd deliberately go against your mother and my wishes."

  "In this case, absolutely. I have no intention of marrying one of those society boys you, Mother, and Nana think so highly of, who suck up to you because marrying one of your daughters would open doors that would otherwise remain shut. Of course, you still have Georgia. Maybe she'll align herself with a glitterati and make you proud. On the other hand, if I marry Ace there'll still be three unattached Broussard brothers, all smart, witty and very handsome. Georgia turns guy's heads and she could have her pick. But why stop there? Mary Broussard's smart and pretty and I could see Winston falling for her, which would be an interesting turnabout, a Broussard becoming a Harrison."

  When Piper's father's face reddened with anger and he sucked in a long breath before his outburst, her mother raised her hand in protest and said to the two of them, "Stop this before you both say things you don't mean."

  "Oh, I mean what I'm saying, Mother. Furthermore, I will follow my heart whether it's with the family's approval or not!"

  "Honey, you really need to consider this thing you have with Ace more thoroughly before making a lifelong decision," her mother said. "You could simply be going against our wishes out of anger because your father and I don't think being a jockey is appropriate for a woman."

  "I'm not going against your wishes out of anger, Mother, I'm doing it out of necessity."

  "What necessity?" her father said. "You live like a silver-spoon-fed princess here."

  "Sure, as long as I follow the protocol the family's set out for me, but deviate from that and I'm not so much as a plastic-spoon-fed bag lady, like when I wanted to go to jockey school and you refused to put up so much as a penny, so I did it on my own. Speaking of which, I'm riding Rags in the upcoming Princess Stakes at Cypress Downs. I also learned from Mick that the bay filly sired by Ramblin' Man the Stonekings bought and Mick's training will be running, and I can tell you right off, I've been exercising that filly and she's no match for Rags."

  Piper felt like going on and on praising the glory of Rags, but she'd already said more than she'd intended. She didn't want word to get out just how fast Rags really was and lower the odds. She also felt the old surge of racing fervor returning, her earlier thoughts of Rags refusing to run, or plowing her way through a field of horses and being knocked out of the winnings, replaced by visions of herself and Rags again in the winner's circle.

  The entire senseless and exasperating episode with her parents was cut short when Georgia appeared in the doorway with Ace standing behind her. Piper had no idea what this was all about, but she did realize one thing about Ace. He would not be intimidated by her father or her family. But clearly, he wasn't there by invitation, and from the look on her father's face it would be lucky if he wasn't figuratively, if not literally, tossed out on his ear.

  Looking at him with concern, she said, "Is anything wrong?"

  "No, I sent you a text about Rags and you didn't answer."

  Piper was on the verge of asking what it was all about, but when she saw her father glaring at Ace, she said, "You can tell me about it outside where it's a little friendlier." She made a point of taking Ace's hand as she walked past him, leading him out of the family room and through the entrance hall. Once outside, she said, "What's the problem with Rags?"

  "No problem. I thought you might want to introduce her to cuttin' cattle."

  "Now, two days before the race? Isn't that tempting fate?"

  "No, it's keepin' Rags amused. Besides, I like the way you look in your chaps."

  Piper curved her arms around his neck. "Not nearly as much as I like the way you look in yours. Incidentally, you're brave coming here, and thanks for rescuing me from the inquisition."

  Ace draped his hands at her waist. "I don't know about bein' brave. Maybe I have a death wish. And what do you mean by rescuin' you from the inquisition?"

  "My father. He took offense to our congratulatory kiss after the race, and yes, I'd love to be the one to introduce Rags to cutting cattle, even though I don't know squat about it."

  "Neither does Rags, but you're an excellent horsewoman and Rags is a fast learner, so you'll be a team before you know it."

  "Then give me a few minutes to put an exclamation point on the inquisition."

  "You wanna run that past me in plain English?"

  "Morph into a cowgirl. Be back in a few minutes." She kissed him lightly and headed into the house.

  In her room, she changed into jeans, Mary's western boots and hat, and the chaps, all of which she'd hidden discretely in her closet, but before leaving the house, she stopped in the doorway to the family room and
said to her parents and Nana, "Since you're all dead set against my being a jockey, I'm expanding my horizons and learning cattle cutting. See y'all later."

  The look on her father's face could have stopped an advancing army, but she was making a statement as a grown woman. She would not be bullied into marrying a society boy.

  CHAPTER 18

  Ace pulled his truck up to the stable, but before getting out he tugged Piper to him and kissed her. She kissed him back, then broke the kiss abruptly and looked around. "Dang it."

  Ace caught sight of Pike and Alex, not more than twenty feet away, wide grins on their faces. "Ignore them. Now that things are in the open I intend to enjoy it." Once out of the truck, he wrapped his arm around Piper's shoulders and headed toward the shed row.

  While they walked, Piper said, "Rags hasn't worn a saddle weighing more than a couple of pounds. How do you intend to buckle on one weighing fifteen times more?"

  "I tacked her up yesterday and she thought it was great fun since she got to shake her chicken. You can brush her while I get her saddle."

  While Piper brushed Rags, Ace fetched Mary's cutting horse saddle, knowing it was a better fit than the man-size saddle Piper used before. Saddling Rags with the weighty saddle was again no problem. She was so caught up shaking the crazy toy she barely knew what was going on. When they got to the arena, she eyed the cattle, which were bunched at the far end.

  Piper looked at Ace with uncertainty. "Being a racehorse, Rags is kind of a loose cannon. She's never even seen a cow before."

  "She did for a few minutes yesterday, so mount up, take her into the pen, give her a couple minutes to adjust, then walk her toward the cows. If one separates from the rest we'll see what Rags does. Every cow has its bubble, which is the minimum distance you can get before it'll move, but when it does, Rags'll realize the cow's more afraid of her than she is of it. The game's called follow the leader. Not too complicated, but effective. The idea is to do as little as possible. If Rags hooks onto the cow let her go, but if she strays, get her back on course."

  Piper mounted, and when Ace opened the gate for them to enter the enclosure, Rags fixed her attention on the cows and immediately headed toward the herd. Head high, ears pricked forward, muscles on full alert, Ace knew the filly was focused, and with an objective, though he couldn't tell what her objective was yet. He wasn't looking to seeing her cut a cow, just nose around and maybe have a cow split off from the rest and see if she'd challenge it to stay out there for a few seconds.

  When Rags moved closer, a heifer separated from the herd and Rags zeroed in on it like a shark. When the heifer made a move toward the herd, Rags cut it off, dropped down like a cougar, pinned her ears back and released a snort of warning. When the heifer attempted to move aside, Rags came at it like a kamikaze, her movement so fast Piper had to adjust her seat to catch up. But in that instant the heifer dashed for the herd, and Rags stood looking toward the cows, her expression baffled, like when she'd popped the ball and it was slowly deflating.

  "She's got the hang of it," Ace called out. "Head her into the herd again and see if she'll cut another cow."

  This time, when Piper moved Rags into the herd, Rags split off a young steer near the perimeter. Once separated from the rest, Rags planted her legs, and even from a distance Ace saw she was all hot quivering muscle while waiting for the steer to make a move. When it stood staring at her as if confused, Rags pinned her ears back and poked her nose at it. When it looked toward the herd prepared to rush for safety, Rags tapped her front foot, daring it to try. Locked eye to eye, Rags moved into a ground-hugging crouch and blew in the steer's face. Overwhelmed, the steer stood trembling.

  "Raise your reins and give Rags a pat," Ace called out.

  As soon as Piper did that, Rags' ears went up and the steer scurried for the herd. Eyes sparkling with excitement, Piper said, "When Rags was tracking a cow I could almost see the wheels turning in her head, like she was anticipating what the cow was about to do and understood the rules of the game."

  Piper's enthusiasm along with her natural ability in handling Rags' first attempts at cutting cattle had Ace's thoughts stumbling all over each other, thoughts of Piper living in his house as his wife, and taking to ranch life like she was born into it, and herding cattle alongside him and his brothers. And she'd have Anne and Joey here, and before long they'd be adding onto his house and her folks would have to accept the fact that the Harrison family tree was destined to sprout Broussard limbs...

  "What's next, boss?" Piper called out.

  The pipe dream faded. "Quit while she's havin' fun so she'll be eager to work cows again."

  After unsaddling, brushing and turning Rags into the pasture with Cricket, Gumbo and the ball, Ace held out his hand for Piper to take, and said, "Come on, darlin'. We need to talk."

  "Talk about what?"

  "Us."

  "Talk where?"

  "The bayou."

  Fifteen minutes later, while sitting together on the pier at the fishing camp, Ace with his arm around Piper, she with her hand on his thigh, Ace said, while watching the water drifting by, "Where do we go from here? I feel like the outcome of this love we claim to have for each other depends on the outcome of the next race, and I'm tryin' to figure out if what we have is just a physical thing that'll pass or if it's strong enough to take us through whatever life tosses at us."

  "I'm just as perplexed as you," Piper said. "Over the past two months I've bounced between exhilaration, sleeplessness, euphoria, a racing heart, worry, breathlessness, panic, and even despair when I thought something was threatening our relationship. I never intended to love you. Before I started exercising your grandfather's horses I thought you were a big, handsome, irritating, jerk, then things started changing, and now loving you is a part of me and it isn't something I can toss aside and walk away from. When you told me you loved me for the first time I was ecstatic, but it's easy to say I love you when you're infatuated."

  "Is that what you think this is? Infatuation?"

  "Of course. Falling in love initially stems from infatuation. We start by talking, then holding hands, then hugging and kissing, and before we realize what's happening we're suddenly, powerfully attracted to each other, and that's where we are now."

  Ace couldn't deny she'd pretty much pegged the way it was with him. "So the question is, when the newness mellows out, will our love be stronger, or will it be taken for granted?"

  "If we love unconditionally, nothing will change because unconditional love means accepting a person's flaws, loving who they are, even loving who they aren't."

  Ace let out a sardonic snort. "Unconditional love's easy; no boundaries, no decision-makin', no accountability. But if a marriage is to be happy and long-lived there has to be conditions—fidelity, honesty, loyalty for starters, none of which have anything to do with changin' the person into somethin' they aren't."

  "I can't argue with that, so maybe we need to talk about true love instead of unconditional love. What do you perceive as true love?"

  "When love is consistent. Every relationship has disagreements and misunderstandings, but true lovin' relationships tend to run smoothly because both partners work at it, so quarrels are rare. I don't take marriage lightly. I'm Catholic and divorce isn't an option so my goal would be doin' whatever it takes to make you happy."

  "Like following my dream with me?" Piper asked.

  "No, like wishin' you well when you do follow your dream because I'd know there'd be somethin' missin' in your life if you gave it up for me."

  "But your coming with me would give me everything I want."

  "Even if we'd have to leave Rags behind?"

  "Why would we do that?"

  "Because she could blow the next race and you'd still have your dream of becomin' a jockey and it would be pointless of me to track around the country with you when I have ranch obligations here."

  "Being a jockey wouldn't be so important to me if Rags lost."

  "So you'd give it
up and stay here with me?"

  "Are you asking me to marry you?"

  "Yes, if you could be happy stayin' here instead of trackin' around the country."

  "What if Rags wins and someone offers you a million dollars for her, which isn't unusual in the world of thoroughbred racing, and they want me to be her jockey. Would you sell her and track around the country with me then?"

  "You're assumin' they'd want you as their jockey, but that's yet another hypothetical. A couple years back when I spent the night in the hospital after gettin' bunged up by a buckin' bronc, the doctor handed me an Advanced Directive and suggested I fill it in, but there were so many dang hypotheticals I set the thing aside, and that's the way I feel now with all these hypotheticals."

  "Then I guess we'll just have to set it aside and wait and see what happens."

  Ace released a long sigh. "Then it really does boil down to the outcome of a race. Not a very solid foundation for a marriage."

  "Actually, it's the ultimate test of a solid foundation, making sacrifices for the person you love. But mostly, it means putting the other person first and wanting what makes them happy because if they're not happy you can't be happy, and that goes both ways."

  With her own words Piper realized she'd again reached a stalemate. Would Ace give up ranching to follow her dream, or would she give up her dream to be a rancher's wife.

  It really did boil down to the outcome of a race.

  ***

  What none of them had factored in prior to the Cypress Downs stakes race was a downpour the night before. Standing at the rail with Ace and Henri, Piper said in a morose voice, "The track's a quagmire. I don't look forward to wearing six pairs of goggles and being bombarded with muck, and Rags has never run on a muddy track."

  Ace eyed the track with concern. "We could pull her out of the race."

  Piper sighed. Part of her wanted to do that if only to end this standoff between her heart and her career. They'd miss their chance at a big stakes race, Rags wouldn't prove to be another Seabiscuit, and she and Ace could begin talking long-term. But there was that tenacious, willful side of her that just couldn't quit. "Muddy tracks are part of the game, and since I just bought a carton of throwaway goggles, it's as good a time as any to christen them."