* * *
On the night of the homecoming parade, barbecue and football game, Juliette had arranged to meet Jude at Celebration’s Central Park, at the point where the parade was supposed to start.
In a vindicating turn of events, an alumnus who could not attend the reunion had donated twenty-five hundred dollars for the class gift. Two and a half times the amount they’d hoped to raise via that crazy talent show. With that, low ticket sales and the general lack of enthusiasm over revisiting adolescent humiliation, Marilyn and Marcy had reluctantly canceled the show. There couldn’t have been a better note on which to kick off the reunion and homecoming activities.
Juliette was already at the park when Jude arrived for the parade. Her shop was right across the street. It was just as well he hadn’t suggested they meet up. She hadn’t returned his texts and he got the feeling she could use some space.
Even so, it hadn’t stopped him from sending flowers to her shop today.
He caught her eye as he walked up to the candy-apple-red 1962 Mustang convertible that sported a sign that said Grand Marshals—Jude Campbell and Juliette Lowell—Class of 2007.
“Thanks for the roses,” she said quietly. “They’re gorgeous. You didn’t have to do that.”
“But I wanted to do that.”
He wished he could do so much more. He wished he could send a dozen roses for every day they’d been apart, but if their night together had scared her, a daily barrage of roses might send her running.
He had, however, included a message with the flowers: “Don’t give up on me.”
She looked up into his eyes and he had to resist the urge to bend down and kiss her. Too bad they had to spend the evening here in the midst of so many people. He was usually a sociable guy, but not knowing how much longer he would stay in Celebration made him want to spend as much time with her as possible.
As the parade organizers called for everyone to take their places, Jude and Juliette greeted their driver. Jude helped Juliette into the car and helped her adjust the hem of her long red dress so that he didn’t step on it as he got into the car. It reminded him of when they had ridden in the homecoming parade ten years ago, the night that they were crowned king and queen.
Things had been a lot simpler back then.
On second thought, his teenage problems, his differences with his dad, hadn’t been simple at all, just different. He thought about what Howard had said the night of their discussion.
When something’s important, you work hard and you protect it. You persevere, because in the end it comes down to a battle between you and defeat. If you want it bad enough you will win.
The man was right. Jude’s own belief coupled with Howard’s philosophy were making it so hard to not compete this last season. It didn’t hurt that today had been a good day with no headaches and minimal body aches.
When a pro bull rider did his job right, things usually didn’t go wrong. It was a contest of strength, endurance and wills. Man against beast. If the cowboy did what he was supposed to do—commanded the bull for eight seconds—everything was fine. Most of the time that’s how it went down, even if the rider got thrown before the full ride; with the help of the rodeo clown, who took his own life in his hands diverting the attention of the angry three-thousand-pound beast, the rider usually had time to pick himself up and get out of danger. But when things went wrong, it could be catastrophic. Jude had just gotten unlucky.
Next year could be his year.
The car began moving forward, making a slow crawl down Main Street. As they waved to the cheering crowd, which had gathered on either side of the street, Jude said, “Did you hear that Tony and Janet Darcy had the baby? He called me today and told me the good news. He asked if I could fill in for him as advisor of the rodeo club while he’s out on family leave.”
Juliette’s eyes widened. “Are you going to do it? That means you’d have to stay in Celebration, though. Right?”
Jude shrugged. “I don’t know. I’ll have to see how things work out. He says I’ll need to go to the county to get approved to be a permanent volunteer. So I don’t know. We’ll see. While I had him on the phone, I told him that I was thinking about starting a bull riding school. I asked him if he was interested in being part of it.”
“What did he say?”
“He said he might be able to do something part-time, but with the new baby, he’s not in a position to invest or leave his job at the high school. So then I started thinking that if I sold a portion of the land, I might have enough to cover start-up costs.”
“Are you serious? Do you think that could actually happen?”
Juliette’s eyes were so big and so full of hope, he realized he might’ve given her the wrong impression. He was just dreaming out loud, bouncing ideas off her like he always used to do. He was just musing, trying the idea on for size.
“I don’t know if that’s going to happen. I’d be in much better financial shape if I did the circuit for another year. That way, Copenhagen might continue my sponsorship. When I talked to Bob today, he said if I will ride another year, he will try to get them to move the sponsorship to the bull riding school.”
Juliette turned away and waved to people who were on the side of the street closest to her. When she looked back at him she seemed a little distant.
“Well, I have some news of my own. Lucy and I met with an attorney today. I’ve accepted her offer to buy Weddings by Juliette. The attorney is drawing up the papers and we should finalize everything early next week, if not sooner.”
Chapter Ten
For the past decade, Jude had been so focused on making it to the top of his career, he hadn’t had time to think about concrete steps to the next path of his life. Not yet. It didn’t seem possible that he was there yet.
He was aware that his career as a bull rider was short-lived, and at twenty-eight, he could see the PBR sun beginning to set on the horizon. But the horizon had seemed so far away. When he’d won the world championship, retiring had been the last thing on his mind. He’d kept himself in top physical shape, saved part of every single cash prize he’d won and royalty he’d earned, and he’d had a rough idea that he’d like to parlay his experience into a school that taught young cowboys and cowgirls proper technique. What he hadn’t planned for was for his career to be cut short and for medical bills to eat up his savings.
When it came to his professional life, he’d never been faced with choices beyond what bull to ride and which shade of green he preferred for the On-Off Shirt—moss green over Kelly green. That’s why the decision of whether or not to retire early was a tough one.
The clock was ticking and he had to figure it out.
But he did need to figure out what he was going to do and just do it. Quit talking about it, quit going back and forth weighing options and make a decision. The first step in that direction was to talk to Ethan about the land. Last night at the game, his brother had mentioned that he had an idea he wanted to run by him. Jude was open for anything right now. Plus, he figured it would be as good a time as any to tell him he was considering putting his property on the market. Even though Ethan had said it wasn’t in his budget to buy it, he still owed it to his brother to give him first right of refusal for this new option.
Jude parked his truck in Ethan’s driveway. He went up to the door and knocked. It felt odd knocking after spending more than half of his life walking right into the place. If Ethan wasn’t married to Chelsea, he might’ve still walked in unannounced, but now that Chelsea had made Ethan an honest man, he figured he owed them the common courtesy.
The thought made him smile because he couldn’t remember a time when his older brother had not been an honest man. They were as different as night and day, as chocolate and vanilla, as jalapeños and green peppers.
Chelsea answered the door and greeted him with a hug
.
“Hello, Jude. Ethan is in the kitchen. He just finished lunch. Are you hungry?”
“No, thanks, Chelsea. I’m fine. I just need to talk to my brother.”
He loved his sister-in-law’s warmth. She seemed like she’d been part of the family forever. She’d done wonders for his brother. He’d never seen Ethan this happy. As he walked past the living room, he glanced at the couch where Juliette had been sitting the other night, as if he expected to see her there. Of course, the room was empty. He wondered if he and Juliette would ever find the same kind of happiness his brother and Chelsea had found. Things just seemed to flow so naturally for them. But they hadn’t been without their struggles. Relationships took effort and a strong foundation based on both partners wanting the same things in life.
Even though he wasn’t giving up on the two of them, it seemed like he and Juliette just couldn’t get to common ground. What made it worse was that each of them was at crossroads and they couldn’t seem to meet in the middle.
She was selling her business to Lucy. She had no idea what she wanted to do, except that she knew she didn’t want to spend a year on the road with him. The rational part of him understood that she had a hard time watching him ride; she didn’t want to see him get hurt. All that aside, he couldn’t blame her for not wanting to put her life on hold for a year. He didn’t expect her to. But another part of Jude wished that she would give just a couple of inches. Maybe spend a couple of weeks with him as he competed. She’d indicated she might want to go into business with him. He tried to make her see that the best place for her to learn the ins and outs of that business was to get a good taste of what the kids who would be their clients would be learning from them. Sure, she’d been a barrel racer in high school, but that was longer ago than either of them wanted to admit.
When Jude entered the kitchen, Ethan was standing at the sink rinsing dishes and loading them into the dishwasher.
“I didn’t realize my brother could be domesticated, Chelsea,” Jude said.
“He is absolutely wonderful in every single regard exactly as he is.” Chelsea walked up behind Ethan and put her arms around his middle and gave him a squeeze. Watching them made him long for Juliette.
Jude made a sound of mock disgust. It came out sounding feral.
“Yeah, not all of us are wild and untamable,” Ethan said. He dried his hands on a dish towel.
“Oh, I don’t know, Ethan,” said Chelsea. “I think there’s hope for your little brother. He and Juliette looked adorable at the parade yesterday. I’m sorry I didn’t get a chance to see you at the game last night, except from afar when you were out on the field crowning the new homecoming king and queen. Did you have fun last night?”
“It was a busy night.” Jude tried to keep his voice light as he skirted the question.
Because actually, they hadn’t had a very good time. Or at least he hadn’t. Not with Juliette, anyway. She had become more and more aloof as the night went on.
After the parade, Juliette had been distant to the point that it almost seemed as if she was avoiding him. He’d been replaying the night in his head trying to figure out what he’d done to offend her.
Maybe he’d shared too much as they rode in the parade. In retrospect, he wondered if he should’ve kept his thoughts and musings closer to the chest. It seemed natural to tell her about how he’d shared his plans with Tony Darcy. She’d seemed jazzed about Tony asking him to fill in as the rodeo club sponsor. When he’d backtracked after she’d asked him if he was actually considering it, he thought he’d seen disappointment in her eyes. She’d gotten so quiet. He hadn’t taken offense when she’d given him clipped, one-or two-word answers when he’d asked her for more details about the deal with Lucy. The transaction wasn’t final and Lucy hadn’t yet announced that she was merging Juliette’s business with the Campbell Wedding Barn. He figured it wasn’t really a good place to get into the nitty-gritty.
After the parade, they’d eaten the barbecue with a group of former classmates. However, when they’d gone to the football game, they had gotten separated and didn’t meet up again until halftime when they were on the field to help crown this year’s new homecoming king and queen. By that time, he knew for a fact she was avoiding him.
He’d asked her if she was okay. She’d said she was. At least he’d had the foresight to confirm that they still had a date for the dance tonight. She’d said, Of course. He’d told her he’d pick her up at six o’clock this evening.
After that, she’d said a quick good-night and had disappeared into the crowd. Jude had let her go. Maybe it wasn’t about him at all. Maybe she needed to process her feelings about selling her business. The deal had happened fast. It might have turned into a case of be careful what you wish for.
“Is someone taking pictures for you tonight?” Chelsea asked. “Because if you don’t have a photographer, I’m happy to volunteer.”
“Thanks for the offer,” he said. “I’m sure there will be plenty of cameras.”
“I hope so,” she said. “It sounds like so much fun. We didn’t have a homecoming dance where I went to school in London.”
“Baby, when my class reunion rolls around again, I’ll take you to the dance,” Ethan said. He pulled her into his arms and kissed her.
“Okay, you two. Get a room. Or better yet, Ethan, you come with me on a walkabout.”
Ethan’s part of the property was on one edge of the Campbell property and Jude’s was on the opposite side. The stretch that their sister owned ran right down the middle.
“Feel like walking down to the lake?” Jude asked.
It was a little over a third of a mile from one edge of the property to the other. It would give them a good chance to talk. Being outside, walking the land, would feel like neutral territory.
They left Ethan’s house through the back door and started across the field that was his backyard. They walked in silence for about five minutes when Jude’s phone rang. He pulled it from his pocket and looked at it.
“Sorry, man, I’ve got to take this. It’s my agent.”
“No problem,” Ethan said.
Jude picked up the call. “Bob. What’s up?”
“Jude, are you ready for this? Hold on to your hat. I’ve got some good news.”
“Yeah? Let’s hear it.”
“I heard back from Clive Curtis over at Copenhagen. They say if you ride one more year they will keep the On-Off clothing line alive through the term of your sponsorship contract. How ’bout that? I’d say it couldn’t have gone better.”
For all intents and purposes, it was the best possible scenario. If he had a good run next year, he would be sitting on top of the world. It was the sign he’d been looking for, the tipping point to make his decision.
Jude should’ve been ready to celebrate, but he wasn’t.
“What about the charitable donation?”
“No. They’re dropping that this year. But don’t you think that’s kind of run its course, anyway?”
“No. I don’t think it’s run its course. I won’t give that up to corporate greed. Go back and tell them that’s a deal breaker.”
Bob was silent for several beats. “Okay, yeah. Don’t lose the war because you want to win this battle,” he said. “You mull it over. We’ll talk about it more next week in Vegas.”
Jude ended the call and felt his brother’s expectant gaze on him.
“Did you get some news?” Ethan asked.
“I guess you could call it that,” Jude said. “They weren’t the terms I wanted. I need Bob to go back and try again.”
Ethan nodded. “Speaking of terms, I need to talk to you about something. I crunched some numbers after we talked. I tried to come up with a fair offer for your part of the land, but I just couldn’t make it work. I have to be conservative. I need to make sure I don�
�t expand the Triple C too fast. Plus, Chelsea and I are talking about starting a family pretty soon. Babies are expensive.”
No surprise that they were looking to grow their family.
“I’ve done some number crunching of my own,” Jude said. “It looks like I don’t have a choice. I need to sell half my land. Just half, though. I’m going to keep the rest. The part with the cabin on it. With the money from the sale, and it looks like Copenhagen is willing to extend the On-Off gig for another season, I think I’ll have the capital I need to come back to Celebration and open the riding school.”
“Where does the PBR season fit into that?”
Jude shrugged. “Depends on how fast the property sells and what I get for it. Best case is it sells straightaway and I can retire this year. Worst case is it doesn’t sell. Then I’ll have no choice but to go one more season. Of course, even better scenario is that it sells and I ride.”
And win. And don’t kill myself or end up paralyzed in the process.
“Have you ever thought about just getting an ordinary job like the rest of us schmoes?” Ethan asked.
“Of course I have. I just can’t make the kind of money I would with the sponsorship, the clothing line and winnings.”
Ethan nodded again. “I have a proposition for you. Will you keep an open mind?”
“Sure.”
“Do you have a location for the school in mind?” Ethan asked.
“I have a couple of ideas, but I haven’t had a chance to make any inquiries. I was going to do that the week before I leave for Vegas.”
They were approaching the lake. The cabin loomed off to the right like a specter. Even though he’d spent two nights there since Juliette had been there, every time he came near it, he thought of her.
He stayed quiet, focusing on what Ethan was saying, willing himself not to think of her.
The Cowboy Who Got Away Page 14
