Love Inspired June 2021--Box Set 1 of 2

by Patricia Johns

  As long as he remained truthful and didn’t break promises.

  Quinn reappeared at her side, snuggling in close. “The bull rides are next!”

  “Our favorite,” Avery said, wrapping an arm around her daughter’s shoulder.

  The bull rides, of course, were a crowd favorite. The first ride had Quinn on her feet. Avery pulled her down so she wouldn’t block the people behind them from being able to watch. Next to her, Grayson laughed.

  “Admit it,” he said. “This was a good idea.”

  She grinned at him. “It was.”

  The metal gate of a chute clanged open and the next bull and rider spun into the arena. The rider whipped left and then right as the bull spun and bucked. Eight seconds seemed like an eternity. The buzzer finally rang and the rider unwound his hand from the bull rope and jumped off. The bull spun back around and went after him. The rider dodged the hit and ran for the fence while bullfighters jumped in the path to distract the animal.

  Quinn grabbed hold of Avery’s arm while still bouncing up and down. She settled once the bull lost interest and headed for the exit gate.

  “That was intense,” Avery said.

  “It’s a tough sport,” Grayson responded, realizing that somehow her hand had found its way into his.

  She pulled it away and said, “You at the card table, that’s what I’m looking forward to.”

  “You just want to see me get hurt,” he teased.

  “No, I don’t want you hurt. I only want to enjoy seeing you run around the arena.”

  They were sitting shoulder to shoulder and she thought he might lean in and kiss her. The instinct to draw back, to protect herself, didn’t kick in. It should have. Fortunately, the emcee announced the card game would take place after bull riding and all participants should report to the emcee stand.

  “I guess that’s me,” he said as he leaned away from her. “Say a prayer. I haven’t run from a bull in a long time.”

  “Don’t you have bulls out in California?” she teased.

  He smiled at that. “Nope. Not on my place. Only horses.”

  His place. The place that was two thousand miles away. The place that seemed mysterious and so different from their lives here. She felt herself being pulled into his life and she didn’t know how to stop it.

  The bull rides continued and Avery somehow managed to keep her mind on the event. With Quinn at her side, bouncing up and down, ducking, cringing, it was easier.

  After the last ride, a few men hurried into the arena with a card table and several folding chairs that they set up in the center. Five men, including Grayson, were putting on the Kevlar vests that protected bull riders. It suddenly became real, what she’d done to him. She’d put him in that arena to face a bull.

  He was the father of her child. He shouldn’t be in there, putting himself at risk.

  The emcee started to announce the rules of the game. Each man would sit at the table, both hands on the table. A bull would be turned loose. The object of the game was for the bull to terrorize the card players until they got up and ran. The last one sitting at the table won the prize.

  Acting on instinct, Avery started to stand up and tell Grayson not to do it. Then she saw Tucker heading her way. He was a real-deal cowboy with his big grin and dimples, his hat pulled low.

  They’d gone out and she’d considered what it would be like to be married to someone like Tucker. He would never let a girl down. He was the kind of man who had taken in his rebellious teen niece. He attended church weekly, sang in the choir. Tucker was all things good.

  He’d never been the man for her.

  “I have to stop him,” she told him as he slid into the space next to her.

  His expression shifted, shadowed. His smile dissolved. He wasn’t jealous; she knew that. More likely, he was concerned. He, too, had a past with Grayson.

  “You know, he isn’t going to be pulled out of that arena now that he’s in there.”

  “I don’t want his daughter to watch him get hurt.”

  “Of course not.” He said it with a casual drawl. “He won’t get hurt. It isn’t his first time. You know that, right?”

  “I do know that. But he isn’t one of us anymore. He isn’t from Pleasant.”

  “No, that he isn’t. But it isn’t like we can’t dirty him up and bring him back to the good life.”

  “I don’t want him to come back,” she muttered. “I just want him to be alive for Quinn.”

  A chuckle rumbled low in Tucker’s chest. “Come on, mama bear, I’ll help you out.”

  But they were too late. The emcee announced the name of a bull. Church’s Wild Child. Tucker’s bull. The bull, a brahma cross, came trotting from a chute at the back of the arena. The mottled gray-and-black bellowed and circled proudly around the arena. The bullfighters, in their clown makeup and cutoff pants, hurried to get the animal’s attention and guide him to the men seated at the card table. Including Grayson.

  He sat at the end, his hat pulled low, his hands on the tabletop. He didn’t look at all nervous. He looked like a man having the time of his life. That made her angry. Here she was, actually afraid for his life. And there he sat laughing and chatting with the other men.

  “Stupid men,” she murmured. She unclenched her hands when she realized her nails were biting into her palms.

  “You’re the one who signed him up for this, aren’t you?”

  “Stop lecturing me. You’re supposed to be my friend.”

  He gave her a gentle smile. “Yeah, I’m your friend. I guess someday I’ll be his best man. Not sure how I feel about that.”

  “Best man?”

  “At your wedding,” he said without his customary grin.

  “I’m not marrying him,” she nearly shouted but then she lowered her voice. Quinn was still sitting by her friend but it was possible she might overhear. “He’s Quinn’s dad and that’s it. End of story.”

  He gave her a careful look and nodded. “Okay, sure. Keep telling yourself that, Avery.”

  She watched as the brahma bull charged the table and the first card player fell. The man jumped and ran for the arena fence, climbing up and over as the bull tried to catch him.

  Grayson remained seated, a wide grin slashing across his face. Men. How could he think this was fun? It wasn’t at all entertaining. It was frightening. She shifted in her seat, looking over at Quinn and making sure she was not worried.

  While her back was turned, the crowd cheered and then they gasped and went silent. The bull made contact with one of the men seated in chairs. It was Grayson, she realized. She jumped to her feet as he flew to the ground and the bull did a circle around him, pawing the ground and then backing up as if to go at the downed cowboy a second time. Bullfighters intervened and drew the animal away. The man on the ground didn’t move and it seemed, for a moment, that neither did Avery’s heart.

  “He’s hurt,” she said. “Tucker, he’s hurt. Get him out of that arena.”

  Tucker went running down the steps of the bleachers.

  She turned to get Quinn but her daughter had already moved to her side. Quinn’s face was bleached white and her eyes were huge. Avery caught her up in a hug.

  “He’s fine. Tucker will make sure he’s okay. Come with me.”

  Avery led her down to the arena as the emcee spoke in quiet tones and the crowd remained hushed. They were praying. She could hear the low murmurs. She’d been to this arena enough times to know what the crowd sounded like when everyone prayed. She also knew that there would be an ambulance waiting in the back of the arena. Just in case.

  Tucker met them as they headed for the gate at the back of the arena. A medic had Grayson on his feet. She watched as he shook off his hat, waved it at the crowd and then settled it back on his head. She rolled her eyes. Always the showman.

  “He’s fine,”
Tucker told her. “He got hit pretty good but he’ll be okay. He’s on his feet and he’s talking.”

  “I’ll be the judge of that,” Avery told him sharply. She let out a breath as she realized what she’d done. “I’m sorry, Tucker. Could you look after Quinn for a while?”

  “Sure thing,” he said. “Come on, Quinn. Let’s go grab a seat.”

  As she hurried away, Avery heard him talking to her daughter. He had a calm, reassuring voice. She’d always liked that about Tucker. He’d been her friend when she had few friends. And that mattered. His friendship and his loyalty mattered a great deal to her.

  She reached Grayson just as he and the medic got to the ambulance.

  “We need to get you checked out at the hospital,” she told him.

  “I’m not going to any hospital,” he grumbled at her. “Avery, I’m fine. I just got the wind knocked out of me, that’s all. I don’t even have a bump or a bruise.”

  “Let me take a look,” she said. Her first mistake was placing her hand on his cheek. She pulled her hand back and turned to the medic. “Do you have a flashlight?”

  He handed her a small penlight. She did a quick examination of Grayson’s pupils and handed the light back to the medic.

  “Do you remember what happened?” she asked him.

  He leaned a little closer and his lips grazed her cheek. “You tried to get me killed?”

  She laughed at that, then put a hand on his chest to push him away.

  “I was going to stop you but it was too late.”

  “I’m just teasing,” he said with a lopsided grin. “Relax, I’m okay. I’m just sorry I didn’t win.”

  He leaned over to speak to the medic who stood behind her. “Curt, could you give us a sec?”

  “We don’t need a sec,” Avery said, putting space between them.

  “Yeah, we do.”

  “I’d rather just go home,” she told him. “Quinn is waiting for me.”

  “I’m going to find a way for this to work, Avery,” he whispered close to her ear.

  “Don’t.” She shook her head and tried to push him away. He held on to her hands with his own.

  “I have to. We’re a family, the three of us.”

  “Last week you told me you didn’t trust yourself enough to be the person we need.”

  “I’m working through that.” He grinned. “I’m starting to see that I’m pretty trustworthy.”

  “Grayson, you don’t love me.” She wished life were different. It was what it was. “I don’t love you, either. When I was a teenager, I needed your love, but it wasn’t about you. I just needed love. I needed someone to care about me and care for me. I was lost and lonely and hurting. I was angry. But I’m not that person anymore. I’m happy with my life. I have Quinn, and Nan, and God. He never lets me down. He is always faithful and always present. I know what love is and I’m content.”

  “It’s hard to compete with God,” he said. “And I’m not sure it’s even right to try. But remember this, Avery. We have a daughter together. And I think that matters. A lot.”

  He touched her cheek, his hand rough and gentle, all at the same time. He pulled her slightly forward to touch his lips to hers. She moved closer without even thinking about it. His other hand touched her waist and he dragged her into the kiss. Her hands found their way to his neck, to the corded muscles, the soft line of his hair.

  She didn’t love him and she didn’t need him. She hoped if she kept repeating that mantra, her heart would believe it and he wouldn’t be able to hurt her.

  Slowly, he pulled away but then he returned, brushing his lips across hers a second time. She’d lost her mind. In his arms, she always lost herself.

  Finally, she broke the kiss. “No.”

  “No kissing or no to us?” He winked but she thought she saw hurt in his expression.

  “Both.” She took a deep breath. “I’m very careful about my relationships, Grayson. And I definitely don’t kiss men at rodeos while she’s watching. This is why I need boundaries, because you make me forget what is important.”

  As she said the words that were meant to put distance between them, she knew it was as much to remind herself as to warn him.

  Her head might hear the words. But her heart was something else entirely.

  CHAPTER FOURTEEN

  Tilly’s on a Saturday morning was the place to be. The café was crowded with locals and a few out-of-towners heading to the river. Grayson forked up a bite of biscuits and gravy. Becky, the morning waitress, appeared at his shoulder with the coffeepot, but he waved her off.

  “I have to leave in five minutes,” he told her.

  “Why are you rushing out of here? A man ought to enjoy his biscuits and gravy,” Becky teased.

  He started to answer but the chair across from him scraped the wood floor. He wasn’t surprised that Tucker had joined him. Not surprised but maybe a little annoyed.

  “Good morning,” Tucker said, his gray eyes too amused for early morning. “How you feeling today?”

  “I’m not seventeen anymore and I probably should have more sense than to tangle with bulls,” he said. “But it seemed like a good idea at the time.”

  “When we were kids you were always doing one of two things.”

  “Really, and what were those two things?”

  Tucker’s brow furrowed, and then he grinned. “You had a bad habit of either annoying her or trying to impress her. Last night was not impressive.”

  Ignoring him, Grayson glanced at his watch. “I have to go. I’m meeting a delivery truck at Avery’s house. And the cabinet builder.”

  He pushed to his feet and Tucker did the same. The other man had several inches on Grayson. “Okay, I won’t beat around the bush. If you hurt either of them, I’m going to be your worst nightmare,” Tucker said, glaring at him.

  “Unoriginal and unnecessary, but thanks for the warning. At least I know where we stand.” He grabbed his hat off the table and pushed it down on his head but didn’t walk away because he had stopped being that man a long time ago. “I want your friendship, Tucker. And I wish you’d trust me. I don’t want to hurt her or Quinn. I’ve been building a new life for myself for the past eleven years. Two of those years were pretty tough, I’ll admit. But the last nine, I’ve managed to stay clean and sober.” He headed for the cash register to pay for his breakfast. Tucker, not surprisingly, followed.

  Tucker tossed a bill on the counter. “I’m buying.”

  “Not necessary, but thank you.” Grayson waved to a couple of locals as he headed for the door.

  “Well?” Tucker asked as they stepped outside into bright early-June sunshine.

  “Well what?” Grayson said, but knowing full well Tucker wanted more of an explanation.

  He sighed then said, “There are a whole lot of unknowns in this situation. First, I live in California. That makes it tough to be the dad Quinn needs. Second, I wouldn’t want to mess up and hurt them.”

  Tucker stuck a toothpick between his teeth and chewed on it for a second. “The distance thing is something you and Avery will work out. I guess you could always move back to Missouri.”

  “I don’t think I can. I have a business, a home, and Missouri owns too much of my past.”

  “What does that mean?”

  “It means there are people here who would like nothing better than to pull me back into the past.”

  Tucker readjusted his hat and lifted a shoulder a little too casually. A guy like Tucker wouldn’t get it. Tucker had never wandered too far off the straight and narrow.

  “Trust yourself, Grayson. Trust God that when you feel like the past is tugging at you, He’s going to be right there with you.”

  “You’re right. I know you are. But living it is a lot harder.” He scanned the street as he adjusted to the conversation and the honesty. “Do you wan
t to meet me at the building site? I’ll show you what I’m planning.”

  “I’d best get back to the river. We’re putting about thirty canoes in the river today and if I’m not there, some of my staff can’t seem to figure out the river from the road.”

  “Have fun with that.” Grayson tipped his hat, cowboy style, and headed for his truck.

  He drove along the river road, the hill on one side and the river on the other. It could have been pulled from a painting, especially with the morning sun seeping through the trees with splashes of golden light. He loved his home in California. He’d gotten used to a different life than the one he’d had growing up. He worked hard, owned a few acres, a few horses and had made some good friends. He loved the golden tones of the valley just twenty miles inland from the coast.

  He hadn’t missed his home state too much over the years, but being here now, he liked it a little more. When he left this time, he would have something—and someone—to miss.

  He pulled off the road and headed west, leaving the foggy river bottom behind and driving through hilly farmland, the grass green from spring rains. Before long he’d have to leave it all behind. He had a decent manager and good supervisors for his business. That didn’t mean the company could run itself.

  He turned down the graded dirt driveway that led to the building site where Avery’s house would stand one day. He was surprised to see her car parked in the parking space on the side of the house.

  Avery stood next to the driver of the building supply truck and she didn’t look happy. He knew it wouldn’t be pretty, explaining to her what he’d done.

  He joined the two, waving to Nan, who stood a short distance away, wearing gloves and knee-high farm boots. She looked as if she’d come prepared to work. He wondered where Quinn was at.

  “What’s going on?” he asked, as if he didn’t know.

  “This gentleman—” Avery smiled at the driver “—says he is here to deliver building supplies for my home. The funny thing is, I don’t remember ordering supplies.”

  “I ordered them,” he admitted. No sense beating around the bush.