Racing Christmas

by Shanna Hatfield

  Shaun gave her a questioning look, waiting for her to continue.

  “My dad didn’t have much in the way of a life insurance policy. He took a mortgage out on the ranch a few months before he died to upgrade the irrigation systems and put in a new barn. Ours had burned down in the spring thanks to faulty wiring.” A hard, sardonic sound burst out of her. “Ironic, isn’t it? The equipment he went into debt to acquire is what killed him, and is currently killing my mother one painful day at a time. Between one thing and another, she got behind on payments and was afraid to tell me. The only reason I found out was because I intercepted a phone call from the bank, warning her about foreclosure if she doesn’t get on top of the payments. Mom is determined to save the ranch for Birch and me, but it’s going to take money and a miracle to make it happen.”

  “That’s why you’re back on the circuit? To win the money to pay off your debts?”

  Another nod.

  “I have some money saved up. I could give you…”

  Her head snapped up and she glared at him. “No, Shaun. Absolutely not. It’s kind of you to offer, but no. I have to do this on my own.” She sucked in a shaky breath. “I appreciate you making it possible for me to keep competing the next few weeks. I’ll try not to get in your way.”

  “You’d never be in my way, Bitsy.”

  She cringed when he used her nickname, but he couldn’t help himself. Brylee wasn’t as tiny as Paige James, but she was small-framed and on the shorter side of average for a woman. He’d called her Bitsy the first time he took her on a date because the name fit her so well. She was petite, even with those sweet curves, but full of fire and sass. He sensed she was even more fiery and sassy now.

  Desperate to chase away the uncomfortable silence lingering between them, he changed the subject. “Tell me about Birch. How’s he doing? He’s got to be what, thirteen now?”

  Brylee’s face softened and she smiled. “Fourteen going on thirty.”

  Shaun chuckled. “That sounds about right. Is he still planning to follow in your dad’s footsteps and be a team roper?”

  “Yes. That hasn’t changed a bit. He’s getting really good, Shaun. You should watch him rope sometime. In fact, he’s been begging and pleading with Mom to let him rope at the Walla Walla rodeo, at least in the slack.”

  “If he’s still as persuasive as he used to be, I bet she’ll have a hard time telling him no.”

  Brylee grinned. “He is and she will. Birch is a good kid, though, and he’s grown so much this summer. I saw them on the Fourth of July. I think he’s shot up three inches since spring.”

  “Have you been on the road that much?” Shaun took another drink of her tea, wondering how she could stand to spend so much time alone. Then again, Brylee had always been more of a loner and Shaun was the one who loved hanging out with his friends. He was surprised she’d struck up a friendship with Savannah, who lived somewhere in Florida. The two seemed like complete opposites. Regardless, he was glad she’d had someone to talk to and keep an eye on her.

  “I headed to Texas in January and haven’t been back to Walla Walla more than a handful of days here and there.” Brylee took the tea glass from him and drained it, setting it back on the table.

  “I’m sure your mom and Birch miss you.”

  Brylee gave him a sideways grin. “Birch and I text back and forth several times a day and I do a video call with them every Sunday evening.” She sat up straighter and sighed. “Look, Shaun, things are hard enough on my mom without her finding out about my leg. I don’t want her to know. Honestly, I don’t want anyone to know who doesn’t have to. Is my break something we can keep quiet?”

  “Fine by me, but it’s gonna be a little hard to hide that hot pink cast isn’t it?” he pointed to her leg.

  “Frank and I came up with a plan,” she said, grinning at him again. “If nothing else, the accident gave me the opportunity to get to know Kash’s dad and Barb. They are both awesome.” She leaned toward him and dropped her voice to a whisper. “But if I keep eating all the food Barb shoves at me, I won’t be able to get in any of my clothes, let alone haul myself up on Rocket.”

  “Then I guess we better get you back out on the road,” Shaun said. He battled the urge to pull her onto his lap and wrap his arms around her luscious curves or bury his face in her hair. She smelled the same as he remembered — a decadent blend of sunshine and wildflowers. His eyes dropped to her lips, the bottom one slightly fuller than the top. He’d often mused she had the sexiest pout he’d ever seen, mostly because she had no idea that’s what men thought when they watched her lips move. Dang it all, but did he ever want to kiss her. To see if she tasted as sweet as his memories claimed.

  Before he gave in to the urge, he stood and took a step down off the porch. “So, we’ll plan to head out Tuesday morning. I’ll get you a list of the rodeos we’ll be at and you can decide if you want to enter them or not.”

  “Thanks, Shaun. I really do appreciate it.”

  He nodded once then turned and left, shoving his hands deep into his front pockets. If he didn’t, he was afraid he’d give in to the temptation to hold her and most definitely to kiss her.

  And that would never, ever do.

  Chapter Five

  “Are you sure you don’t want to ride up front a while, Brylee?” Jason asked as they drove across Montana on their way to a rodeo in North Dakota.

  “I’m sure, Jason. You guys made me a nice, comfy place to rest my leg back here and I’m doing great,” Brylee assured him.

  Shaun glanced back at her over the front seat of the truck. “Anytime you want to trade, just holler. Do you need an ice pack or anything?” he asked.

  “I’m fine, thanks.” Brylee held back a smart remark and shook her head. Shaun and his dad had been fussing over her like two old women the moment she climbed in the back of their truck early that morning. Their really nice truck.

  She knew Kash paid his employees well, but she also knew what the Price men made as pickup men couldn’t pay for a truck with all the bells and whistles or the fancy horse trailer hooked up behind them that accommodated eight horses and provided living quarters that were nicer than many hotel suites she’d seen.

  She hadn’t asked about their snazzy wheels when she got in, but five hours into a fourteen hour trip, curiosity was about to get the best of her. “So, how long have you guys had this outfit?”

  Jason glanced in the rearview mirror and grinned. “Pretty nice, isn’t it?”

  At Brylee’s nod, he tipped his head toward Shaun. “The kid won this set up two years ago in a bucking contest along with a nice purse. He got to choose a horse trailer and matching truck and kindly got this for me and his uncle to use. Now that my brother is retired, Shaun’s probably glad he made that decision.”

  “Every day we head out on the road in this thing, Dad. Every single day.” Shaun grinned at his dad then glanced back at Brylee. “You must not have done much traveling in the past since you’re driving the same pickup, although you downsized the trailer.”

  “No, I mostly stayed at home.”

  Brylee didn’t want to talk about all the things she and her mother had sold trying to gather the funds to pay their bills. The nice horse trailer her dad had helped her buy was one of the first things to go. They had two other trailers, albeit without living quarters, that would do for ranch work. When Brylee decided to return to rodeo, she took the smaller of the two trailers. The first week she was in Texas at a rodeo, she met Savannah. That girl traveled in style and invited Brylee to make herself at home in her posh trailer.

  In exchange for that, Brylee cleaned the trailer, did the cooking, and took care of the laundry. It was the least she could do in trade for Savannah giving her a place to sleep and shower. If she hadn’t befriended the big-hearted girl, she had no doubt she would have spent the last several months sleeping in her pickup and showering at the barns or a truck stop. She shuddered at the thought.

  No, there was no way she’d tell S
haun all that. Not today, maybe not ever. She hated that she’d spilled her guts to him the other day, telling him why it was so important to her to win this year. The look of pity on his face was almost more than she could stomach.

  She didn’t want his pity or his sympathy. She didn’t even really want his help, but until she could drive, she’d gratefully accept it. If getting to the next rodeo so she could compete and win meant swallowing her pride, then so be it. No matter how bitter that pill, she’d down a whole bottle if it helped save the ranch.

  She and her brother had both tried to tell her mom it was okay if they had to let the ranch go, but Jenn Barton set her jaw and refused to listen. Brylee knew part of her mother’s determination was because it made it easier to hold onto her father’s memories. Her mother also wanted to preserve the legacy Brylee’s ancestors had started when they’d taken the ranch out of sagebrush and turned it into a successful, prosperous wheat and cattle operation. It’s too bad her father decided to mortgage the place. If only he’d invested in a decent life insurance policy. Or sent her to fix the tire on the pivot.

  Looking back only turns you away from where you should be headed, baby girl.

  Her dad’s voice echoed in her thoughts as she watched the miles glide by. Sometimes she’d hear his voice so plainly in her head she could picture him sitting right beside her. Even after her disastrous breakup with Shaun, her dad still called her baby girl. She’d loved hearing him say it.

  Unlike her mother who was always so serious and focused, her dad had been the fun one, the one who made her feel like a princess and encouraged her dreams. If it wasn’t for him, she never would have gotten into barrel racing in the first place. He’d practically begged her to go back when she announced she’d never go on the rodeo circuit again, but on that one point, she wouldn’t budge.

  Not until it was the only means available to save the ranch and all the dreams her family had poured into it for the future — her future and Birch’s.

  Her phone pinged and she took it out of her pocket. She grinned as she read the text from her brother and sent him one in return.

  A few minutes later, it pinged again.

  Brylee tried to tamp down a laugh but it came out as a half cough, half snort. She quickly tapped out a message while Shaun watched her from the front seat.

  “Are you having some hot text session with your boyfriend back there?” he asked. The slightly pinched tone of his voice seemed at odds with the easy-going smile on his face.

  Bored and still filled with enough lingering anger at Shaun to cause him some torment, she gave him what she hoped looked like a sweet, dreamy smile.

  “Busted.”

  Shaun’s eyebrows shot upward and the smile dripped off his face. “You have a boyfriend?”

  “Sure do. He’s a real sweetheart. And he adores me. He tells me he loves me every night and starts my day with the best messages.”

  Shaun turned around and stared out the passenger window.

  Jason glanced at her in the rearview mirror and she winked at him. He gave her a slight nod before Shaun turned back around to glare at her. “You mean this whole time that you’ve been hurt, you have a boyfriend who hasn’t bothered to come to see you? Send you flowers? Nothing?”

  “Oh, he doesn’t have a driver’s license, so it would be impossible for him to visit me.”

  Shaun’s gaze narrowed. “You’re dating a dude who can’t drive? What’s wrong with him? One too many DUI’s?”

  “Of course not!” Brylee pretended to be affronted.

  “Then what’s his deal?”

  “Maybe he’s blind, son. Ever think of that? What if Brylee’s boyfriend is a super nice guy who just can’t see to drive.” Jason glanced back at her. “I’m sure he’s real nice, honey.”

  “He is nice, Jason, and a great guy, but he isn’t blind.”

  Shaun returned to glaring at her over the seat. “If he isn’t blind and didn’t lose his license, then what’s wrong with him?” When she remained silent, his jaw dropped open. “It’s some old geezer too old to drive. Is that it?”

  The scowl she shot him that time was not in jest. What did he take her for? Some pathetic loser? If she was going to date a senile, perverted old coot, she sure wouldn’t be in the back of their truck with a broken leg, wishing she hadn’t dumped out the last of her pain pills with every pothole they hit in the road. She’d talk the sugar daddy into paying off their debts.

  However, Brylee would never, ever do such a thing or even consider it.

  Although, at that very moment, she might have preferred the perverted old coot to the handsome lunkhead in the front seat who could infuriate her faster than any human on earth.

  “You are sick, Shaun,” she glowered at him. “Sick in the head.”

  Jason chuckled. “She has a point, kid. Get your mind out of the gutter.”

  “Sorry, it’s just I can’t think of a reason an adult male of reasonable intelligence, which I assume he has since he is capable of texting you, who isn’t blind or unable to drive for legal reasons would stay away from his girl if he could get to her. If I was dating Brylee and she was hurt, I’d do anything I could to get to her. Something as trivial as the lack of a driver’s license wouldn’t stop me.”

  The frosty feelings Brylee held for Shaun thawed slightly at his comment.

  “That’s for sure. Remember when you were fifteen and you took Galen’s truck on a joyride to impress a girl.” Jason looked at him. “What was her name?”

  “Heather Ann Morris.” Shaun leaned back against his seat and relaxed slightly. “I thought she was the cutest girl at school. She had legs that seemed ten miles long in her gym shorts and the prettiest black hair.”

  “You thought she was great until a new girl moved to town after Christmas and Belinda captured your interest.”

  Brylee giggled. “So he’s always been fickle with the attention span of a loopy gnat?”

  Jason laughed so hard he almost missed swerving around the mashed remains of what looked like a deer splattered across the highway. “That’s a good one, Brylee, and so very accurate.”

  Shaun scowled at his dad. “Whose side are you on anyway?”

  “No sides in this vehicle. It is a judgment-free zone.” Jason looked back at Brylee and grinned.

  Brylee smirked at Shaun. “I heard your past girlfriends have formed a support group that meets online once a month. Maybe you can get me the contact info. I’d like to hear what they all have to say about you. I’ve got plenty I can contribute.”

  Jason looked like he might rupture something as he tried to hold in his humor.

  Shaun ignored the comment and glared at her, circling back around to the person texting her. “Who is this boyfriend? Why haven’t you mentioned him before? Where does he work? He is employed, isn’t he?”

  “No, actually, he isn’t, unless you count helping out on his family’s ranch. Right now his focus is on his studies.”

  “He’s a student?” Shaun gaped at her again. “How old is this dude? Shouldn’t he be out of school already?”

  “He’s almost fifteen.”

  Brylee reveled in the look of shock then horror that passed over Shaun’s face while his father’s shoulders shook from trying to contain his mirth. Finally, a big guffaw burst out of Jason while Brylee erupted in giggles.

  “What in the heck is so funny?” Shaun demanded, looking from one of them to the other.

  “Here, you can read his last text.” Brylee held her phone up so Shaun could see the screen.

  Miss u 2, sis! Don’t give Shaun 2 much trble. Dude is doin u a solid. Txt me when u get to ND.

  A look of relief settled over Shaun’s face as he read the message then lifted his stormy gaze to hers. “Birch? All that was about Birch?”

  Brylee nodded. “And you fell for it hook, line, and sinker.” She reached over and smacked the arm he had draped over the back of the front seat.

  “Hey! What was that for?” he jerked his arm over the s
eat, out of her reach.

  “For thinking I’d date an old pervert or a dude with too many DUIs or a kid. If you must know, I don’t have time for dating anyone right now. What kind of weirdo are you?”

  “A big one,” his dad said, still chuckling.

  Shaun glared at them both then turned around and stuck earbuds in his ears, effectively blocking them out.

  An hour later, Jason pulled up at the fuel pumps outside a small convenience store.

  “We should be in Billings in about two hours and can have lunch there,” Jason said as he cut the ignition and turned around to look at Brylee. “Want to stretch that leg of yours a few minutes?”

  “I do, Jason. Thank you.” Brylee grabbed her purse and started to open her door, but Shaun opened it and offered her his hand.

  Annoyed as she was to accept it, she couldn’t help but admire his nice manners. He’d been a gentleman when they were dating, too. Up until that disastrous last night that ended so badly.

  Brylee derailed that train of thought before it gathered any steam. After all, she was stuck in Shaun’s company for the next two or three weeks. It would make it easier on them all if she forgot how much she loathed him and made an effort to get along.

  The moment she placed her hand against his hard, calloused palm, a familiar electrical spark zinged up her arm and down to her toes. Good thing it didn’t generate real sparks or Jason might have needed to put the fuel nozzle up and pull away from the pumps.

  “Going inside first?” Shaun asked as she stepped down from the truck and slipped the strap of her purse over her shoulder.

  “Definitely. Your dad makes rest stop breaks even less frequently than you,” she teased as they walked across the parking lot toward the door. Shaun hadn’t yet relinquished her hand and something haywire in her brain kept her from yanking her fingers out of his clasp.

  He let go when they reached the door to the store. A sign read “pull” so Shaun gave the handle a tug. When nothing happened, he tugged again then stared at the handle and back up at the neon sign that assured customers the store was open.