Winning the Rancher's Heart Page 15

  Someday, Ryder thought, he was going to build that covered arena for her. First things first, though.

  He excused himself to take care of personal business. Deciding to go around Jake, he got on the phone with Hoot Waller and dickered his way down to an excellent purchase price for the truck before arranging to meet Hoot at the bank. He paved the way with a phone call to the loan officer there who handled the Loco Man line of credit. With a sizable down payment, the bank was only too happy to lend Ryder enough money to complete the purchase of the truck. With that done, he called his buddy in Dallas. Once the arrangements were made, he began praying again: first, that Jeri was coming to the same conclusions as he was; second, that he could keep his mouth shut; and third, that Jeri liked surprises.

  * * *

  They went to prayer meeting as usual, except that this time they drove Ryder’s new truck, just the two of them, Ryder and Jeri. Ryder again requested prayer for her safety and success. Jeri prayed for guidance and some way to make Ryder forgive her secrets.

  For the first time, she dreaded hitting the road, even for so short a drive. Despite the delight of being with Ryder again, she felt a deep, edgy sense of time running out. Still, she had to compete. She had to keep the money coming in, especially if she was actually going to find a place of her own, hopefully near Ryder.

  Please, God, let it be near Ryder. Let him want me nearby.

  He seemed to. Now. Everyone else seemed to take it for granted that they were together for good. Even the family treated them like a permanent couple, but how would they feel about her once they knew the truth?

  Thursday came all too soon. Thankfully, the cold snap waned and warmer temperatures returned. Ryder helped her work the horses that morning. Then they packed the trailer. This was no ordinary rodeo, so twice the gear had to be packed, and that took twice the time. It was 7 p.m. before Jeri was ready to leave. She did not want to go, and she didn’t know when she would return.

  “I have to sign in and draw before I’ll know when the first run will be. Then, if I don’t make the finals—”

  “You’ll make them. You’re going to win this one, remember?”

  She smiled at Ryder’s enthusiasm and confidence. “If I don’t make the finals, I’ll be back next week.”

  He shook his head. “As much as I want you home safe, it’s not going to be next week.”

  “If I have a chance to finish in the money, I’ll be there until after my last run. That could be a week from Sunday, maybe Saturday.”

  “I understand. You’ll let me know, won’t you? I can always check the standings on the computer, but I’d like to know before you race so I can pray for you.”

  “I’ll let you know,” she promised, a lump growing in her throat.

  He hugged her, then kissed her, then handed her into the truck. “Let me know when you get there, too. Please.”

  “Yes. Absolutely.”

  After one more quick kiss, he stepped back and closed the door. Driving away after that was one of the toughest things Jeri had ever done. She could barely see through the tears that started to fall as soon as she turned onto the highway. Thankfully, the ride was relatively short. Less than four hours after leaving him, she called to tell him that she was checked in at the fair grounds and was about to set up camp in an off-site lot.

  He kept her talking for a while, asking for details about where she was situated and if the site was safe. The area couldn’t have been much safer. Constructed especially for those with personal mounts, the lot was fenced in, with sheltered animal pens all around the perimeter. The gates were closed at midnight, and visitors had to sign in and out. Campers were assigned spaces according to the sizes of their rigs and the number of animals they’d brought with them. Jeri had even been placed among other barrel racers, so she knew nearly everyone around her.

  After they got off the phone, she unloaded the horses and bedded them down in their assigned shelter. Then she hooked her trailer up to the electricity and the sewer before changing into her warmest pajamas and crawling into her sleeping bag. Her narrow bed atop a long, rectangular storage locker—hence the name “coffin bed”—had never felt so lonely. She considered calling Ryder again, but he was probably long asleep at this point. She could wait until she knew when she would ride.

  That happened the next morning. As soon as she saw which slot she’d drawn, she dialed up Ryder.

  “First run is Saturday night. That’s good. It gives me time to work the horses in this environment. Helps them settle. If I blow it, I’ll be home Wednesday.”

  “You’ll make the cut,” he said matter-of-factly. “I know you will.”

  “If I do,” she went on around a smile, “I’ll have to stay around until at least next Saturday.”

  “But you won’t find out if you win or not until Sunday. Right?”

  “That’s right. I’ll be ready to hit the road the minute after I hear. Or I could come on in Saturday and let them notify me later. That is, if I win.”

  “You need to be there when the results come in,” he insisted.

  “I’ll be home awfully late if I wait for the results.”

  “Just be ready to pick up that check and all the swag that goes with it. Don’t worry about how late it might be. You’ll be safe. I promise.”

  Her heart suddenly felt too big for her chest, and she wanted to say so much in reply to that. But she didn’t dare. Not yet.

  “I know. I always am. It’s just...” Thinking quickly, she came up with, “There’s more downtime here than usual.”

  In big rodeos like this that covered more than one weekend, some competitors hired others to deliver their horses then flew in and out when they were scheduled to compete. Jeri couldn’t bring herself to turn her horses over to anyone else, though.

  “I hear there’s plenty to do,” Ryder said, “a carnival midway, all sorts of exhibits and events.”

  “That’s true. One of the local radio stations even sponsors dances.”

  “Well, there you go.”

  “Yeah, I guess.” She didn’t say that she wouldn’t be attending any of those dances, not this year. She just couldn’t imagine being with any other man now, even for a casual dance.

  Deep in her heart, she knew that at some point Ryder would step out of her life, and she’d have to find a way to live without him. That shouldn’t have seemed so daunting. She’d lived twenty-three years without Ryder Smith, after all. Why, suddenly, did he now seem so essential to her well-being?

  All she knew was that losing him was going to tear her apart. She couldn’t even think about it. So she didn’t. Instead, she pretended that all was well.

  They were just a normal couple getting to know one another.

  And falling in love.

  God help her.

  Chapter Thirteen

  He drove down to Dallas on Friday afternoon, ate an early dinner with his buddy, and then informed said buddy that they were going to the rodeo. Oscar, nicknamed Ox, didn’t argue.

  “Yeah, boy! We’ll probably have to take the cheap seats, but let’s go.”

  Ox chattered, mostly about his job, while Ryder navigated rush-hour traffic in the Dallas–Fort Worth Metroplex, those years of doing battle with Houston drivers paying off. Ryder had pulled up the route on his truck’s in-dash GPS screen, so he didn’t even have to use his cell phone for directions. The drive was almost sixty-five miles, and the dashboard clock read twelve minutes past eight o’clock when he parked. They were just outside the fence surrounding a yard full of trucks and trailers lined by animal shelters. Ox twisted in his seat and stared at him.

  “Okay, what gives?”

  Ryder just shook his head and got out. At the gatehouse, he asked where he could find number sixty-seven. The guy pointed to a far corner. Ryder set off, Ox on his heels. As they wound through the mishmash of rigs, Ryder pulled out hi
s phone and dialed. Jeri answered at once.

  “Ryder?”

  “Hey, darlin’. What’re you doing?”

  “A girl,” Ox said under his breath. “Well, it’s about time.”

  Ryder glared at him, but Ox just grinned.

  “Nothing much,” Jeri said to Ryder. “Just relaxing in my trailer with my friend Lacy before I have to start warming up Star.”

  “So Star’s first up then, huh?”

  “Yes.”

  He heard a female voice in the background, asking, “Who is that?”

  Jeri must have covered the microphone, for her reply was muffled, but he had no trouble understanding her when she said, “My boyfriend.”

  Boyfriend. He wanted to crow, but he just kept talking and walking. “Got some time for company?” When he spotted her rig, he picked up his pace.

  “Company?”

  “Uh-huh. Didn’t I tell you that my friend Ox lives in Dallas?” He came to a halt in front of the sleeping compartment of her trailer.

  “Ox? No. No, I’d remember that. Is he here? In Fort Worth, I mean.”

  “He is.” With that, Ryder reached out and knocked on her door. “So am I.”

  * * *

  She dropped the phone. Someone was squealing like a stuck pig, but Jeri didn’t have time to realize that it was her. She was too busy trying to get the door opened. Finally, it gave way, and there he stood, her every hope embodied in one dear man. She leaped at him. She could no more stop herself from throwing her arms around his neck than she could have stopped the earth from turning.

  “Ryder! You’re here!”

  Laughing, he caught her against him, her feet dangling off the ground. She was glad that she’d worn the long-sleeved turquoise top. In her skinny brown jeans and turquoise-inlaid boots, her hair plaited loosely, she knew she was looking her best.

  “Got the wheels, got a place to stay.” Without ever taking his eyes off her, he waggled a thumb at the tall, slender cowboy next to him. “Why wouldn’t I come see my girl run?”

  My girl. Overjoyed, she kissed the smile on his face. Finally, he lowered her to her feet. Then he made the introductions.

  “This here is Oscar. Ox, this Jeri—”

  “Bogman,” Oscar finished for him. Then he took off his droopy black felt hat and beat Ryder across the shoulders with it. “You dog! You didn’t let on at all, and here you are with none other than Jeri Bogman kissing your ugly face.”

  Ryder could not have grinned any wider. “You wouldn’t have believed me if I’d told you.”

  “No way.” Ox rolled the brim of his felt hat in his hands and nodded at Jeri. “He don’t even follow rodeo like I do.”

  “He does now,” Ryder declared.

  “Well, he may not know rodeo, but he sure knows horses,” Jeri said, leaning into Ryder and smiling up at him.

  Here. He was here. For her. She could hardly believe it.

  Lacy stuck her head out the door then. Dressed in black jeans and a ruby-red shirt, her black hat turning her blond hair into liquid gold, she looked Ryder up and down, raised her eyebrows then did the same to Ox, who looked thunderstruck. Jeri giggled.

  “Guys, this is Lacy Maddox. Lacy, Ryder and Ox.”

  “Well, now, this is propitious,” Ox announced, hanging his thumbs in the waistband of his jeans. “Maddox. Ox. Sounds like fate to me.”

  Lacy leaned a slender hip against the frame of the open door and folded her arms, staring at Ox, who wasn’t a bad-looking fellow, if you liked long and stringy. She apparently did, for she smiled at Jeri and said, “Girl, you sure can pick ’em.”

  “And how,” Jeri agreed.

  Ryder folded her close then and kissed her like he meant it, right there in front of God and everyone. Jeri had never been so happy, and for once—just for a while—she refused to be afraid about what the future might hold.

  When he lifted his head, she smiled up into his handsome face, and said, “I’m so glad you’re here.”

  “Ah, darlin’,” he said with a lopsided grin, “I don’t want to be anywhere else.”

  Lacy shoved the brown felt hat at Jeri then. “You’d better get on the move, cowgirl.”

  Just then the preset alarm on Jeri’s phone went off inside the trailer. Tearing herself away from Ryder, she rushed inside to find it. She turned off the alarm, then took the hat Lacy still held and settled it onto her head. Thinking quickly, Jeri began issuing requests.

  “Lacy, can you snag a couple of passes for the guys?”

  “I’ll head over there right now.” The tall blonde stepped down out of the door.

  “Better take Ox with you,” Jeri called, deciding to change her belt and put on a prize buckle. “I need Ryder to see to Star.”

  He leaned into the trailer. “Just tell me what to do.”

  “She’s saddled, so just let her out. We’ll walk her over to the fairgrounds. I’ll be right there.”

  “On it.” He disappeared.

  Jeri stripped off her belt, quickly threaded another through the loops and fastened it before throwing on a hip-length, dark brown, fringed leather coat. Then she paused to look at herself in the mirror. She saw in her own face what everyone else must see. She saw love.

  She loved that man, and she was going to make this time with him count. If nothing else, she’d have sweet memories to comfort her in the dark days. Meanwhile, she’d have him. For a while, she’d have him.

  * * *

  Coming here had been the right thing to do, Ryder decided. No spectator seats for him and Ox. They had passes that let them into the warrens of pens and chutes hidden from the crowd flanking the arena. After they warmed up, he walked Star, with Jeri on board, back to the end of the long aisle where they’d start their run. Jeri shrugged out of her jacket and handed it to him. With so many penned animals around and wranglers rushing here and there, the temperature was as comfortable in the back area as in the enclosed arena.

  Star could barely contain her energy. A speaker blared the smooth baritone of the announcer, and as soon as he said Jeri’s name, she heeled the horse.

  Ryder had never seen Star hit it like that, head down, tail high, hooves a blur. Ride with her, Lord, he prayed silently. Running after them, he made it to the end of the aisle as they pulled away from the first barrel and raced for the second.

  “Go, baby, go,” he muttered, gripping her coat, as they rounded that barrel and flew toward the third. Suddenly, they were pulling back onto the straight. “Bring her home now. Bring her home!”

  He didn’t realize he was shouting until he stopped to flatten himself against the rough wood wall as Jeri flew by. Star seemed to pick up speed the longer she ran. Jeri started reining in the mare about halfway down the aisle, but it was obvious that Star wanted to run and run some more. Demonstrating that with a kick of her heels and the pluming of her tail, she strained against the bit, prancing as if to say, “I did it! Let’s do it again!” Jeri was laughing when Ryder reached them.

  “‘If I make the finals,’” he teased, repeating her words back to her as he led Star out of the way. The next racer was already lined up. “Darlin’, you just set the bar for your competitors up in the stratosphere.”

  “I didn’t hear the time. Did you?”

  He told her what the announcer had called, surprised he’d heard and remembered the numbers. Jeri pumped a fist as Ox and Lacy rushed up to them.

  “You’re killing us, Jeri,” Lacy complained, but she was smiling. “That was a run for the record books. Congratulations.”

  “You’ll beat my time, see if you don’t.”

  “I’ll be happy if I wind up just in the general area,” Lacy proclaimed.

  “This needs celebrating,” Ox insisted.

  Ryder smiled up at Jeri. “Maybe we’ll make that dance tonight.”

  She beamed and staye
d in the saddle as Ryder handed her coat up to her and took Star’s reins into his hands. He walked the mare to cool her down before heading back out into the cold. After they reached the shelter, he and Jeri worked together to unsaddle and curry the animal.

  “When does Lacy ride?” he asked.

  “Tomorrow night.”

  “And when do you ride next?”

  “Tuesday. Then, if nothing goes wrong, Friday. But I’m giving clinics on Wednesday and Thursday. That way, I get arena time to practice.”

  “What can I do to help? I don’t know if I should leave early enough to avoid the rush-hour traffic or wait until it’s calmed down.”

  She goggled at him. “You’re going to stay for the whole rodeo?”

  “Planned on it.” The smile that kept overtaking him got him again. “Thought I’d follow you home after it’s all said and done.”

  She stared at him for several long seconds, her eyes growing brighter and brighter as tears gathered in them. He lifted a hand to skim the line of her jaw.

  “Sweetheart? Something wrong? I—I don’t have to stay. It was rash of me to think—”

  Abruptly, she kissed him. “You’ve never done a rash, presumptuous, thoughtless thing in your life, Ryder Smith. Don’t you think I know that? Don’t you know how much it means to me that you chose to be here? And if you think I don’t want you here, you’re nuts.”

  “That has been said.”

  “Not by me.” Grasping him by the sleeves, she shook him, as much as it was possible to shake a human mountain. “Listen. From now on, avoid rush-hour traffic. It’s safer that way. I just wish you were staying here in Fort Worth.”

  “Let’s just be glad Ox decided to take a transfer to Dallas when his company offered it.”

  “Oh, I am. I’m beyond thankful. Remind me to tell him so.”

  “I’ll tell him for you,” Ryder chortled, only half teasing.

  Smiling brightly, she grabbed his hand, and they all but ran back to where Ox and Lacy waited.

  They danced all the slow dances that night. Ryder was exhausted by the time he flopped down on Ox’s couch to sleep, but he met Jeri for lunch the next day then helped her exercise the horses, and that night the four of them hit the carnival. It was every bit as cold in Fort Worth as in War Bonnet, but Ryder didn’t feel it. With his arm locked around Jeri, he felt as warm as if he was in front of a toasty fire.