Here For You, page 1
Here for You
Synopsis
Competitive barrel racer Lacey Bishop has worked her way from homelessness and poverty to needing only a few points to qualify for the National Rodeo Finals when her only horse suffers a career-ending injury. Without the money to buy a new horse, Lacey has no choice but to trust an offer from Double R Ranch to lease one of their best barrel-racing horses.
Horse trainer Wil Rivers is working hard to get her family’s ranch profitable again after the coronavirus pandemic shut them down for more than a year. Her best chance to save the ranch from foreclosure is a half-million-dollar-plus offer to buy the mare she’s promised to the bewitching Lacey Bishop.
When Lacey discovers Wil’s plan to sell the Double R’s “money” horse to her fiercest competitor, she sees their chance for a future together and her chance to qualify for the finals disappearing in the rodeo arena dust.
Praise for D. Jackson Leigh
Unbridled
“A hot, steamy, erotic romance mystery with edge, exciting twists and turns, great characters and an unforgettable story that I was completely invested in. It was difficult to put the book down and I thoroughly enjoyed the whole experience of reading it!”—LESBIReviewed
Blades of Bluegrass
“Both lead characters, Britt and Teddy, were well developed and likeable. I also really enjoyed the supporting characters, like E.B., and the warm, familiar atmosphere the author managed to create at Story Hill Farm.”—Melina Bickard, Librarian, Waterloo Library (UK)
Ordinary Is Perfect
“There’s something incredibly charming about this small town romance, which features a vet with PTSD and a workaholic marketing guru as a fish out of water in the quiet town. But it’s the details of this novel that make it shine.”—Pink Heart Society
Take a Chance
“I really enjoyed the character dynamic with this book of two very strong independent women who aren’t looking for love but fall for the one they already love…The chemistry and dynamic between these two is fantastic and becomes even more intense when their sexual desires take over.”—Les Rêveur
Dragon Horse War
“Leigh writes with an emotion that she in turn gives to the characters, allowing us insight into their personalities and their very souls. Filled with fantastic imagery and the down-to-earth flaws that are sometimes the characters’ greatest strengths, this first Dragon Horse War is a story not to be missed. The writing is flawless, the story, breath-taking—and this is only the beginning.”—Lambda Literary Review
“The premise is original, the fantasy element is gripping but relevant to our times, the characters come to life, and the writing is phenomenal. It’s the author’s best work to date and I could not put it down.”—Melina Bickard, Librarian, Waterloo Library (UK)
“Already an accomplished author of many romances, Leigh takes on fantasy and comes up aces…So, even if fantasy isn’t quite your thing, you should give this a try. Leigh’s backdrop is a world you already recognize with some slight differences, and the characters are marvelous. There’s a villain, a love story, and…ah yes, ‘thar be dragons.’”—Out in Print: Queer Book Reviews
“This book is great for those that like romance with a hint of fantasy and adventure.”—The Lesbrary
“Skin Walkers” in Women of the Dark Streets
“When love persists through many lifetimes, there is always the potential magic of reunion. Climactically resplendent!”—Rainbow Book Reviews
Swelter
“I don’t think there is a single book D. Jackson Leigh has written that I don’t like…I recommend this book if you want a nice romance mixed with a little suspense.”—Kris Johnson, Texas Library Association
“This book is a great mix of romance, action, angst, and emotional drama…The first half of the book focuses on the budding relationship between the two women, and the gradual revealing of secrets. The second half ramps up the action side of things…There were some good sexy scenes, and also an appropriate amount of angst and introspection by both women as feelings more than just the physical started to surface.”—Rainbow Book Reviews
Call Me Softly
“Call Me Softly is a thrilling and enthralling novel of love, lies, intrigue, and Southern charm.”—Bibliophilic Book Blog
Touch Me Gently
“D. Jackson Leigh understands the value of branding, and delivers more of the familiar and welcome story elements that set her novels apart from other authors in the romance genre.”—Rainbow Reader
Every Second Counts
“Her prose is clean, lean, and mean—elegantly descriptive.”—Out in Print: Queer Book Reviews
Riding Passion
“The sex was always hot and the relationships were realistic, each with their difficulties. The technical writing style was impeccable, ranging from poetic to more straightforward and simple. The entire anthology was a demonstration of Leigh’s considerable abilities.”—2015 Rainbow Awards
Here for You
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By the Author
Romance
Call Me Softly
Touch Me Gently
Hold Me Forever
Swelter
Take a Chance
Ordinary Is Perfect
Blades of Bluegrass
Unbridled
Forever Comes in Threes
Here for You
Cherokee Falls Series
Bareback
Long Shot
Every Second Counts
Dragon Horse War Trilogy
The Calling
Tracker and the Spy
Seer and the Shield
Short story collection
Riding Passion
Here For You
© 2023 By D. Jackson Leigh. All Rights Reserved.
ISBN 13: 978-1-63679-300-9
This Electronic Original Is Published By
Bold Strokes Books, Inc.
P.O. Box 249
Valley Falls, NY 12185
First Edition: July 2023
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.
This book, or parts thereof, may not be reproduced in any form without permission.
Credits
Editor: Shelley Thrasher
Production Design: Stacia Seaman
Cover Design by Tammy Seidick
eBook Design by Toni Whitaker
This book is dedicated to my family and friends, past and present, who stood by me or just called for a conversation during my 2022 year of fighting breast cancer. Thankfully, I’ve been pronounced clear, but the support I received made a huge difference in keeping my spirits up while my energy was so low. You were here for me. I love you all.
Foreword
If any of you are fans of barrel racing or participate in the sport, please note this story is a work of fiction.
While researching for this book, I realized barrel racing involves a confusing web of different organizations, levels of expertise, and rodeo circuits. Several times I failed to find answers to my questions about the rules, so I had to go with a common-sense answer.
Also, I fashioned Lacey Bishop’s hop from rodeo to rodeo to fit the timeline required to unfold this story, exercising the right of a fiction writer to manipulate which towns held rodeos and when. Please forgive this type of inaccuracy if you live in one of those towns and they don’t host a rodeo, or maybe hold it during a different time of year.
If you can forgive any discrepancies between facts and my fictional story, please sit back and enjoy the ride.
D. Jackson Leigh
Chapter One
The sun beat down on the chute leading into the outdoor dirt arena, warmed by an unseasonable heat wave, as Lacey Bishop mentally reviewed the cloverleaf pattern she would ride around the barrels one more time. When she adjusted her hat low on her forehead, sweat trickled past her temple and along her jaw.
Lacey’s buckskin mare, Denver, was a competitor, pumped and primed for the reckless sprints and spins around the three barrels before an all-out, homestretch gallop past the timer. So, she let Denver work herself into an adrenaline rush, turning her in a small circle to contain the horse’s excitement and loosen muscles needed to make the hairpin, near-full-speed turns. She ignored the frowns of other riders whose horses were agitated by Denver’s twirling wind-up as they waited their turn.
One more twirl as her name was announced, and she clapped her calves against Denver’s flanks to rocket them past the arena’s electronic timer. Clods of the soft dirt flew around them as she shifted her weight to help Denver keep her footing when she dug into the first turn. Tight and perfect. Lacey tightened her legs and pressed the balls of her feet against the wide stirrups to stretch over the mare’s neck for a low, aerodynamic gallop to a point about six feet to the right of the second barr
The announcer’s voice boomed over the speakers. “Fourteen-point-three-eight seconds! Lacey Bishop takes the lead in her final run.”
Lacey and Denver shot through the chute and onto the adjacent warm-up area, where they finally slowed, and she guided her mare into a figure-eight pattern to gear down to a cooling walk. They had made it around once when the announcer’s voice boomed over the arena again.
“Our final contestant is Brittney Abbott, riding Dash of Charm, now in second place.” This competition awarded the win to the fastest run, rather than a cumulative time from the contestants’ three runs. So, Brittney needed to run only a hundredth of a second faster to regain first place, even though her earlier times weren’t that fast.
“Brittney can beat that time, no problem,” one rider said loud enough to ensure Lacey heard as she and Denver returned to watch Brittney’s run.
“Go, Brittney,” another said.
“You’ve got this, Brittney,” a third yelled. Several of the group of other contestants near the chute cast furtive glances at Lacey, but she sat tall in the saddle and ignored them.
Brittney was pretty, feminine, and wealthy. They either were her friend or aspired to be so they would be included in the parties Brittney threw in her hotel suite each time she won an event.
Lacey would always be an outsider. She lived in her horse trailer/camper and showered at truck stops or campgrounds that allowed horses. She ignored the other riders as much as they avoided her. Her solitary life didn’t bother her, but she hated how they whispered anytime she was near. And she resented that they all were cheering for Brittney to snatch this win from her.
Well, not all.
A tall, dark-haired woman shook her head and pushed away from the metal rails of the arena enclosure where she’d been watching the action. She turned toward the parking lot but paused and looked up as she neared Lacey.
“Congratulations on your win,” she said, running her gaze over Denver before locking it with Lacey’s.
Captured by the woman’s smile and blue eyes, Lacey nodded until her brain could engage. She cleared her throat. “Final scores aren’t in yet.”
The woman shrugged. “She’s going to blow it.”
Lacey finally tore her attention from the woman and stood in her stirrups in time to see Brittney round the second barrel and head for the third. Her trajectory was a scant foot too wide, but Brittney overcompensated, and her boot scraped against the barrel mid-turn. She whipped her horse down the homestretch, on target to stop the timer at fourteen-point-three-six, but the barrel teetered on its left edge and toppled a second before Brittney and Dash tripped the timer.
The cheers went abruptly silent, replaced by a few groans as a five-second penalty changed her time to nineteen-point-three-six. Dash shied away when Brittney sprang from the saddle and kicked at the chute’s rails while yelling a litany of foul language. When the wrangler who tended her horses and drove them to events grabbed the reins of the spooked horse, Brittney paused her tantrum and pointed at them. “Get him out of my sight. Take him back to the ranch.”
Lacey grinned at Brittney’s groupies, but she was disappointed when she looked down to share her smile with the mystery woman. She had disappeared. Lacey turned Denver toward their own trailer just as she was being announced as winner of the competition. She didn’t need Brittney’s drama spoiling her victory, even if Denver was the only one around to share it. She scanned the rodeo grounds. She didn’t normally seek out strangers, or anyone really, but she wanted to talk to the only person who believed the win was hers. How had she known Brittney would screw up? Lacey had seen the woman at the few events held before the year-long pandemic lockdown. She wasn’t someone you could easily forget. Naturally gorgeous with no makeup, she turned heads even in faded, worn jeans and a plain white Western shirt. But this was the first time Lacey had seen her this year, and she’d vanished today like beer at a cowboy cookout.
No matter. Lacey had a horse to unsaddle, then a trip to the rodeo office to give them her direct-deposit information. She’d head off to a campground about fifty miles away that she’d discovered five years ago. Time to kick back and rest for a bit. She didn’t need to be at the next event for ten days. Maybe she’d hit a grocery store on the way and pick up a big steak to celebrate her win. Yeah. After dinner, she’d light a campfire, put in her earphones, and start listening to the audiobook she’d downloaded yesterday.
* * *
Wiloree Rivers didn’t stick around to share confirmation of a victory with the intriguing Lacey Bishop. Wil was at the rodeo to prime the money pump for Double R Ranch, which she and her father owned. She walked around to the opposite end of the arena to slide into the bleacher seating next to a group of wealthy horsemen and nodded as they politely touched their hats in greeting. “How’s the season treating you fellows?” she asked.
“Been better,” Mac Abbott, Brittney’s father, said. “My best cutter strained a tendon and is out for the season. And I’m betting Brittney will want another new ride after losing to the Bishop girl. It’s not the first time. That girl and her little mare have beaten her three of the last five times they’ve run against each other.”
“Brittney has a great horse.” Wil wasn’t afraid to speak her mind. “She’s just not handling him right. But I’ll be happy to sell you another. I have two barrel racers in training. One is pretty much finished. The other’s close—maybe another month to fine-tune.”
“How’s your dad?” Mr. Abbott truly appeared concerned. “Heard he had a hard time with that COVID crap.”
“It’s slowed him down a bit, but he’s on the mend. You know I can’t keep him out of the barn. Don’s been out for a while, taking care of his wife. She’s been really ill with the virus. So, Dad’s been working all the horses. He’s had plenty of time to bring them along, though, since everything was on hiatus for a year.”
“What’s your dad have that can cut?”
“He has three ready to go. Two are high dollar. One’s from the Cat line, and the other has close Lena bloodlines. The third also has Lena bloodlines, but not as close. All three are looking really good, but the third is also a good reining prospect.”
Tom Blackstone interrupted their conversation. “I’m looking for a good reining horse.”
“I’ll call your dad,” Mac said, seeming to ignore Tom. “Might be interested in a new cutter since my best is injured. Tell him not to sell anything to Tom until I get a look at all three.”
“Hey, I thought we were friends.” Tom gave Mac a good-natured slap on the arm.
“We are, buddy. But horses are business. You understand.”
Wil wasn’t going to get in the middle of this friendly argument. She rose and turned to the men. “I’ll tell Dad you plan to call, Mr. Abbott. Mr. Blackstone, you’re welcome to come out, too. He’s also got a good crop still in training that you might want to buy an option on for when they’re finished.”
“I’ll do that, young lady,” Tom said. “I’m sure I’ll see you sooner than later.”
“Looking forward to it,” she said before climbing down from the bleachers and heading for the parking lot.
* * *
Wil was about to open the door to her Double R truck when her name rang out from across the parking lot. “Another minute and I’d have made a clean getaway,” she mumbled. She sighed and turned to face Brittney, who was kicking up a cloud in the dusty lot as she trotted toward her.
