Here For You, page 11
“You ain’t marrying no woman because it’d kill your mother.” Mac looked at Wil and Ray. “No offense intended.”
Wil didn’t hesitate. “None taken.”
“And I’m not going to buy you another horse.” Mac’s red face and lapse into bunkhouse grammar told Wil that Brittney had pushed him too far.
“Actually, Dash would have beaten Pepper’s time if you’d tweak how you ride him a bit,” Wil said. She needed to steer the conversation back to congenial levels.
Brittney’s expression flashed from sultry to indignant. “I’ve been riding horses since I was six years old. I don’t need lessons.”
Mac crossed his arms over his chest, his smile smug. “That’s a great idea. Wil trained Dash, so she can coach you to ride him for optimum performance. How much would you charge to do that, Wil?”
Wil sputtered. The last thing she wanted was to spend more time with Brittney. “I…I’m pretty busy, with Don taking off to care for his wife.”
“How about two thousand for ten lessons, and a five-thousand-dollar bonus if she places in the money at the National Finals Rodeo in Vegas?”
Wil was stunned by Mac’s offer and looked to Ray for help.
“Five thousand for ten lessons, plus the bonus, and a guarantee that Wil will not marry your daughter under any circumstances,” Ray said.
“Dad!” Wil was incredulous—over the offer and her father injecting himself into her business.
“Done,” Mac said. “But I want that guarantee in writing. It’d be just like Brittney to talk Wil into something just to piss off her mother.”
“We can do that,” Ray said, holding out his hand to shake on their second deal of the day.
* * *
The kids came back the next day with carrots, as expected, but on their third day Sam’s mother was with them. She was an attractive brunette with long, curly hair held back by a large barrette at her nape and a light brown complexion hinting of either Latino or mixed-race heritage. She also had the solid build of an athlete and a confident posture that pinged Lacey’s gaydar loudly.
“Hi. I’m Sam’s mom, Andie…that’s with an ie.” She held out her hand, and Lacey shook it in greeting.
“Lacey…with an ey,” she said.
Andie smiled at Lacey’s mimic. “Don’t I know it. If I’ve heard your name once, I’ve heard it a million times from Sam.”
“Mom.” Sam’s face reddened, and she elbowed her mother.
Lacey laughed. “It’s okay. You’ve probably heard my horse’s name, Denver, a few times, too.”
“Almost as much as yours.” She smiled at Lacey.
“Mom, come meet Denver.” Sam grabbed her mother’s hand and dragged her toward Denver’s temporary corral.
Andie looked back over her shoulder. “I guess I’m going to meet the real celebrity now.”
Lacey laughed and followed them to Denver’s side.
Sam held up a carrot for Denver, while she schooled her mother on how to feed the mare. “You can let her bite off the long end, but then you have to put the short end on top of your hand like this,” she explained, demonstrating what Lacey had taught the kids. “That’s so she doesn’t mistake your finger for a carrot.”
“That’s really smart,” Andie said. She looked at Lacey. “It’s so nice of you to put up with them coming by every day. I can find something else for them to do, if they’re bugging you too much.”
“No. It’s fine. How are kids going to have new experiences and learn new things if adults don’t take time to teach them?”
“Are you a teacher?” Andie asked.
“Mom. Lacey’s a rodeo rider. I told you that.”
“No. I’m not a teacher, but a lot of riders have full-time jobs like teaching and just rodeo on the weekends. I’m fortunate enough that Denver is a really good horse, so we win enough prize money to pay for our expenses most years.”
“Wow. You must be real good,” Andie said, her eyes widening. “I’m sorry for not recognizing your name, but I don’t follow the rodeo. I have seen it on television from time to time, though.”
“No worries. Until this year, I usually supplemented my income by working at ranches hiring temporary help to harvest hay or brand herds. I’ve pretty much done everything possible on a ranch, and my overhead is low.”
“You must be in great shape.”
“I don’t have to exercise, because you do a lot of heavy lifting when you travel from rodeo to rodeo.”
“Well, if you ever give it up, you’d make a great teacher. You’re good with the kids.”
“Thanks.” Lacey scanned Andie’s toned body, but not in a sexual way. “You look in pretty good shape yourself, not like someone who spends all day in a classroom.”
“Thank you,” Andie said, her tanned cheeks glowing pink. “I do teach a few classes at a small college, but mostly I coach the women’s softball team. I played for the Texas Longhorns in college and got my degree in sports management.”
Lacey quickly changed the subject to avoid the inevitable question of where she went to college. She’d qualified for a need-based scholarship at Baylor, but her great-aunt’s death had opened the door for her to pursue what she really wanted—to follow the rodeo circuit. Her grades had been good—not spectacular—in high school, but she saw school as an inconvenience when she needed to work to keep food in the house and the rent paid while her mother drank her life away.
“Hey. Why don’t you kids take turns brushing Denver like I showed you yesterday?” She held out the brushes she was using when the group walked up.
The kids instantly began squabbling over who got the brushes first, but Sam stepped in as the group’s leader. “We’ll take turns until everybody gets a chance to brush her.” The boys grumbled but didn’t challenge her, and the twins beamed at being assured they would have the same chance as the older kids.
Lacey turned to Andie. “We can sit down over there,” she said, indicating two canvas chairs placed near the campfire. She wasn’t expecting visitors, but she always set out two chairs to give the impression she wasn’t alone in case some nefarious person wandered into her camp.
“So, is Sam’s father with you guys?” She’d always found the easiest way to avoid answering a lot of questions was to keep the other person busy answering hers. And she was curious whether her gaydar was right about this woman with a child.
Andie tilted her head as if considering how to answer. “Sam’s father was a sperm donor, and her other mother took an offer a few years back to coach softball at Arizona State University and start a new family with their basketball coach.”
“Damn. That’s harsh.”
Apparently emboldened by Lacey’s lack of reaction to “other mother,” Andie raised an eyebrow. “Is a significant other waiting for you at home?”
Lacey pointed to her camper’s door. “This is my home, and no one’s napping inside. I’m a modern-day nomad. It’s not exactly conducive to setting up housekeeping with someone.”
“Look at you with that sexy cowgirl thing going on. I can’t believe nobody has tried to corral you. No girlfriend or boyfriend at all?”
Lacey began shaking her head, but her face heated as visions of Wil invaded and filled her thoughts.
“Well, damn. There is someone,” Andie said. “I was hoping I might have a shot at a little recreational romp this week.” She held up her hands, palm out, to forestall any adverse reaction from Lacey. “Not that I’m assuming you’re an easy hookup, but it’s been a while.” She sighed. “It’s hard to meet people when you have a kid that has to be in bed by nine on school nights.”
“No offense taken,” Lacey said. “I did meet a woman I really like at the last rodeo, and we’ve been video-calling this week.”
“So, you think you’ll be seeing her again?”
“Maybe. She says she’ll be at the Abilene rodeo in three weeks.”
“She’s a rodeo rider, too?”
“She and her dad train and sell horses at their ranch, the Double R, in Bowie, but she competes sometimes to show off a horse and drive up her asking price.”
Andie instantly began tapping away at her phone. She raised both eyebrows when she found the Double R’s website and tapped on the “trainers” page. “Wow. Is this her?” She passed the phone to Lacey, and Wil’s blue eyes looked up at her.
“Yeah. That’s her.”
“She’s super-hot,” Andie said, taking the phone Lacey handed back to her. She looked again at Wil’s image. “Wiloree Rivers.”
“She goes by Wil.” Lacey looked away, pretending to be watching the kids. “We hit it off, but I don’t expect anything to come of it. She’s pretty much out of my league.”
Andie cocked her head. “Why would you say that?”
Lacey shrugged. “She’s nothing like me. I’m pretty much homeless, going from rodeo to rodeo and living off prize money. She owns that ranch with her dad and went to college and grew up with a mother who had dinner on the table every night.”
“Those things might not matter as much as you think.”
Lacey didn’t answer, but that seemed to be okay with Andie. They sat in comfortable silence for a few minutes.
“Hey. I’ve got some lasagna I was going to toss in the oven for dinner. I know you probably don’t want to leave your horse unattended, but you can walk her over to our campsite and tie her there, or we could bring dinner here to your campsite.”
Lacey hesitated.
“Just a friendly meal. I love my daughter, but I wouldn’t mind having another adult to talk with for a change. You can leave when your friend calls, and we won’t be offended.”
Lacey’s mouth was already watering at the mention of lasagna. She thought of the long, lonely weekend ahead at a rodeo full of locals where she was unlikely to know anyone. She frowned. She’d never felt lonely before, but the offer to have a meal with another human being was sounding good. “Okay. But only if I can provide a salad to go with it.”
“Sounds good to me. Any time after six is good. I’ll wait until you show up before I put the garlic bread in to warm.”
* * *
Wil flicked the loose end of the lunge lead to push Flash into a trot, ignoring that her dad had walked up and was leaning against the railing of the round pen. He waited patiently while she stopped the horse, stepped sideways to turn him in the other direction, and flicked the rope to set him into motion again.
Finally, he spoke. “I thought you’d already worked him today.”
“I did, and I’m working him a second time. He needs to know he’s not going to stand in a stall twenty-two hours a day to hype him up to run flat-out every time a saddle goes on his back. You know that’s what they do on the racetrack. I want him to relax so he can concentrate on making the turns around the barrels and not be afraid he’ll get out of that box only once a day.”
“Your horse, your call.”
Flash was small for a racing Quarter horse but had the big butt of a powerful sprinter. She’d bought him with her own money when her dad disagreed with his purchase, and she was determined to prove Ray wrong when he said Flash was fast, but his butt was too big for him to make the turns without tipping the barrels.
“Yep. He is.”
Flash shone with sweat and obediently turned to Wil and approached her when she slowed him to a stop. She led him to the rail where a saddle and bridle were laid out, and Ray waited.
“You need something?” Wil didn’t look at Ray but proceeded to saddle Flash for another run at the barrels. She could feel her father’s eyes on her.
“You mad at me for something?”
“Why would you think that?”
“Because you’ve been at my heels since you were a toddler, and although I don’t profess to have any insight into a woman’s moods, I can tell when you’ve got your britches in a snit.”
Wil checked the tightened girth to make sure it wasn’t pinching Flash’s skin anywhere, then turned to face her father. “Since when do you hire me out like a leased horse without my consent?”
“Since our richest client agreed to pay us a half million dollars for one horse. I don’t think it’s unreasonable to coach his daughter through a few lessons, especially for the price he’s offering.”
“It’s a quarter of the price he’d pay if we’d given Brittney time to browbeat him into buying Pepper. And that’s exactly what she’d do.”
“She’s already probably ruined Dash. You want to sell Pepper to her?”
Feeling like the scolded twelve-year-old she once was, she paused before bridling Flash, leaned against the railing, and looked down to dig her boot toe into the dirt. “No. I’m thinking to run Pepper at Big Spring to interest some new buyers.”
“What if Mac makes an offer for Pepper before then?”
Wil shrugged. “Then I’d have to sell her to Brittney.” She finally looked up and gave Ray a slow grin. “I could sell her Flash.”
“We want her father to keep buying our horses at extravagant prices, so I don’t think we want to kill his daughter by selling her an untrained racehorse.”
“Ten lessons, Dad. I’ve been trying to distance myself from my bad decision to date her, and you chain me to her for ten fricking lessons. She doesn’t want coaching from me. She wants to get into my pants again.”
“Well, then you’ll need to lock your bedroom door at night.”
“Wh-what?” Wil stared at him. “Are you whoring me out now?”
“Watch your mouth, young lady. I’m still your father, and I’d do no such thing. She asked if she could stay in our guest room while she’s training here. What was I going to say? Mac was standing right there. And it makes sense. They live more than an hour away.”
Wil didn’t like it. Not one bit. But her father was right. She pointed at him. “I’m going to ride this horse, and while I do, you’re going to put an extra lock on my bedroom door.”
“Okay.” Her father laughed. “I’ll put an extra one on the bathroom door, too, in case she gets a mind to share your shower.”
Wil pointed a threatening finger at him, then strode toward the big ring with Flash in tow.
Her father’s last teasing words followed her. “I can’t believe you’re so afraid of that debutante bombshell,” he shouted.
Chapter Thirteen
Lacey had decided to wait until tomorrow to call Wil because it was late when she returned to her campsite after a pleasant evening of dinner and chatting with Andie and her daughter Sam, then bedding Denver down for the night. When did she become so social? But when she checked her phone, she had a missed call and a text from Wil.
Call me when you get this, no matter how late.
Had something happened? There was always a risk in working with powerful animals like horses, even for experienced equestrians. Not to mention the inherent danger of working around farm machinery—tractors, mowers, baling machinery, and the like.
The tensed muscles in her shoulders relaxed when Wil, apparently already in bed, answered her video call. “Damn. I’m sorry. Did I wake you up? Your text said to call no matter how late.” It was only eleven, but that was at least an hour past bedtime for ranchers, who rose before dawn to start their day.
“No. I’ve been in bed for a while, but just tossing and turning.” Wil was adorably dressed in an old college T-shirt worn so thin, Lacey could clearly see her hardened nipples.
She smiled. “Thinking about me, or is your air conditioner turned too low?”
“A little of both.” Wil laughed, and the lines of stress visible on her face softened. “But that’s not what’s keeping me from sleeping.” Wil looked away from her phone’s camera, her expression turning shy. “When I think about you as I’m falling asleep, you visit me in my dreams. I, uh, well…I had a sex dream about you last night and woke up in the middle of an orgasm.”
“Oh my God.” Lacey’s face heated, and she hid behind her hands for a second. Could Wil see her turning red? “Me, too. Could we have possibly visited each other’s dream? Forget I asked. It’s impossible, and stupid to think it could happen. Nothing but coincidence.”
Wil laughed. “True, but it’s kind of cool to think we might have come together in our dreamscapes.”
“Dreamscapes.” Lacey grinned. “You’re a Xena fan.”
Wil chuckled. “And you must be, too, if you knew where the reference came from. I’m guessing you’ve seen all the episodes?”
“I was just a baby when the series was on television, but I have the entire thing on DVD. I thought the fan fiction I found online was better because it didn’t just hint at a relationship between the two women.”
“Yeah. Me, too,” Wil said.
They both paused a long moment, absorbed in each other’s gaze. Wil finally glanced away. “I wish you were here or I was there,” she said in a near whisper, almost as if she was admitting it to herself.
“One to beam over. Engage,” Lacey said in her best Captain Picard voice. “Damn. The transporter is offline again.”
Wil smiled as she shook her head. “Nerd.”
“Back at you.” Enough joking around. “I know you’re usually early to bed, early to rise, like me. So, tell me what’s keeping you awake so late…unless you don’t want to talk about it.”
“No, no. Maybe it’ll help me sleep if I do.” Wil sighed and, after a few seconds, said, “Brittney and her dad, Mac Abbott, came out to the ranch today.”
“You knew they were intending to, right? You and your dad talked about it before you left the rodeo last weekend.”
“I did. Mac wanted to see all the horses Dad has for sale so he could be sure Smarty was Dad’s best cutter. I was happy to see Mac show up without Brittney, but she came in her own car after I had ridden Smarty and a few others while he and Dad watched and dickered over Smarty’s price. Mac’s one of the few fairly local clients who can afford to pay top dollar for horses.”
