And Then You Dare (Crested Butte Cowboys Series Book 5) (5 page)

Bill didn’t think his mama ever tamed his daddy, but he
couldn’t say for sure. Clancy reminded him a lot of his father. They were close
in age, and had a similar build—tall, with broad shoulders that came from
working a ranch every day.

Clancy got a lot of attention from the women who vacationed at
the dude ranch. Even the married ones, especially when they heard he was
single. They were fascinated by his bright green eyes, and wanted to run their
hands through his ginger-colored hair. There were times Bill felt embarrassed
for him, but it didn’t seem to bother Clancy.

“So anyway, I let ’em think they got me caught and soon as I
see any sign of them trying to tame me, I end it. We both stay happier that
way.”

Clancy sat back down. “Gotta say the one thing that bothers me
about it all is that I don’t have any young-ens.” He studied Bill. “I figure
since your pa passed away, you don’t have a daddy either. We’re a pair, ain’t
we?”

Bill nodded his head. The last few weeks at the ranch Clancy
had looked out for him. He gave him free rein, but never enough that he could
get out of hand. Bill worked hard, like he promised to. At the end of a long
day, he liked to go back to the house, where he had his own room. Some nights
he fell asleep before he finished the letter he tried to write his mama every
day. If he did, he’d finish it the next night. They didn’t go to the post
office in town that often, but he mailed every one of them in a separate
envelope.

Clancy was in charge of sending Bill’s pay. He’d get a money
order at the bank in town for half of Bill’s earnings. The other half he
deposited in Bill’s account. Bill would’ve sent more, but Clancy told him that
was what his mother wanted.

“Hey Daddy.”

“Hey sweetheart. I got your info.”

“Can you email it to me?”

“Of course. Now tell me what’s goin’ on.”

“Nothin’.”

“Try again, and tell me the truth this time.”

Her daddy always knew when Tristan was lying, not that she did
it very often, and almost never to him. This wasn’t really a lie as much as she
didn’t know how to answer him. She really liked being around the Rice and
Patterson families. They had so much
fun.
And there was no
shortage of love either.

She’d grown up an only child, like her daddy was. She didn’t
know much about her mama’s family. They weren’t spoken of often, even when her
mama was still alive.

After her mama’s funeral, she never saw them again. It
bothered her, but since she hadn’t known them before her mama passed away, it
wasn’t as though she missed them. She missed her mama though, every day. Still
did. Every single day.

Tristan never felt a lack of love from her daddy or her
granddad. There were neighbor ladies who were close to her mama that made she
sure she had someone to take her shopping for her prom dress, and stuff like
that. And there were always lots of friends. Her daddy knew everybody, and
everybody knew him. She was popular in school too, and had friends from rodeo.
But they weren’t family. Not like the Rices and Pattersons.

“I just miss you,” she said finally.

“You can come home anytime you know. We don’t have to finalize
this deal in person. You can get on a plane tomorrow and be sittin’ at the dinner
table with us by nightfall.”

“I know. It isn’t that bad. It isn’t bad at all really. It’s
more that I wish you and granddad were here too. They’re all so nice. I know
you already know they are, but being here with them, it’s just…I can’t explain
it.”

“Well if you figure it out, you know how to reach me. In the
meantime, let’s talk a little business. That okay with you?”

“More than okay.” Talking business would be just the thing to
get her out of her funk.

***

Grey loved going for rides in the truck. “Vroom, vroom,” he’d
say, and off they’d go. Bullet was worried that after being stuck in his buddy
seat for hours on the drive from Oklahoma to Colorado, that Grey would pitch a
fit about getting back in it. But he didn’t.

“Let’s go to the Secret Stash,” Lyric suggested. That was fine
with him. He was already feeling as though he’d worn out his welcome staying in
Ben and Liv’s house, and he’d only been there a day. He didn’t know how Lyric
did it. She didn’t seem to have any trouble hanging out with them, eating their
food, staying in their house. Bullet felt as though he and Grey were an
imposition. But then Lyric didn’t work for them. He did.

“They don’t think of you that way.”

“How’d you know what I was thinkin’?”

Lyric raised her eyebrow.
Sometimes he felt as though he knew how his twin sister was feeling, and
sometimes he didn’t. She got him more often than he got her. She used to say it
was because he didn’t try.

“I should find a place for us to live, but I wouldn’t know
where to start. I mean, should I look here, or near Black Forest?”

“I have a few ideas ’bout that. We can talk about it over
dinner. Okay?”

Yeah, that sounded good. Sometimes he felt as though Lyric was
a decade older than him. She had her shit together in a way he doubted he ever
would.

“I got the place in Palmer Lake to myself with Bree and Jace
married. And payin’ the rent isn’t an issue for me. In fact, I’m thinkin’ of
askin’ Paige and Mark if they’d consider sellin’ it to me.”

Paige and Mark were Bree’s parents, and Lyric had been renting
the house near the lake from them for a couple years. Originally she and Blythe
were going to live there together. Blythe was Bree’s sister, who was now
married to Tucker, Jace’s twin brother. Just thinking about how many overlaps
there were in the Rice family made Bullet’s head hurt.

“If you get a place here, I could stay with you. Then when
you’re in Black Forest you could stay with me.”

“Havin’ me and Grey livin’ with you won’t cramp your style?”

“What style? Come on Bullet. All I got time for right now is
chasin’ my dreams. Gotta stay focused to shine bright, ya know.”

He did know, and he wasn’t very good at it. Not like she was.

“Your problem is you think too much with the wrong part of
your anatomy.” She fisted her hand and knocked the side of his head. “You got a
good brain in here Bullet. You’re smart as I am, maybe even smarter. But
instead, you’re too busy chasin’ skirts and breedin’ babies.”

His sister was right, but he wished she hadn’t put it that
way. He was already feeling bad enough about himself after his run-in with
Tristan that morning.

“It’ll be all right,” Lyric said, and hugged him. “You’re in a
good place now, with good people. All you gotta do is put a plan together, and
then stick to it. Don’t let yourself get sidetracked with stuff that don’t
matter.”

“Like chasin’ skirts?”

“Exactly. Now tell me, what’s your dream Bullet?”

“You know what it is.”

“Maybe I do. Maybe I don’t. Tell me your dream. Say it out
loud. And then tell me how much you want it. From there we’ll figure out how to
start makin’ it happen.”

Bullet loved his sister’s positive attitude. She was a lot
like their parents that way. They focused on what was in front of them, and
rarely looked back.

“Okay, here it is. My dream is to be a world champion bull
rider.”

“See? That wasn’t so hard. What do you have to do to make it
happen?”

“Get on bulls.”

“Simple right?”

Bullet looked at Grey sitting in the high chair next to him.
“Not simple at all.”

“Lots of bull riders have kids Bullet.”

“I don’t know of any whose kids don’t have a mama.”

“Maybe not, but how many of ’em have a twin sister?”

Bullet didn’t think that was really the same thing, but it
made him smile anyway.

“So how much do you want it?”

“More than anything.”

“Anything?”

“Anything.”

“Well all right then.”

He and Lyric talked until Grey looked as though he was about
to fall asleep in the high chair.

“We better get back.”

“Yep, we should. You feelin’ better Bullet?”

He smiled at her. “You already know the answer, don’t ya?”

She hugged him and smiled. “Yeah, I do.”

***

Liv invited Tristan to join her out on the porch after dinner.

“He’s not so bad you know.”

“What’s that?”

“Bullet. He’s a good kid. He just needs guidance. A mentor
maybe.”

“Maybe. I don’t think it matters. I don’t see him making it as
a bull rider.”

“You don’t? That intrigues me. Why not?”

“His son for starters. I can’t imagine he’ll be getting on
many bulls this year. And if he did, he should be ashamed of himself. His first
priority should be that little boy.”

“Are the two mutually exclusive?”

“Come on Liv, you’re not new to rodeo. You had a pretty good
scare yourself barrel racing. And I’m not saying barrel racing isn’t dangerous.
I had a few bad spills when I was still competing. But it certainly isn’t as
dangerous as bull riding.”

Liv had an accident her first year as a serious competitor.
Talk was she was paralyzed, but she was able to come back from it, and compete
again.

“Not to mention his age. He’s not a kid anymore.”

“My goodness, Tristan, he’s twenty-four. I was forty when I
started competing.”

“Again, no offense Liv, but it’s different.”

“You don’t think he has a chance?”

“No, I don’t. And more importantly, I think it would be
irresponsible of him to even try.”

***

“You’re entitled to your opinion Miss Lost Cowboy, but I’m
here to tell you, you’re wrong.”

“Bullet—”

Before she could say another word, he carried Grey inside and
kicked the door closed behind him. He didn’t care what she said, or what she
thought. She didn’t know him, or what he was capable of. He’d show her, but
more importantly, he’d show himself.

He got Grey settled in a clean diaper and pajamas, set him in
the crib, and hooked the baby monitor to his back pocket. She thought he was
irresponsible? What the hell did she know?

***

“I didn’t see him there.”

Liv looked up at the stars. Tristan wasn’t sure she heard her.

“Liv?”

“Never doubt the human spirit Tristan. Even when situations
seem impossible, or people seem incapable.”

“That’s something my daddy would say.”

“I haven’t met your daddy yet, but my guess is he’s a smart
man.”

“The smartest.”

“I’m sure the apple didn’t fall too far from the tree. I bet
he’s compassionate too.”

Tristan’s cheeks heated with the dressing down Liv gave her,
but she didn’t argue. She was quicker to judge than she should be. She knew
that.

“Neither of you are wrong,” said Lyric, walking up the porch
steps. “He’s gonna have to work damn hard if he wants to catch his dreams. He
knows it, and he’s prepared to do it. No matter how the odds are stacked
against him.”

“I should’ve kept my mouth shut. I hardly know him. I had no
right—”

“You always have a right to express your opinion. In fact,
overhearing what you said is only gonna make him try harder.”

“I doubt my opinion matters to him.”

Even as dark as it was on the porch, Tristan caught the smile
that passed between Liv and Lyric.

“Someone’s lookin’ for her mama.” Ben came out on the porch
carrying Caden. Liv reached out for her, and the little girl snuggled in on her
lap.

“Hello my darling child. Do you want mama to read you a
bedtime story?”

Caden shook her head from side to side. “No reading. Tell a
story Mama.”

Tristan stood and went inside. Lyric followed her. “It might
make a good story,” Lyric said.

“Caden’s bedtime story?”

“No, my brother’s.”

“Oh. Well—”

“Maybe he’s the ‘lost cowboy,’ who finds his way back. Maybe
his story is exactly what your brand needs.”

“And what if he doesn’t find his way back?”

“Don’t let him know. Don’t let anyone know. Follow him yourself.
See how he does.”

Tristan shrugged her shoulders. “Maybe.”

“Worth considerin’ is all I’m sayin’.”

She found the idea as intriguing as she found the man. Lyric
might be on to something. The Lost Cowboy brand really was about
bringing
back
the ideals her dad and granddad believed in. But was Bullet up
for the challenge? Especially since he’d know nothing about it. If the story
was going to be authentic, he couldn’t know. No one could know. Not even Lyric.
Bullet needed to turn his life around for himself, not so Lost Cowboy would
sponsor him. That’s the only way it would work.

***

1963

The cowboys who worked as ranch hands were headed to Glenwood
Springs for a bull-bucking. Bill wanted to go along, but he wasn’t sure they’d
let him, and he couldn’t bring himself to ask.

When he finished his afternoon chores, he thought about taking
one of the horses out for a trail ride. Nobody minded if he did, but they
didn’t like him to go alone. He’d have to see if there was anyone staying
behind who’d go along.

He was walking past the dining hall when Sadie, the ranch
cook, called out to him. “Where you off to Billy boy?”

It drove him crazy that she called him Billy. He’d politely
asked her to call him Bill, but she didn’t pay any attention to him.

“I was thinkin’ on goin’ for a ride ma’am.”

She motioned him over. “You want some company out on the
trail?”

Did she want to go for a ride? Bill sure hoped not. He doubted
she could even mount up without a block. And what horse would she ride? The
woman had to weigh at least three hundred pounds.

“My nieces are visiting this week. I’m sure they’d like to go
with you.”

Oh jeez. Nieces? That meant there was more than one of them.
This was turning into work. “They know how to ride ma’am?”

“Sure do. In fact, they can both outride you.”

Bill doubted it, but if they thought they could outride him,
they could certainly saddle up their own horses.

“This is Misty,” Sadie told him. He recognized her from the
day before. She’d been sitting on the fence, trying to get the cowboys’
attention. She looked like trouble to him.

“And this here is Dorothea,” Sadie continued.

“Aunt Sadie, I told you nobody calls me Dorothea.” The little
girl turned and looked at Bill. “Hi,” she said, holding out her hand. “I’m
Dottie.” She had blonde, curly hair that looked almost white, big blue eyes,
and a smile that lit up her face.

He’d introduce himself to her if he could remember his name.
The prettiest girl he’d ever seen his life was waiting for him to answer, and
he couldn’t speak.