And Then You Dare (Crested Butte Cowboys Series Book 5) (8 page)

“Really good ones Daddy. I especially like this one.” The
image was a silhouette of a cowboy sitting on a fence, watching the sun set.
The caption her father wrote was, “Most people don’t listen with the intent to
understand. They listen with the intent to reply.”

It was one of life’s lessons she learned from her daddy. “A
conversation is like a game of catch,” he’d say. “If you’re not payin’
attention, you’re gonna get hit with the ball.”

***

Bullet sat in the rocking chair, Grey was sound asleep on his
lap and he didn’t have the heart to move him. Dottie and Bill were in the
kitchen, cleaning up from dinner. Billy and Renie had gone back to their place,
which was just up the road.

“What do you think?” he heard Dottie ask Bill.

“About what?”

Dottie must’ve swatted Bill with something, and the two of
them laughed.

“He reminds me of someone.”

“He reminds me of someone too. And so do you.”

“Me? I thought we were talkin’ about Bullet.”

“Clancy. The way you talk to him Bill. It reminds me of the
way Clancy used to talk to you.”

“That’s a right fine compliment sweetheart.”

Bullet could hear the emotion in Bill’s voice, even from the
other room. Who was Clancy, and what did he have to do with Bill and him?

***

1965

The weather was better for their drive back to the ranch. Not
that Bill was thinking much about weather. Clancy had been right. His mama told
him that she and Mr. Snyder were getting married. She didn’t say a word about
him coming to live with them, and he didn’t ask.

“She gave me hell about your schoolin’,” grimaced Clancy when
they stopped for lunch.

She’d asked Bill if he was keeping up with his school work,
and he muttered that he was. Nothing could be further from the truth. There
wasn’t a school close to Double-P-Bar Ranch, and even if there was, as an
employee of the ranch, he wouldn’t have time to go to school during the day.

He and Clancy talked about it. There were other workers at the
ranch with children who were home schooled. Clancy was willing to let Bill give
it a try by teaming up with one of the other families, but Bill hadn’t done
anything to make it happen. He was thirteen. Lots of kids whose families made
their living on a ranch quit school before then.

“Your mama made me promise to get you back to learnin’.”

“I already missed two years. Nothin’ but a waste of time.”

Clancy squinted his eyes and raised his index finger. “I
promised her I’d do it, and we’re gonna. Even if it means I gotta school ya
myself.”

“Oh yeah? You got somethin’ past a sixth grade education?”

The index finger came back up, and Clancy reached across the
table to poke him in the chest. “One thing you’re gonna learn is respect for
your elders boy.”

Bill hated that he’d just disrespected Clancy. The man had
been good to him. “I’m sorry sir. I know better than to talk to you like that.
And I sure know you’re a smart man.”

“You’re damn straight I am. And if you wanna know the truth, I
got a college degree to prove it. I’m ashamed of myself in lettin’ your
education slide, but not anymore. We’re gettin’ you back on track young Flynn.”

Clancy hadn’t been kidding. Before they went back to the
ranch, they stopped in Glenwood Springs, where Clancy ordered a bunch of books
and other supplies from the bookstore.

“This is where the others get their materials. You’ll test at
the school here too.” They stopped by the office and registered Bill for
independent study. With as many ranches as there were in this part of Colorado,
home schooling was common.

Each day Bill was expected to get up at dawn, and do his
chores, which had been greatly reduced. When he finished, he was expected to
work on his lessons. Clancy would come back to the house he’d built and they
now both shared, have lunch, and review Bill’s work. If there was anything Bill
didn’t understand, he had an hour of Clancy’s time to go over it. There was
more school work to do in the early afternoon, and then Bill was expected to do
his afternoon chores.

Around six in the evening, he’d meet Clancy and the rest of
the cowboys at the dining hall for dinner. After dinner Bill had free time.
He’d stopped writing a letter every night to his mama. Instead he used the time
for reading, or getting ahead on his lessons. It wasn’t long before he’d made up
the two years he’d missed, and was close to a full year ahead of his age level.

It had been embarrassing every time they’d asked him at the
school what level testing he was there for. Now when they asked, he’d be able
to hold his head high.

His grades were good too. He and Clancy had even started
talking about colleges, although Bill didn’t see how it would be possible for
him to go. It wasn’t just a question of how he’d be able to be away from the
ranch, there was also the cost of it.

“You could get on a rodeo team,” one of the cowboys told him
at dinner.

“What are you talkin’ about?”

“You aren’t good enough now, but if you’re willin’ to put the
time in, Western State has a good team.”

“For what?”

“Junior Rodeo,” he answered, as though Bill was a complete
dumbass.

Bill had been getting on some of the smaller bulls and broncs
for a few months. At first it had been on a dare, but he took to it like a fish
to water. He didn’t have the money to enter any rodeos, but he still practiced
whenever they had time on the ranch.

To him there wasn’t anything like the thrill he felt when he
heard the bell ring indicating he’d stayed on a bull the full eight seconds.

He was getting pretty good at bareback bronc riding, and had
started practicing tie-down roping too. He wasn’t half bad at it. Usually to
compete in the all-around competitions, a cowboy would focus on roping, either
tie-down or team roping, and steer wrestling, but the requirement was to
compete in at least two events. Bareback bronc riding and bull riding worked,
and if he added the tie-down roping, he’d be well-qualified. Was it really
something he could do in college? It didn’t seem possible.

“That’s right,” Sadie the cook said overhearing their
conversation. “My niece goes to Western State, you remember Misty, don’t ya?”

Bill nodded that he did, although it wasn’t Misty he thought
about from time to time, it was her sister, Dottie. And he thought about her
more than from time to time.

Dottie and Misty came back to the ranch one more year. After
that he’d heard Sadie say that the girls had gotten involved in so many
activities at home, they didn’t have time to visit. Instead, she’d visit them
in Gunnison, where her sister lived. Whenever she came back, she’d tell Bill
that Dottie had asked after him.

“You should write her a letter,” Sadie told him. He would, but
he wouldn’t know the first thing to say to her if he did.

“I think she’s considerin’ Western State too.”

She was? That changed everything.

“What’s so interestin’ to you about college all of a sudden?”
Clancy asked.

“Just wanna better myself is all.”

The phone rang and Clancy stood to answer it. There was
only one phone in the ranch house, and it was in the kitchen. Bill was in
earshot, and he didn’t like the tone in Clancy’s voice.

“I can’t wait either, it seems as though it’s been months
since I’ve been to Crested Butte. Does that sound crazy? It’s only been three
weeks.”

“I know. I’ve been pestering Ben incessantly about getting you
back out here.”

Tristan had spoken to Liv a couple times a week since she left
Colorado. The last few days, it had been every day. The two talked a lot about
barrel racing, so much so that Tristan was beginning to miss it.

For the longest time barrel racing reminded her of things, and
people, she’d as soon forget. She talked about the sport with Liv, not the
lifestyle. They also talked about many promising young competitors.

Tristan had been working on new clothing designs that would
serve as Lost Cowboy’s first true women’s collection. She hadn’t shown her
sketches to her father yet, she wanted to get feedback from other women in the
industry first. She hadn’t told Liv about them either. She wanted her friend’s
initial reaction to be authentic, not based on anything Tristan told her
beforehand.

“How’s the Black Forest operation going? Have you heard?”

“From what I understand it’s going quite well. Renie told me
Billy’s nose was out of joint at how well his dad and Bullet are getting on
already.”

“Really? How interesting.”

“I told her to tell him to be careful what he wished for,” Liv
paused. “I use that expression a lot. But it’s so true. What we ask of the
universe sometimes comes back to us more quickly than we anticipate.”

Sound thinking, and very true words. Tristan began jotting
down things Liv said while she was in Crested Butte the last time. Things Ben
said too. In fact, she took notes on many expressions she’d heard from the Rice
and Patterson families. She planned to work them into Lost Cowboy’s upcoming
social media posts.

“They’ll all be here next week.”

“Who all?”

“Billy and Renie, Bullet, even Bill and Dottie are coming. I
can’t wait to see them…”

Liv was talking about Bill and Dottie, something about how
much she missed them. But all Tristan could think about was Bullet. He’d be in
Crested Butte next week. She was hoping he would be, but wouldn’t dare have
asked.

***

“You’re done for today,” Bill told Bullet.

“What do you mean? Why?”

“Your head isn’t in it. You’re not paying attention to me or
the two-thousand pound animal you’re tryin’ to ride. You’ll get yourself killed
that way.”

Bullet couldn’t argue. They were leaving tomorrow for Crested
Butte, and that’s where his head was instead of on the practice bull.

“I’m sorry Bill.”

“Don’t apologize to me. You wanna quit training, just say the
word. All I’m doin’ is sittin’ on the fence watchin’. You’re the one who’s got
the work to do.”

Bill might be sitting on the fence, but the bull hands
weren’t. And if he wasn’t taking it seriously, he was wasting their time too.

“Ride the buck, not the bull,” Bill had been shouting at him.
“Think less, feel more. Quit tryin’ to wrangle him. Ride the pattern.”

Bullet knew all this. He heard Bill’s voice in his head when
he was in the chute mounting on. It was the time in between that got him today.
Once he eased his toes down the bull’s side, careful not to touch him with his
spurs, he stopped hearing Bill’s voice, and heard Tristan’s instead.

“It’s irresponsible for him to even try riding bulls. He has a
child to raise.” Those weren’t the exact words he’d overheard her say, but they
were close enough.

Once the chute opened he didn’t have time to think about much
other than staying alive, if only to prove her wrong. And Bill was right, that
would get him killed.

They were going to Flying R Rough Stock headquarters for a
sponsored rider meeting. The cowboys and cowgirls who were already on the team
would be there, along with new recruits being considered for sponsorship.

Bullet was on the Flying R team, both as an employee, and as a
rider. It was the Lost Cowboy team he was vying for. It didn’t matter that
Flying R was the bigger fish. If he was wearing the LC brand, it would mean
he’d won Tristan over.

“We’re leavin’ at the crack of dawn tomorrow morning. Get some
rest tonight.” Bill climbed down the fence and walked in the direction of the
barn. “Oh, and Dottie wanted me to tell you she left dinner on the back stoop.”

“Thank her for me,” Bullet shouted back.

Bill waved and went into the barn.

Bullet looked at his phone. He had another hour before he had
to pick Grey up from the babysitter. He could stick around and pull gates for
the other guys.

Miss Dottie made dinner for him and Grey almost every night.
He’d thank her, and then tell her she didn’t have to, only to have her shush
him every time.

“No sense letting good food go to waste,” she’d say. Bullet
didn’t dare suggest she not make as much.

***

Liv insisted she’d pick Tristan up at the airfield in
Gunnison. She didn’t have Caden with her this time, so she suggested they take
the opportunity to have a quieter “girls’ lunch”.

Tristan brought her portfolio in with her. “Would you mind
giving me your opinion on some new designs?”

Liv clapped her hands. “I’d love to. Oh, I’m so excited.”

“It isn’t anything that special, just a few sketches for a new
line.”

“Tristan, I spend most of my time listening to conversations
about bull semen, and other equally disgusting rough stock minutiae. My girl
talk is limited to making conversation with Caden and her dolls. Please, show
me your work. I’m begging you.”

“Remember these are preliminary.” Tristan set her sketchbook
on the table in front of Liv, and then watched her slowly turn the pages.

“Well?”

Liv flipped back to the beginning. “I absolutely love the
riding jackets. I don’t know if I can decide which one I like best. You’ll have
to make them all, and in my size.”

“Really? You like them?”

“No. I love them. They’re beautiful. So colorful. What’s
this?” Liv pointed to the detail on one of the jackets.

“Turquoise inlay.”

“Yes! That would work perfectly.” Liv flipped the page and
asked more questions. “They’re magnificent. What are these?”

Tristan had sketched out complementary riding pants as well as
undergarments designed specifically for riding.

“I didn’t realize Lost Cowboy was offering a new line.”

“I haven’t broached the subject with my father yet. I’m not
sure—”

“Before you say another word, listen to me. You have to
produce this line. There’s nothing else like it. Even if I never rode again in
my life, I’d buy all of it. Every piece.”

Tristan couldn’t contain her grin. Liv’s enthusiasm was
authentic enough that she couldn’t question her reaction.

“I wish I had one of your new jackets to wear to tonight’s
dinner. It’s gonna be a serious shindig.”

“I haven’t heard anything about it.”

“I’m not surprised. The boys aren’t big on advance notice. I
can tell you this much, Flying R rented out Tracker’s Bar at Mountaineer
Square. And Ben’s band is playing after dinner. I hope you brought your dancing
boots.”

“Are you sure I’m invited?”

“Of course you are. Everyone is. All the partners, and you’re
a partner, plus all the riders. I warned Ben that putting that many cowboys and
cowgirls together when his band is playing is risky.” Liv winked at Tristan.

She’d been listening to CB Rice music since she left Crested
Butte. Ben’s music was definitely sexy, especially the records the band had
released since Ben married Liv.

“You have heard that Flying
R is sponsoring Bullet, right?”

“Is that your way of
warning me he’ll be there tonight?”

“Yes. Are you okay with
that?”

“Why wouldn’t I be? I mean,
Bullet and I will likely cross paths often. I guess I didn’t tell you we made
up before I left.”

“You didn’t. What
happened?”

Tristan told Liv that she
and Bullet talked before she left, and he had accepted her apology. “I’m sure
he’ll be busy getting to know the barrel racers we invited to the meet and
greet.”

“Maybe. Then again, he did
specifically ask if you were coming into town this week.”

“He’s just interested in
Lost Cowboy’s sponsorship.”

Liv patted her hand. “You
keep tellin’ yourself that Tristan.”

***

“How’s this one look?”

“God Bullet, would you stop changin’ your shirt? The last five
you tried on looked fine.”

“I’m goin’ for better than fine Lyric.”

“Why’s that? Somebody gonna be at the dinner tonight you’re
aimin’ to impress?”

“Heard there’s a new batch of barrel racers gonna be there.”
He was lying. He didn’t care about anyone invited other than Tristan.

When he brought Grey over to play with Caden this morning, he
asked Liv if Tristan was arriving in time to attend the dinner. She’d told him
she was leaving in an hour to pick her up from the airport. If he hadn’t had so
much work to do he would’ve offered to go in her place.

“Tristan McCullough’s the reason you’re in such a state, and
we both know it.”

“Just tell me which shirt looks the best. This one or the
green one?”

“The blue one. It makes your eyes look bluer.” Lyric rolled
her eyes at him. “You’re not wearin’ those boots are you?”

“Yeah, what’s wrong with ’em?”

“They could use a good polish for starters.”

“Shit. I don’t have time to polish my boots now. Why didn’t
you say somethin’ earlier?”

“For goodness sake. Take ’em off. I’ll do it.”

“No, I’ll do it,” he grumbled. Damn, this woman had him
rattled. He didn’t remember the last time he was this nervous. Maybe before the
first time he got laid.

He saw her as soon as he walked into the bar. Tristan was
across the room, talking to a cowboy he recognized. Stormy was his name, and
he’d been bragging earlier about nailing a Lost Cowboy sponsorship.

She was looking mighty fine tonight with her Cowgirl Tuff
jeans tucked into her deep red boots, her red and silver fringed shirt hugging
her womanly curves. The other cowboys had to have noticed too.

Something Stormy said made Tristan laugh, which burned a hole
in Bullet’s gut. When he reached out and touched her hair, Tristan bristled, he
was sure of it. It took Bullet all of five seconds to cross the room.

“Hey asshole, I don’t think the lady wants you mawlin’ her.”

“Bullet!” Tristan gasped, and then looked at Stormy. “I’m
sorry.”

“Don’t apologize for me,” Bullet leaned in closer to her.
“Don’t mind you talkin’ with other fellas while you’re waitin’ on me, but I
draw the line at them touchin’ you.”

“Waiting on you? Are you joking?” Tristan spun away from
Bullet’s grasp on her arm, but Stormy had already walked away.

“Hey darlin’, it sure is nice to see you.”

“Give me a break Bullet. I told you once before I’m not your
darlin’. Now if you’ll excuse me, I have a conversation to finish with one of
our new riders.”

***

She shouldn’t have rubbed his nose in it like that, but he
made her mad with his caveman antics.

“Can I buy you a drink cowboy?” she approached Stormy, who was
standing at the bar.

“Open bar, ma’am, but I’ll take a rain check if you’re
willin’.”

“It would be my pleasure. I’m so sorry about Bullet. I don’t
know—”

“It’s okay Tristan. Bullet’s got a reputation for settin’ his
sights on a pretty lady and not givin’ up until she’s his, if you know what I
mean.”

“Yeah, I know what you mean, and I assure you, I’ll
never
be his.”

“Glad to hear it. Uh, does Lost Cowboy have a rule against the
boss lady dancin’ with a rider?”

“Of course not, and if we did, my daddy is a long way from
here, and would never know.”

She danced with Stormy for two songs, and then excused
herself. Had she really just told a cowboy that she’d bend the rules for him
because her daddy would never know? What had gotten into her? It was Bullet
dammit. She looked around the room and didn’t see him. Maybe he left after
embarrassing himself. She looked around a second time, but still didn’t see
him.

When Tristan turned back to the bar, Bullet was standing next
to her. “Who ya lookin’ for darlin’?”

“No one,” she scowled. “Just seeing who else is here.”

He held out his hand. “Dance with me?”

“I don’t think that’s a good idea.”

“Come on now, one dance won’t hurt any.”

Bullet was using the same tone of voice he had the last time
she saw him. The same one he used with the filly. Why was it sending chills up
her spine?

“You think you’re pretty smooth, don’t you?”

“Nah, I’m not like that Tristan. You should know better.” He
leaned in, close enough that she could hear him breathing. “Dance with me,” he
whispered.

“Um, maybe one song.” What was she doing? Getting closer to
him was not a good idea. Why wasn’t she walking in the opposite direction?
Instead, she let him lead her to the dance floor.

“That’s my girl,” he whispered as he drew her close. Much too
close.

***

1965

“Calm down now, and start over. What happened?”

Bill joined Clancy in the kitchen. When he did, Clancy shook
his head. “Sure I’ll get there as soon as I can.”

When he hung up the phone, he rested his hand on Bill’s
shoulder. “Son,” he began, “there’s some trouble with your mama.”

More bad news. Bill was beginning to think his family was
cursed. Clancy made two more phone calls after the first. Bill went up to his
bedroom because Clancy asked for privacy.

“I’m goin’ alone this time,” he said after he asked Bill to
come back downstairs.