Rodeo Queen (26 page)

“We need to get the broodmares bred or we’re going to miss our window,” Scott said.

“You want me to do it? I could get Clay to help out,” Derek offered.

“No. Sydney will want to be there.” Scott saw the doctor approaching from across the hall. “I have to go, the doctor is here. I’m hoping that we can head home by tomorrow.”

S
COTT HAD BEEN
avoiding his own work all week to keep an eye on Sydney. Kurt had completely disappeared off the grid. The sheriff had been watching for him, even checking with a few of the towns nearby, but he’d warned Scott that he didn’t hold out much hope of finding him. Scott knew that the best bet was to find him on the circuit, but the sheriff wasn’t interested in sending his limited manpower on a wild goose chase and Scott wasn’t about to leave Sydney’s side to go looking. If he ever saw Kurt again, he would cold-bloodedly kill the man with his bare hands.

It had been hard enough to persuade her to slow down and take it easy for a while. She’d been trying to convince him that she could still work the animals with cracked ribs and had pointed out that bull riders did it all the time. Scott had only been able to sway her by allowing her to be present while Scott and Derek bred the stallion to the mares. She’d stood valiantly by, ever watchful of the stallion, insisting the barn door was locked with him inside each night. If he hadn’t watched her come into the house each night, he’d have wondered if she weren’t sleeping in the tack room. He didn’t understand the fear for the stallion and she refused to discuss it.

Scott stared out of barn office at Sydney, lost in her own thoughts, as she leaned over the corral fence. She watched as Valentino pranced around the corral, showing off. He’d been a bit on edge since the attack, pinning his ears back more often than was typical for him, and he hated being locked in the barn for extended periods. But he seemed otherwise unharmed, and Scott thought he’d be back to normal before Sydney was. The bruises had faded to a dull yellow-brown over the past week, but her fear hadn’t seemed to fade. Scott knew she had every reason to be afraid. He’d let her down and hated himself for it. He wasn’t sure how to make it up to her, or to not let it happen again.

“It’s over, Liz.” Scott heard his brother’s voice from behind the barn and had to strain to hear her reply.

“Don’t you
dare
back out on me now.” There was a warning note to her voice, but Scott could barely hear her from his office. He slipped out the doorway and made his way toward the back of the barn where it sounded like they were conversing. They’d obviously assumed that the barn was empty. Scott stood with only a thin wall separating him from their conversation.

“. . . and given you everything I promised.” Damn, he’d missed the rest of Liz’s comment.

“You said that Kurt was going to make Scott jealous, not kill Sydney.”

“Shut up!” Scott heard the dull thud of flesh being pounded and assumed that Liz had hit Derek, which was less than he wanted to do to either of them right now. “Someone is going to hear you.” Scott could hear the impatience in her voice. “Yeah, Kurt got out of hand, but I had no idea that’s what he had planned. I don’t even know where he is now. He caused this mess and took off.”

“Poor Liz.” Derek’s sarcasm was unmistakable. “That was not a little out of hand. He broke her ribs and she was unconscious for the better part of two days.” The wall shook near Scott’s face with the force of Derek’s anger. “This stops now.”

“No, I’m too close.”

“Now, Liz, or I tell Scott everything.”

There was nothing but the sound of ragged breathing for a moment. Scott could tell that they had reached a standoff. Liz was the first to cave. “Fine, it stops.” He heard footsteps walking away, Derek’s from the sound of them.

“It stops when I say it stops, you coward.” The voice was deceptively soft and lilting, almost sweet, and Scott knew he had to get Sydney as far from Liz as possible.

S
COTT WALKED UP
behind Sydney and circled her waist with his arms, placing a kiss behind her ear. Sydney jumped.

“You okay?” She shrugged her shoulders. “I’ve been thinking.” Scott turned her in his arms so that she faced him. “I want to take you away for a little while.”

“But the horses,” she argued.

“Not that far. What if we just stay at my house? You could keep Valentino there, we can put the mares in the barn, or take the horses you need to break.”

“Scott,” she began.

“I want you safe and I’m not sure you are here.” He thought about the discussion he’d just overheard and the threat that had been unmistakable in Liz’s voice.

“I’ve already caused enough trouble for you and Mike.” She rested her hands on his arms, and he was alarmed at how cold they felt. It was almost as if the attack had taken the fire out of her. “I mean, you haven’t even been able to get your own job done. And I know you sent Clay and Jen to the rodeo last weekend instead of going yourself.” She shrugged and looked back at the stallion in the corral. “Maybe I should leave the ranch completely.”

“No.” Scott wasn’t about to leave any room for argument. “Do you really think I’d let you out of my sight after what happened?” He tipped her chin up so that she met his gaze. “I want you where I have more control over our surroundings, at least for now.”

Scott could read the relief in her eyes, and he pressed his lips to her temple. “Don’t you realize what your leaving would do to me?” he whispered into her hair.

T
HE KNOCK AT
her bedroom door halted Sydney’s packing. Before she could even open the door, Derek barged in uninvited.

“Just what the hell is going on?” he yelled.

Sydney had never seen him like this and wasn’t sure how to respond. When she didn’t answer, Derek reached for her shirts, stacked neatly on the bed, and tossed them into her suitcase.

“Where do you think you’re going?”

“Scott wants me to stay somewhere else for a little while. At least until he feels like it’s safe to return.” She wasn’t sure why she felt obligated to give him an answer.

“Why didn’t you just ask me? I’d stay with you during the day. You’d be just as safe with me.”

A smile played at the corner of Sydney’s lips. “I know, Derek.” She knew it wasn’t true but didn’t want to hurt his sensitive ego. “But this will keep everyone safer. If I’m not here, there’s no reason for Kurt to return. And if he does, he’ll leave if he doesn’t find me.”

“And this isn’t just because of Scott?”

“What?” How had he even heard that she was leaving with Scott?

“I’m sure Scott’s staying with you.” Derek didn’t even try to hide the bitterness from his tone. Maybe Scott was right about Derek’s jealousy. She shook her head, refusing to answer him, and turned back to her clothes, stuffing them into the bag.

Derek grasped her by the shoulders and turned her to face him. “Sydney, can’t you see that he’s trouble? He’s caused you nothing but heartache. I’ve seen him do it to other women hundreds of times. Just look at Liz.”

She jerked away from him and held a hand up to ward off any further conversation. “I don’t want to talk about this now.” She tried to shut out Derek’s voice, but seeing he’d hit a tender wound, he pressed on. “She wasn’t always like this. This is what happens when Scott gets tired of you. I would never treat you the way he has—or the way I know he will.”

Sydney pressed her hands against her forehead. “Please, Derek, just leave.”

“Sydney.” He reached for her arm.

“Go!” The slamming door echoed with the foreboding of finality.

“S
O MAYBE THAT
was a little mistake.” His voice held a rasp. He tipped the shot glass back and downed the liquid.

“That wasn’t a
mistake
, Kurt. That was an out-and-out failure. You just drove them closer, and you may have ruined any chance I have at getting this ranch away from Scott.”

Kurt chuckled at her rage. “So where are they now?”

“I have no clue.” She pushed at his shoulders. “Thanks to your stunt, he took off with her and a bunch of the horses last night.” She reached for the icy mug in front of her and took a sip, wrinkling her nose at the beer foam. “They don’t have a rodeo, but if anyone knows where to find them, they aren’t talking to me.”

Kurt twirled a toothpick between his fingers, slipping it into his mouth. “Are they gonna be working tomorrow?”

Liz rolled her eyes. “How would I know what they have planned?”

Kurt rolled the piece of wood to the other side of his mouth. “Then I’ll watch tomorrow and follow them back to where they are staying.”

Liz pursed her lips and arched her brow at him. It might work; it was better than anything she could come up with right now. Kurt leaned forward and pressed a quick kiss to her mouth, making her jump backward.

“Trust me.”

Liz turned and stared at the people making their way to the dance floor of the loud country bar. She tossed back the rest of the beer and stood to leave, leaning to whisper into Kurt’s ear. “Not in a million years.”

S
YDNEY WOKE THE
next morning curled against Scott’s chest, her fist tucked under her chin. His arms held her in a tight embrace, as if he’d been afraid to let her go, even in sleep. She placed a light kiss against his stubbled jaw, savoring the salty roughness. Scott mumbled unintelligibly and rolled onto his back, pulling her with him.

“Scott,” she whispered, running her fingers up his hardened thigh, feeling his arousal against her hip. She felt his muscles bunch and tense under her fingers.

She kissed her way down his chest, smiling as his abs contracted as she ran her fingertips across them. In a flash of movement Scott rolled over, pinning her beneath him on the bed. His eyes opened, dark with desire, sparkling with mirth.

“I certainly hope you plan on waking me like this every morning.”

Sydney pushed against his shoulders. “You were awake the entire time, weren’t you?”

Scott shrugged his broad shoulders, a sly grin gracing his lips. “Guilty as charged, I’m afraid.” She tilted her head and tried to appear disappointed in him. “Well, can you blame me?” he laughed. Scott rolled onto the bed beside her. “You seemed to be enjoying yourself, so who was I to interrupt?”

She fought to hide the smile trying to break through. “And you weren’t, I suppose?”

Scott’s eyes grew darker than she thought was possible, becoming inky. “What do you think?” He pressed himself against her leg, silently encouraging her to continue her explorations.

Sydney smiled, reveling in her feminine power. “I think . . .” she began. A wave of nausea flooded her and she pushed herself away from him, running to the bathroom. Slamming the door, she raced to the toilet in time to be sick, holding a hand to her still painful ribs. She laid her forehead on the cool porcelain, wondering whether she had caught a bug or this was her infection returning.

“Sydney,” Scott called from behind the door. “Are you okay?”

The nausea passed as quickly as it had hit and Sydney emerged from the bathroom, pale and trembling slightly. She didn’t want him to worry that she was getting sick. “Yeah, probably just that flu going around.”

Scott didn’t look convinced. “You want me to call Clay and tell him you’re not breeding Valentino today and won’t need his help?”

“No, I’m fine. Really,” she assured him. “Those mares aren’t going to wait forever.”

F
OR THE NEXT
two weeks, Sydney spent her days breaking a few of Mike’s newest colts, breeding the mares, and working with Scott on a new opening for an upcoming rodeo. Scott had informed her that it was one of the biggest rodeos they would do during the year and that they always expected something new and spectacular. With what he and Mike were planning, she wasn’t sure that they could pull it together in time. The rodeo was only two months away and they were going to need some elaborate props.

She poured herself a glass of iced tea and sank into one of the Adirondack chairs behind Scott’s house that overlooked the corral. Valentino circled the arena, sprinting from one side to the other. She could sympathize with his need to run. She was tired of being under Scott’s ever-watchful eye. Kurt still hadn’t turned up, but instead of relaxing him it had only seemed to make Scott even more tense. He’d been neglecting the cattle, pushing the work off to the other ranch hands in order to keep an eye on her. It had taken Mike to convince him to go with him to check on one of the bulls who had seemed sick.

Sydney made her way to the corral. Valentino pranced to the fence, eager for her attention. His fuzzy lips tugged at the sleeves of her shirt. He’d almost returned to his usual spirited self after the attack, and she was excited to think of the mares that would be heavy in foal to him over the coming months.

“Have you missed me, boy?” The young stallion flipped his upper lip back as if smiling at her in response. Sydney rubbed the flat spot between his eyes, her hand slipping under his long forelock. They both felt cooped up and needed to run. Scott had made her promise to stay at the house, but he wouldn’t be back for a few hours—enough time for her to take a quick ride and be back before he returned. She left the fence and stepped into the barn, intent of checking on her favorite mare first. Cougar nickered as she peeked into the stall.

“Hey there, little lady. Are you ready to be a mama?”

The sorrel mare snorted and shook her coppery mane. She had come along nicely once Sydney had been able to get her to accept a rider willingly. She had perfect conformation and she and Valentino were going to have a beautiful foal next spring. Cougar took a step toward the door in anticipation of the treat Sydney always had for her. Pulling the latch on the door, Sydney stepped inside, greeted by Cougar thumping her stomach with her nose.

“All right, here you go . . .” A wave of nausea overwhelmed Sydney and she pressed the back of her hand to her mouth, fighting the urge to retch as her stomach clenched and roiled. She took a deep breath, inhaling the scent of sweet alfalfa and molasses, and was amazed that the queasiness passed as quickly as it had hit.

This is the strangest stomach flu ever.