Rodeo Queen (29 page)

“Ow!” Sydney yelped as the mare twisted her head back and nipped at Sydney’s leg. “What is your problem?”

The mare flipped her upper lip back and shook her head, tossing her mane and tangling what Sydney had just brushed. She sighed, the sweet scent of the alfalfa suddenly making her feel nauseous. She finished brushing the mare and put her back into a stall before dropping to sit behind her desk in the barn office. She was so tired, she realized. Not just mentally but physically as well.

“Taking a break?” Sydney jumped and saw Jen leaning against the doorjamb.

“Yeah, I just finished the mares and was going to take the geldings out for some exercise.”

“You look tired.”

“I was just thinking that.” Sydney gave her a sad smile. She wanted to feel optimistic but just couldn’t bring herself to force it.

“Have you eaten today?” Jen looked concerned, and Sydney hated that she was causing anyone else to worry needlessly.

“A little this morning, but I was feeling sick to my stomach again.” She waved Jen off. “I’ll have lunch in a little bit.”

Jen entered the office and pulled two cold bottles of water from the refrigerator, passing one to Sydney. “Do you still think this is the flu?” She didn’t sound like she was seeking an answer, but she was ready to offer one.

“Maybe. Maybe it’s just because of Valentino.”

“I think it’s time that you face the fact that this could be something else.” She sat in the chair facing Sydney. “I don’t think this is just a viral infection.”

“W
E NEED TO
talk,” Mike called from the front porch as Scott headed toward the barn. He turned and jogged to where Mike waited. “We have an issue.”

What now?
This week had seemed plagued with problems. Everything had gone wrong, from trucks breaking down to one of the new hands getting kicked by a steer. Scott wondered if bad luck was the only kind he had.

“Another one?”

“Cheyenne is less than two weeks away. Are the travel arrangements set?”

“Crap,” Scott muttered. How could he have possibly forgotten that their biggest rodeo was next week? It took them three days to get the stock across state lines and well rested. And what was he going to do about Sydney? Should he take her with him or leave her behind at the ranch? They hadn’t found out anything about Kurt, and he wondered how the man could simply disappear from the face of the earth.

“I need you and Clay there.”

Scott realized that Mike was worried about Sydney. “I’ll take Sydney too.”

Mike shook his head. “I don’t think that’s a good idea. She’s still sick.”

Scott frowned. He knew he had tried to keep his distance from her since they returned to the ranch, but he hadn’t noticed that she’d been ill. Had he been so focused on finding out any bit of information about Kurt’s whereabouts that he was ignoring her? Scott opened his mouth to protest, but Mike cut him off.

“Scott, she’ll be fine here. Take as many of the guys as you’ll need. You’ll be there for a week, so don’t skimp. The rest of us will take care of Sydney.”

“She won’t like the idea of being left behind.”

“She won’t argue with me.” Mike chuckled. “I’m still the boss, right?”

“Good, then you break the news.” Scott rolled his eyes. He tried to block out the nightmarish images of the stallion, castrated and lifeless. How could he possibly be in two places at once?

Mike placed a hand on his shoulder. “Scott, Kurt would expect Sydney to go with you anyway. She’ll be safer here than there.”

L
IZ PACED THE
length of her room. She had to figure out a way to end up in Cheyenne with Scott. Ever since she overheard her father and Scott talking, she knew this was going to be her chance. With Sydney out of the picture for a few weeks, she was sure that she could get Scott to rekindle what they once had, even if it was only to obtain his shares of the ranch. She cornered her father in his office after lunch, while everyone else cleaned the gear they would need before loading it into the stock trailers.

“Daddy, I want to go to Cheyenne.” She forced sappy sweetness into her voice. It might be a bit too much, but she would play on her father’s distraction.

“What?” He arched a fuzzy brow. “Since when do you want to work the rodeos?”

Liz sighed and made her way around the massive oak desk and hugged her father. “Since the doctor told you to take it easy, you stubborn man.” She smiled up at him. “Besides, I heard you and Scott talking. With Sydney staying home, he’s going to need some female assistance with the horses.”

She didn’t like the way her father frowned down at her. Maybe he knew more than she gave him credit for. “Nothing more than that, Daddy. And you know that I can handle those animals as well as anyone on this ranch. I know exactly what needs to be done.”
With the rodeo and with Scott.

Her father stared down at her for a moment and pursed his lips. It wasn’t like him to refuse her anything, and she wondered if this was going to be the first time. He sighed and shrugged. “Scott needs the help and the opening will need a woman. Go tell Derek to set up the extra trailer for you. I’ll let Scott know.”

Liz squealed and threw her arms around her father, hurrying out before he could change his mind. “Thank you, Daddy.” She wasn’t going to rely on Derek or Kurt to do anything this time. They had both managed to complicate everything. This time, she was going to do this the old-fashioned way: outright manipulation.

S
YDNEY AND
J
EN
waved as the trailers pulled out. Scott was leaving for almost two weeks and Liz was going with him, taking her place. They had barely spoken in the days leading up to the crew’s exodus. At first she’d been furious that Scott and Mike had made arrangements for Liz to take her place, but when Scott continued to ignore her, barely speaking to her at all unless absolutely necessary, she resigned herself to the fact that it would be easier to work with the horses on the ranch instead of working directly with Scott right now.

She wasn’t sure what had changed between them after Valentino had been killed. He’d apologized several times and she’d assured him that she didn’t blame him, but she wondered if he didn’t blame himself. He’d been withdrawn, avoiding her at all costs. She’d known all along that he would have to come to a crossroads in deciding what sort of relationship they would have. It seemed as if he had decided, and it was breaking her heart.

“Sydney, Scott cares about you.” Jen wrapped an arm around Sydney’s shoulders and she wondered if her feelings were that transparent or if her friend was just that perceptive. “Things are just a little crazy right now. He needs some time to process everything and sort it out.”

Sydney shrugged. She knew that there was nothing she could do about the situation even if she wanted to. Scott would be spending the next two weeks working closely with his ex-fiancée, the woman who had crushed his illusion of love and seemed to be intent on destroying his chances for happiness with anyone else.

“While he’s gone, I think you need to go see a doctor.”

Sydney waved Jen off. “I told you, it’s just from stress.”

“Then a quick trip into town to visit the drug store will be no biggie, right?”

“Other than a waste of time,” Sydney answered.

“We can make a girls’ day of it then and do some shopping. Not that our little town has anything other than a few feed stores.” Jen laughed. “But we can have a nice lunch.”

It certainly couldn’t hurt
, Sydney realized. She was late this month, most likely from stress, but there was definitely the possibility that she
could
be pregnant. Scott had never taken any precautions to avoid a pregnancy and she had been too consumed by their passion to even consider protection. The more she thought about a baby, the more she realized it was a probability.

Jen must have seen the change in her demeanor, because she pulled Sydney into an excited hug. “I knew it!”

“We don’t know anything yet,” she cautioned Jen. She would take the test to confirm what her body and her heart were already assuring her. Her heart thumped heavily in her stomach at the thought of a life growing inside of her.

Jen flipped open her cell phone and dialed a number. “I’d like to set up an appointment this afternoon with Dr. Webster, please.”

“You have the doctor on speed dial?” Sydney whispered.

Jen covered the mouthpiece of her phone. “It’s a small town, Sydney. Yes, I’m here.” She turned back to her conversation. “Okay, two o’clock would be perfect. We’ll see you then.” Jen pressed a button, disconnecting the call.

“Guess I’ll go grab my purse and freshen up a little bit.”

L
UNCH HAD BEEN
forgotten as the two women stared at the stick in Sydney’s hand.

“I’m going to be an aunt,” Jen whispered, barely containing the excitement in her voice. She surrounded her friend with a bear hug. “I’m so happy for the both of you.”

“I’m going to be a mom?” Sydney wished now that she had taken the test privately, or at least waited to return to the ranch. But at Jen’s prodding she had taken the test just before her doctor’s appointment. Sydney felt guilty that her first reaction wasn’t the same pleasure. Her initial thought at seeing the plus symbol on the stick had been fear, followed closely by worry. How was Scott going to react? Would he even care? How was she going to continue working? Her future on the ranch was going to be entirely dependent on Scott’s reaction to the news.

“The doctor will be calling us in any time. We should head back into the office,” Jen suggested.

Sydney knew she was right and, willing her feet to move, followed Jen into the immaculate pastel blue office. Picking through the various magazines on a table nearby, Sydney wasn’t even sure what sort of periodical she’d picked up as she flipped past ads, barely giving any a glance. A baby? What would her parents say? This was the last thing she expected when she agreed to work for Mike. Her relationship with Scott had been a wonderful surprise, but was either of them prepared to deal with a baby? Their baby?

Scott couldn’t even admit his feelings for her, let alone commit himself to being a father.

“Sydney Thomas?” The nurse appeared at the door, looking at the chart in her hand. “Good afternoon,” she greeted Sydney and Jen as they approached. “Just follow me.”

Both women stepped into a narrow hallway, moving aside as another nurse brushed past, excusing herself. “We’ll just head to the scale over there.” The nurse pointed at the scale ahead.

After registering her weight and height, the nurse led Sydney into an examination room. “So what brings you in today?”

“Well,” Sydney began, then chewed at her lower lip. “I’m not sure, but I think, that is, I might be . . .”

“She’s pregnant!” Jen poked at Sydney’s leg. “Show her the test. We just took it,” she informed the nurse.

The nurse chuckled at Jen’s enthusiasm. “Jennifer, let her talk.”

Sydney rolled her eyes. She should have known that Jen would be friends with everyone in town. She didn’t want Scott to find out through the rumor mill. She had to be the one to tell him.

“Oh, Hailey, I’m about to be an aunt. Don’t rain on my parade.” Jen waved her friend off. “Hailey and I went to high school together,” Jen explained.

“The doctor will be in shortly,” Hailey informed them as she slipped the chart into the rack on the door. “Congratulations!”

“Thanks,” Sydney mumbled.

As soon as the nurse shut the door, Jen spun on Sydney. “What’s wrong? You don’t seem happy about this.”

“Jen, I have to tell Scott. No one else can know about this until I tell him,” she explained. “I should have gone further from town to see a doctor. I don’t want the small-town gossip to get back to him.”

“Hailey won’t say anything, and neither will Dr. Webster,” Jen assured her. “You don’t think he’ll be happy.”

Sydney didn’t miss that Jen had made a statement rather than asking a question. She shrugged. “I don’t know. He doesn’t seem inclined to commit to any sort of lasting relationship. I’m not sure how a baby would even fit into the picture.”

“Then we’ll need to make a trip to Cheyenne.”

“We don’t even know for sure yet,” Sydney pointed out.

“Really?” Jen cocked her head and arched a brow at Sydney. “Are you going to try to tell me you don’t think you’re pregnant? Then why are you so worried about what Scott will say?”

“Okay.” Sydney closed her eyes and rubbed her temples. She could feel a migraine coming on. “We will get the results from the doctor. If it turns out positive, then I’ll drive to Cheyenne. I might be able to catch up to them.”

“Wrong,” Jen argued. “
We
will drive to Cheyenne.”

T
WO HOURS LATER,
with a doctor’s confirmation of her pregnancy and a suitcase in hand, Sydney was sitting in the driver’s seat with her destination programmed into the GPS device in Jen’s Jeep. She wasn’t sure how Jen had convinced Mike to let the two of them leave without telling him about the pregnancy, but somehow Jen had persuaded him that it would be in everyone’s best interest if they went. But that hadn’t stopped Mike from grumbling that two women shouldn’t be driving alone.

The drive was going to be intense for them, but Jen insisted that they only stop long enough eat and to sleep in a real bed. After the second day of taking shifts, Jen taking longer ones and insisting that Sydney nap, they stopped at a truck-stop diner near the Wyoming border. The waitress, a gum-smacking, coffee-drinking smoker named Florence, informed them that the stock trailers had just been through during her last shift twelve hours earlier. With the realization that they would meet up with the crew at the rodeo grounds by midday, both women decided to find a room for the night.

The trip was taking a toll on Sydney. She was sore, and sitting so long in the car was making her crabby. Her apprehension was causing her to have nightmares about the baby, which in turn fed her natural fears about being a mother. As she woke with the sunrise and poured herself a cup of the bitter decaf the motel provided gratis, she fretted about seeing Scott.