Chapter 37

Cole leaned against the hood of his pickup at a desolate municipal airport and watched a sleek twin engine Cessna execute a butter-smooth landing and taxi toward him. Joe had flown home as soon as the previous rodeo ended. Now Wyatt was flying him back for the Thursday performance of their last summer rodeo.

Unlike the old days, the end of the regular season didn’t mean they would be parked at the ranch until after the first of the year. Jacobs horses and bulls had been selected for no less than four big invitational rodeos in the next two months and at least a dozen head were a shoe-in for the National Finals in December. They’d come a very long way, and Violet and Joe weren’t close to satisfied.

But standing here, nearly at the end of his sentence as sole custodian of this branch of Jacobs Livestock, Cole realized he no longer dreaded the idea of constant change. He’d shown everyone he could handle it. Himself most of all.

Before the plane came to a full stop, Cole saw a flurry of activity in the cabin. The instant the props went still, the door flew open and a small body leapt out and hit the pavement running.

“Beni!” Cole crouched and opened his arms.

Violet’s son barreled into him with enough force to almost bowl him over. He got a nanosecond of full body contact and a whiff of boy scent before Beni remembered he was ten now, and too cool for hugs.

He wriggled loose and punched Cole in the arm, instead. “Hey, dude.”

“Dude?” Cole’s eyebrows shot up at the skater drawl.

“He has discovered the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles,” Joe said, with a mix of amusement and exasperation.

Beni scowled. “Mama banned them for a whole month after I told Mrs. Domingo to chillax when she yelled at me for running in the hall.”

Cole stood, smothering a grin as he imagined the cheery little principal trying to scold Beni while keeping a straight face. The kid had been a constant challenge and source of entertainment at Earnest Elementary since the first day he was dragged through the front door. “Why aren’t you in school?”

“They said I could afford to take a couple of days off.”

Translation: Beni was so far ahead of his class the teachers struggled to keep him occupied. And the whole staff could probably use a break.

Cole mussed his inky black hair. “How come we get stuck with you?”

Joe tossed their bags into the back of the pickup. His duffel had a Justin Boots logo. Joe never bought anything that he might get free from a sponsor. Beni’s hard-sided carry-on was covered in cartoon stickers in various stages of disintegration, charting his course from the PAW Patrol through Phineas and Ferb to his current Turtle obsession.

“Delon’s riding in Omaha this weekend,” Joe said, in answer to Cole’s question. “Tori has a continuing education seminar in Seattle, and Lily says she has her hands full just trying to keep Violet in line.”

“And I haven’t seen you for, like, months! Or Katie.” Beni dropped to his knees to fling his arms around the dog. She gritted her teeth and tolerated the attack. Beni was on his feet again in an instant, dancing circles around Cole and tugging at his sleeve. “I brought my Jacobs Livestock shirt. Can I help the rodeo queens chase steers and stuff out of the arena?”

“We’ll have to check with the committee.” But Cole already knew the answer. Beni had inherited his father’s striking Navajo good looks and his irresistible smile. Like Delon, he knew how to use them.

Wyatt had made his usual circle around the plane, doing a quick visual inspection. Now he strolled over to join them, walking without any sign of a limp, a major accomplishment this late in the season. This summer’s limited schedule appeared to agree with him as much as it did Joe. Today he looked like an endorsement for silver spoons, wearing pale-green shorts, a matching plaid sport shirt, and canvas sneakers with no socks and a price tag that would no doubt send Cole into cardiac arrest.

He and Cole exchanged a quick, hard handshake and shoulder slaps. “You’re looking pretty pleased with life, considering. I figured you’d have a few bald spots, or gray hair at least.”

Cole ran a hand over his head. “Not for lack of trying.”

But the past two weeks had been as good as any he’d spent on the rodeo circuit. Better. He roped every morning with Shawnee, relaxing enough to enjoy himself when there was no competition looming over his head. He loved watching the way she worked with her horses. How Sooner improved day by day.

Every evening they were in the arena, galloping through the barely controlled chaos. And every night…he stuffed his hands in his pockets and fought off a grin. Yep. It had been a really good two weeks.

He dragged his mind back to the present and found Wyatt watching him in that intense, off-putting way, as if his laser-blue gaze could carve a hole in Cole’s skull and see his thoughts. If so, Wyatt was getting an eyeful. Heat rose under Cole’s skin at the idea of anyone viewing that particular slide show.

“So…who are my bullfighters going to be next year?” he asked.

Wyatt cocked his head, eyebrows climbing. “I expected more resistance.”

“Doesn’t do me any good,” Cole said. “I’m surprised you let Joe have these rodeos instead of dumping another one of your teacher’s pets on us.”

“He was gonna,” Beni piped up. “But Mommy said Joe better get out of the house because if he didn’t quit makin’ a fuss every time she got up to pee, he was gonna be the one who needed bed rest.”

Joe scowled. “I caught her cleaning the toilet. And folding towels.”

“Shame on her,” Cole said dryly.

“You’ve changed over the summer,” Wyatt said, still eyeing Cole closely.

“I’ve been practicing my coping skills.” Whether he wanted to or not. “Besides, the only bullfighter you’ve ever sent that caused any trouble was Joe, and we got him lined out pretty quick.”

Wyatt laughed, but under the surface the wheels were spinning. He seemed to approve of whatever he saw, though Cole got the distinct impression he was also amused. Or just happy he had guaranteed jobs for at least two of his prize pupils. You could never tell with Wyatt. Tori claimed he always operated on at least three levels of intention. Cole wasn’t even sure what that meant.

“Got any prospects for your next pickup man?” Wyatt asked.

Joe shot him a look even Cole could interpret. Shut. Up. “We’re waiting until we all get home to discuss next year.”

“Violet will be back by March, at the latest,” Cole said, letting his inflection turn it into a question.

“The doctor said even if she has to have a C-section, she’ll be able to ride by February,” Joe agreed. But there was something in his voice…and for once it wasn’t Cole dodging eye contact.

Then it hit him.

Violet wasn’t coming back. Not as a pickup man. He should have seen it coming—the business end of things had been running her ragged before she tossed a new baby into the mix. But the promise that he only had to survive this one season alone had been his lifeline, and he’d clung to it like a barnacle. Until recently.

He tamped down another grin, keeping his face blank. “If she’s got too much on her plate, Shawnee might be willing to stay on.”

Something flashed between Joe and Wyatt, too quick and subtle for Cole to catch. “Maybe,” Joe agreed, a few beats too late.

They all shuffled around, trying to kick dust over the awkward moment, but as they waved Wyatt off on his way to Omaha and climbed into the pickup, Cole couldn’t help fretting at Joe’s lack of enthusiasm. Because they didn’t want to keep Shawnee—and why the hell not?—or didn’t think they could?

Didn’t think Cole could.

Back at the rodeo grounds, she was lounging in the shade of her awning, looking round and lush in a tank top and shorts as she waited for Cole to come back so they could run downtown and buy groceries for the last crew dinner of the season.

When Beni ejected from the backseat, she tipped her sunglasses down to scowl at him. “Oh geezus. What did we do to deserve this?”

Beni stuck his tongue out. Shawnee returned the gesture, once again making that little brown-haired girl dance through Cole’s head, bursting with mischief. He let out a breath and smiled at Shawnee. She smiled back, making his blood go hot. See? He wasn’t crazy. She loved being a pickup man. And there was a possibility, judging by the way he caught her watching him sometimes, that she might love Cole, too.

Stranger things had happened, right?

“I’m here to work,” Beni declared. “I’m gonna help clear the arena during the timed events.”

Shawnee’s brows peaked. “Are you, now? I suppose you could use a good cow horse, then. And Roy is just standing around bored.”

“Your buckskin?” Beni’s eyes went round, his voice reverent. He’d been begging Violet for a horse like Roy since the first time he’d laid eyes on the line-back dun, with his golden coat and jet-black mane.

“If you promise not to teach him any bad habits.”

“No, ma’am!” Beni jittered in place, then shot off toward the horse pens. “I gotta go tell him!”

“I’m sure he’ll be thrilled,” Shawnee drawled. But she couldn’t completely squelch her smile.

“Thanks,” Joe said.

She shrugged. “Like I said, Roy’s bored.”

And Shawnee was a lot more generous than she liked to let on. Cole sauntered over and kissed her on the top of the head. She swatted him. He grinned.

Tomorrow night, after the last performance of this last rodeo on her contract, he’d pop the question. Will you stay? Be my partner indefinitely? He had his speech memorized, and now he could argue that they needed her to replace Violet long-term. She had to say yes, he’d tell her. Who else could put up with him?

That would make her laugh. He knew better than to get mushy, or even hint at love or marriage or kids this early in the game. But they were good together in the arena. Why break up a great team?

Logic was his secret weapon. And her hidden weakness.

For all that she mocked his schedule, Shawnee liked routines, and she had a strict personal code of conduct, even if it didn’t always line up with what polite society dictated. Yes, she was explosive and confrontational and occasionally obscene, but never random. After all these weeks, Cole could anticipate almost without fail what would set her off. Like him, she had zero tolerance for fools and incompetence. While he retreated behind his shell, Shawnee blew up, a volcano of blistering sarcasm.

But pity the fools who stood in either of their paths.

So he’d keep his fantasies to himself and appeal to her practical side. If he could buy enough time, he could keep just being there until she couldn’t imagine life without him. He’d sketched it out, how they could arrange the schedule so she had plenty of chances to go roping between and during rodeos, and he would find a way to conquer his nerves and be the partner she deserved whenever she needed him.

His gut clenched in anticipation. Tomorrow night. He had it all planned. As soon as the rodeo was over, he’d go knock on her door with her favorite pizza and her favorite beer and show her all the reasons staying with Jacobs Livestock made perfect sense.