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Julie nodded and smiled at the accurate assessment. And he thought sheep were clueless.
* * *
For the first time in longer than Ryan could recall, he was having trouble keeping his mind on his work. He couldn’t have cared less about the missing time capsule; it was pretty Julie Shaw who occupied his thoughts.
“That’s not good,” he muttered as he stood on a metal rung of the narrow bucking chute and tightened the cinch on the surcingle that was the main part of his bareback rigging. This rangy pinto mare wasn’t called Widowmaker for nothing. He knew she followed a pattern around the ring that was not only erratic, she tended to change her tactics if the rider on her back got the least little bit off center.
Off center was exactly what he was, too, Ryan concluded, except his problem was mental. He could not only picture Julie Shaw as if she were standing right there next to the chute gates, he could imagine her light, uplifting laughter.
Actually, he realized with a start, that was what he was hearing. He started to glance over his shoulder, intending to scan the nearby crowd and, hopefully, locate her.
“Clock’s ticking, Travers,” the chute boss grumbled. “You gonna ride that horse or just look at her?”
Rather than answer with words, Ryan stepped across the top of the chute, wedged one leather-gloved hand into the narrow, rawhide handhold that was his only lifeline while aboard the bronc, folded back his fancy chaps and settled himself as gently as possible.
The horse’s skin twitched. Her ears laid flat. She was gathering herself beneath him, knowing it was nearly time.
Ryan raised his free hand over his head and leaned way back so his spurs would fall at the point of the horse’s shoulder when she took her first jump. Then he nodded to the gate man.
The latch clicked.
The mare leaped.
Ryan held tight, determined to keep his feet in the proper position for a legal mark-out. If he let either heel pull away or drop too low before the mare’s front feet landed that first time, he’d be disqualified. Then it wouldn’t matter how well he rode or how hard this horse bucked. He wouldn’t get a score. Period.
Since half the points awarded were for the rider’s performance and half were for the horse’s, he also wanted her to do well, meaning he had to not only keep his balance, he had to make the proper countermoves to get the most out of this ride. Eight seconds didn’t seem like very long until you had your fingers wedged into a grip sticky with resin, the horse’s hind legs were flying so high you were being flung against her spine and the whiplash made it feel as if your head was fixin’ to part company with the rest of you.
Ryan didn’t attempt to do anything but ride until he heard the horn blast announcing his success. Then he straightened as best he could and worked his fingers loose with his free hand while pickup men maneuvered their running mounts close enough to help him dismount.
One of the men flicked the flank strap and it dropped away, stopping the mare from trying to kick it loose.
Ryan grabbed the other rider’s arm and released his glove while the mare traveled on without them.
“Thanks, man,” Ryan said, dropping to the ground next to the pickup horse and getting his balance well enough to scoop up his bent Stetson and dust it off.
“Watch it. Here she comes again,” a wrangler warned. “She’d as soon run you down as look at you.”
It was immediately clear to Ryan that the man was right. The rangy brown-and-white horse had missed seeing the exit gate on her first pass and was coming around again. Fast and furious.
He leaped up on the nearest fence. To his delight, Julie Shaw and a few others he recognized from before were watching. They had parked a flatbed farm truck near the fence beside the grandstand and were watching from secure perches in its bed.
Julie had both arms raised and was still cheering so wildly she almost knocked her hat off. “Woo-hoo! Good ride, cowboy!”
Ryan’s “Thanks” was swallowed up in the overall din from the rodeo fans. Clearly, Julie wasn’t the only spectator who had been favorably impressed.
A loudspeaker announced his score as eighty-six and a quarter.
Julie cupped her hands around her mouth and shouted, “You were robbed!” which made him smile even more broadly.
He knew he should immediately report to the area behind the strip chutes and pick up his rigging. And he would. In a few minutes. As soon as he’d spoken to his newest fan.
The soles of his feet prickled in his boots as he jumped off the outside of the fence and reached behind to loosen the thigh buckles on his chaps.
“I’ll take any decent score I can get,” he said, wanting to reassure her that he wasn’t upset about her hometown event. “When I’m going for all-around in rough stock, every completed ride is a good one.”
She climbed down to join him and lightly touched his arm before facing the people she was with. “Ryan Travers, this is my sister, Faith. You probably noticed her at the parade. And this is Hannah Douglas, one of my very best friends. The adorable twins are hers. The boy is Corey and the girl is Chrissy.”
Ryan tipped his hat. “My pleasure. I think I met Mrs. Douglas at city hall when I checked in as a competitor.”
“That’s right,” the dark-haired, dark-eyed young woman said. She laughed lightly. “At least I think we met. I’ve seen so many strange cowboys lately they’re all starting to look alike.”
“Not to Julie, they don’t,” Faith chimed in.
Ryan almost laughed aloud when he saw Julie shoot a look of disdain at her sister. She was even cuter when she was blushing, and she was certainly pink enough now. So much so that the contrast of her freckles had almost vanished.
“Want to come with me to claim my rigging?” Ryan asked, assuming everyone would know which woman he was asking.
When all three answered in the affirmative, his jaw dropped—until the other two began to laugh and he realized he’d been the brunt of their inside joke.
“No way,” Julie announced boldly. “This one is all mine.” And with that, she took Ryan’s arm and urged him to walk away with her.
He was unsure how to best respond until she abruptly released her hold and apologized. “Sorry. I’m not usually so pushy. My sister knows how to get my goat, but Hannah doesn’t often help her.”
“It must be nice to be so close.”
“Yes. You don’t have siblings?”
Although he tried to mask his feelings, there was apparently enough poignancy in his expression to cause her smile to fade when he said, “No. Not anymore.”
She didn’t ask further questions, nor did she offer unasked-for advice. She simply slipped her hand through the crook of his elbow again and tightened her grip.
If Ryan had been asked to interpret her actions at that moment, he probably would have said she was offering moral support. That was certainly the impression he was getting. And, like it or not, her presence was helping him handle the guilt and sorrow he still carried in regard to losing his big brother, Kirk.
Pushing aside those disturbing memories with Herculean effort, Ryan placed his other hand over Julie’s and kept walking. If he could have done so without attracting undue attention, he would have kept her by his side indefinitely.
There was something very special about Julie Shaw. Something he could not explain. Something intrinsic that emanated from her as if she were the personification of acceptance. And of love.
Caught unaware by that random thought, Ryan almost pulled away from her. Yet, he didn’t. And the why and wherefore of that choice troubled him deeply.
* * *
Julie yearned to urge Ryan to confide in her more. To let her help heal his obvious emotional pain. If he would tell her about his problems, she might know better how to pray for him.
“As if God needs my input,” she muttered as she left him checking his bronc-riding gear for his next event and headed back to rejoin Faith and Hannah. True, scripture urged praying without ceasing, yet she also knew there were references to God knowing what His children needed before they even asked. In the case of that spiritual truth, and others, Julie didn’t mind admitting she was confused.
Besides, she thought, climbing back aboard the truck bed with her friends and adjusting her straw Western hat, Ryan had made it clear that he did not share her Christian beliefs. That was even sadder than the way he was apparently mishandling his grief. Life without faith had to be much harder, losses more difficult to accept.
It was always sad when a person suffered. It was doubly devastating to see someone trying to cope without the Savior to lean on. Temporal friends could offer only so much comfort. Jesus would be there to help no matter what the circumstances, but only if He was invited.
This could be a pride problem, she reasoned, particularly in the case of a man like Ryan Travers. He was used to doing things his way, relying on his own strength. And, unfortunately, it looked as if he had failed to overcome whatever trauma had led to his no longer having any siblings. Oh, he probably thought he’d gotten over the loss, but he hadn’t. Not even close. Was that what drove him to stay on the road most of the year? Julie wondered. Perhaps. And perhaps he didn’t even realize why he was so restless.
Or maybe all this is a figment of my imagination because I don’t want to admit he’s happy traveling all the time, she countered. Just because she was a homebody and content to have deep, strong roots didn’t mean that a person who preferred to move around had to be unhappy.
She sighed and released her angst. It didn’t matter why Ryan competed all over the country. He was who and what he wanted to be, regardless of his motivation.
Meaning they were totally incompatible, she concluded in spite of mental arguments to the contrary. Yes, he was appealing. And yes, she really liked him. But getting too attached to him would be a big, big mistake. One she was determined not to make.
Chapter Four
Ryan had not intended to hang around behind the scenes when the mutton busting was introduced as part of the afternoon’s entertainment. He simply had little else to occupy him while the bareback horses were removed and saddle broncs loaded into the holding pens directly behind the chutes. Stock contractors had their own wranglers and treated those horses better than a lot of folks treated their kin, meaning they didn’t want them touched by anybody else.
He got himself a bottle of cold water and drank it as he ambled over to the place where a passel of youngsters was gathered. A twenty-something man he recognized from the mayor’s entourage was instructing the kids about safety, so Ryan figured he was probably one of Julie’s brothers.
Some of the little boys and girls looked overconfident, while others seemed scared to death. It was those children who tugged at Ryan’s heart and caused him to edge closer.
He spotted one boy who seemed far too small and timid to be competing, and crouched down to speak with him. “Hi, there. Where’s your mama? Does she know you’re planning to try to ride a sheep?”
Although his lower lip was trembling, the little boy stuck out his chin and ignored the question.
“A grown-up has to fill out paperwork for you, buddy. You can’t enter without your mama or daddy being here.”
Tears welled in the child’s eyes as he looked around. “Mama’s here.”
“Where?”
“I—I lost her.”
Straightening, Ryan offered his hand. “Okay. Why don’t you come with me and I’ll introduce you to the lady who owns the sheep while we wait around for your mother to come looking for you. Then, in a few years when you’re older, maybe you’ll be all ready to ride like the bigger kids.”
“Uh-uh. Can’t go with strangers. Mama said.”
“And your mama is absolutely right,” Ryan assured him. “But since she’s bound to look for you where she saw you last, I think it would be okay to hang around and talk to the sheep lady for a bit. Her name is Julie. See? She’s right over there. The pretty one with the dark red hair and the straw Stetson.”
Smiling, he followed the little boy’s tentative steps as they skirted the group of excited children and approached Julie. The moment she looked up, he tipped his hat and eyed the boy. “My friend and I were wondering if we could maybe give you a hand. He wants to ride, but his mama got herself lost, so she isn’t here to sign for him. Would you mind if he petted your sheep?”
The grin Julie returned rested on him first, widened, then switched to settle on the uneasy child. “Of course not. They’re pretty tame, particularly around me. I’m afraid I’ve made pets of them.”
“Hey, as long as you’re raising them for their wool, no problem, right?” Ryan offered.
“Right.” Julie held out an arm. “Would you like to come in here with me or do you want to stay outside with your cowboy friend?”
The boy seemed to be considering carefully before he reached for Ryan’s hand and grasped it firmly. “Stay here.” His upturned face searched Ryan’s. “Okay, mister?”
“Fine with me.”
Ryan swallowed past a lump in his throat. He wasn’t sure what touched him more, the boy’s trust or the gentle expression on Julie’s face when she looked at them standing there together. Here he was, a tough-as-nails guy who faced fifteen-hundred-pound-plus belligerent farm animals, and he’d been reduced almost to tears by a small boy and a pretty woman. If his old friends could see him now, they’d probably laugh their spurs off.
And he didn’t care, he suddenly realized. At this time, in this situation, he was so at peace, so filled with joy, he truly didn’t care what anybody else thought.
That’s not entirely true, Ryan mused. He did care about one person. And she was bestowing the loveliest, most warm and wonderful smile he’d ever had the pleasure to receive.
If he’d been the romantic type, he might even have said it made his heart sing.
* * *
Julie saw plenty of happy families all around her, yet had eyes only for the stalwart cowboy and the trusting little boy. There was something endearing about them, not that she hadn’t seen plenty of fathers and sons together before.
She turned back to her tasks with the sheep, but her mind continued to dwell on Ryan. Perhaps the sight of him befriending the boy seemed so wonderful because he had told her he was close to no one, had no family other than his mother, whom he rarely saw. It was almost as if Julie was being given a glimpse of the kind of father he could someday become.
“Are those girls or boys?” Ryan’s young friend asked.
“These are all girls. Mama sheep are called ewes,” Julie replied. “I brought these to the rodeo because they’re so friendly.”
“I know horses can live twenty years or more,” Ryan said. “How old are these animals?”
Julie chuckled. “Be careful you don’t hurt their feelings. They might take offense if they knew you’d called them old.”
“Sorry. It’s hard to tell.”
“It can be unless you’re used to judging sheep. These are about eight. As long as I have the room and plenty of feed, they’ll live out their natural lives in my flock.”
“Not a very practical approach to ranching,” the cowboy said.
“Yes and no. Business is good and they still produce fine wool. Sales have really taken off since I updated my website. I’ve had to hire more help for lambing and shearing.”
Whatever happened, Julie was determined to keep her hands on every aspect of Warm and Fuzzy. The name of her business went back to her days as a youngster in 4-H, and it always made her smile. So did being in the company of gentle ewes and their lambs. Adult rams were another story. She never turned her back on them, even in the off-season.
“I can’t figure out the look of that wool,” Ryan said. “It’s almost silky.”
“That’s because I specialize in Leicester Longwools.”
“Lesters? Like in Lester Flatt and Earl Scruggs, the bluegrass pickers?”
Julie chuckled. “It’s pronounced Lester but spelled L-e-i-c-e-s-t-e-r. They’re rare but have amazing fleeces.”
“They certainly do. Not that I’ve paid a lot of attention before. I guess you can tell I’m used to hanging around horses and cattle.”
The young man helping her offered his hand to Ryan. “Me, too, but I got roped into this. I’m Adam, Little Bo Peep’s brother.”
The men shook hands.
“You’re forgiven—but Adam isn’t,” Julie said with a mock scowl. She shooed him back to work and returned to her interrupted conversation with Ryan.
“The Jasper Gulch Chamber of Commerce and Event Committee thanks you and all your fellow competitors for being here,” Julie said formally.
“I’d rather you thanked me personally,” Ryan said “Will you be free tonight during the fireworks show?”
“I’d planned to watch with my family. There are a lot of us, and we usually make a party out of it.” Hesitating, she finally added, “If you want to join us, you’ll be most welcome.”
