скачать книгу бесплатно
“Are you crazy? You got hurt before! What makes you think you won’t get hurt this time, too?”
“If you’d give me a chance to—”
Jane stood, cradling Mary Ann against her. Paul stared at his parents with a puzzled frown.
“Where are you going?” he asked, trying to come up with some way to mollify her without causing a scene.
“I don’t intend to watch.”
“But, darling…”
She scowled at him. “Don’t you darling me!”
Cal stood, too, and was given a reprieve when Glen and Ellie arrived, making their way down the long, narrow row of seats. His brother paused, glancing from one to the other, and seemed to realized what was happening. “I take it Jane found out?”
“You knew?”
Ellie shook her head. “Not me! I just heard about it myself.”
“Looks like Jane’s leaving me,” Cal joked, hoping to inject some humor into the situation. His wife was overreacting. There wasn’t a single reason she should walk out now, especially when she knew how excited their three-year-old son was about seeing his first rodeo.
“That’s exactly what you deserve,” she muttered, bending to pick up her purse and the diaper bag while holding Mary Ann tightly against her shoulder.
“Mommy?”
“Gather your things,” she instructed Paul. “We’re going home.”
Paul’s lower lip started to quiver, and Cal could tell that his son was trying valiantly not to cry. “I want to see the rodeo.”
“Jane, let’s talk about this,” Cal pleaded.
Paul looked expectantly from his father to his mother, and Jane hesitated.
“Honey, please,” Cal said, hoping to talk her into forgiveness—or at least acceptance. Okay, so he’d kept the fact that he’d signed up for the bull riding a secret, but only because he’d been intent on delaying a fight.
“I don’t want Paul to see you injured,” she argued.
“Have a little faith, would you?”
His wife frowned, her anger simmering.
“I rode bulls for years without a problem. Tell her, Glen,” he said, nodding at his brother.
“Hey,” Glen said, raising both hands in a gesture of surrender. “You’re on your own with this one, big brother.”
“I don’t blame you for being mad,” Ellie said, siding with Jane. “I’d be furious, too.”
Women tended to stick together, but despite Ellie’s support, Cal could see that Jane was weakening.
“Let Paul stay for the rodeo, okay?” he cajoled. “He’s been looking forward to it all week. If you don’t want him to see me compete, I understand. Just leave when the bull riding starts. I’ll meet you at the chili cook-off once I’m finished.”
“Please, Mommy? I want to see the rodeo,” Paul said again, eyes huge with longing. The boy pleaded his case far more eloquently than he could, and Cal wasn’t fool enough to add anything more.
Jane nodded reluctantly, and with a scowl in his direction, she sat down. Cal vowed he’d make it up to her later.
“I’ll be fine,” he assured her, wanting Jane to know he loved and appreciated her. He slid his arm around her shoulders and gave a gentle squeeze. But all the while, his heart thundered with excitement at the thought of getting on the back of that bull. He couldn’t keep his gaze from wandering to the chute.
Jane might have been born and raised in the big city, but she was more than a little bit country now. Still, she’d probably never approve of certain rodeo events. Cal recognized her fears, and as a result, rarely competed anymore—hadn’t in five years. But he expected Jane to recognize the impulses that drove him, too. Compromise. Wasn’t that what kept a marriage intact?
Jane had no intention of forgetting Cal’s deceit, but now wasn’t the time or place to have it out with her husband. He knew how she felt about his competing in the rodeo. She’d made her views completely clear, even before they were married.
Still, Jane had acquiesced and held her tongue. She glanced at Cal’s brother and sister-in-law and envied them. Their kids were with a baby-sitter, since they planned to attend the dance later that evening. Jane would’ve preferred to stay herself, but when she’d mentioned it to Cal, he’d balked. Dancing wasn’t his favorite activity and he’d protested and complained until she dropped it.
Then he’d pulled this stunt. Men!
Partway through the rodeo, Paul fell asleep, leaning against her side. Cal had already left to wait down by the arena with the other amateur riders. As the time approached for him to compete, she considered leaving, but then decided to stay. Her stomach would be in knots whether she was there watching him or not. Out of sight wasn’t going to put her risk-taking husband out of her mind, and with Paul asleep, there was no reason to go now.
“Are you worried?” Ellie asked, casting her a sympathetic look.
“Damn straight. I don’t know what Cal was thinking.” He had more to lose than ever, and to risk injury for no practical purpose was beyond her comprehension.
“Who said he was thinking at all?” Ellie teased.
“Yeah—it’s the testosterone,” Jane muttered, wondering what her husband found so appealing about riding such dangerous beasts. Her nerves were shattered, and that wasn’t going to change. Not until she knew he was safe.
“I was hoping you and Cal would come to the dance.”
Ellie was obviously disappointed, but no more than Jane herself. She would have loved an evening out. Had she pressed the issue, Cal would eventually have given in, but it hadn’t seemed worth the arguments and the guilt. Besides, getting a sitter would’ve been difficult, since nearly everyone in Promise attended the annual Labor Day rodeo—and Ellie had managed to snag the services of Emma Bishop, one of the few teenagers available for baby-sitting.
“Cal didn’t want to leave the kids,” she explained. There would be other dances, other opportunities, Jane reassured herself.
“He’s up next,” Glen said.
“Go, Cal!” Ellie squealed. Despite her sister-in-law’s effort to sound sympathetic, Jane could tell she was truly excited.
Sure enough, Cal’s name was announced. Jane didn’t want to look, but she couldn’t stop herself. Cal was inside the pen, sitting astride the bull, one end of a rope wrapped around the saddle horn and the other around his hand. She held her sleeping child more tightly and bit her lower lip hard enough to draw blood. Suddenly the gate flew open and fifteen hundred pounds of angry bull charged into the arena.
Almost immediately, Glen and Ellie were on their feet, shouting. Jane remained seated, her arms around her children. “What’s happening, what’s happening?” she asked Ellie.
“Cal’s doing great!” she exclaimed. Jane could barely hear her over the noise of the crowd. Ellie clapped wildly when the buzzer went. “He stayed on!” she said proudly.
Jane nodded. How he’d managed to last those eight seconds, she had no idea.
“Whew. Glad that’s over.” Ellie sank down next to Jane.
“My brother’s got a real flair for this,” Glen said to no one in particular. “He could have gone on the circuit if…” He let the rest fade.
“If he wasn’t married,” Jane said, completing his thought. Actually Glen’s assessment wasn’t really accurate. Her husband was a long-established rancher before she’d come on the scene. He’d competed in rodeos since he was in his teens, but if he’d been interested in turning professional, he would have done so when he was much younger. She had nothing to do with that decision.
“Glen,” Ellie said, squeezing her husband’s arm, “who’s that woman over there?” Ellie was staring at a brunette standing near the fence.
“What woman?” Glen asked.
“The one talking to Cal.”
Jane glanced over, and even from this distance she could see that the other woman was lovely. Tall and slender, she looked like a model from the pages of a Western-wear catalog in her tight jeans, red cowboy boots and brightly checked shirt. It was more than just her appearance, though. Jane noticed the confidence with which she held herself, the flirtatious way she flipped back her long brown hair. This was a woman who knew she looked good—particularly to men.
“She seems familiar,” Ellie said, nudging Glen. “Don’t you think?”
“She does,” he agreed, “but I can’t place her.”
“She’s apparently got a lot to say to Cal,” Ellie added, then glanced apologetically toward Jane as though she regretted mentioning it.
Jane couldn’t help being curious. The woman wasn’t anyone she recognized. Normally she wasn’t the jealous type, wasn’t now, but she found herself wondering how this Rodeo Princess knew her husband. Even from this distance, it was clear that the woman was speaking animatedly to Cal, gesturing freely. For his part, Cal seemed more interested in what was happening with the rodeo than in listening to her.
Jane supposed she should be pleased by his lack of interest in another woman, and indeed she was. Then, as if aware of her scrutiny, her husband turned toward the bleachers and surveyed the crowd. His face broke into a wide grin when he caught her eye, and he waved. Earlier she’d been annoyed with him—in fact, she still was—but she’d never been able to resist one of Cal’s smiles. She waved in return and blew him a kiss.
An hour later, after Cal had been awarded the trophy for the amateur bull-riding competition, they decided to leave. With Mary Ann in the stroller and Paul walking between them, they made one last circuit of the grounds before heading toward the parking lot. They passed the chili cook-off tent, where the winner’s name was posted; for the first time in recent memory, it wasn’t Nell Grant. But then, Jane understood that Nell had declined to enter this year.
It was near dusk and the lights from carnival rides sparkled, delighting both Paul and Mary Ann. Cal’s arm was around Jane’s shoulder as they skirted the area set aside for the dance. The fiddle players were entertaining the audience while the rest of the musicians set up their equipment. People had gathered around, tapping their feet in anticipation.
The lively music had Jane swaying to the beat. “I wish we were staying,” she murmured, swallowing her disappointment.
“We’d better get home,” Cal said, swinging his trophy at his side. “I didn’t want to say anything before, but I’m about as sore as a man can get.”
“Your rib?” she asked.
He nodded. “Are you going to lecture me?”
“I should,” she muttered. “But I won’t. You knew the risks.”
He leaned forward and kissed her cheek. “You’re right. I did.”
What really bothered her was that he’d known—and participated, anyway. He was fully aware that he could have been badly injured, or worse. And for what? She simply didn’t understand why a man would do anything so foolish when he had so much to lose.
“I’m ready to go home,” he said. “How about you?”
Jane nodded, but glanced longingly over her shoulder at the dance floor. Maybe next year.
The phone rang, shattering the night silence. Cal bolted upright and looked at the glowing digital numbers of the clock radio, then snatched the receiver from its cradle. It went without saying that anyone phoning at 3:23 a.m. was calling with bad news.
“Pattersons’,” he barked gruffly.
“Cal? It’s Stephanie.”
Jane’s mother. Something was very wrong; he could hear it in her voice. “What’s happened?”
“It’s…it’s Harry,” she stammered.
Jane awoke and leaned across the bed to turn on the bedside lamp. “Who is it?” she asked.
He raised one hand to defer her question. “Where are you?”
“At the hospital,” Stephanie said, and rattled off the name of a medical facility in Southern California. “Harry’s fallen—he got up the way he sometimes does in the middle of the night and…and he slipped.”
“Is he all right?”
“No,” his mother-in-law answered, her voice trembling. She took a moment to compose herself. “That’s why I’m calling. His hip’s broken and apparently it’s a very bad break. He’s sedated and scheduled for surgery first thing in the morning, but…but the doctors told me it’s going to take weeks before he’s back on his feet.”
“Cal?” Jane was watching him, frowning, her hair disheveled, her face marked by sleep.
“It’s your mother,” he said, placing his hand over the mouthpiece.
“Is this about my dad?”
Cal nodded.
“Let me talk to her,” Jane demanded, instantly alert.
“Stephanie, you’d better talk to Jane yourself,” he said, and handed his wife the phone.
Cal was pretty much able to follow the conversation from that point. With her medical background, Jane was the best person to talk to in circumstances like this. She asked a number of questions concerning medication and tests that had been done, explained the kind of orthopedic surgery her dad would undergo and reassured her mother. She spoke with such confidence that Cal felt his own sense of foreboding diminish. And then she hesitated.
“I’ll need to talk to Cal about that,” she told her mother, voice dropping as though he wasn’t supposed to hear.
“Talk to me about what?” he asked after she’d replaced the receiver.
Jane paused for a moment, then took a deep breath.
“Mom wants me and the kids to fly home.”
“For how long?” The question was purely selfish; still, he needed to know. Being separated would be a hardship on them all. He understood the situation and was willing to do whatever he could, but he didn’t like the thought of their being apart for any length of time.
“I don’t know. A couple of weeks, maybe longer.”
“Two weeks?” He hated the telltale irritation in his voice, but it was too late to take back his words.
Jane said nothing. Then, as though struck by some brilliant idea, she scrambled onto her knees and a slow smile spread across her face.
“Come with us,” she said urgently.
“To California? Now?” That was out of the question, but he hated to refuse his wife—especially after this business with the rodeo. “Honey, I can’t. Glen and I are getting ready for the bull sale this week. I’m sorry, but this just isn’t a good time for me to be away.”
“Glen could handle the sale.”
What she said was true, but the prospect of spending two weeks at his inlaws’ held little appeal. Cal got along with Jane’s mother and he liked her father well enough, but Harry had a few annoying mannerisms. The two of them tended to become embroiled in ridiculous arguments that served no real purpose and usually went nowhere. Cal suspected it was more a matter of their competing for Jane’s attention. Jane was Harry’s only daughter and he doted on her. Cal figured he’d be doing Harry a favor by staying away. Besides, what would he do with himself in a place like Los Angeles?
“Don’t be so quick to say no,” she pleaded. “We could make this a family vacation. We always talk about going somewhere and it just never happens.” She knew he found it difficult to leave the Lonesome Coyote Ranch for longer than a few days, but this was as good a time as any.
