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“Of course I’ll be there, Chet. Wouldn’t miss it. Sure. I’ll be glad to sign autographs at the Boot Yard. What’s the date again? Got it. That’s the Anaheim event? Two weeks from this weekend? Got it. No problem.”
And she hadn’t told Sully about it yet. Now he’d committed to an autograph signing.
Lisa sighed. If she remembered correctly what Sully had told her, the next event was the one event at which some cowboys would be dropped from the tour if they had low scores. Others would replace them. It was important for Sully to ride. He was high enough in the rankings to not worry about being dropped, but other riders were hot on his tail, trying to pass him in the standings. If a rider had a good day in the go-rounds, anything could happen.
She and Rose weren’t going to follow Sully around like a couple of buckle bunnies. Rose needed stability, and that meant the big Victorian, not a home on wheels where she slept on the converted kitchen table for weeks at a time.
So far, Rose was having the time of her life. While Sully was driving, they’d played games, colored and put together puzzles on the table. She wanted Rose to have fun on this trip, to be a little girl without a care in the world, and so did Sully.
Now they were stopping at a park where there was an indoor pool, and Rose had put on her bathing suit fifty miles away in anticipation.
It was only seven-thirty at night, but all Lisa wanted to do was sleep. Yet it was time to be a mother and take Rose to the pool for a while.
She sure hoped that Sully brought his bathing suit, too.
Bonding. Wasn’t that what she’d wanted on this trip?
They pulled into their campsite, and Sully hooked up whatever needed hooking up while she changed into a pair of shorts and a dark T-shirt to swim in. She didn’t bring a bathing suit with her from Atlanta, never thinking that she’d need one, and didn’t have time to go clothes shopping to any great extent.
Neither did Sully, although he found a pair of cutoffs. The three of them walked together to the indoor pool, hand-in-hand, with Rose between them. The stars were shining bright in the black sky and a full moon was smiling down on them.
Sully looked down at Rose, then at Lisa, and grinned. He winked. “What a beautiful night.”
“Sure is.”
“So we’re going swimming, right, Rose?” Lisa asked.
“Yes! I want to swim!” She turned to Sully. “Will you go swimming with me, Uncle Sully?” Rose asked.
Why didn’t Rose ask me to take her swimming?
“I sure will. All three of us are going swimming.”
At least Sully included me.
“Yippee!” Rose yelled, suddenly jumping.
Sully and Lisa tightened their grip on her hand and caught her before she fell.
Just like real parents, Lisa thought.
A half hour later in the pool, Sully was supporting Rose as she splashed, making like she was swimming.
Sully turned to her, water dripping down his strong chest. His arms were thick with muscles, especially his riding arm. His disheveled hair glistened with beads of water, and she liked how he smiled. His whole face lit up.
She understood why the buckle bunnies found him sexy.
A sense of calm came over Lisa as she watched Sully play with their niece. He was good with Rose. Actually, he was like a kid himself.
She wondered how long it would take before he “forgot” his responsibilities and skipped out to party with his pals and a gaggle of groupies, like he was known to do.
Things were going great so far, but it was only day one.
Could Sully go the distance?
Could she?
Rose was safely tucked into the dinette bed. Molly the mutt was sleeping on the floor beside her, and Snowball was currently using the litter pan in the bathroom.
Rose had told them that she was going to say her night prayers, and Sully silently gave Carol and Rick kudos for teaching her right.
“I want to pray for Mommy and Daddy in heaven. I hope they saw how good I was swimming. And I want to tell them that I’m going to Disney World.”
Her prayers broke his heart, and he found himself at a loss for words. Rick would never see his little girl grow up. Would never see her graduate, get married or have children of her own.
It wasn’t the first time he’d heard Lisa and Rose mention the theme park. He’d better take her, or he’d never forgive himself.
As Rose drifted off to sleep, he and Lisa sat on the seats in the front of the RV. He popped the top of a beer as Lisa drank a diet cola.
He took a long draw of his beer. Delicious. “You know, Lisa, you could have told me about your plans.”
“I didn’t have a chance. I just mentioned that we were going to Florida and would be near the park, and Rose took it from there. I’ll have to be more careful about what I say.”
“I’m not mad. I just feel bad that I didn’t think of it myself. I’ll work it in, even if I have to drive all night coming back home. It’ll be worth it.”
“That’s really nice of you, Sully.”
Her emerald eyes met his, and for a brief moment Sully thought that she actually liked him.
Nah!
He noticed Lisa unsuccessfully trying to stifle a yawn.
“You take the bed in back,” he said. “I’ll sleep on the floor.”
“I couldn’t take your bed, could I?”
Lisa tilted her head, almost flirtylike. He must be mistaken. Lisa was not the flirting type. She was too serious, too straight-laced. As a matter of fact, he thought she was a bit of a snob.
Obviously, she wanted the bed.
“I can handle the floor. I spent many days sleeping under the stars in Montana mostly during round-up. At least there’s a carpet here.”
Lisa seemed surprised by what he’d said. “I knew you were from Montana, but I didn’t know you did real cowboy stuff.”
“Bull riding isn’t real cowboy stuff?”
“I think of it more like a sport,” she said.
He shrugged. “You’re right. Bull riding isn’t something that occurs on a typical day on the ranch. I only got on bulls at the ranch to practice. Now I practice at my buddies’ ranches. Someone always has a spread near the events.”
Suddenly her eyes grew wide. “Wait a minute. You had a ranch?”
“Sure did. The Mountain View Ranch in Elsie, Montana. The best place in the world.” He’d loved the place while he had it. “But I sold it to a buddy. Riding the PBR circuit, I was never there.”
He and Sid Peterson had a handshake agreement. If Sid ever wanted to sell, Sully had first dibs on it, but that would never happen. Not now. Not when he had Rick’s daughter to raise back at the big old Victorian in Salmon Falls, New York.
He sighed. If he ever went back to Montana now, it’d only be to visit.
“Funny, I never pictured you as the ranching type,” Lisa said.
“Which means?” He raised an eyebrow.
“I guess I always had you pictured as tumbling tumbleweed.”
“Just drifting along, huh? Just like you? Isn’t that what our respective parents pointed out?” he asked.
She rolled her eyes. “I so want to prove to them that we can be good guardians to Rose.”
“I know.” But proving to his parents that he could do anything major like raising Rose seemed too much of a long shot. However, his brother Rick had been Gordon and Betsy Sullivan’s pride and joy. A Wall Street millionaire, who didn’t even have to work on Wall Street, he had been a total success. He’d even married the perfect woman. They’d adored Carol, and when Rick had put their first grandchild into their arms, he’d become even more perfect, if that was possible.
Sully could never be jealous of Rick. Rick was a great guy, a stand-up guy, a good-natured guy and a terrific big brother. Rick would have gone to the wall for him, and Sully would have returned the favor.
However, Brett Sullivan, second son, was a big disappointment to the Colonel and Mrs. Sullivan. He chose the cowboy lifestyle instead of a civil service job or the army. He did go to West Point briefly after high school, which got their hopes up, but he wasn’t there long enough to unpack before he hitchhiked to the first PBR event.
He’d be considered by many to be a nomad, a rolling stone, a carefree cowboy who was doing what he wanted and living from go-round to go-round. His relationships with the opposite sex were mutually satisfying and perfectly shallow. That’s the way he wanted it. Then he moved on.
How did that old country song go? Something about never loving a woman enough to stay—instead a cowboy saddles up and rides away.
“Sully?” Lisa said. “A penny for your thoughts?”
“They aren’t worth that much.”
“The day went well. Don’t you think?” Lisa asked.
He knew that she wanted him to say yes.
“Sure. It was a great day. We didn’t fight. Rose laughed a lot and enjoyed the long ride, mostly because you played with her. She loved splashing in the pool. And now she’s sleeping like a three-year-old should.”
“You were the one who made her laugh. I was the one who was making sure she didn’t drown.” Lisa yawned, then stood. “I’m still nervous about us raising her.”
“You have to relax, Lisa. You hover over her too much.”
“And you need to hover more!”
“Look, Lisa, anyone in their right mind would be nervous about raising children. We both love her, so it’ll be easy. I think that confidence will come in time. If not confidence, then at least competence.”
Her eyes grew large with surprise. “You are absolutely right about that!”
Her reaction made something in him wake up after a long sleep. Maybe he was lacking confidence and competence in his personal life. In his bull riding career, he’d always had plenty of both.
However, according to his parents, he had no track record of doing anything right.
So what made him think he could do right by Rose?
Chapter Four
Lisa never imagined that her life would consist of trips to the bathroom to assist her niece, playing dollies, feeding animals, picking up dog poop, cleaning a litter box and doing laundry. She looked forward to Rose’s afternoon nap when there was a bit of time to just sit and read. Thank goodness for microwave meals. They were a blessing to the unskilled cook.
However, microwave meals weren’t nutritious enough, so Lisa always made a nice salad and had plenty of fruit available. She’d even grilled hot dogs and hamburgers in the oven of the RV. She was pretty proud of herself that they were edible.
She walked to the front of the RV and sat down in the passenger’s seat. She was just about to ask Sully if he’d like hot dogs again for dinner, but he spoke first.
“Three days on the road is enough. I’m going to drive all night. We’ll roll into the arena in Fort Lauderdale in the morning,” Sully announced while checking his GPS. “Then we can park this rig at the arena for the next two days.”
“Park it where?”
“At the far end of the arena. The other guys and some of their families will be there in their RVs.”
Lisa had heard all about how the cowboys circled their wagons, so to speak, and partied day and night. She wanted no part of that, and it wasn’t appropriate for Rose.
“Have you lost your mind? Rose and I are not living on a parking lot.” She kept her voice as low as she could so she didn’t wake the little girl.
“But there will be children for Rose to play with and—”
“You never said anything about a parking lot. I thought we’d be camping at a campground like we’ve been doing,” she whispered, but it was a loud whisper.
“I didn’t think that it’d be—”
“That’s right. You didn’t think.”
Sully kept on driving, but Lisa could see his white-knuckled grip on the wheel. She didn’t care how mad he was.
Sully let out a loud breath. “I’m trying to tell you that the riders bring their families and there are children that Rose can play—”
“And there will be drinking and the buckle bunnies will be trolling, and … and … I don’t want Rose subjected to all that. Nor do I want to be subjected to it!”
“You have it all wrong, Lisa. It’s not like that. I—”
“This discussion is over.”
“But we haven’t discussed anything. You won’t even let me talk.”
“There’s nothing more to say.” Lisa shot the words at him like darts.
“Fine!” He said the word through gritted teeth. “I’ll rent a car.”
“Rent a car? Why?”
