Page 124 of Dust Storm

I would have called it avoidance, but delegation was fine.

“I’m not sure if Christian told you, but the date for the groundbreaking celebration is locked in. It’ll be the night before the rodeo championship. I’m hoping Ray will be our guest of honor. It’ll be a great draw for the community—him being the hometown boy and all that.”

Claire sat in thoughtful silence for a moment. “That’ll be a tough call. If he makes it through to the wild card rounds, he usually goes radio silent. Won’t leave his hotel room. Won’t party. None of that stuff. As much as it scares the bejeezus out of me, he’s serious about what he does and is very, very good at it.”

“I looked up his record. He’s made quite a name for himself.”

Claire nodded proudly. “I wonder when he’ll hang it up, but bull riding is his first love. It’ll have to be something monumental for him to decide his body’s been through enough. Those championship payouts and sponsorships keep him coming back. That, and the love of the sport.”

“It took me longer than I’d like to admit to realize that the boots Christian gave me were from Ray’s line. He’s a celebrity. I never knew how big bull riding was.”

“I suppose not,” Claire said with a smile. “Has the culture shock worn off yet?”

“I don’t think it ever will. Sometimes I can’t sleep because of how quiet it is at night.”

She nodded knowingly. “I remember Becks saying the same thing when she moved in with Nathan. She’d sleep with the TV on for background noise. City girls falling for cowboys has become a common occurrence around here.”

I was about to argue that I hadn’t fallen for Christian when she cut me off.

“I was a Chicago girl.” Her smile was wistful. “Moved down here for college back in the sixties. Swore up and down that I wouldn’t fall in love with a cowboy. I had my eyes set on California after I got my degree.”

“What did you study?”

“I got a degree in accounting at Methodist. Made it all four years without dating a cowboy. I was working an internship with the Department of Agriculture when in walks this tall drink of water. I remember it like it was yesterday.”

I could feel a slow smile forcing my melancholy away as Claire rambled on.

“I was tucked away in an office, going over the books, and was annoyed because his boots were so damn loud. Apparently, no one was at the front desk, because he just let himself back and poked around until he found someone.”

“He found you, didn’t he?”

Claire smiled. “He had on a white Stetson. Took it off and tipped his head like the most polite troublemaker to ever walk the planet, and asked me if I knew where the boss was.”

“What did you say?”

She snorted. “I looked him dead in the eye and said, “Why are you assuming I’m not the boss?””

I snickered. “What did he say?”

Claire grinned. “He said, “Well if you’re the boss, then I owe you money. And it’ll be real awkward for both of us if it looks like I’m trying to get out of a debt by taking you on a date.””

Tears of laughter leaked from the corners of my eyes, and I dabbed them away. “How presumptuous.”

“Tell me about it. I told him he had a snowball’s chance in hell of taking me out if that was his pickup line.”

“What did he do?”

Claire beamed. “He came back every week with a different pickup line. I was willing to let it go on longer, but the old bat who usually guarded the front desk got tired of him showing up to see the intern every Friday. It went on through the rest of my senior year. Finally, she took pity on him and told him that I refused to date cowboys.”

“I’m going to assume he didn’t stop.”

“Oh—he did,” Claire said. “I think it was two or three weeks later when I got a letter in the mail with a job offer. A ranch down in Temple needed an accountant and they wanted little ol’ me. I thought I had it made. I figured I’d work a little and save up some money before I moved to California for bigger and better. I showed up for my first day of work and—what do you know—guess who was waiting for me at the front gate?” She pointed to the dirt drive.

“Your cowboy.”

Claire nodded. “I lit into him. Told him that if this was some kind of joke, then I’d kill him. But he promised there was a job and it was mine.” She let out a low huff. “My first day, Silas asked me to dinner after work. I said no, and he asked why I wouldn’t date a cowboy.” She hunched over. “I told him I didn’t want to be with someone who was out in a field from sun up to sun downand never had time for me. I didn’t want to be some little wife at home, barefoot and pregnant. I had dreams of my own and I didn’t want someone who was tied to a piece of land.”

“How did he take that?”

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