Page 77 of A Cowboy in the Streets

“Today is the opposite of that. Everything is easy. Belle has the right amount of energy and focus to do the job and look at how beautiful she is today.” Essie grinned. “I have a feeling this is going to be a good ride. A really good ride.”

“Don’t say that!” I twisted frantically, searching for wood.

Adam snickered. He squatted low, snagged a woodchip off the floor, and handed it to me. I rapped the knuckle of my index finger against it, and he tucked it into his pocket.

We left Essie to finish her warmup, making it back to our seats right when her number was called.

I held my breath as Belle pranced into the ring. If there was a ribbon for the prettiest pair, Belle and Essie would have claimed the blue. They were gorgeous together. More importantly, they worked beautifully together. Essie cued Belle with nearly imperceptible commands. Belle complied eagerly, as though she had been waiting her whole life for the opportunity to do just that.

When it was time for the circles and spins, some of the flashiest and hardest moves, Belle made it look effortless. Both horse and rider were having fun out there and it showed.

Adam squeezed my hand. “My mom would have loved to see this. God, she loved this horse.”

I squeezed back.

When the score lit up the board, I jumped to my feet. First place! With a score that would be damn hard to beat. There were only two riders after Essie and Belle, which meant that at the very worst, we were looking at a third-place ribbon.

Over the applause, I heard a familiar voice call my name. “James!”

I looked up, stunned to see the last person I expected. “Dad.”

My parents had planned to stay at a hotel in Aspen Springs, but Adam, probably thinking he was doing me a favor, insisted they take Brax’s cabin at Lodestar Ranch. No matter how much I glared, sending telepathic words with my eyeballs, he refused to read my mind.

He dropped a kiss on my furrowed forehead. “Go get them settled in. We’re all going to the big house to celebrate. You can meet us there.”

It only took a minute to get them situated for what I dearly hoped would be a brief stay. But then Mom wanted to see my cabin, and of course I agreed. She wasn’t the one I was mad at.

“It’s beautiful.” She was as smitten with the view of mountains and horses as I was. She wrapped her arm around my waist and squeezed me against her side. “You must love it here.”

There was a question in her voice, one I didn’t hesitate to answer. “Yeah, Mom. I love it here. I wake up every day and I honestly can’t believe this is my life. I get to do what I love in the most beautiful place on earth. I know I’m lucky.”

Dad huffed. “You used to say Blue Skies was the most beautiful place on earth.”

“They’re both beautiful, in different ways.” Mom laid a pacifying hand on his forearm. “You look happy, James.”

“I am happy.”

“Hm.” Her expression turned coy. “And does a certain handsome rancher have anything to do with that?”

I had known she would ask sooner than later. That forehead kiss wasn’t subtle. I shrugged, like it was no big deal, even though I couldn’t stop the warmth from spreading through me at the thought of him. “Maybe.”

I glanced at Dad and found him frowning. Unsurprising. Well, that was his problem. I wasn’t going to let him cloud my sunshine today.

But then he decided to make it my problem.

“I expected more from you, James.” Parental disapproval laced every word.

I sighed heavily. Apparently, we were really going to do this. There had been a sliver of hope that maybe he had come here because he loved me and missed me. But no. Of course not. He had driven the thousand miles from Blue Skies to Lodestar for the joy of lecturing me on all the ways I had failed, both as a daughter and as a horse trainer.

“Expected more than what, Dad? More than taking on a horse that everyone else had given up on and turning her into a success? More than earning the respect of the trainers and riders I work with every day? More than falling in love with a good man?”

“In love?” Mom squeaked. She clasped her hands like a prayer. Visions of grandchildren danced in her head, no doubt.

“Hypothetically,” I said, because no way was I going to tell my parents I was in love with Adam before I told him. “My point is that he is a good man, the kind of man I could see myself building a life with someday.” If he let me.

The divot between Dad’s brows deepened. “Blue Skies is your life, James. You were born there. Raised there. It’s in your blood. Blue Skies is where you belong. It’s time to come home.”

Like I was a child who had run away from home, rather than a grown-ass woman who had taken a job. “You’re not making sense, Dad. I can’t just leave. My job is here at Lodestar.” A direct result of choices he had made, but I wasn’t going to point that out.

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