Page 14 of For the Love of the Bull Rider

As the truck continued up the driveway, Ryan looked out the window. “That’s Mr. Lanny. Why’s he… Why’s Daddy in handcuffs? Lemme out.” The boy frantically tried to unbuckle the seatbelt to get out.

Tim put his hand on the boy to keep him inside the truck as he continued driving down the gravel drive toward the barn. When the truck stopped, Josh walked up to the driver’s side and opened Tim’s door. “Let’s get to work. We can get Danny to tell us where he needs our help. We’ll worry about what happened later.”

Tim turned to Ryan and smiled, certain the worry on his face wasn’t hidden from the astute little boy. “Let’s help get the horses settled. The grown-ups can figure out that other business. We have cattle to tend.” Tim hoped to get Ryan’s mind settled on anything other than the scene of his father sitting on their front porch seemingly under arrest.

“Yeah, but my daddy’s up there,” Ryan complained loudly as he opened his door, hopping onto the running board and heading toward the house at full throttle. Tim started after him, but Hank whistled, so he turned around and walked back.

“No use gettin’ in the way. They’ll sort it out. We got a job to do, so let’s do it,” Hank reminded as he herded Tim toward the barn.

All Tim could do was nod. He had no idea how to handle the situation, never mind that Ryan wasn’t his responsibility really, so he refocused energy on the job at hand, moving cattle. It was why they were at the ranch, after all.

“We appreciate what you boys are doin’. As soon as Marty gets back from town, he’ll help move those cow-and-calf pairs to that pasture behind our place for the winter, I promise,” Jerilyn Collins instructed as she set up a table for drinks near the barn.

Josh and Tim cut out calves that were being weaned from their mothers so they could be tagged and accounted for in Matt’s inventory. The rest of the hands on the ranch were rotating the leftover stock in the fields while separating the bull calves to be castrated.

Matt’s breeding stock was amazing, from what Tim had learned by doing research. The ranch had Angus, Longhorn, Shorthorn, and American Brahman breeds. Marty explained how Matt bought semen to breed his Angus and Hereford cows for the best quality stock. He’d been making a name for himself in ranching circles with the excellence of the stock he had for sale, and Marty was clearly proud of him.

“It’s okay, ma’am. Where’s Ryan?” Tim hopped off Chester.

As they’d been working to cut out certain cows or calves from the herd, Tim concluded his horsemanship skills were sorely lacking as he watched the others. Thankfully, the horse made him look good in front of the real cowboys.

Tim knew he needed to practice with the horse so he could be of more help in the future. Hell, he had the best horseman in the county living under the same roof, but it was his pesky pride that kept him from asking Uncle Josh. At the moment, however, all he wanted to see was Matt Collins not in handcuffs.

Glancing at Matt’s mother, Tim decided Jerilyn Collins was a very attractive woman. She was a bit taller than Tim, but her features reminded him of her handsome son. She was thin, no doubt, unlike Aunt Katie, who had lots of curves.

Much like Aunt Katie, the woman had an outgoing, easy-to-like personality. Her husband, Marty, was tall like Matt, and he had a little bald spot. He had that dark-brown-hair, blue-eyed look about him which could make Tim’s head spin if he let it, just like it did when he saw Matt.

Looking at the older man gave Tim a clear understanding of how gracefully the bull rider might age, and he was heartbrokenhe’d never get to see it. It would be amazing to witness the changes over time, but the chances of it were slim to zip.

Jeri looked at Tim with a warm smile before she made a sad face. “Ryan’s mad at me. He wanted me to take him out on Lucy so he could watch you boys, but I needed to get the food settled for when y’all broke for lunch. He went inside and I’m pretty sure he’s in his room. Maybe you can get him outta his funk?” she asked Tim, her happy smile returning.

Nodding, Tim climbed back on Chester and guided the horse to the trailer to secure the gelding with the other horses. There was a guy with a bucket of water and a big smile.

“Agua?” The young man pointed to the horse. Tim knew about three Spanish words, butaguawas one of them. He hopped off Chester and tied him to the hook on the side of the trailer with a nod to the cute guy with the bucket.

Tim walked into Matt Collins’ house, seeing some of the same things he’d briefly noticed the last time he was inside to fix the laptop. It was a decent house, but it needed some personal touches to make it homier.

The house looked as if Matt and Ryan had just moved in, but Tim knew for a fact Matt had bought the house when he married Ryan’s mother. It was missing the lived-in feeling and family history that Tim experienced at Uncle Josh and Aunt Katie’s home.

Tim strolled down the hallway to find Ryan on his twin bed with his little cowboy hat over his face. Tim almost laughed but was sure it was a bad idea because Ryan’s little-boy feelings were hurt and being teased wouldn’t help.

“Hey. You’re not getting out of the work.” Tim sat on the side of the bed.

The boy pushed back his hat and looked up at Tim. “Why’s my daddy in jail?”

Yeah, Tim was kind of hoping Ryan wouldn’t focus on that part, but only honest answers would appease the boy, he was sure. “Buddy, I don’t know, but that doesn’t mean we don’t have cattle to move. Come on. You work here, remember?”

“Can you get my daddy out of jail?”

Tim took a deep breath before he spoke, hoping he wasn’t lying to the boy. “I’m pretty sure your gramma and grandpa have a lawyer doing all they can to get your dad home to you. In the meantime, you live on a ranch where the work never stops, and you know it as well as me. Let’s go show the other guys you’re here in your daddy’s place, and you’re dedicated to looking out for the stock.”

Tim hoped the boy would take the bait. When Ryan rose from the bed and dried his eyes, Tim touched his shoulder, grateful to get the boy out of his funk, if only for the moment.

After a quick stop in the bathroom for Ryan to wash away the tear tracks from his cheeks, Ryan and Tim walked out of the house and down to where Chester was tied at the trailer.

“You think you can hold onto the saddle horn? Chester’s a great horse, and I think he’ll let us ride double to help with the work. I suspect your daddy will be home sooner rather than later,” Tim said, hoping he wasn’t lying.

Ryan nodded so Tim hauled the two of them up on Chester’s back, and they proceeded to help with working the cattle. The group stopped for a quick lunch provided by Jeri, and after they were finished, they quickly got back to work. There was only so much daylight of which they needed to take advantage.

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