Page 31 of Rogue Cowboy
“The horse tricks,” he said.“Is that something you want to build?”
“Well, I’m mostly self-taught,” she said.“I had some gymnastic and dance classes as a kid and then watching trick riders at rodeos and exhibitions and on YouTube, so I’m not an expert.I learned from doing.”
“Like your music.”
She was quiet, and as they walked down the street, still fairly active with some of the shops still open at nine—probably because of the rodeo—he was reminded of his hometown, Last Stand.When was the last time he’d walked down Hickory Street and relished the night closing in.Would Riley like it?
“It was fun as a kid.I liked trying new things,” she said thoughtfully.
“When I saw you do that suicide drop, I forgot how to breathe.I have no idea how your dad is still above ground.”
Riley’s laugh sparked a bubble of triumph.He was not a funny man, and while he’d once spent the best weekend of his life with her and had been helplessly captivated, he couldn’t imagine what she might ever see in him other than her brother’s older, quieter, duller friend.
“Good luck, Mr.Texas,” she teased.“When you have a kid, you’re going to be on the receiving end of a whole lot of trouble and mini heart attacks according to my mom and dad.”
He’d always wanted a family, though before he’d married Riley, he hadn’t imagined he’d be that lucky.He had trouble connecting to people.He was too cold.Too quiet.Too enigmatic, one woman at a bar who’d hit on him had summed him up.Riley hadn’t seemed to find him lacking that weekend.
“You think you’re all that—Mr.Texas Cowboy controls his destiny.Kids will knock your boots out from under you,” Riley continued, likely enjoying him in her crosshairs instead of being in his.
“They can try.I have excellent balance.”
It felt strange to joke about kids.Foreign.Yet sexual in a way he felt Riley wasn’t ready for.For a moment, the air felt electric between them.Riley broke it by quickening her steps.
He followed, his determination to cement their marriage burned bright.He’d initially felt he didn’t have much to offer her.A serious man, often self-isolating, needing to forge a new career.He hadn’t thought she’d need him but had hoped—rather stupidly—that she’d want him, that he hadn’t imagined the connection of that first weekend and what felt like intimacy—friendship—in their subsequent texts.But he was no expert on relationships, and he feared he’d misread Riley.He’d seesawed back and forth the whole drive north—let her go—find a way to keep her, but after today, he knew he wouldn’t drive home solo.
Riley hadn’t followed her dreams.She wasn’t thriving.She was existing, and though he was probably the last man who should consider stepping up to act as a guide as she faced her past and her fears and her feelings, he was what she had.
Leveled the playing field.He was no prize.But he was loyal.Strong.Determined.And hers if she wanted.
Riley sighed heavily, but she didn’t take her gaze from the dark sky.Her sunflower-colored blouse with the embroidered daisies on it was soft, the fabric moving in the evening breeze and with each step she took.And the low cut of the blouse that had little tassels toggling it shut was hella distracting.Was she wearing a bra?He knew he shouldn’t be speculating about that now—plenty of time later when she got to know him and trust him.But she was no longer a teen on the cusp of becoming a woman.She was his wife.Legally.And a long way from where they’d need to be.
“I still love looking at the stars,” she said.“The last few years, I’ve gone out to the barn to sit on the top bar of the outdoor arena and just stare at the sky.I downloaded the app so I’d know what I was looking at, and sometimes when we’d text I wondered if you were able to carve out a moment to look at the sky and how different it must be.It still seems strange that what we see is impacted by the seasons and location.”She smiled, self-deprecatingly.“Science.”
“I downloaded the star gazing app you mentioned to me,” he admitted.“I’d look at what I was seeing when I could, but also what you were seeing in Montana.”
Her shy gaze skimmed his face, and she looked away.
He fought the urge to hold her hand.Was he a man who held a woman’s hand?He never had before.Maybe during his high school prom, which his maw-maw had insisted was a rite of passage, and they’d told him to invite a friend’s granddaughter from Whiskey River who had been a social pariah for reasons not her fault.It had been the most awkward night of his life, but the girl—Jeannie Dillon—had longed to go to a dance.So he’d asked, and she’d said yes and while dinner had been a silent affair, she had wanted to dance every dance, which had made the rest of the night easier.
As they walked, he continuously scanned the street, noting the families.The couples.The groups of cowboys—heading to the bar probably.Many shops were still lit up, and a crew was setting up for something over at the large downtown park that was dominated by a very official-looking lit-up courthouse.
“This town sure gets decked out for the rodeo,” he noted.
He’d seen the Graff Hotel as they’d walked to dinner.He’d commissioned a special necklace for Riley from an artist who showed their work in a boutique there, but now wouldn’t be a good time to pick it up.He wanted to surprise her, but wanted to pick his moment carefully.
“Last Stand’s Rodeo is Fourth of July weekend.It’s a big deal too,” he said, to keep the conversation going, hoping he’d learn enough about her to follow the breadcrumbs to her heart.But that meant he too had to open up.
He pushed aside his dismay and soldiered on.“This year my paw-paw had some crazy scheme for my cousins, but he needed a knee replacement—two actually—so the disaster in the making is delayed until next rodeo.”
Would he and Riley be there helping and laughing at seeing his cousins manipulated into some foolish plan of paw-paw’s to stave off the inevitable trends of the future?
“What kind of a scheme?”
Ah shoot.He should have kept his mouth shut, but maybe if she knew him… He scratched his thumb along his jawline, feeling dumb.
“He’s a retired orthopedic surgeon and on the board of directors for the local hospital.”No need to tell her his family name was the name of the hospital and that the orthopedic wing was named after his paw-paw whose father had been an orthopedic surgeon before him when the hospital had been little more than a clinic with one building and a few trailers and some Quonset huts that looked more like airplane hangars.
“It’s a great little historic town with a rich history—good place to raise a family.”Yeah he added that in.“It’s nestled in the Hill Country between two big cities—San Antonio and Austin—so it’s hard to get young physicians to settle in Last Stand.They want the bright lights and bigger money an urban hospital will offer.”
