Page 52 of Rainwater
The fresh tears were more than he could stand. “Ellie, I don’t like this.”
“Please,” she said brokenly as she shifted to sit next to him. “I promise I’ll tell her it was my idea not to call her.Please, please, please. I’m begging you.”
Some father he would make, Corey thought. A little pleading and a lot of tears, and he was considering doing something totally against his conscience. But he knew that it was right to call Jennifer.
“I have to call her and you can explain things. If she says you have to come home, then that’s it.”
She took a shuddering breath and nodded. “All right.” Pulling out her cell, she put the call through.
Ellie’s young, passionate voice must have convinced her mom. “She said maybe. She wants to talk to you.”
He took Ellie’s cell. “Jennifer?”
“That kid is going to be the death of me. What do you think?”
“I think she’s as brave as hell. She does only need one arm to rein the horse. But it’s up to you.”
There was silence on the other end of the line. Finally, Jennifer spoke. “All right. Let her ride. She derserves the chance. I’ll see you soon,” she said huskily.
Corey ended the call and nodded.
Ellie squealed and bounced on the bed.
“You get some sleep now.”
Ellie nodded and lay back against the pillows again. It didn’t take long before he heard her even breathing.
Her red hair was tousled, thick and rich on the pillow, her dark lashes like half-moons on her delicate cheeks. He knew without having to think about it that he loved her. He wanted to be there for her when she needed him. He wanted to soothe her tears when a stupid adolescent boy broke her heart. He wanted to nurture and teach her. He wanted the responsibility of her lifein his hands. A life he would cherish and hold right up against his heart.
And the painful realization that he couldn’t tore his heart to shreds. The fear he had lived with since he became an adult was too real, too near, always waiting to grab him unaware. What did he have to offer to either of these delicate souls? Jennifer, with her full giving heart and Ellie with her innocence and trust.
Unable to answer his own questions, he slept in the adjacent bed, because he needed to be fresh and alert for Ellie. He would be driving her home tomorrow and he needed his wits about him. Home to Jennifer. He couldn’t help it, he moaned out loud thinking about Jennifer, recalling the way her hands had kneaded his back. The softness of her mouth, the way she gasped and cried out when she found her release.
He hugged his pillow to him and pretended it was her and finally dropped into slumber.
The next thing he knew,it was morning and Ellie was shaking him and telling him she was hungry. They got dressed and started out for the motel diner. He checked Ellie’s cast.
Unlike yesterday morning, Ellie ate a hearty breakfast and even managed to chatter all the way through it. He enjoyed every minute of her breathless questions, smiled at the serious way she listened to his every word.
They got to the rodeo in plenty of time. As they walked over to the booth to get Ellie’s number, his arm loosely around her shoulders, he heard a voice from the past.
“Rainwater, is that you? I heard you turned yellow, so did you decide to ride in the baby rodeo?”
He turned around and faced the man, not noticing Ellie’s gasp and stiff posture.
Sonny Braxton. Once he had been great and on top, but now he was a drunken lout who didn’t have the manners of a goat. He had once been handsome, but excess living had put pounds on his body and carved deep grooves in his face. Pale blue eyes, glazed by alcohol, challenged Corey.
“Braxton, don’t you have anything better to do than hang around the junior championships?”
“My girl has a kid riding in this baby’s circus,” he said, his gaze shifting to Ellie. “Picking them up kinda young, Rainwater. You must be hard-up.”
Before Sonny could say another hateful word, Corey’s fist connected with his jaw and laid him out on the ground. With clenched teeth, Corey snapped, “Shut your filthy mouth, you poor excuse of a man. And stay out of my way.”
Corey turned around, grabbed Ellie by the arm and dragged her after him. When they reached the check-in booth, he finally noticed how pale she was. She looked as if she’d seen a ghost. He let his anger go and crouched until he was eye level with her. “What is it, honey? I’m sorry you had to see that.”
To his complete horror, she broke into sobbing tears. Her chest heaved with them, her eyes full of horror from something Corey couldn’t pinpoint.
He scooped her up and found a quiet spot near the fence where he cradled her against him, her number still in his hand. “Ellie, what’s wrong? Please tell me, little darlin’. The fighting upset you. Do you want me to take you home?”
