Page 66 of Ride Me Cowboy

My fingers tighten on the wheel again, as memories slam into me. “What you don’t know is how bad it was. Broken arm, dislocated shoulder bone, cracked ribs.” I say, grimacing internally at the thought. “Don’t get me wrong, I know life out here don’t come with guarantees. Every time we get on a horse or rope down a mustang, I know there are risks. But bull riding is a whole other story. These guys, sometimes it feels like they’re putting themselves out there just looking to be hurt.”

“I’m sure that’s not the case.”

“You have no idea what it’s like, watching someone you love get shook around like that.” I stare straight ahead, frowning a little. “Beau was damn good at it, though. One of the best I’ve ever seen. He has this way about him—damn spooky, to be honest—of almost becoming one with the bull. Even in the chute, it’s like he’s speaking to them. They move like they’re thinking the same thing.”

“That sounds kind of…incredible.”

I jerk my head once. “Yeah, it is that. But even Beau got thrown his fair share. The last time, with his head being hit the way it was, my dad put his foot down. Told him if he got back on a bull, he could forget being part of this family.”

She lets out a low whistle. “You don’t think that’s kind of harsh?”

“It had to be, to get through to Beau. There’s only one thing he loves more than bull riding, and that’s this ranch.”

“And his family,” she says, gently, then, more thoughtfully, “What about Austin?”

“What about him?”

“Well, a Navy SEAL isn’t exactly a low-risk job.”

“True. But it’s important.”

She nods slowly. “Yeah.”

“I hate it, every time Austin gets deployed. We know we’re saying goodbye for what could be the last time. But the work he does, the lives he saves, what he stands for, it all matters, you know? Whereas with Beau, it’s just reckless for the sake of it.”

I turn us away from the river, to crest up another hill, over the top of it, and back down.

“I have no idea where we are,” she says, a small smile on her lips, as she lets the topic of Beau drop. “Is this all your land?”

For now.“The ranch extends almost to the edge of Goodnight.”

Her brows shoot up. “I had no idea it was so big.”

“One of the biggest in the area—one of the oldest, too. The Donovans were one of the first ranching families to put down roots out here.”

“I did get a sense of that,” she says, smiling.

“Yeah, it’s been us and the Callahans just about as long as anyone around here can remember.” I pull the truck to a stopand cut the engine. “My ancestors helped build the town, as it is now. It was my great, great grandfather who set up the school, his wife the church. And, legend has it, the town was named in his honor, after he passed.”

“Goodnight?” she asks, crinkling her nose. Looking adorable. “That was his name?”

I grin. “Last word he ever said.”

She laughs at that. “Seriously?”

“That’s the story. You disappointed?”

“No. It’s sweet.” She reaches out, puts her hand on my knee, tentatively. “You’re so much a part of this. It’s so much a part of you.”

I glance across the plains, toward one of the biggest trees on the property. “Yeah.” My voice is roughened by feeling. I don’t want to lose even one square inch of this place, even to the Callahans, who I know would do right by it. By us. “I guess you could say that.”

“It must be incredibly grounding, to have somewhere that really feels like home, deep in your bones.”

“You don’t?”

She gnaws on her lip, thinking that through. “I mean, I’m sure I will,” she says, slowly. “But I can’t really imagine going back to our apartment. I thought…I think I’ll buy somewhere else.”

I hate how tentative she sounds, though. How uncertain. I’ve only known Beth a few weeks, but I feel like I really doknowher, like I understand her, and I just instinctively get that she wasn’t always like this.