Page 19 of Ash on the Range (Red Hart Ranch #6)

I squinted at the spot she pointed to, but all I saw was a dark silhouette on the wrong side of the light from where I stood. “I’ll have to trust you. Is Jude riding?” I asked curiously, looking back at Will, who shrugged.

“Hell, no. I’m keeping my feet on Red Hart dirt. Will’s the one who likes to get air time around here.”

Jude stood behind us when I swiveled about, peeking around Will’s bulk. The foreman gave me a quick wink, but maintained his customary unsmiling facade. I’d learned that was his usual exterior, and smiles were rare from him, but that didn’t mean he was grumpy.

“Speaking of,” Will dipped his head and kissed the slope of my neck, leaving tiny shocks tearing across my skin. “I have to go.”

“What, now?” Already? But I just found you, I wanted to protest. Instead, I bit my lip and nodded. “Be safe?” I offered.

Will laughed. “That’s a first. Usually it’s, ‘try to stay on the bull, Will,’ or some other variation.”

I wrinkled my nose. “I’ll take you not getting hurt again over making points, big guy. And come back to me?” an ache of desperation rose in my chest, and that last came out so soft that I barely heard my own words. I was pretty sure that he wasn't above the crowd.

“Yeah?” His chin brushed my cheek, grazing my skin with stubble, lifting my face to his.

I had time for part of a breath before his mouth was on mine in an all consuming kiss before his hands left me and the contact was broken.

When he stepped away from me, the satisfaction in his eyes left me on a slow burn inside.

“I’ll find you after, okay? Stay with Eve. ”

“I’ve got her,” Eve said after a moment, when I couldn't answer for myself.

I nodded instead, wiggling my fingers. My arms wrapped about my waist as I watched Will walk away, and suddenly I’d never felt so alone in a crowd of people. Travis began to talk, introducing the riders before their first event, but I didn’t hear more than a few muted words.

The girls converged on me. We huddled by the railing off to one side of the tiered seating as the boys all lined up.

I spotted a few of the newer ranch hands in there, alongside Will, who stood close to the centre, alongside Denver, decked out all in black top to toe.

A huge cheer erupted from the crowd in front of Red Hart’s big house as someone played Slade’s Cum On Feel The Noize while the boys walked off stage.

Travis rattled on, thanking the locals for coming and the businesses who had donated their time and effort. I turned out again, watching Will leave the center of the arena.

“Does anyone know what order they come in?” I asked the air in general, not really expecting an answer.

A piece of paper in Eve’s handwriting was presented to me by two thick, calloused fingers.

“Here’s one someone else prepared for you earlier.” I could hear the smirk in his voice, even if I knew it wouldn’t be visible on his face.

“Thank you.” I took the list, tracing my finger to the bottom of the row to find Will’s name.

Last.

“Wow.” I had to wait all night just to see him ride.

“It’ll be okay. Here.” Natalie pushed a premixed can into my hands. “Everything is better with vodka.”

I grinned, cracking it open. “I mean, I can't argue with that.” Something sweet clashed with something else citrusy that argued with my taste buds the whole way down. I grimaced at my enthusiasm from a moment before but relished the light burn. Eve had been right; I was a college student after all. We had moonshine in the dorms that I swore was single handedly responsible for the bald patch on one leg that never required shaving. “It’s good,” I managed, trying not to gag on the sweetness overwhelm.

Natalie watched me with a shrewd eye. “Or maybe the girl just wants her vodka straight.”

“Sure.” I gave her a thumbs up and she nodded decisively, disappearing back into the crowd.

Eve shook her head. “Drinking with Nat is dangerous,” she laughed softly. “I should know.”

“I sense a story there.” I hugged her shoulder, passing over the can of premix. “Do you want this? I don’t think I can stomach it.”

Eve made a face. “Hell, no. I’m a whiskey girl. Besides, I kinda can’t…” She pressed a hand to her stomach where I'd seen her wince in the kitchen once before.

I stared at her hand for a moment before the hint dropped and my eyebrows hiked. “Is that? Are you– I—” I glanced back at Jude who watched me with his standard stoic expression, giving away absolutely nothing at all. “You knew,” I accused him, giving her a hug.

“Yep.” He watched the first rider come out as the ground rumbled and music played.

I knew it wasn’t Will, so I ignored everything. “This is your Texas man?” I asked Eve. “Does he know?” Suddenly, all the midnight calls and early morning texts made a whole lot more sense.

She shook her head. “No. I haven’t told him yet.” The crowd oohed around us just before the buzzer rang.

“And that’s Sammy Littlefield not quite making the full eight seconds on his ride. No points scored. Next up is a rider from Red Hart's own, Reggie Carson. He hails from the north and speaks like he’s from the south…” Travis continued on with Reggie's biography as I stared at Eve.

“You haven’t told him,” I repeated, frowning.

“Why not?” A little voice inside my head told me that it wasn’t my business, but right now after all the hours I spent with Eve, and seeing her here, all the worry she’d had on her face, all the worry we all had for her over the past weeks, I figured that maybe I kinda earned the right.

Maybe. Maybe not. She could tell me to go to hell right now and I’d shut up and watch the boys ride.

Eve’s face tightened. “I’m scared,” she whispered.

I thought she whispered. I read her lips, and my stomach rolled over on itself. Behind me, Reggie made it out of the Shute before he ate dirt.

“Scared of your man?” I couldn't stop asking questions. “Has he hurt you?”

Will said they had a history I didn’t know about. Usually, I let people tell me things and never pried. I figured trust worked that way. But this time, it seemed serious enough to ask. To make sure the woman who had kinda mentored me for the last weeks and opened her home to me was safe.

Eve smiled and it was genuine. “It’s okay, Cassie. He won’t ever do that. It’s just—I’ve lost a pregnancy before. Months ago. Both were unplanned. Both his,” she whispered. “What scares me is the future. How much time is between now and when he’s here, and who I’ll be when he arrives.”

I gripped her hands tight. “If that man loves you like you love him, then nothing will stop him, Eve. And no matter what happens, he will love you for who you are. No matter what,” I repeated, squeezing her hands.

She nodded, her face drawn, but she did squeeze back. Behind us, Jude made a noise of approval.

I hadn't known that I wanted or needed his support until that moment, but it felt good to know he had m=our backs.

Natalie squeezed between us, holding out glass bottles with black labels. “I couldn't find vodka,” she apologized, “so you get tequila doubles instead. Cheers!” She lifted hers to her lips and took a healthy slug.

Eve and I exchanged glances across the tiny woman's head.

“Told you. Dangerous,” Eve mouthed to me.

I shook my head, bemused, and took a sip. My tastebuds sang, and I knew just how much sugar was in that drink to make it palatable enough to hide the alcohol content. Dangerous indeed. I’d had to watch it or I’d be on my ass before Will finished his ride.

Eight bulls and two tequilas later, my skin was either too warm or too numb as I watched the next rider out of shute to Billy Idol’s Rebel Yell.

We sang along until my throat went raw, cheering away.

Then Denver was up. His bull burst from the shute, already in midair before the metal gate was all the way clear.

A gasp rang out around the arena, and I started counting automatically in my head. Three. Four. five. His hand waved above his head, not touching anything, and I knew he’d make the bell. Six . Denver sat tall, moving with his bull, a sweet little thing called Cloudburst. Seven. Eight.

The buzzer rang out as Denver made his eight seconds, and slid off his bucking bull like it was the easiest thing in the world. He took a few quick steps and walked across the arena to the fence nearest the crowd, hoisting himself up as he high fived the rodeo clown.

I watched Heath, the resident Aussie on circuit, in his colorful garb and shorts that marked him as a non-rider, round the bull up.

His arms were spread wide as he herded the still bucking and kicking animal, despite that his rider had long departed, back to the other side of the arena where the bulls existed.

“Will’s up next,” Jude gave my shoulder a quick squeeze and withdrew his hand, leaning in to murmur something to Natalie.

A second later her vodka disappeared, and she snuggled into his chest, giggling as she faded into the darkness behind the stands. A pang of loneliness struck my chest, then Travis was introducing Will from his place above everything.

I stared at the shute, trying to make out Will’s black shirt and aqua chaps, but the bright light that should have made everything so visible did the opposite, obscuring everything instead.

Hells Bells by AC/DC played loud and clear as Will’s shute pulled up. His bull didn't burst out like Denver’s ride had. It kind of stood there, like its batteries had worn out. I risked a glance at the paper that the judge had drawn up for me, searching for the bull’s name.

Lazybones.

I huffed a laugh, looking back up at Will where he made a show of kicking the bull with his heels and humping up and down to make it go. The crowd laughed, and I grimaced on his behalf but as always, will take the mishap in his metaphorical stride.

“Okay, we’re going to try that one again.” Travis shifted in his spot as the shute went back down, considering the bull hadn't moved in the first place. “Does anyone think we should give our last rider of the night another go?”

The crowd roared as Travis revved them into a frenzy, and music slammed my eardrums. Someone on the fence will give a thumbs up.

“Aright. Someone gave our resident dust bather a quarter and we’ve got some action going.

Let’s give Will Kirk and Lazybones another round of applause because we say they’re ready to ride!

” Music blitzed the field as the shute opened and lazybones and Will shot out of the opening in a picture perfect entry to the arena.

Dust flew from beneath the bull's hooves, Will’s aqua fringed chaps visible from every angle. His back was straight, one hand perfectly in the air. I half wished I’d brought Eve’s camera with me for this moment, then remembered to count.

One. Will’s bull twisted and turned in spectacular style. If he stayed on, he’d score as well as Denver for this ride.

Two. His seat shifted with Lazybones who tore about the arena, as determined to dislodge his rider as Will was to stay aboard his bull.

A leap, a buck. For a moment the pair hung together in a perfect suspension of dust and sweat, arms and legs extended in a picture perfect finish.

Three.

Will hit the ground before his bull and tasted Red Hart dirt.