Page 10 of Headstrong Cowboy (Montana’s Rodeo Cowboys #2)

T he foyer of the Graff was busy when Ryder came down to meet Chrissy.

He was looking forward to their evening together.

He’d enjoyed spending the afternoon with her.

She’d mainly shown him the greenhouses and how they produced flowers during the cold months.

When she’d shown him the rows of roses, he’d looked around, trying to see if there was a hint of anything that was familiar and matched the background of the one photo he had—there hadn’t been, but that didn’t mean there wasn’t.

This part of the land may not have been where his mother had been standing.

There were still lots of neighboring properties where the picture could’ve been taken.

He’d just been hoping the flower farm was the place.

Although Chrissy hadn’t shown him the whole of the farm, so there may still be a chance that the tree his mother posed under was on the Bloom land.

“Ryder Chamberlain, is that you?”

Everything in Ryder froze as he recognized the voice of one of the guys he’d competed with. “Scott, good to see you. How are you?”

He shook the other man’s hand, determined not to show that he wished he were anywhere other than talking to him.

“Great. I heard about your injury and retirement. That sucks, man. The circuit won’t be the same without you.”

Ryder nodded, unable to say anything else.

Perhaps he should’ve left town after he realized the rodeo was coming up soon, so that he wouldn’t run into people he didn’t want to see.

He could’ve come back after it was over and commenced with his plan.

But he hadn’t, and here he was, so he had to suck it up.

“Listen, it was good to see you, but I’m meeting someone and I’m running late. ”

“No problem. See you at rodeo.”

“Not if I can help it,” he muttered under his breath. He was planning on staying as far away as possible from the fairgrounds and the events leading up to it.

What about Chrissy? Don’t you want to dance with her at the barbecue leading up to the rodeo? Watch her compete? Help her celebrate her win?

He ignored those questions, especially the one about her winning.

It would be a bittersweet moment for him.

Tonight might end up being a disaster, and he wouldn’t want to see her again.

Ryder mentally scoffed at that. He anticipated that their date was going to be one of the best ones he’d had, but he would deal with her competing later because the woman consuming his thoughts stood in front of him in a pretty pink dress with matching colored cowboy boots.

A white denim jacket was folded over her arm.

Chrissy took his breath away, and he was glad that he hadn’t suggested she come up to his room to meet him, because he might’ve done something he hadn’t done in a very long time—dragged her inside and got intimately acquainted with her body.

“Hey,” she said softly, clearly nervous.

“Hey yourself.” He closed the distance between them and, without thinking, brushed his lips across her cheek. “You look beautiful.” He never would’ve picked her as someone who wore pink, especially pink cowboy boots, but the color suited her perfectly.

“Thank you. You look handsome as well.”

Ryder glanced down at his jeans, wishing now he’d taken the time to wear something other than denim. At least his white button-down shirt looked smart. “Thanks.” He adjusted his black hat and crooked his elbow. “Shall we?”

Chrissy slipped her arm through his. A flowery scent drifted up to his nose, and he had to stop himself from burying his face in her neck to see if it was her perfume, shampoo, or body lotion that smelled so heavenly.

He could’ve easily gotten the valet to get his car so they could drive to the diner, but, as the distance was short, it seemed a waste of time and energy.

Not to mention, he’d already suggested that they walk.

Although perhaps Chrissy had changed her mind and her car was waiting for them.

After all, she would’ve driven herself to town for their date.

He scanned the area as they exited the hotel, but didn’t see a car waiting. “Did you park somewhere?” he asked.

“My sister Tilly lives in town. I drove to her place and left my car there, then walked here. It wasn’t far.”

“You’re happy walking to the diner? If not, I can drive us.”

Chrissy tightened her arm around his. “It’s a beautiful night for a walk. Perhaps afterward, we can for a walk along the river. Or something.”

The fact she was thinking of ways to prolong their date pleased Ryder. “Sounds like a plan.”

The town was buzzing with people, and many of them smiled and said hello to Chrissy while giving him a curious look as they walked past. Chrissy returned their greetings and if she noticed their glances in his direction, she didn’t say anything, nor did she stop to introduce him.

Before he was ready for their stroll to be over, they arrived at the diner, and Ryder held the door open for her. The place was busy, but they were quickly shown to a booth with menus placed in front of them.

“What’s good here?” he asked once they were alone as he picked up the laminated sheet listing the meals available.

“Everything,” Chrissy responded with a smile.

“That’s helpful.”

“Please... you knew exactly where this place is, so you’ve been here before,” she admonished him with a teasing glint in her eyes.

Ryder shrugged. “True, I have, but it was a while ago. Things might have changed since then.” One look at the menu would suggest nothing had changed since he’d been there a few years ago when he’d last competed at the rodeo.

“The chicken fried steak special is good. So is the meat loaf. I’m going with the special.”

“Then I’ll have the meat loaf, and we can try each other’s meals.”

“I like that idea.”

The server arrived and took their food and drink orders. While they waited, Ryder controlled the desire to reach across the table and take Chrissy’s hand in his. To have a connection with her.

What was going on with him?

He’d been attracted to many women in the past, but his lifestyle had never been conducive to a long-term relationship. Not to mention the danger of his occupation had him keeping women at arm’s length.

What would he have done if he’d met Chrissy while he’d still been competing?

Would he have worked harder to make a relationship between them work?

She must have competed in rodeos in the past. Someone didn’t have the skills she had on the back of a horse by just going around barrels a few times.

She would understand how stressful it could be, traveling from one rodeo to another.

The trials of clawing your way to the top of the sport.

It had taken him years to get sponsorships and endorsements, not to mention winnings, to give him a reasonable lifestyle.

“What brings you to Marietta, Ryder?” Chrissy asked, drawing him away from the thoughts of his past.

How did he answer that one? He couldn’t say he was there to reclaim what had been taken from his family. Was Chrissy even aware of who owned the land she lived on before her? Surely there was someone in town who remembered the Munro family. His mom. Did he want to open that can of worms?

He didn’t know, so it was best he keep his reasons as vague as possible, but close to the truth at the same time. “I’m looking for some property.”

A flicker of emotion flared in Chrissy’s eyes but was gone with a blink, as if she knew that he’d been at her place to scope out the possibility of buying it. Not that she’d know that, because if she did, she wouldn’t be sitting in front of him.

“What are you going to do with it?” she asked, after their drinks had been delivered and they were alone again.

“What most people do in Montana—ranching. Ideally, I’d like to buy a ranch that is already established, but if I can’t, I’ll start off with some land and then, hopefully, I can expand and buy up property around me.

” Again, not completely untrue. All he’d left out was that he wanted to reclaim his family property.

Although, doing so would put a few people out of their homes and that made him uncomfortable. No matter how much he could afford to give them, he was still taking away the very thing they’d spent their lives working on.

Was he any better than the people who’d taken the land from his family?

That idea didn’t sit well with him, but he also wanted to do something to honor his mother. To fulfill her wish. He may not remember much about her, but he could do this. Who knows what their life might have been like if she hadn’t died when he was so young?

Chrissy looked away for a moment before looking back at him, the corner of her mouth caught between her teeth. “I, um... after I saw you at Riley’s farm, I looked you up on the internet. I know you were a champion bull rider. I’m sorry you got injured and had to retire.”

As always, the shaft of disappointment and sadness over the loss of his career stabbed him deep in the gut, but he breathed through it. He had a different purpose now. “Thank you. It’s an adjustment.”

“I’m sure. Is that why you want to get a ranch?”

Their food arrived, halting their conversation, and after a few mouthfuls, Ryder put his fork down and answered her question.

“In a way. I grew up on a ranch in Texas, so it’s something I’ve wanted to do.

I kind of fell into bull riding and rodeos and so I put being a rancher on the back burner, but always knew I’d get to it eventually. ”

He didn’t mention that the ranch he’d grown up on had been a place where troubled foster kids had been sent.

Now that he was older and could look back on his life, Ryder admitted that he’d been a handful in the homes he’d been placed in.

He had been an angry kid and wore it like a badge of honor.

The second he’d stepped out of the car at that ranch in Texas and had seen all the open space around him, the restlessness that bubbled inside of him settled, and he’d become a different boy than the one who’d lived in Dallas.

“Why didn’t you buy some land in Texas to create your ranch?”

A perfectly reasonable question, and one that Ryder would’ve asked himself, if the roles had been reversed.

But he still found it difficult to talk about because he didn’t want to be treated differently by Chrissy.

And he had a feeling that once she knew how much he was worth, she might change how she looked at him and treated him.

You’re making assumptions you have no right to make. Chrissy might not even blink when she hears what you have to tell her. Maybe you could even tell her the reason why you’re interested in buying her family farm.

He took what his conscience was telling him, but he ignored it. “I did have some land in Texas, but it didn’t work out for ranching.”

“Oh, why is that? Not big enough? Which doesn’t make sense, seeing as, according to the saying, ‘everything is bigger in Texas,’” she finished with a wink.

Ryder laughed. “This is true. But, no, it was plenty big enough. It was just that underneath the soil was where the riches lay.”

He let Chrissy muddle over what he said as the server came and refilled their drinks. He saw the moment it clicked in her mind. “Oil?” she asked, her eyes wide.

“Yep.”

“A lot?”

“Enough that I had a side career to my rodeo one.” Ryder cut off a piece of his meatloaf and held it out for Chrissy to try, wanting to change the subject. “Here, I believe we were going to be sharing?”

“That is true.” If she noticed his deliberate change of subject, she didn’t say anything. Instead, she accepted the meat loaf, then cut a bit of her chicken fried steak off and scooped up some mashed potato. “Can’t have one without the other,” she quipped.

“Definitely.”

It was meant to be a simple exchange of food, but it became something more.

Both of them leaned forward and held on to the hand holding the fork, their gazes locked together as they took the offered food, watching each other chew slowly.

Even though the forks were empty, they maintained the physical connection with each other.

What would she do if he leaned further over and kissed her?

The burning need to follow through singed his skin, and he had to force himself to break the contact and sit back in his chair in an attempt to put as much distance between them as possible.

“Delicious,” he murmured.

“Yes,” Chrissy whispered.

They finished the rest of the meal in silence, and Ryder was grateful that he hadn’t had to go into too much detail about the fortune that had come his way due to a quirk of fate.

He’d tell her, eventually. Like he’d tell her he was potentially going to buy her family property and what his connection to it was.