Heart Of A Cowboy (15 page)

“I guess they decided on their teams. Want to go be a cheerleader?” Becca laid the dish rag she'd used to clean the counter into the sink.

After scraping the onion pieces into the bowl, Jordan started on the celery. “I'm almost finished. You go ahead. If we arrive together, they'll want us to be on a team.”

“Yeah, you're probably right, except I doubt any of them would want me.” Becca patted her stomach. “I've really got to start exercising.” Before she left, she added, “Jordan, you're doing fine. A lot of homeschooling moms ask the
questions you are. Am I providing the best education? Am I missing anything? As you've been discovering, the Helping Hands Homeschooling group is a great place to get support and help. You aren't alone in doing this.”

Jordan sighed as Becca strolled from the kitchen toward the front of the house. She felt confident in her work as a graphic design artist and even felt good about the job she'd done raising Nicholas to be a responsible young man. But she still wrestled with what was best educationally for her son. It was a comfort to know that other parents went through the same dilemma.

After putting all the ingredients for the potato salad in the bowl, Jordan stirred them together then put the dish into the refrigerator. The scent of chocolate permeated the air and made her stomach gurgle with hunger. She took a few moments to clean up, trying to delay going outside as long as possible, but when Zachary appeared in the entrance, she knew she couldn't any longer.

“I came in to make sure you hadn't gotten lost finding your way outside.” He rested his shoulder against the door frame.

“No,” she said with a laugh. “I'll be there in a few minutes.”

“We kinda need you now.”

“Why?” She turned to face him fully, the mischievous sparkle in his eyes accelerating her heartbeat.

“Paul talked Becca into playing. We need another player to even out the teams. Mom and Dad are even participating.”

Placing her hand on her hip, she gave him a pout. “You know how I am when it comes to sports.”

“I know how you used to be. I'm not sure now.” The gleam in his expression brightened.

“Well, let me reassure you, I'm lousy at anything having
to do with a ball. And if I'm not mistaken soccer has one.”

Zachary closed the distance between them and grabbed her hand. “Come on. It's about time you got over your fear of being hit with a ball.”

“Hey, I've been hit with one and let me tell you it hurts.” As he urged her toward the front door, she tried to frown, but her mouth refused to cooperate. “How in the world did Paul talk Becca into playing?”

“I'm not one hundred percent positive, but I think it was something about if my mother could do it, she could, too.”

As Zachary dragged her laughing out of the house, Jordan decided playing a game of soccer could be fun—that was until she saw Zachary's mother. Her scowl darkened her eyes, and the older woman turned away. Jordan didn't know what would be worse, being on the same team as Mrs. Rutgers or the opposite one.

 

Later that day, the scent of hamburgers grilling saturated the fall air. A crisp breeze cooled the evening. A door shutting drew Zachary around. Jordan crossed the yard with a large platter.

“Becca said to put the burgers on this when they're done.” She placed it on a table near the barbecue grill and turned to leave.

He didn't want her to go. He hadn't talked to her much since the soccer game earlier. “Stay. Keep me company. You've been awfully quiet. That's not like you.”

“It's been a bit awkward.”

“Because of Mom?”

“You are perceptive.”

“Ouch. I think I hear a touch of sarcasm.” He began
flipping over the thick patties. “Mom hasn't said anything to you.”

“No. But…” She snapped her mouth closed and averted her gaze.

“But what?”

“It's obvious I'm not wanted here and that makes it uncomfortable. If we'd been playing football, I think she would have tackled me, and I was on her team.”

“Give her time.”

“You aren't the least bit angry at her for not telling you I called?”

Zachary set the spatula on the platter and faced Jordan. “I'm not happy it happened, but she thought she was doing what was best for me.”

She started to say something, shook her head and turned away. Walking to the edge of the patio, she stared at the horses in the pasture behind Becca's house. A strong urge to hold her and take away the hurt he'd seen flash into her eyes overwhelmed him. He stiffened, resisting Jordan's lure.

When she spun around, a neutral expression descended over her features. “Are you still mad at me?”

Was he? “No, not really. For Nicholas's sake, I let go of my anger. It doesn't do any good now, and like we talked about before, we need to be a team for our son.”

“Then I have a proposition for you. I think we should spend some time together alone getting to know each other better to see if we can find a common ground.”

“You want us to date?” The idea should have sent him into a panic. Surprisingly it made sense.

“No. Just two people getting to know each other better. For Nicholas's sake.”

“Sure. Do you have something in mind?”

“As a matter of fact, I do. How about next Friday afternoon? We'll have a picnic lunch. My treat.”

“Hey, Zachary, the burgers are smoking,” Becca yelled from the back door stoop.

He whirled around, snatched up the spatula and scooped up the patties before they became charred. Jordan had always had the ability of taking his mind off what he should be doing. What in the world had he agreed to?

 

“I want everything to be perfect today.” Jordan finished packing the picnic basket with a container of peach cobbler on Friday.

“Child, you're gonna need a forklift to pick that thing up.” Granny waved her hand toward the wicker basket.

“Didn't you tell me the way to a man's heart was through his stomach?”

“That I did. That's how I got your grandpa. Now with Doug, he cooks as good as I do. It's kinda nice having a man cook for me. In fact, we've got a date tonight.”

“You two are getting mighty serious.”

“We don't have the luxury of a long-drawn-out courtship. Time is a-ticking.” Granny snapped her fingers several times as she spoke. “Remember that, child. You don't have the luxury, either. You and your young man have been apart long enough. Nicholas needs a whole family.”

“I'm thinking about it.”

“So where are you going today?”

“To Miller Falls.”

“Ah, good thinking. Very romantic.”

That was what she was counting on. Miller Falls was one of the places they had gone to as teenagers. It held special memories for her, and she hoped for Zachary, too. If there was to be anything between them, maybe they would discover it there.

The doorbell chimed. Jordan hefted the basket from the table, leaned down and kissed Granny on the cheek then started toward the foyer. “Have a great time with Doug.”

Granny chuckled. “I will. And when I get back this evening, I want to hear all about your date.”

At the entrance into the kitchen Jordan glanced at her grandmother. “Shh. Don't say that. It's not a date.”

“Keep telling yourself that and maybe you'll really believe it.”

By the time she reached the foyer, Nicholas had opened the door and let Zachary inside. “Are we going to practice tomorrow during our riding lesson for HHH Junior Rodeo?”

“Yep. We have only a week to go.” Zachary tousled his son's hair.

Jordan set the heavy basket on the tile floor. “Don't forget your assignment for anatomy class. Aunt Rachel will be taking you this afternoon.”

“I've already done it.” He swung back to Zachary. “Dad, don't leave yet. I've got something for you.” He raced up the stairs.

“Do you know what?” Zachary asked.

“You've never been good about surprises.”

“You aren't, either.”

“I've got a pretty good idea, but I'm not telling.”

He frowned but didn't put much into the expression. “Is where we're going a surprise?”

She gestured toward the basket at her feet. “We're going on a picnic.”

“Where?”

“Sorry. My lips are sealed.”

Nicholas hurried down the stairs with a manila envelope in his hand. When he gave it to Zachary, her son thrust his shoulders back and lifted his chin. “I wrote this.”

Zachary started to open the envelope.

“No, read it later.” A blush stained her child's cheeks.

“Okay,” Zachary said slowly, glancing between them. “Are you ready?”

She nodded.

He picked up the basket and stepped out onto the porch.

When she joined him outside, she stopped him with a hand on his arm. “I'm driving.”

“Are you going to blindfold me, too?”

“What a great idea! Then where we're going will really be a surprise. Let me go back inside—” she pivoted toward the front door “—and get a scarf to use.”

“By the time you get back out here, I'll be halfway down the street heading home.”

With both hands on her hips, she faced him. “You aren't playing fair.”

“I really don't like surprises.”

“Okay, no blindfold, but I'm still driving.”

“Then you'll have to use my truck. It's parked behind yours in the driveway.” He descended the porch steps and tied down the basket in the back of his pickup.

When Jordan approached the driver's door, he tossed her the keys and rounded the front to slide into the passenger's seat. She backed out onto the street and headed toward the highway outside of town.

“You're the first person I've let drive my truck.”

“I am?” She glanced at his white-knuckled grip on the handhold above the side window.

“Yep, and I still have two years of payments left on it.”

She laughed. “Are you, in your not-so-subtle way, telling me I better not have a wreck?”

“Yes, ma'am.”

“Then why did you let me drive?” The idea he had warmed her.

“I thought it was time.”

At a stop sign, she fixed her attention fully on Zachary. “Time for what?”

“To give you a little trust.”

“With your truck?”

“With my life.”

Their gazes locked together. Jordan couldn't look away. Her throat contracted, and suddenly she wished they were anywhere but on a road waiting to pull out onto the highway. A blare of a horn behind her startled her. She dragged her attention away from Zachary and faced forward.

“To reassure you, I haven't had a wreck or a ticket. I'm a very good driver, but if I remember correctly when we were going together, you had one wreck and two tickets for speeding.”

“But not in years. I'm a changed man.”

Yes, he was different. More serious. Reserved. And when she caught a certain glimpse of Zachary when he wasn't looking, she saw a hint of tragedy in his eyes. Was she the one who had put it there? Or was it someone or something else?

After traveling five minutes north on the highway, Zachary said, “I know where we going. The south end of Prairie Lake.”

“Nope.”

She continued past the entrance to the park he mentioned. Another ten minutes and she turned down a narrow two-lane road.

“Miller Falls,” Zachary murmured almost as if to himself.

“Yep. I thought it would be nice to visit somewhere we
had good times at. We didn't just date. We were friends. I want us to capture that again.”

“Is that the truth?”

The skepticism in his question hurt. “Yes. Part of the reason we broke up eleven years ago was because we stopped communicating with each other. We both got wrapped up in our own world and forgot the other's. You spent that last summer going to rodeos, and I went to the Sooner Art Institute for a month.”

“I remember. We saw each other in passing until the middle of August. I was trying to make some money to help us get started.”

“I know but every time you rode in the ring I could hardly breathe until you were finished. There were times I wouldn't even watch. As you got more and more involved in bull riding, I got more scared.”

“Why didn't you say anything to me?”

Jordan pulled into a small gravel parking lot not far from the creek and waterfall. Angling toward Zachary, she looked right at him. “Because you loved doing it. I didn't want to be the one to take that away from you. I thought if I got away and could get some perspective on our situation it would be okay.”

“Then we fought and broke up.”

“You didn't understand my art and I didn't understand your need to participate in rodeos. I didn't like football, but I would have preferred you taking that football scholarship offered to you.”

One corner of his mouth lifted. “Don't tell anyone around here, but I didn't care that much about playing football. I certainly didn't want to in college.”

“No, your heart was somewhere else. So why didn't you just go on the rodeo circuit rather than join the army?”

He stared out the windshield, his mouth lashing into
a tight-lipped grimace. “I was a fool. I started going out with the guys, partying. Anything to forget you. Two of us enlisted after drinking. I thought if I could see the world some, get away from Oklahoma and all the memories, even the rodeo, that everything would be all right. When I realized my mistake thinking that, it was too late. I was in basic training. I haven't drank since then.”

“How many years were you in the army?”

“Four. I got some training, I saw the world and I went to school.” He opened the door, hopped to the ground and reached back to get the basket.

She knew after he'd left the army that he'd become a professional bull rider for five years and was world champion for three straight years before his accident. Although she couldn't bring herself to watch that video again, she did watch others where he'd ridden to victory. Seeing him talk after getting his first world championship helped her to understand a little of the lure of what he did. His face had shown excitement and a sense of accomplishing something important, the same expression she'd seen when he had finished his ride and left the ring.