Her Rodeo Cowboy (16 page)

M
ontana maneuvered her trailer into a parking spot at the back of the lot. She was here. It had been a pretty good drive from Mule Hollow to Stephenville. Hopping from the cab, she jogged to the back of the trailer, anxious to get Murdock unloaded so she could head up to the announcer's box to check out the order of events and see where they had her in the lineup. She knew the barrels would be toward the end of the rodeo, most likely right before the bull competition.

“Hey, big fella,” she said, as she led Murdock from the trailer. He pawed the ground as soon as he was outside. This felt great. A group of young cowgirls walking by were laughing and having a great time. Their excited voices rang out as they went. It reminded her of when she'd competed during high school. Back in the days when she was determined to be the best barrel racer there had ever been.

The thought made her smile as she headed toward the announcer's box. She had been so young back then.

She wondered what Luke was doing. Her mind had drifted to him at random moments throughout her drive. He was never far from her thoughts. Several times she even pulled her cell phone out to call him. But she didn't.

In Mule Hollow, she wouldn't be able to reach him with her cell phone, but now she knew they were only a call away from each other.

She wondered if he'd thought about calling her.

Happy with the next-to-last spot on the list, she left the building, heading back toward Murdock and nearly jumped out of her boots when her phone rang. It hadn't rung the entire time that she'd been in Mule Hollow. The service was so bad in the tiny town that she'd even stopped carrying it. She'd only attached it to her belt because she'd been traveling.

“Hello,” she said without glancing at the caller ID.

“Montana, this is your father.”

She froze. She didn't know what to do. A slow internal vibration seemed to start deep inside of her as the anger and betrayal she'd been suppressing coiled more tightly.

“Hi.” Amazingly, her voice didn't shake. There was no emotion at all. Her fingers tightened in conjunction with her insides, despite the emotional onslaught. It was hard calling him Daddy when she was so sick at heart. Her stomach rolled at the sound of his voice, though a part of her longed for all of what had transpired to go away. Longed for things to be back to normal.

Her mother was moving forward. Strange that she'd
seemed better able to handle her father's betrayal than Montana was.

“Montana, when are you coming back home and taking your responsibility to this company seriously? I understand you took a few weeks off to come to terms with what's happened. But it's time for you to get back to work. People are depending on you.”

There was no remorse or apology. There was only family responsibility—
her
family responsibility. None of his. She gritted her teeth and held back the high boil of her temper, counting to three—no way could she have made it to ten!

“Dad, I'm not coming back.” It felt good, as the words came out sure and true.

“Montana…”

“Dad, I chose accounting for you and I can't do it any longer.”

“Montana, you are taking what has happened between your mother and me far too personally. You are using it as an excuse to relinquish your responsibilities.”

“No, Dad, I'm not. It's just time for me to do what
I
want.”

Silence filled the space between them. In her mind's eye, she could see her father's lips flatten out in displeasure. She'd never liked seeing that look on his face. She'd always tried to make him smile, even at the expense of not doing what she wanted. It hit her, looking back, how selfish her father was.

“It's time for you to grow up, Montana. I've built this firm for you to take over someday. It's time for
you to come back here and act responsible in front of the employees. I've been patient. Your mother and I are moving on. It's time for you to understand that. It's time for you to put this cowgirl nonsense out of your mind and come back here and tend to your responsibilities. And I mean now.” Then the line went dead. Her father had made his demands and then hung up on her.

Montana just stood there in disbelief, holding the phone to her ear. Closing her eyes, she tried to calm down. She wished Luke was near so she could talk to him. Wished she could feel his reassuring embrace.

After all that her dad had done…after all the pain he'd inflicted on his family, he had called her dream nonsense? Told her she was being selfish?

Her dreams weren't nonsense. They weren't worthless.

“You okay?” a cowboy asked as he was passing by. “You look like you're going to pass out.”

Montana gave him a tight smile. “I'm fine. Thanks.”

He grinned. “Nerves will do that to you sometimes. Take a few breaths before you get out there, and you'll be fine.”

Montana smiled and watched the pleasant cowboy head inside. Missing Luke all the more, she turned and headed back to get Murdock ready.

You have to forgive your dad, Montana. For your own good.
Luke's words came back to her as she went. Her dad, so selfish and self-centered…and she was supposed to forgive him?

Let go of the bitterness. Choose who you want to be.

Montana stopped cold in her tracks. She was stand
ing on the sidewalk before the parking lot, and it hit her—she didn't want to be angry anymore.

She didn't want her life to be dictated by her father or the anger she felt toward him.

She wanted to be the woman God had intended her to be. She wanted to let it go and be free of the heavy weight she'd been carrying around on her shoulders. It was unbelievable!

She needed to talk to Luke. She dialed his number, noticing a cowboy moving toward her from the direction where her truck was parked. He moved with a familiar gait. His hat shadowed his face, his dark hair curled from beneath it, and she knew… “Luke!” she called, beginning to walk toward the cowboy. She knew it was him. “Luke!” she exclaimed, knowing him anywhere. Her heart knew him, too, and lunged against her chest.

Realizing he might not see her for the cars splattered across the parking lot, she started running. Dashing off the sidewalk, she emerged from behind a trailer into the open. She waved as she ran, so excited to see him. “Luke—”

She never saw the truck blasting from around the corner of the building…until she heard the squeal of its brakes…

 

“Montana, can you hear me?” Luke couldn't think straight as he knelt beside her. She'd been looking at him when the truck came plowing around the corner. It stopped before it ran over her, but there had been
contact. Montana was thumped hard by the truck, and sent flying to the pavement.

“Man, I'm sorry! I didn't see her.”

Luke looked up at the young cowboy who'd jumped from the truck and was about to pass out with worry.

Montana started to sit up, but Luke held her down. “Stay down,” he commanded, as she looked straight at him.

“What are you doing here?” she asked.

“I came to see you ride, and you almost killed yourself in front of me?”

“Do I need to call the paramedics?” the cowboy asked, hopping from one boot to the other. “She's bleeding. See her arm—oh, man, oh, man it's bleeding. And she hit her head on the truck before she fell.”

“No, I can get u—”

“Please call them,” Luke cut her off, looking at her scraped hands and the tear in her jeans. This was worse than the time she fell off of Murdock. And she'd hit her head on the hood when she buckled forward. Luke was glad her eyes seemed clear. He didn't think the hit had been that hard, but they weren't taking any chances. “You stay put,” he said when Montana tried to sit up again.

“I'm fine. I'll be ready to ride here in just a little while. I need to sit up and talk to you. I'm so glad you're here.”

That sent a thrill racing through him. “You were hit by a truck, Montana, so don't move.”

She gave him a dazzling smile as she looked up at him. “Okay, whatever you say.”

Her easy agreement had him worrying about a concussion. He didn't see any lump forming on her forehead, so maybe she'd hit it harder than he thought.

“Does your head hurt?” he asked, leaning closer, to see if there was an injury of some kind that he was missing.

“Nope. I love you, Luke.”

Her words froze him. He knelt beside her and he couldn't move. “You said you loved me? Just how many of me do you see?” he asked, figuring she'd had something knocked loose.

A slow smile spread over her face. “I see one of you, but I think you're worth twenty.”

The crowd that had formed around them oohed over that statement, and he had to chuckle. “Okay, where's Montana Brown?” he asked, as the rodeo paramedics drove up in their ambulance and hopped out.

For the next twenty minutes Montana entertained the crowd and the paramedics. He was surprised when they bandaged up a few cuts and let her go.

“You'll probably be pretty sore tomorrow,” one of them said, “but it's a wonder nothing was broken.” They drove them over to her trailer and Luke helped her out. Then she waved to the paramedics as they drove off.

“Whew, I'm glad that's over,” she said, winking at him.

Unable to hold back any longer, he pulled her carefully into his arms. “Montana, you scared me senseless.”

She laid her head on his chest. “Sorry. I got a little
reckless when I saw you. But you were supposed to be with Colt.” She hugged him hard.

He pushed a loose strand of hair behind her ear and kissed her forehead. Thankful she was okay.

“I'm so glad you came. But what about Colt?”

Her words meant more to him than she could know. “He ended up being delayed a day, so I was only a couple of hours away from you—easy choice, I came to see you. I got here early and thought I'd surprise you. Little did I know you were going to throw yourself in front of a moving truck.”

She chuckled despite the seriousness of the accident. He was sure the laugh was a release of tension more than anything.

A patient Murdock watched them with an expectant expression. The horse was ready to compete, just like Montana was. They were going to do well; he felt it.

“Luke,” she said, not moving her head from his chest. “I told you I loved you earlier.”

He stilled, trying to be nonchalant about it. “Yeah, I know. That's why I knew you'd had a hard lick.”

She leaned back and held his gaze. “Not such a hard lick. I knew exactly what I was saying. That's what I was coming to tell you when I got hit.”

“I think I need to sit down.”

She gave a light chuckle as he reached for the door handle and pulled the back door open. Immediately, he sank to the seat, hanging on to her as he did. If he had his way, he wasn't ever letting her go. Not after what she'd just said.

“I love you, Montana, with all my heart. But what's happened? Why this sudden change of attitude?”

“My dad called and demanded that I come back to the firm because of my family obligations. He called my dreams nonsense and he took no responsibility for his actions. I was so angry, and then it hit me. I could hear you and God both telling me to let it go. I realized I didn't want all that anger hanging on me like weights. I wanted to feel free and happy. I wanted to know that I was in control of my life where my attitude and character are concerned. And above all, I knew God was in control. So I let it go, I let it all go. And I felt great. Then I wanted to see you so bad. I needed to share it with you, and then there you were! It was like a dream. I just couldn't believe you showed up. I still can't believe it.”

He grinned at the joy in her words. “I'm so glad you're letting this anger go. One day, maybe you'll be able to mend fences with your dad. Letting the anger go and forgiving him is a way to open the door for that to happen. I'm proud of you. I knew you could do it.”

She smiled. “I like that. I could get used to making you proud of me.”

He laughed, feeling great. Then he sobered. “Do you think you could ever get used to living the rest of your life with me—you know, with the whole package, marriage, babies and a few National Rodeo Championships?”

She snuggled in close, hugging him tightly. “I would love it. But we'd have to have a plan.”

“It can be done,” he said, unable to believe he was hearing her right.

They grinned at each other, basking in the moment. He gently tugged on her braid. “I don't think that would be a problem at all,” he said, and then he did what he'd been waiting to do—he lowered his lips to hers.

Montana kissed him, then sighed against his lips. “Life is good, isn't it, Luke?”

“It gets better by the moment. I love you, Montana Brown.”

“And that is exactly what I've been needing to hear.”

“I hope so, because you're going to be hearing it a lot.”

“Bring it on, cowboy.” She laughed. Murdock pawed the earth and snorted. “Okay, it's time to roll.” She looked from Murdock to Luke. “You with me?”

Luke's heart was pounding with love and expectation of the future that lay ahead. “I'm with you, now and forever, cowgirl of mine.”

Montana grinned. “Now
that's
what I like to hear!”

Dear Reader,

I hope you enjoyed
Her Rodeo Cowboy.
I'm always thrilled when readers choose to spend time in Mule Hollow with me and the Mule Hollow gang.

I loved the man that Luke was in this book. He didn't let the bad in his life determine who he became, but instead, he became the man
he
wanted to become—the kind of man that he'd needed in his life as a child and hadn't been blessed to have. He became someone others could depend on. Montana needed that kind of man in her life now, and she needed the folks of Mule Hollow, too. Isn't it wonderful how God puts just what we need into our paths, just when we need it? I pray that you'll be just what someone needs in a time of need…or that if you are in need, that God will place just the right person in your path to help you. He has done it for me so many times.

I hope you'll join me in the next few months for the two Mule Hollow Homecoming books. They will be Jess Holden and Colt Holden's stories. I don't always get to write back, but I try. Still, I love hearing from readers. You can reach me at P.O. Box 1125 Madisonville TX 77864 or debraclopton.com.

Until the next time, live, laugh and seek God with all your heart,