His Cowgirl Bride (6 page)

“That's not true.”

“Oh, yeah? Then explain to me what it does mean.”

She stepped by him, grabbed hold of the wheelbarrow and rake used to clean the stall and pushed past him into the stall to begin working.

“Say something,” she said. “You must have a reason for being so against a woman learning how to break horses. Since I'm the woman it's affecting at the
moment, don't you think you owe me an explanation?”

She had a point, though he didn't like it very much. “What exactly do you know about me?” he asked, following her as she pushed the wheelbarrow outside to dump it. He took the handles and was surprised when she stepped back and let him empty the contents. “If you're trying to flit through all the sordid details you know and pick the things you think won't make me mad, don't bother,” he said finally. “Some of it was true, but most of it wasn't. What I'm asking is what you know about when I dropped out of the NRF competition.”

There was a feed trough built along the back side of the barn, and Tacy sat on the edge of it now, looking up at him with intent eyes. He waited.

“Look,” she huffed. “I only know what was on the cover of those magazines. That you had an on-again, off-again thing with a TV star named Jessica and that you were photographed with a new girl every other week in between that relationship. What I know about you leaving the NRF is less. I know you had a family emergency. The
only
article I ever read was one in the
Horseman
and you know that is a respectable magazine. You gave the interview, after all, so you know it didn't deal with your dating life or your family. It was about you and your run for the National Rodeo Finals. Plus, you happened to mention that you loved meat loaf.” She raised her hand as if giving a solemn oath. “That's the honest truth.” She sighed, letting her hand
down. “I admit, I did believe what I saw on the front covers of those magazines. I'm sorry. Really.”

His anger subsided. He couldn't help but like her frankness. With each barrier they erased between them, the harder it was not to want to get to know her better…and she'd just said she didn't date. Why was that?

“Forget it,” he said. “I'm the one who set myself up for the public scrutiny. I was a regular jerk back then…you don't have anything to be sorry about.”

She studied him, silence stretching between them like a soft breeze, promising cooler weather. Brent wrestled with his growing attraction to her. Looking at her, he couldn't think straight. He wondered if she had this effect on everyone.

“So,” she said after a minute. “What about all of that made you not want women near horses?”

“D
o you want to go for a ride?”

Brent's question startled Tacy. She had expected evasiveness, but a ride…Pushing away from the feed trough she'd been half sitting on, she gave him a playful smile. “Are you kidding? I'm always up for a ride.” She whistled and Rabbit came trotting up from the pasture. “You
are
planning to answer my question—not to take me out in the pastures and do away with me so I'll stop bothering you?”

He laughed, short and quick. “No devious plans on my part, I promise. And yes, I'll explain. You've been straight with me, so you deserve the same. First, let's ride.”

“I like the sound of that.” Tacy sauntered into the barn with Rabbit trailing. Birdy, who'd been abnormally quiet today, waddled behind Brent as he headed toward the pen where his big bay stood.

A few minutes later, Tacy rode Rabbit down the barn alley and out into the morning sunshine. Brent was petting Birdy and straightened as Tacy rode up.

“She's getting ready to have her pups,” he said as he swung into the saddle.

“You read my mind,” she agreed, moving Rabbit into a slow trot toward the open pasture back behind the cabin. Soon they were riding easily beside each other in companionable silence. Tacy stole a few glances at the mystifying cowboy. He seemed totally preoccupied as they let the horses warm up.

“This is where I let Rabbit pretend he's in the Kentucky Derby,” she said after a few minutes, drawing Brent's attention. She grinned and gave Rabbit his lead—which was all the horse had been waiting for. Leaning into the wind, she flew with the horse down the soft trail, heading toward the distant trees. Tacy loved the feel of the animal as it moved powerfully and gracefully over the land. As the wind filled Tacy's lungs and rushed through her hair, she couldn't help smiling. This was her element. This was where, when she'd been a kid and her daddy had refused to let her work alongside him and her brothers, she would come and let all her frustrations loose in the wind. On Rabbit's back she felt as if she could conquer the world. She also felt at peace…as if God were whispering in her ear that she was headed in the right direction.

Now, sailing across Pace's pasture with Brent in hot pursuit, things felt as if they were coming together.
Brent drew near as Rabbit slowed and she laughed at his expression. “Don't look all indignant and
don't
tell me this is dangerous! I've been riding like this since I was knee-high.”

He grinned. “I was going to tell you that you sit your horse well.”

She gaped at him. “Wow, blow me over. That was a real compliment.”

“It happens. Where did you learn to ride like that?”

“My dad. And my older brothers. They all live on the ranch down in central Texas.”

“So if you're from a ranch and you have that many brothers, why'd you have to come here to find someone to teach you to break horses?”

She scowled. “Because my dad and my fool brothers think the way you do. Which is just plain crazy. They think it's okay for me to ride. Okay for me to train already broke, tamed horses. I came here because I'm good and I know it. I have a good seat on a horse, and I have a natural feel for them and I want to work a horse from beginning to end.” She shot him a determined look. “And I
will
learn. I know why they don't want to teach me. I'm just not sure why you don't think I could learn.”

Brent halted his horse, and she did the same.

He took a deep breath, giving Tacy the feeling he was forcing himself to speak. “I have a little sister. She was nineteen when I was home between rodeos two years ago.”

His jaw seized up. He shifted in the saddle and
stared from Tacy to the distant trees. The blue sky and the soft breeze belied the sudden tenseness of the moment. Tacy felt it, and her stomach tightened.

After a second, he continued. “I'd brought a horse home with me. Tina was home from college and, as she often did when we were home at the same time, she came down to the barn to watch me. I'd been drinking….”

Brent's expression clouded over and she knew then that this cut deep. She wanted to reach across and comfort him. “She sounds like me,” she said softly, trying to think of something that would ease the moment. Anything that would help take away the torment that was glowing behind his pale eyes. She wished she hadn't pushed for this.

“You do remind me of her in some ways,” he said. “She wanted to try her luck on my horse. Thought she could do it. Thought it would be great fun.” He swallowed hard and rubbed the back of his neck.

“I let her. I helped her into the stirrups. The horse bolted, tossed her on her head and broke her neck.”

“Did—did she die?” Tacy gasped.

He gave a terse shake of his head. “No, she lived. By the grace of God she lived…but she was in the hospital for months. We didn't think she'd ever walk again.”

He started walking his horse and Tacy urged Rabbit forward. There was no doubt in her mind that he blamed himself completely for his sister's tragic accident. “That's why you dropped out of the rodeo finals.”

“Because I was a cocky, drunk jerk, I nearly killed my sister—that set my priorities straight instantly.”

It wasn't any of her business. Still, Tacy couldn't help feeling horrible. For his sister. For him. For his parents. She could only imagine how such a tragic accident could affect a family—either make it stronger or tear it apart. “So you stayed home and helped out.”

He nodded. “Yeah, I did. But things haven't been good. Tina's neck finally started healing, but it was touch and go there for a while. The doctors say she'll make a full recovery—I don't believe it. And my dad doesn't, either, and can't forgive me for that—not that I'm asking him to. I completely understand where he's coming from.”

Tacy could only imagine if one of her brothers had let her on a rough stock horse. Even if she hadn't been injured, her dad would have been furious. “It sounds like our fathers are very much alike.”

“Really?”

“Yeah, I was just thinking that if one of my brothers had let me so much as put my boot in the stirrup of a rough colt, my dad would have had his hide pinned to the barn door.”

“Your dad's a good man, then.”

Tacy liked that he respected their fathers' attitudes. She didn't agree with her dad's outlook on her abilities, but she respected him all the same. He was doing what he thought was best for her.

A snake slithered across the rutted road they were following and both their horses sidestepped. It was no
big deal, but catching Brent watching her reaction and how she stayed in control—that
was
a big deal. The man was practically grading her abilities as they rode. She understood why now, but Tacy knew her own capabilities. She was good. Real good. He wouldn't find anything to hold against her, if that was what he was looking for. “Yes, my dad is the best. I respect him more than anyone, but I refuse to let his need to protect and coddle me stop me from following my dreams. I'm
good,
Brent. I'm assuming your sister's accident and your feelings of responsibility are the reasons you refuse to teach me?”

“It's not negotiable.”

Tacy bit her lip and said a prayer for Brent. She felt like there was even more he hadn't said, and she worried that it was no use pushing the issue. Yet she felt a gentle nudge to say something to ease his distress. But what?

Being at a loss for words was just plain weird for Tacy. If it was God who was nudging her, wouldn't He also be giving her the words to say? Instead, her mind was blank as she met Brent's grim expression.

“Tell me more about your sister's recovery.”

“It's been hard on her. Months in the hospital, then months of physical therapy…”

“Why do you hesitate?”

“I pushed her pretty hard. Mom and Dad worried that I was too hard on her. But I felt that if she didn't give it her all, she might not recover fully.”

So that was it. “You and your parents clashed over that?”

He nodded. “When Tina started complaining and getting upset, I decided maybe I was letting my guilt push me into being too hard on her. That's when I left.”

“Where did you go?”

“To Idaho. A cowboy can get lost in the Great Basin…that's what I always heard, anyway. I knew a guy looking for wranglers through the winter. That's where I met Pace.”

“Y'all worked together?”

“Yes, Pace was practically a legend. We worked adjacent sections so sometimes we'd work together. Out there in the winter you're pretty much on your own. Both of us had little one-room cabins—more like shacks with no electricity.”

“No electricity? None?”

He gave a small smile, and for the first time since they'd started riding the tension eased. “It wasn't so bad, really. I had plenty of firewood.”

Tacy laughed. “You're a cowboy. I'm sure it was just like going back to your roots.”

“I liked it. Not gonna say I'd want to live that way forever. But it was where I needed to be at the time. Tacy, do you believe that God puts you where you need to be when you need to be there?”

“Very much so.” She looked at him and wondered what it was God was trying to show her now, in this moment. She'd come to Mule Hollow with plans and they'd been totally turned upside down. When Brent had shown up and refused to help her she'd been so miffed. Now, after talking to him, she felt assured
there had been no mistake. There was a reason she was here with Brent, though she didn't have a clue what that reason was yet.

Surely it wasn't to irritate the cowboy, because that was pretty much what she'd been doing. And though they were talking now, she had no misconception that once she pushed him some more to let her help with those horses, they'd be right back to square one. And she would push. She still had to follow her dream.

Though she felt bad for him and even empathized with him, Tacy would not back down. She was not his sister. She'd make him see that somehow.

 

Brent had surprised himself when he'd started telling Tacy about his family issues. He'd meant to reveal as little as possible—just enough so that she would see how futile her efforts were to try to change his stance on teaching a woman how to break a bronc. She'd truly seemed to care as he told his story. The only person he'd ever revealed so much to had been Pace.

Something about Tacy drew him out, despite their difference of opinion. But she wasn't the type to give in—and even after telling her his story, he had no illusions that she'd say okay and give up. And he would not give in.

“Do you and your dad speak?” she asked.

He considered the question as he turned the horse off the road and onto a trail leading through the trees. “No,” he said at last. “I haven't spoken to Dad in about six months. He likes it that way.”

“Surely not.”

The disbelief was strong in her voice.

“It's for the best. I let my dad down in more ways than one.” He wasn't about to air the rest of his dirty laundry for Tacy to give more gasps of disbelief. Her sympathy was the last thing he was looking for. Her cooperation—now that he would take gladly.

“You said your dad sounds a lot like my dad. Do you speak to your dad?”

“Yes, of course I do. He's not happy about me going against his wishes to pursue my dream of breaking and training horses. But he's proud that I have his spirit and drive and won't take no for an answer. You see, I think that if I learn it somewhere else, it's different in his mind than if he or my brothers teach me. It takes the responsibility off him—not that he'd ever admit that. He still rants and raves about it and is more than pleased about how this has turned out for me down here so far. He keeps telling me to stop wasting time and come home to the ranch. My dad and my brothers have a custom stirrup company, and there's a great job waiting for me in the family business.”

There was no mistaking the way she felt about that. Brent glanced at her to confirm that Tacy Jones had no intention of ever going into the stirrup business. That was plain enough.

“Your family is
Jones Custom Stirrups?
”

“One and the same,” she quipped.

“Those are great stirrups.”

“Yup. They've been good for the family.”

“But not you?”

“Not what I want to do with my life. I'm proud of Dad and the business. It's just not my dream.”

“So when did you know that training horses was what you wanted to do?”

“I got serious about it when I was a senior in high school. That's when I realized I had a mind of my own and a will that I could start asserting. Believe me, when you're raised by a protective dad and four older brothers, that isn't something that just jumps out at you.”