Just a Cowboy and His Baby (Spikes & Spurs) (26 page)

“She looked like a Holly Mary-Jo to me.” Gemma reached over and Holly grasped her finger.

“She’s going to be very smart,” Mary said.

“Maybe even a judge.”

“Or maybe a cowgirl who rides wild horses?”

“Dinner is ready,” Louis announced.

“I can hold her and eat with one hand,” Mary said.

“We’ve got her carrier in the truck.”

“If you don’t mind, I’d just as soon hold her.”

“Not at all,” Gemma said.

“I’m glad we had this time alone,” Mary whispered on the way to the dining room.

Gemma touched her shoulder. “Me too.”

***

Later that night after they’d put Holly to bed in an old rocking cradle that Teamer had hauled down off the attic, Gemma curled up next to Trace. He hugged her tightly to his side and kissed her on the top of the head.

“Momma likes you. So did Dad.”

“And you?”

“Honey, I love you.”

The room went as still as the arena just before the gates opened. Gemma thought she’d heard him wrong and that he said, “I like you.” Surely he hadn’t really said the
L
word, or had he?

“Well?” Trace finally said.

“Are you sure?” she asked.

Trace laughed. “Very.”

“How do you know?”

“Easy. It didn’t pain me to say the words and it feels right.”

She sat straight up, flipped around, threw a leg over him, and sat on him like he was a wild bronc. “Look me in the eyes and say it again.”

“I love you, Gemma.” His eyes did not leave hers.

She leaned forward, propped her hands on the pillow beside his head, and kissed him. And it did feel right.

“I love you too,” she whispered.

He tangled his hands in her long hair and drew her lips back to his and rolled over until he was on top of her. “Promise?”

“Kiss me again and I’ll promise.”

He sealed the deal with a sweet, lingering kiss. He tasted her lips slowly and moved his hands under her nightshirt, touching all the places that made her shiver.

“Make love to me,” she whispered.

“That’s exactly what I’m doing, and I’m starting with long, slow kisses just like the song says.”

“What if I want fast and furious?”

“Then you’ll have to wait until tomorrow night. I bet Mother would gladly babysit and let us go out to dinner.”

“No! I’m not leaving that baby alone with anyone, not yet,” she said.

“Then it will be long slow kisses and…” He let the sentence trail off as he started down her body, taking off clothing and throwing it on the floor and kissing every inch of her skin.

“Whew!” she panted.

“You are so beautiful and I love you so much,” he said.

“This isn’t sex. This is…” She panted.

“…making love,” he finished for her. “Got to admit, I like it just as well, and darlin’, I plan to do it often.”

“Trace,” she gasped, “I do love you. I really, really do.”

Gemma’s spurs jingled against the chute as she climbed up the side. Not far away, Holly was busy pitching a real hissy fit in her stroller. She didn’t even stop crying when Trace picked her up and held her close to his vest. He’d ridden just minutes before and beat both Billy’s and Coby’s tie of eighty points by one point. Now all she had to do was put the baby’s cries out of her mind, do her eight seconds, and beat them all.

She felt the horse tense against her knees. She cleared her mind, got prepared for the mark out, then nodded.

The announcer screamed above the Omaha fans and said more in eight seconds than Gemma could have thought in eight hours. “Look at her ride, cowboys and cowgirls. She’s got that bronc under control. The only woman in the contest this year, Miss Gemma O’Donnell, and she’s showing the boys how it’s done, let me tell you.” He went on and on, but the only thing Gemma heard was, “And there’s the buzzer. She’s stayed with him the whole time. Let’s see what the judges have to say about that ride from Gemma from Ringgold, Texas.”

She was on the ground with her hat in her hand when she heard the news. “Well, darlin’, that was one helluva ride, and you taught that big black bruiser who was boss, but it looks like Trace Coleman wins this round. You racked up eighty points to make it a three-way tie for second place. You didn’t win this round, honey, but we’ll see all four of you again in Vegas in December where it’s anybody’s game and the stakes are high. And now we’ll go right into the bull riding.”

Gemma bowed to a noisy crowed and walked out of the arena. The tie had finally been broken that started back in Lovington. Trace was ahead by ten thousand dollars, but they were both going to the finals.

A cold breeze kicked up, and Gemma hurried to the place where she’d left Trace and Holly. Her cell phone rang and she answered it without missing a step.

“So do I put the next shamrock on that has playoffs written in silver glitter on the lucky horseshoe hanging on the side of the refrigerator?” Maddie asked.

“No, Momma. I missed it. Second place with a three-way tie, but I’m going to Vegas. So is Billy Washington, Coby Taylor, and Trace.”

“I’m sorry, darlin’. I know you wanted to go as the number one contestant, but the important thing is that you’ll be going to the finals. We’ll all be there. Whole bunch of us are flying in. Except for Jasmine and Ace. She says she can have a baby in the plane, at the rodeo, or in a Vegas hospital, but Ace says she is not flying when she’s that close to her due date. Done got a whole suite of rooms reserved so don’t be making any hotel plans. How’s that baby girl?”

“I’m surprised you can’t hear her. I’m heading right toward her and she’s screaming her head off. Here, Trace, take this phone and give me that child,” Gemma said.

“Hello?” Trace said.

Gemma crooned to Holly. “It’s okay, sweetheart. I’m here. I should’ve taken you with me. I could’ve held you in my rein hand and still got a high score.”

“Congratulations, Trace,” Maddie said.

“Thank you. Will we see you in Vegas?”

“Oh, yes, but we will see you and the baby a couple of weeks before that. My rule is that all my kids come home for Thanksgiving.”

“Is that an invitation?” Trace asked.

“No, that is an order. Now give the phone back to Gemma. If she could ride a bronc and hold a baby at the same time like I just now heard her say, then she can damn sure hold a baby and talk to me,” Maddie said.

Trace handed the phone to Gemma.

“Yes, ma’am. We will. I promise. Call everyone for me.”

She jammed it into her vest pocket and looked at him.

“What?” she asked.

He grabbed her around the waist and hugged both her and Holly at the same time. “We made it, Gemma. We’re going to the finals.”

“Was there ever a doubt? I’m still going to whip your sorry old ass even though I’m in love with you, cowboy.”

“We’ll see about that, darlin’.”

“What now?”

“Now we go home to Goodnight and live until the second weekend in December.” He kept an arm around her shoulders and pushed the stroller with the other hand as they started toward the stands.

“Hey, you two—good rides!” Coby yelled from the shadows.

“Same back atcha,” Gemma hollered.

“See you in Vegas where neither one of you is going home with the cash or the glory,” Coby said.

“Bring it on, big boy,” Gemma taunted.

“You should’ve left that rodeo with me the night you passed out and you wouldn’t be strapped down with a baby,” he smarted off.

Gemma handed Holly to Trace and covered the ground between them in long strides. “What did you say? Were you the one who put that shit in my beer that night?”

“Figure it out for yourself. But remember, I could’ve offered you a helluva lot more than Trace Coleman has given you,” he whispered.

Gemma moved up to within an inch of Coby’s nose. “Thank you. If you hadn’t put that in my drink, I’d have never fallen in love with Trace.”

Coby blushed so crimson that Gemma could’ve lit a cigarette off the end of his nose. He opened his mouth, but nothing would come out.

“When you get on the bronc in Vegas, you remember that losers seldom win a damn thing and only a loser would dope a woman’s drink to get her into bed. A real man doesn’t have to use anything but charm,” Gemma threw over her shoulder.

“What was that all about?” Trace asked.

“He’s the one who drugged my beer that night. I was thanking him because I got you out of the deal.”

“Okay, let’s take Holly up in the stands and watch the rest of the rodeo.”

“I figured I’d have to fight you when you found that out,” she said.

“Darlin’, you told me way back there that you fought your own battles. And besides, I agree with Teamer. You are as big a force as Grandma Coleman.”

Chopper McBride swaggered over to them and stuck out his hand. “Congratulations, son. I was on my way to buy a beer. Can I get you kids one?”

Trace shook with the old rodeo legend. “Thank you, sir. We’re on our way to the stands. We’ll get one on the way. Appreciate the offer, though.”

“Y’all both gave us a run for our money all season.” He chuckled. “Truth is I made a few hundred bettin’ on one or the other of you all summer. And now I don’t know where to put my bet for the finals. I reckon you could tame the devil, Trace, but Gemma, she’s going to make you work your ass off for it. She might even whip your sorry old butt when the time comes. So who do I put my money on?” he asked with a gleam in his eyes.

“On me,” Gemma said. “I’m going to win.”

“What you got to say about that?” Chopper asked Trace.

“I’d say that she is full of hot air,” Trace answered.

Chopper guffawed. “Okay, then, I’m going to put half my money on Trace and the other half on Gemma. That way I win no matter what. Now turn that baby around here and let me look at her. Y’all look like a regular family, but you got to get her some chaps and boots. Can’t never start ’em too early.”

September ended.

October flew by like it had wings, and every day Gemma wondered what would happen after the final rodeo. Trace had said that he loved her two months before, and every night those three magic words came out of his mouth just before he went to sleep. They’d fallen into a working relationship that involved ranching, which she knew as well as he did, hot heavy sex some nights and sweet lovemaking others, raising a baby, and sharing life. Some days they made it all the way from daylight to dark without hitting a speed bump; others they didn’t get finished with breakfast before they hit the first one.

November came in with a blast of cold wind that said winter was on the way. By the middle of the month they’d already had freezing weather, but the sun was out on Thanksgiving morning when they loaded Holly into Gemma’s truck and headed east to Ringgold for the day and night. Teamer and Louis planned a big Thanksgiving supper on Friday night with Trace’s parents flying in from Houston.

They made it in record time and parked in the yard beside several other trucks. Holly had slept most of the way and woke up hungry just a mile from the house. She fussed and fumed and chewed on her hands.

“Bottle?” Trace asked.

“Time for baby food. I brought sweet potatoes because that’s her favorite and it’s Thanksgiving,” Gemma said. “We’ll be there in five more minutes and I can heat them up.”

Trace looked in the rearview mirror. “You hear that, baby girl? Just a little bit more and you won’t have to chew all the hide off your knuckles.” He looked over at Gemma. “Excited to be home?”

Home.

There it was again. Home. But it wasn’t in Ringgold anymore. It was in Goodnight where she’d settled into a two-bedroom frame house.

“I’m always excited to see Momma and Daddy and all my friends and family. A couple of years ago about this time we had a big party over at Liz and Raylen’s place. It was before they got married and her carnie family had a gig in Bowie. So they parked at Liz’s place and she had Christmas right before Thanksgiving.”

“And?”

“And I wish it was Christmas, Trace. I wish this was all over and we didn’t have it hanging over our heads.”

“Why?”

The smile that broke out of a serious face was devilish. “So Momma could put my biggest shamrock on the lucky horseshoe, and me and Holly could dance around a real Christmas tree.”

He parked the truck. “But what if you don’t win?”

“Honey, there is not a doubt in my mind that I’m going to be a winner that night,” she said.

“I wish to hell I had that kind of confidence.”

She reached over and kissed him on the cheek. And then the passenger door flew open and Raylen gave her a big bear hug.

“You did it, Sister. You made the finals and we’re all coming and Momma is throwing a fit so you’d best get in the house. Is this the new baby? She’s so pretty. Can I carry her inside? Liz swears she’s going to be the first one to hold her and that she’ll put a spell on her so she’ll like her Aunt Liz better than anyone else. But if you let me hold her first, she’ll like me best. And you must be Trace. I’m glad to meet you, but I want to hold this baby more than I want to shake your hand.”

Trace chuckled.

Gemma nodded.

Raylen unfastened the baby seat and picked Holly up. “Look at that. She likes me. I tell you, I’ve got a way with babies. Remember how Rachel liked me better than Dewar?”

“Hey, now!” Dewar said right behind his younger brother. “She did not. She’s always liked me better, but she didn’t want to hurt your feelings. Let me look at this girl. Trace, you’d best polish up the shotgun when she’s sixteen.”

“Why’s that? She’s not dating until she’s twenty-five and then only if I’m with her. Maybe she can go on car or pickup dates alone when she’s thirty.” Trace laughed.

Raylen did not get into the house before the door opened and he was surrounded with women: Liz, Colleen, Maddie, Granny, Jasmine, Pearl, and Austin.

“Oh my Lord, Jasmine!” Gemma gasped. “Are you going to have that baby today?”

“I wish I could. I’m ready for her to be here, but doc says a couple more weeks at least. She’s going to come out big enough to drive a tractor, I swear.” Jasmine laughed. “Look at what you done brought home. She’s gorgeous. I hope my daughter has hair like that, but with Ace for a daddy, she’ll probably be bald as a cue ball.”

“Hey, you two, come on in the house. We’re as glad to see you as this baby,” Granny yelled.

“Yeah, right!” Gemma said.

“Parents always take a backseat when there’s a new baby,” Trace said.

Gemma felt like he’d just handed her the moon, the stars, and a big chunk of the sun.

Maddie went straight for Gemma, held her out at arm’s length, hugged her, and then whispered, “I don’t like it, but I’m not going to fight it. I’d rather see you happy than living in Ringgold and miserable. Sell your beauty shop to Noreen and propose to that cowboy, girl. He’s the one.”

“Thank you, Momma.” Gemma hugged Maddie tightly.

“Now, give me that baby. She needs to get to know her grandma.”

***

Gemma dressed in her signature pink boots, pink shirt, and pink hat with the gold lucky horseshoe hat pin. She ate a hamburger from the rodeo grounds that afternoon. She cheered from the sidelines when Trace rode and scored higher than any of the other riders. Now it was her turn, the last bronc rider in the PRCA Finals. The crowd was already on their feet whistling and screaming. She swore she heard her mother’s voice above all the others. She felt the bronc’s muscles protest when she dropped down into the saddle.

“Give it all you got, boy. Trace has eighty-two points and I need one more than that.” She jammed her boots down into the stirrups, measured the rein, touched her hat pin, got ready for the mark out, and nodded.

The time had come.

Rein in hand.

Determination in her heart.

“Go get ’em, darling!” Trace yelled from the bottom of the chute.

She smiled and remembered the first time he’d said that. That night she’d been ready to make coyote food out of him. Tonight, she could have kissed him.

Everything stopped and she was in a vacuum again. Even the dust out in the arena was afraid to succumb to gravity and fall back to earth. Like always, the noise of crowd hung above the arena like a layer of foggy smoke in a cheap honky-tonk, but Gemma couldn’t hear it.

Three rodeo clowns stepped away from the gate. The chute opened and a blur of white topped with snatches of hot pink whirled around the arena whipping up dust devils in its wake.

Time moved in slow motion. She could hear the crowd going wild and the announcer’s excitement, but the roar of blood racing through her veins kept all of it at bay. And then the eight seconds were done. The rescue rider slipped an arm around her waist and she slid off the side of the bronc with grace. They rounded up the horse and she stood in the middle of the arena, waving at the fans all on their feet giving her a standing ovation.

“And that brings the bronc riding to a close. Gemma O’Donnell from Ringgold, Texas, had just shown that mean bronc who is boss. The judges are tallying up the scores and Gemma has to have eighty-three to beat Trace Coleman. One more judge and we’ll have the winner of the Million Dollar PRCA saddle bronc riding event of the year. And here it is, in my hand, cowboys and cowgirls. Let’s give it up one more time for Gemma O’Donnell, the only woman contestant in tonight’s PRCA finals,” the announcer said.

Gemma’s knees were weak, but she stiffened them up and kept waving at the crowd.

“The total score for Miss Gemma O’Donnell is eighty-one points. Trace Coleman is our winner, but that’s one cowboy who’d best be wiping his brow because he almost did not beat this little lady. Gemma, please stay right where you are. We will pause for a few minutes before the bull riding because we have a special event right now. Mr. George Strait couldn’t be here in person, but I’ve got his CD so he’s going to sing and our brand-new bronc busting champion would like to dance with you in this very arena.”

A hush fell over the crowd as “I Cross My Heart” played over the loudspeakers. Trace came out from the side of the arena and held out a hand to Gemma.

“May I have this dance please, ma’am?” he asked.

She melted into his arms as George sang that she’d always be the miracle that made his life complete; that as they looked into the future, that they would make each tomorrow be the best that it could be. And that if along the way they found that it began to storm, that she had the promise of his love to keep her warm.

Gemma let the dam loose and the tears flowed. The song ended, but the background music kept playing. Trace stepped back and dropped down on one knee right there in front of thousands of people and said, “Gemma O’Donnell, I love you with my whole heart. Will you marry me?” He popped open a red velvet box that held a sparkling diamond ring right in the center.

She said, “What if I had beat you?’

“Song was ready. George was going to sing. I was going to propose no matter who won,” he said.

She nodded and said, “I love you, Trace. Yes, I will marry you!”

“She said yes,” the announcer said. “Let’s hear it for the newly engaged couple!”

They could have heard the applause all the way to Ringgold, Texas, when he put the ring on her hand, stood up, and bent her so far back for the kiss that she lost her hat. George Strait began singing the song all over again as he picked up her hat, settled it on her head, scooped her up in his arms, and carried her to the sidelines where he sat down with her in his lap.

All she could hear was the whoosh in her ears that she heard when she put everything else out and rode out of the chute on the back of a wild bronc. She laid her head on Trace’s chest and the steady heartbeat brought her back to reality, one beat at a time.

“When?” she asked.

“When what?”

“When do we get married?”

“That’s up to you. Tomorrow. It’s all just paperwork. We’re already joined by heartstrings, darlin’.”

“Well, we are in Vegas and the whole family is here.”

“Really?” he asked. “One question first. Did you let me win?”

“Hell, no! I gave it all I had. I was going to win and buy Teamer’s ranch and propose to you,” she said.

***

There was enough family, friends, and rodeo folks to fill Cupid’s Wedding Chapel where Jasmine and Ace had gotten married. Cash walked Gemma down the aisle. She wore a white velvet dress and a white hat with illusion streamers flowing down her back from a bow at the back of the brim. Her lucky horseshoe was pinned on the ribbon twined around a pink and white rosebud bouquet, and her lucky pink boots had been shined.

“Trace is a good man. I just wish you’d buy a ranch closer to Ringgold,” Cash whispered as he led his daughter down the short aisle.

“I love him, and Daddy, home is Goodnight, Texas,” she whispered.

“I know, baby. You’ll just have to come home to Ringgold real often or your momma will have me hauling her to your place every other week. She’s fallen in love with that baby girl.”

“Haul away.” Gemma laughed.

“Who gives this woman to be married to this man?” the preacher asked when they reached the front of the chapel.

“Her mother and I do,” Cash said.

In fifteen minutes the preacher pronounced them husband and wife.

“You may kiss your bride,” he said.

Trace did a Hollywood kiss that rivaled the one in the arena. “I love you, Mrs. Coleman.”

“I love you,” she said.

Cash stepped up to the microphone and said, “Thank you all for attending. The reception is at the Bellagio and starts in one hour. There’s food and dancing and I understand there’ll be lots and lots of pictures taken. I’m supposed to tell you all that Jasmine had a nine-pound baby girl this morning. She tried to get Ace to charter a plane so she could be here and he’ll probably be in hot water for weeks because he said no.”

***

One week before Christmas, Trace brought a six-foot cedar tree and set it up in the corner of the living room. He looped the lights around his arms and walked around the tree while Gemma placed them in just the right spot. Holly had just that week learned to sit up all by herself, so she watched wide-eyed from her quilt pallet, and when the lights were plugged in and blinking she giggled like only a delighted baby can.

Then Trace looped the tinsel around his arms and Gemma worked it over and under the tree limbs. Next came the ornaments and then the silver tinsel icicles. Gemma stepped back and looked at it with a critical eye.

“I’m becoming my mother. I’ve seen her do this dozens of times,” she said.

“What next?” Trace asked.

“The topper,” she said.

“It’s still in the box,” Trace said.

Gemma shook her head. “Not that one.”

“Why?” Trace asked. “It’s only been used one year. Is there something wrong with it?”

“Yes, there is.”

She opened a shoebox and took out a homemade gold construction paper horseshoe with
The
Coleman
Family
written in red glitter.

“Put this up there. I told you when we went to Vegas I had no doubt in my mind that I would be a winner. And I am. You got the title and the ranch. I got you and Holly, so I won the best prize of all.”

Trace wrapped his arms around her and tipped her chin up with his forefinger.

“I’m amazed by you, Mrs. Coleman.”

She pointed to a huge ball of mistletoe with hundreds of berries hanging right above his head. “I’m the winner, cowboy, and my Christmas wish is for Santa Claus to bring me another child by next Christmas.”

“Yes, ma’am,” Trace drawled. “I’m not Santa Claus. I’m just a cowboy, but I’ll be glad to do my best to make that happen.”