The Cowboy Code (7 page)

“Remember to keep your heels down, Maggie. You're doing great.”

They made small talk—the weather (unusually warm for spring), the scenery (fabulous), her talk with Danny (long overdue), and the cattle drive in two days (she was dreading it).

“The cattle drive will be fun, too,” he said. In fact, he couldn't wait to get started. At least his time would be spread out among all the participants and he wouldn't have to spend as much time with Maggie. He was with her too much—and he was enjoying her too much.

She was a beautiful distraction, but she was still a distraction, and he needed to concentrate on Cowboy Quest. He had to be on the lookout for trouble so he could squelch it before it happened.

He pulled on the horse's reins to hold him in check. He was high spirited today.

“Do you think that I'll be a good enough rider for the cattle drive?” Maggie asked.

“You'll be fine. So will the others. You can walk Lady all the way through it and follow alongside Cookie's chuck wagon. It's a real roundup, you know. We're moving the cattle from the winter pasture to the summer pasture.”

“How long will it take?”

“We'll be five days and four nights on the trail, depending on the weather. To tell you the truth, my crew and I could do it in an overnight, but we extend it for Cowboy Quest. Some of the participants have never camped before. Can you believe that?”

She put her hand over her heart and faked a heart attack. “No! Some people have never camped before? What's wrong with them? Aliens? Or do they just prefer four-star hotels and indoor toilets like I
do instead of sleeping on the ground and carrying a shovel?”

He turned around in the saddle, ready to dazzle her with a witty retort when Checkmate whinnied and pawed the ground.

Maggie let out a blood-curdling scream. “Snake!”

Out of the corner of his eye, he saw a snake curled up and ready to strike. He yanked his knife from the leather sheath at his side, and threw it.

As he leaned over to see if he'd hit his mark, his sudden motion unsettled Checkmate, who bucked, side-stepped, then reared.

Off balance, Joe flew through the air and landed flat on his back. Checkmate took off at a dead run.

Maggie screamed again as Lady took off at a gallop, chasing Checkmate!

J
oe dragged himself up from the ground. Being tossed was a rookie mistake. He'd never been caught off guard or off balance like that before.

Damn snake.

He scrambled to his feet and saw Checkmate and Lady galloping away, with Maggie hanging on for dear life.

He whistled.
Short, long, short.
The two horses immediately slowed down, then stopped completely. Another whistle brought them walking back to him.

He brushed himself off and picked up his hat, grabbed his knife and returned it to the case on
his hip. Then he hurried to meet the horses—and Maggie—so they wouldn't have to encounter what was left of the snake.

“Whoa,” he said as he approached them. The horses immediately stopped. He looked up at Maggie. “Are you okay?”

Her eyes were shiny, her cheeks were pink—with fear or excitement? He couldn't tell.

“I—I'm okay. Just a little rattled, pardon the pun.” She shuddered. “What the hell happened?”

He shook his head. “I'm really sorry, Maggie. Even the best-trained horse can't be taught to stay calm with a snake present.”

“Did you get the snake?”

Joe nodded. “Yeah, he's history. But I'm pretty embarrassed. I haven't been tossed by a horse in years.”

I was too busy looking at you to pay attention to anything else.

“Don't be embarrassed on my account.” She put her index finger over her lip. “I won't tell a soul.”

The twinkle in her eyes told him that it would be all over the ranch in less than an hour.

“Yeah, sure.” He chuckled. “Shall we go back?”

“Don't go back on my account. My confidence level just skyrocketed. I stayed on!”

He swung onto Checkmate's back. “You sure
did. That was pretty outstanding riding for a city slicker.”

If she could ride like that, she could handle anything that might come her way.

 

Maggie couldn't stop grinning at Joe's compliment. Her ride hadn't been pretty by anyone's standards, and she'd been petrified that she'd be thrown, but she'd managed to stick with Lady.

She had never been so glad to hear a whistle in her life.

“I forgot to say ‘whoa,'” she admitted now. “But I heard you whistle.”

“As a safety measure, I also trained them to stop on a certain whistle command. Then two short whistles will get them back to you. All the Cowboy Quest horses go through vigorous training and testing.” He petted Checkmate's neck. “This guy here is a little too frisky yet, but he'll come along in time.”

“So what's on the schedule later this afternoon?” she asked. “I think I just had my galloping lesson.”

“Roping.”

She felt a warm rush of confidence. She could do that. No problem.

“Bring it on.”

He gestured to the gathering of the others by
the corral, where the roping lesson was about to begin.

Joe waved his hand to one of the cowboys. “Would you mind taking care of our horses so we can join the others?”

“No problem, boss.”

Joe gave him a slap on the back in gratitude, and motioned for her to walk ahead of him. Maggie waited for the usual snickers from the participants and eye-rolling from Danny, but they were mesmerized, watching as Ronnie twirled a rope overhead, brought it down to foot level, then stepped over it. Back and forth Ronnie stepped, moving the rope in figure eights.

“That looks as easy as pie,” Maggie whispered to Joe. At least she thought she whispered. As the group laughed at her statement, Ronnie handed her the rope.

He smiled at her as if they shared a secret.

Joe took the rope out of her hands. “Ronnie…uh…I don't think that Maggie—”

Maggie took the rope back. “Hang on.” She stepped forward to give herself some more room. “I may be a city slicker, but I'll give it a try.”

She tried to remember what she'd learned from Baxter Bello, a trick rope expert who was hired to teach her when she starred in
Annie Get Your Gun.
He'd called it the Texas Skip.

She'd played Annie Oakley six years ago, and
she was certainly rusty in the roping department, but she wanted to impress Joe. She got a feel for the rope, letting out a little at a time from the knot, as she slowly began to spin it. Baxter's voice rang in her ear, “Go slow. Don't rush. It's all in the wrist.”

She concentrated, knowing that if she could pull off a couple of jumps, the kids and cowboys would be dazzled. Glancing at the astonishment on their faces, she saw they were already impressed that she'd gotten this far.

Now!

She jumped over the loop, again and again. When a loud whoop went up from the crowd, she lost her focus and the rope wrapped around her body.

She got a round of applause from everyone, and she took a bow. Catching Danny's eye, she saw a glimmer of admiration, and pride shot through her. Even his new friend Brandon looked impressed.

But Joe looked the most surprised, and heat pooled in her belly as he looked her over.

She spotted Ronnie, grinning from ear to ear.

“How did you know?” she asked him.

“I saw you in
Annie Get Your Gun.
Your trick roping was great, so I got a video and taught myself.”

Maggie handed the rope back to him. “What brought you to New York City?”

“A wedding.” Ronnie looked around at the group. “My mother wanted to see you in
Annie
so I took her.”

Joe clapped his hands once. “For the rest of us who can't do Maggie and Ronnie's trick, we are going to stick with the basics. Break down into teams of three, please.”

They kicked up some dust, shuffling around until they stood in groups of one cowboy, two participants and one plastic cow head stuck into a hay bale per team.

Danny quickly fell into step with Brandon with Quint as their staff member. She couldn't understand why Danny gravitated to Brandon, especially since he admitted that Brandon didn't like Cowboy Quest. Danny seemed to like it a little more than before. Even if Danny liked Cowboy Quest a lot, he would still act apathetic to his pals.

She and Joe were with Rick, one of the more sullen boys. He was a shorter, muscular boy with tattoos all over his body, including some homemade ones on his neck.

“I'm sure you've all seen old Westerns,” Joe said, twirling a rope over his head. “The rope is used to keep the cattle moving, and to get strays out of ditches and the like. They aren't too smart, so they get in all kinds of jams. You have each been given one rope. It's yours while you are here. Take care of your rope and don't lose it. It should be tied to your saddle when you're riding. When you're not riding, practice with it.”

Maggie did as Joe instructed and let her rope
soar at the horns on the plastic cow. Perfect shot! Roping was a piece of cake. Rick was struggling, so Joe spent more time with him. They roped from different angles and distances from the cow head, but she always hit her mark.

As she waited for Rick, she couldn't help but overhear Quint with Danny and Brandon. “C'mon, boys, you're not even trying. Now pay attention and stop talking like a couple of old hens.”

She was just about to say something to Danny when she remembered how Joe had asked her nicely to butt out, that the cowboy staff would take care of discipline.

Danny halfheartedly roped the cow head, and he didn't do badly, hitting the mark more often than not. She could tell he cared, that he wanted to do well, but he wouldn't show it. It appeared to her that Brandon was acting like he couldn't care less, and Danny was simply going along with him.

“That's it for today,” Joe said. “Tomorrow you'll all get a chance to try roping a calf or two on horseback. Therefore, I suggest that you practice tonight after your homework.”

Just then the dinner bell rang. Maggie walked to the bunkhouse with the rest of the group, trying specifically to stay away from Joe so the other boys wouldn't tease Danny.

“He likes you—a lot,”
Danny had said earlier.
“Everyone knows it.”

Looking at Joe, she couldn't help noticing the confidence in his stance—his muscular thighs, encased in worn denim. But she noticed more than his physical appearance. She admired his patience, the way he never spoke down to the kids, the way he was slowly winning over even the most angry of the lot, with the possible exception of Brandon Avery.

There were many things about Joe that she liked, but what was the sense of flirting, or taking their relationship—such as it was—to the next level? The two of them were from different worlds, and they each had lives from which they couldn't—wouldn't—walk away. Maggie's life was in New York, not in tiny Mountain Springs, Wyoming.

But what was she thinking? She'd never have to make that difficult decision because she wouldn't let her attraction get that far.

As everyone entered the bunkhouse, Maggie turned to walk uphill to the ranch house, desperate to change her dirty clothes when Danny appeared next to her.

“Some day will you show me that rope trick, Aunt Maggie?”

“Sure. Whenever you'd like. How did your roping go?”

“Okay. I did better than a lot of the other guys,” he said with pride.

“Good for you!”

Danny looked toward the rest of the group, then
back at her. “Some of the cowboys are going to tell ghost stories at the campfire tonight. Are you going?”

He actually wanted her company? Or maybe he didn't want her to go to the campfire, so he could be alone with his pals.

She chose to believe the former.

“What would a campfire be without ghost stories? I'll be there. I'm just going to change clothes and get a jacket. I'll be down soon.”

He nodded, then took off at a dead run to catch up with the others.

This was sure a pleasant change from the sullen and surly boy he'd been for so long. Maybe their earlier conversation by the river had made a difference after all.

Would it have made a difference if they'd had such a talk after Liz died two years ago? She didn't know.

Whatever it was, Danny was coming around, and she couldn't be happier. She just hoped that things would keep getting better….

 

“Tomorrow is going to be a full day,” Joe announced at the campfire. “There will be more riding lessons, another roping practice, and then we'll pack for the cattle drive. The wagons have to be packed with tents, sleeping bags, food and other supplies.
The bunkhouse will be cleaned and swept before we leave at sunrise on Wednesday.”

A buzz of excitement traveled around the campfire, and then the boys caught themselves and the eye-rolling and elbow-nudging began again. Danny did smile, albeit briefly.

He might be turning into a regular cowboy after all, Joe thought.

Better yet, Danny was starting not to care about what the other kids thought. He'd overheard him tell Rick that he didn't want a tattoo, no matter how cool everyone thought they were.

He wondered if Maggie noticed that Danny was starting to be his own man.

Maggie.
She was always on his mind.

She'd surprised him twice today—by hanging on to Lady and with the rope trick. He just might make a cowgirl out of her yet.

Nah. Maggie was a city gal through and through, he thought regretfully. But even though the lights of Broadway might normally shine on her, right now she looked beautiful by the light of the campfire.

He wondered if he could talk her into singing for them, but he didn't want to single her out—she was just a participant in Cowboy Quest, after all.

Yeah, right.

He watched as she toasted a marshmallow, how she licked her lips after she ate it. He noticed her twinkling eyes and was attuned to her every laugh.
And when she met his gaze, he was rewarded with a smile.

But her face quickly fell when she looked over and saw Danny watching them. He stood up and walked away from the fire, heading for the bunkhouse.

Dammit.

They weren't even doing anything, so why did he feel so guilty?

As the campfire died out, everyone began to shuffle to the bunkhouse.

“Hang on a minute, Maggie,” Joe said. “I'll walk you home.”

He snapped his fingers. “I have to remind Jake to feed Calico when we're on the trail ride. Actually, I'd like you to meet him. We go way back to grammar school, and we were in the rodeos together for several years.”

“What exactly did you and Jake do with the rodeo?”

“We did timed team roping. He was the header, and I was the heeler—he roped the head of a running calf, I roped the heels.”

“I've never been to a rodeo.”

“Then you don't know what you're missing.” He shoveled dirt onto the fire to smother it. “Someday, we'll have to go.”

It was as if he was asking her for a date. But that wasn't his intent. Still, he'd like nothing better than to take her to a rodeo, show her Mountain Springs
and hit the local honky tonks and dance with her. But would she even go?

“Sounds like fun. I'd love to, Joe.”

That was the reply he'd hoped for, but unfortunately, she'd be going home after Cowboy Quest.

 

Looking up at the vast Wyoming sky dotted with twinkling stars, Maggie felt a pang of sorrow. “I'm missing my sister tonight.”

“That's understandable. You loved her, and she loved you—enough to trust you with her only son.”

“And I've failed her,” she said, regretfully.

“No, you haven't. You're here, aren't you? And Danny's coming around. Right?”

She shrugged. “He does seem to be coming out of his shell a little.”

“Excellent. Now don't worry.” His deep, calm voice almost made her believe that everything would be all right.

“Are you ready to go?” he asked. “Big day tomorrow.”