The Cowboy Next Door (The Cash Brothers) (13 page)

“I have to do this.” She put on her Kevlar vest and protective headgear.

P.T. loaded Curly into a makeshift chute and Johnny remained inside the pen, ready to open the gate when she signaled.

He waited for her to climb onto Curly’s back but she didn’t budge from the top rail. He couldn’t get a good look at her eyes through the wire face mask but he noticed that she’d forgotten to put on her riding glove.

She’s nervous.

When P.T. glanced his way, Johnny gave a nod, signaling that he was aware of Shannon’s hesitation.

“If you two don’t mind,” P.T. said, “I’ve got business calls to make. I’ll be in the house if you need me.”

As soon as the rancher walked off, Shannon expelled a loud breath.

“You okay?” Johnny asked.

“Nerves I guess.”

He wanted to mention the riding glove but Shannon would figure that out soon enough. Right now she had to overcome her fear of climbing onto Curly’s back.

She eased onto the bull’s back and wiggled into position. Johnny handed her the end of the bull rope and Shannon cursed. “Why didn’t you tell me I’d forgotten to put on my glove?” She hopped off and rummaged through her gear bag. With her glove on she climbed the rails and dropped onto Curly’s back. Not until she reached for the rope again did she realize what she’d done. She cracked a smile. “Maybe the trick is staying pissed off.”

“Maybe.”

She took her time securing her grip. He wanted to tell her that second-guessing the wrap would only whittle away at her confidence, but he remained silent, giving her room to work through her anxiety. Satisfied with her grip, she braced herself and said, “Ready.”

He opened the gate and Curly jumped out. His bucks were solid but he had no speed or energy, which allowed Shannon to make adjustments with her body and test the strength in her leg.

He counted the seconds off in his head and was pleased when eight came and went and Shannon continued to ride, working on her rhythm. After a few more seconds he saw her gaze shift to the ground and he knew she was looking for an opening to dismount. When Curly came out of his spin, she released the rope and pushed off with her left leg. She landed too close to Curly, but the bull trotted off and proved no threat. Shannon got to her feet, took one step and stumbled.

He lurched forward and grasped her shoulders. “What’s wrong?”

“Leg cramp.”

Johnny wanted to believe Shannon’s leg would get better with time but he had serious doubts the tendon would ever be a hundred percent again.

She limped back to the chute.

After coaxing Curly into the space, he waited for Shannon to give him the signal. It wasn’t until the fifth go-round that she raised her hand for help getting off the ground.

“I think we’re done.” He tugged her to her feet.

“I’ll tell you when I’ve had enough.”

He stepped in front of her when she attempted to walk back to the chute. “Look, Shannon. There’s no sense pushing yourself too hard today—not if you want to return tomorrow and practice.”

Her shoulders sagged. “You’re right.” She piled her gear inside the bag and he tossed it into the truck bed.

“I’ll take Curly back to his spot next to the barn, then run up to the house and tell P.T. we’re leaving.”

“Johnny.” Tears shimmered in her eyes.

Damn it, she’d pushed herself too hard. He should have stopped her after she’d ridden Curly twice. “What?”

“Thank you for helping me. I couldn’t have done it without you.”

He squeezed her hand. “Hang tight. I’ll get you home so you can ice your leg.”

* * *

T
HE
TRIP
TO
Five Star Ranch set up a pattern for the next several days. Johnny did ranch chores early in the morning, and then he and Shannon made the drive to P.T.’s to practice in the afternoon, and later at night he helped her work on the mechanical bull back at the Triple D. Dead tired, he crammed in an hour training Bear before bed. He needed to make more time for the horse but Shannon was his first priority.

The day of reckoning had arrived—Clive was due home tomorrow and although Johnny had gotten Bear to accept a saddle, the horse still wouldn’t allow Johnny to ride him. Intending to fix that now, he saddled the gelding and put him in the corral.

“Stay calm, big guy.” Johnny tied the reins to the rail and slung a leg over the horse. As soon as his butt hit the leather, Bear reared and Johnny went flying.

“Damn it, Bear.” He fetched his hat and jammed it on his head. Once the horse relaxed, he made another attempt to sit in the saddle and landed in the dirt again.

“You’re a good match for him.”

Johnny glanced across the pen where Shannon watched.

“How so?” he asked, wincing when a sharp pain shot through his butt muscle.

“You’re both stubborn.” She motioned to the bucking machine. “Got a minute? I could use your advice.”

“Sure.” He untied Bear, then patted his rump. “We’re not finished, hotshot. I’ll be back.

“What’s wrong?” he asked when he caught up with Shannon.

“I’m ready to admit that my leg won’t be healed by the time I compete in Tucson and dismounting the traditional way isn’t going to get the job done.”

He’d suggested she needed to learn a different dismount but Shannon had been convinced with more practice she could master the old way. That she finally admitted defeat didn’t reassure Johnny in the least.

“Show me your regular dismount,” he said.

Shannon hopped on the mechanical bull and rode until she found an opening, then pushed off but didn’t land far enough away. If she’d been on a real bull she would have fallen under its belly and gotten stomped. A lot of good it would do for her to make it to eight and win the title only to end up trampled.

“You’re going to have to dismount on the right side.” He hopped on the bull. “Chris Cummings did this two years ago in Phoenix when he rode with a busted left leg.” Cummings was a top-ten bull rider on the circuit.

Shannon stood by the controls, waiting for Johnny to give her the signal to increase the speed.

“Once the buzzer sounds watch for the bull to spin left.” He nodded at the controls, and Shannon increased the speed. “Cummings leaned back instead of forward and pushed off with his right leg.” The machine whipped to the left and Johnny moved into position then launched himself through the air and landed a good four feet away. “Your turn.”

Shannon hopped on and found her rhythm. “Lean back,” he said. “Ready?”

She nodded.

“One...two...three.”

Using her right leg to shove off she flung herself to the side, but her landing was sloppy.

“How did that feel?” he asked.

“Not as uncomfortable as I expected. I think it might work if I keep at it.”

A horn honked in the distant and Johnny recognized Clive’s truck. “Looks like your father got home a day early,” he said.

“Who’s that behind him?” Shannon asked.

Johnny noticed the second truck towed a horse trailer and his stomach dropped. “I don’t know, but we’ll find out soon enough.”

Chapter Thirteen

“Hey, Dad,” Shannon said when her father stepped from his truck. “We didn’t expect you until tomorrow.”

“Fiona’s niece was in a car accident up in Sedona, so we caught an earlier flight back.”

“Is she okay?” Shannon asked.

“She suffered whiplash, but she’ll be fine.”

A tall, slim man with gray sideburns stepped from the other vehicle and joined the group.

“This is Gary McGovern,” Clive said.

Johnny offered his hand. “Johnny Cash. Nice to meet you.”

“And you must be the famous Shannon Douglas.” Gary tipped his hat. “You’ve earned quite a reputation in rodeo, young lady.”

“Gary’s here to see Bear,” Clive said, ending talk of Shannon’s rodeo successes.

“I’ll fetch him from the barn.” Johnny made a hasty escape. His gut told him this wasn’t going to go well. He stopped outside Bear’s stall. “Look, I know you don’t like the saddle, but you’ve got to be on your best behavior.” Johnny led the gelding outside and set him free in the round pen, then went back into the barn to fetch the saddle.

“Bear’s a stubborn horse,” Johnny said, “but if you have patience with him, you won’t find a better cow pony.”

“Saddle him up,” Clive said.

Johnny wished he’d thought to bring a peppermint with him this morning. He carried the saddle across the pen, stopping in front of the horse. “Sorry, buddy. I don’t have any treats with me.”

He placed the saddle blanket over Bear and released a quiet breath when the horse stood motionless. “That a boy.” Slowly he set the saddle on his back. “Easy now.” When he was certain Bear wouldn’t bolt, he tightened the cinch and walked the gelding across the pen.

“He’s a beauty,” Gary said.

“Bear loves chasing cattle, but he’s got a mind of his own and prefers working without a cowboy on his back,” Clive said. “Johnny’s been training him.” Clive swung his gaze to Johnny. “He’ll accept a rider now, won’t he?”

Time would tell. Johnny set his foot in the stirrup and froze when Bear’s muscles tensed. He counted to three, then swung his right leg over the horse. He had only a second to brace himself before Bear bolted across the pen, stopped on a dime and reared, throwing Johnny on his head.

Busted.

“Doesn’t look like Bear’s made much progress,” Gary said. “I’m sorry, Clive, I can’t have an unpredictable horse on my ranch when I’ve got cowboys coming and going in shifts riding different horses each time.”

“Give us another week to work with Bear.” Clive shot Johnny a dark look before trailing Gary back to his vehicle.

“Damn you, Bear.” Even as Johnny cursed the horse, he accepted the blame for Bear’s disappointing behavior. Once Gary McGovern drove off, Johnny came face-to-face with his boss’s wrath.

“You’d better have a damn good reason for Bear not being trained,” Clive said. “I asked you to do one thing while I was gone—make sure that horse was ready to sell.”

“Dad—”

“You’re fired, Johnny.”

“Dad!”

Stunned, Johnny stood immobile.

“You can’t fire him,” Shannon said.

Clive thumped his hat against his thigh. “I gave you a job—” he spoke to Johnny “—and you didn’t follow orders.”

Johnny felt sick to his stomach. He’d just screwed up the opportunity of a lifetime because he hadn’t been able to walk away from Shannon and leave well enough alone. If he needed more proof why he should have resisted his attraction to her, Clive had just given it to him.

“It’s not Johnny’s fault that Bear isn’t ready to sell,” Shannon said.

“Then whose fault is it?”

Johnny’s boots grew roots in the dirt and he couldn’t have moved if he wanted to.

“Mine.” She jutted her chin.

Clive glanced between his daughter and Johnny. “What have you got to do with my foreman’s responsibilities?”

“Shannon, this is between me and your father,” Johnny said.

“No, it’s not.” She glanced at Johnny, then continued. “The reason Bear isn’t trained yet is because Johnny’s been helping me prepare for the rodeo next month.”

Clive’s mouth dropped open and then he snapped it shut. “I don’t know which one of you I’m more disappointed in.” He stared at Johnny. “Pack your belongings and leave. I’ll put your paycheck in the mail.” Clive walked away.

“You’re not leaving, Johnny.” Shannon ducked between the rails of the pen. “I’ll talk to him after he cools off.”

He swept a strand of hair from her eyes and wished for both their sakes this hadn’t happened, but he’d screwed up. “Don’t worry about me. I’ll be fine. You make things right with your father.” He moved her aside, unsaddled Bear and carried the equipment into the barn.

Shannon followed him. “Please, Johnny, don’t go.”

Steeling himself against her pleas, he put the saddle away and walked to the foreman’s cabin. His boss was a man of his word and Johnny had known the risks when he’d decided to help Shannon train. Once inside the cabin he stuffed his clothes into duffel bags and gathered his toiletries, CDs and his laptop. The rest belonged to Clive—except the beer in the fridge. Johnny took the six-pack of Bud Light. He’d need a drink later when it sunk in that he was unemployed.

He loaded the luggage in the backseat of his truck, then placed the Weber grill—coals and all—in the bed. He sped off, resisting the urge to glance in the rearview mirror—knowing Shannon stood in the driveway, staring after him. It wasn’t until he made it to the highway that he remembered the next mortgage payment on the farm was due in two weeks.

* * *

J
OHNNY
HEARD
A
DOOR
slam and went to the bunkhouse window to see who’d shown up at the farm.
Dixie
. Oh, hell. His brothers had called in the cavalry.

Hands on her hips, Dixie squared off with his siblings, who lounged like lazy hound dogs on the front porch. He couldn’t hear what she said, but he assumed she was miffed at having to leave her gift shop early during the holiday season. Mack pointed to the bunkhouse and Johnny ducked out of sight. A second later a knock sounded on the door.

“Johnny, let me in. I swear to God if you don’t, I’ll bust the door down.”

It probably wasn’t a good thing for a pregnant woman to be upset, so he opened the door and Dixie stepped inside.

“Told you so!” Conway yelled across the yard. “You’re Johnny’s favorite!”

He shut the door and slid the bolt in place.

“What’s this nonsense about locking yourself in the bunkhouse and not letting anyone in?” Before he had a chance to answer, she asked, “Why are you even here? Shouldn’t you be at the Triple D?”

“I got fired today.”

“Fired? Clive wouldn’t fire you.”

“He would and he did.” Johnny took a beer from the fridge and dropped onto the sofa.

“What happened?” Dixie sat on the coffee table in front of him.

“I don’t want to talk about it.”

“Does Shannon have anything to do with you getting fired?”

He gaped at his sister. Had Shannon confided in Dixie about their relationship?

“Did you sleep with her?”

He nodded. “But that has nothing to do with why I was fired.” He gulped his beer. “I didn’t get a horse trained in time to sell to a buyer and Clive was counting on making that sale.”

“Why didn’t you train the horse?”

“Because I was too busy helping Shannon get over her fear of riding again.”

Dixie frowned. “She never told me she was afraid of riding bulls.”

“She’s had nightmares since her wreck on Heat Miser, then she scratched at the Chula Vista rodeo and her confidence took a nosedive.”

“How were you helping her?”

“We’ve been spending a lot of time working on the mechanical bull and then we started going to P. T. Lewis’s place so she could practice on Curly.” He stared at the ground. “I don’t know if it’s enough, Dixie.”

“What do you mean ‘enough’?”

“Shannon’s scared. The worst thing she can do is ride a bull if she has doubts in her mind. She needs to accept that her bull riding days are over.” He got up from the couch and stared out the window overlooking the orchard.

“Shannon’s the most courageous woman I know. The only way she wouldn’t ride in Tucson is if she physically couldn’t get on the bull.”

“Well, it’s out of my hands now.”

“Does Shannon know why her father fired you?”

“She was there. She tried to intervene, but that upset Clive even more, so I got the heck out of there.”

“Are you in love with Shannon, Johnny?”

He faced his sister. He could deny it all he wanted but it wouldn’t change the truth. “Yes, I am.”

“Then this will all work out. Give Clive time to get over being mad and he’ll—”

“I don’t care whether or not Clive offers me my job back.” He waved a hand in the air as if swatting at a fly. “There’s no future for me and Shannon if she’s determined to continue competing.”

“You’re going to abandon her when she needs you most?”

“I can’t be with a woman who puts herself in harm’s way, knowing she isn’t prepared and that she could get badly injured or even killed.”

“Have you told her that you love her?”

He felt his neck grow warm. “Not in so many words.”

“It wasn’t very long ago,” Dixie said, “you pointed out to me that when you love someone, you love all of them—the good and the bad.”

“This is different. Gavin had to obey military orders—he didn’t have a choice when he was deployed to Afghanistan. Shannon has a choice. She doesn’t have to ride in Tucson.”

“But, Johnny, her whole life has been dedicated to chasing this title. If you love her, then you’ll be by her side no matter what the outcome.”

He was the eldest. He was the one who doled out advice in their family and he didn’t like having to listen to his sister even if what she said made sense. He’d figure out the mess between him and Shannon later.

Time to address another issue—one that directly involved Dixie. “Now that I lost my job at the Triple D, we’ve got a problem with the farm.” He removed the bank statement from his pocket and handed it to her.

“I don’t understand,” she said. “Does this mean I might lose the house?”

“And the orchards, too.”

“How did this happen?”

Johnny did his best to condense two years’ worth of information on rising interest rates and agricultural companies downsizing.

“And you didn’t think to share any of this with me?” Dixie shook the envelope in his face. “I should have never let you talk me into allowing the bank to send you the mortgage statements on the farm.”

“C’mon, Dix. You were too young to handle that kind of financial responsibility after Grandma died.”

He wasn’t used to disappointing others and he tried to defend himself. “And you were in no shape to discuss the farm a year ago when you were pregnant. Then you and Gavin bought the gift shop in Yuma and soon after you had a miscarriage. Then it was touch and go on whether you and Gavin would stay together. When was I supposed to tell you that the farm was in trouble?”

“I’m sorry,” she said. “I didn’t mean to jump down your throat. But you could have mentioned the situation after Gavin and I married.”

“By then I thought I’d solved the problem. I found a company to harvest this year’s crop, and I knew I could pay the mortgage once I began working at the Triple D.”

“But this letter—” she rattled the paper in the air “—says you’ve missed three mortgage payments.”

“That happened right after Grandma died and the agricultural company didn’t renew their lease with the farm. It took a few months to sign on with another company.”

“I wish you would have told me, Johnny. I could have pitched in money to make up the missed payments.”

If he could go back and change the way he’d handled the farm business, he would.

“I don’t understand why all of a sudden the bank is calling in the loan now,” she said.

“It’s because we haven’t leased out the farm yet.”

“We don’t have to, do we? Can’t we take over the pecan production?”

“
We
meaning who, Dixie? You’re too busy with the gift shop. Gavin works full-time for the city of Yuma, and the rest of us have never shown much interest in harvesting pecans once Grandpa died.”

“I can sympathize with the tight spot you were in after Grandma passed away, but this wasn’t your decision to make alone.”

His sister might as well have kicked his legs out from under him. “I’ve been taking care of this family for a long time. When no one else gave a crap about the farm, I made phone calls and begged agricultural companies to lease the orchards. I’ve busted my ass to hang on to this property because I promised Grandpa on his deathbed I wouldn’t lose the farm.”

“Johnny, I love you. You’re the best big brother a girl could ever want. But right now I’m angry—angry because you want to protect me from bad news.” Dixie rubbed her brow. “You’ve done an amazing job keeping this family together after Grandpa and Grandma died, but we’re all adults now. You can stop being our father and just be our brother.”

“What do you think we should do about the farm?”

Dixie stuck her head out the door and whistled. “Family meeting!”

His brothers filed into the bunkhouse and sat at the picnic table, and then his sister spoke. “Johnny has something to tell us.”

No sense beating around the bush. “The farm’s in financial trouble.”

“What do you mean?” Conway asked.

“Give him a chance to explain,” Dixie said.

He condensed the past few years into a few sentences, then ended his spiel with “I don’t have enough money left in my savings to pay off the bank and now that I no longer work for the Triple D I won’t be able to make the monthly mortgage.”

“Damn it, Johnny.” Conway banged his fist on the table. “You should have come to us sooner for help.”

Feeling cornered, he fought back. “And what would you have done? What would any of you have done?” He spread his arms wide. “You’re all wrapped up in your own lives, just like always. No one has shown any interest in growing pecans for years. Every one of you assumed I’d take care of things.” He blew out a breath and got a hold of his temper. “I was handling the mortgage payments just fine until Clive fired me.”