The Ranger's Rodeo Rebel (15 page)

Chapter Twenty

She stayed home the next weekend, and she hated it.

It'd been one of the hardest things in her life to watch Chance leave without her. Her teammates had waved goodbye, too.

“Not easy, is it?” Colt said, turning to her as they stood in front of the barn.

“No.”

He patted her back. “You'll get back to it soon enough.”

Maybe.

The rodeo season would end soon. Chance would be gone. Nothing would be the same again.

“Come on.” He gave her a wry grin. “Let's muck stalls.”

So she kept herself busy. Inga kept her company. That helped, but only so much. Officer Connelly had called to say they'd moved up James's court date. It was the best he could do, he'd told her. He'd also said to be extra careful. There was no telling what James was capable of. His scare tactics hadn't worked, and that might make him desperate enough to try something else.

Carolina didn't see Chance when he returned from the rodeo. He had a meeting about his new job. It served as a crushing reminder he'd be gone soon. She had heard from Delilah that things had gone well at the rodeo. Delilah had stepped in and taken her place again, something her friend had only been too happy to do. And Caro knew why: Delilah had a crush on Chance.

“What should I do next?” she asked her boss, stowing away the pitchfork she'd been using to muck stalls.

Colt glanced at the whiteboard hanging on the tack-room wall. It was Monday. No clients at the barn. That meant a quiet day, something Caro could use. Her hands hadn't stopped shaking since she'd heard James was going to court.

“Why don't you lunge Titan next?” Colt suggested, tipping his cowboy hat back. “You can use the covered arena.”

She nodded and gave him a faux salute, another thing that reminded her of Chance. “Will do.”

At least she got to work with horses. If she were to be a prisoner for an undetermined length of time, it helped that her job dealt with the animals she loved.

“Colt,” someone called.

Caro froze. Her boss turned toward the barn entrance. Natalie stood with an amused look on her face.

“It's time,” she said.

Chance dropped the lead rope he'd been holding. “Right now?”

Natalie rolled her eyes. “No. Ten minutes from now. Yes, right now.”

Caro glanced between them, her mind spinning. “I'll put Inga away,” she said, whistling for her dog. She'd gone off to explore the manure pile, a favorite hangout for the ranch animals. “And the horses we have in turnout.” Her boss's look of bemused terror amused the heck out of her, too. “I can follow behind in a few minutes.”

“No,” he said. “We'll wait for you.”

“I don't think that's a good idea,” Natalie said, wincing. “Oh, Lord.”

Colt ran for his wife, calling over his shoulder, “Okay, follow behind.”

And they were gone. Caro called Inga to her side. The dog had become her constant companion. “Natalie's going to have a baby,” she told her. “That means you need to stay home.”

Home.

She wished the ranch were her home. She'd never felt so safe. So protected. So loved as she had staying with the Reynoldses. Chance might have been keeping his distance, but that was to be expected. They'd had a deal, she and him. She didn't blame him for honoring it. She just...missed him. She missed their practice sessions. She missed how overprotective he was. She missed being made to feel as if she were special when she nailed a routine and he smiled at her in approval.

Carolina drove to the hospital in a near daze. The only thing she made a conscious decision about was to double back in case James followed her. She didn't see him, and she was in too much of a hurry to get to the hospital to do it again.

And that's why she didn't spot him in the hospital parking lot, waiting for her to get out of the truck.

“Hello, Caro.”

She pressed her back up against the vehicle. They were in a crowded parking lot. People came and went. She heard an ambulance in the distance.

He's not going to hurt you here.

She did something she would have been unable to do two months ago. She squared her shoulders and stepped forward.

“Hello, James.”

Lord, what had she seen in the man?

She'd found his loosely cropped brown hair attractive when she'd first met him. Now she loathed its contrived messiness. She'd liked his gray eyes, too. Had thought them kind. Now she knew they hid the soul of an evil man.

“We need to talk,” he said.

“How did you know I'd be here?” she asked, her heart rate suddenly taking off.

He glanced around. Someone parked their car a few rows away. “I followed Colt and Natalie. Once I realized where they were going, I knew you wouldn't be far behind.”

“Oh.” Clever. She should have taken better precautions. If she hadn't been mooning over Chance, she might have noticed James waiting for her.

“I want you to drop the charges,” he said, crossing big arms over his chest. “I don't need the grief a conviction will bring me.”

She almost laughed. He didn't need the grief? Had she needed the bruises he'd given her? The trip to the hospital? The succeeding weeks of pain, sadness and fear?

She stood strong. “I guess you should have thought of that when you beat the crap out of me.”

He took one step toward her. They were in the middle of a parking aisle, she reminded herself. She could run if she had to. Duck behind one of the other vehicles. Call for help.

“I don't think you understand. I really need you to drop those charges.”

There was menace in his eyes. She didn't care. The man was a bully. She would not allow him to bully her again.

“Is that what your graffiti at my work was all about? A pep talk? A way to woo my sympathies?” She curled her lip at him, hoping he could see her complete disdain. “Get a life, James. And get a good lawyer. You're going down.”

She turned away, focusing on the two-story hospital in front of her. They had security inside. She just needed to make it to the lobby.

BOOM.

The sound made her jump and turn and scream all at the same time. James stood by her truck. He held a baseball bat, though where he'd gotten it from was anyone's guess. And her truck—it now sported a huge dent in the tailgate.

James swung the bat again, this time at her taillight.

“What are you doing?” Plastic shattered. “You're ruining my truck!”

“Drop the charges,” he ordered.

“Drop dead,” she said, backing away from him, the hairs on her neck standing on end. He would kill her with that bat.

She ran.

Right into a wall. Only it wasn't a wall. It was Chance, and she wanted to cry, wanted to hold him tight, wanted to take shelter in his arms and never leave his side.

Never.

* * *

“L
EAVE
HER
THE
hell alone,” Chance told James, hating the man more than he'd ever hated someone or something in his life.

“Screw off, asshole,” James said, waving the baseball bat in their direction.

It was all Chance could do not to thrust Caro aside. To launch at the man and use the bat to pummel some sense into him. Instead he said, “If you don't leave her alone, you'll regret it.”

James cocked a brow at him, slapping the bat into the palm of his hand. “Oh, yeah? Whatcha gonna do? File a restraining order against me? Big strong Army Ranger needs a piece of paper to protect him?”

He had no idea how the man knew he was ex-military, nor did he care. “No. I paid a visit to Rose Santos and Carla Brown and told them I was with a special-victims unit. I showed them pictures of what you'd done to Caro.”

The memory turned his stomach all over again. His hands shook. He clenched them to avoid wrapping them around James's throat.

“I told them what you were doing to Caro, what you would do to other women if they didn't all band together to stop you.” He unclenched his hands, keeping a wary eye on the baseball bat. “And you know what, James? They agreed. They put aside their fear and their terror and their revulsion of you, and they agreed to refile charges. As we speak, Officer Connelly has a warrant out for your arrest. In fact, he's right over there—” he pointed to the right “—along with several of his officers. We all saw you pull up in front of the hospital.”

Caro's eyes filled with tears, but they weren't tears of fear. They were tears of joy, relief and, yes, gratitude. He hugged her tighter before setting her aside, putting himself between her and James.

James had lost his cocky self-assurance. He glanced around him, wide-eyed. Three officers approached, guns drawn.

“Drop the weapon,” one of them shouted.

Chance saw it then. Saw the fear he'd been hoping to see. The desire to run. The panic. All the things James had made his victims feel.

Chance laughed. “And here's something funny—my sister-in-law isn't having a baby right now, asshole. This was all a setup. You're going down, and I'm the man who made it happen.”

Chapter Twenty-One

They put him in jail.

“But how did you know he would follow Colt and Natalie to the hospital?” Caro asked Chance. They all sat around the kitchen table: Claire, Natalie, Colt and Chance. Adam was in the family room playing video games. Inga and Natalie's new puppy kept him company.

“We didn't,” Natalie answered for him. “We just knew he'd been watching the place, so we figured he'd follow us, thinking you were in the truck.”

Chance nodded his agreement, which was all he'd been doing since they'd arrived home. He'd been as quiet as a possum.

“I still can't believe you didn't tell me about this,” Colt said. “I thought for sure you were having that baby.”

Caro glanced at Natalie in time to see her smile. “We needed to make sure Caro thought it was real.”

“And I needed to draw James out,” Chance said, his first words since they'd returned to the ranch. “My biggest concern was he might bring a weapon.” His gaze encompassed the whole table. “A real weapon. I was glad to see all he had was a baseball bat. Even better, it's all on the hospital's security cameras. Between Carla and Rose pressing charges and the video, James will go away for a long, long time.”

Caro wanted to cry. It was over. Chance had done it. He'd saved her as he'd saved so many people over the course of his life.

“Thank you,” she said softly.

He glanced at her, but she couldn't read the expression in his eyes and it drove her nuts. She would have thought he'd be ecstatic, but instead he'd been quiet, almost sad.

“Well, I still think you should have told me,” Colt said, getting up and filling a glass with water at the tap. “I drove like a maniac on our way to the hospital.”

“You'll get to drive like a maniac again,” Natalie said, standing, too.

She doubled over.

“Nat!” Colt yelled, the glass clattering in the sink.

“It's okay,” she wheezed. She lifted a hand. “Just knocked the breath out of me.”

“What?” Colt asked.

Natalie peeked up at him. “I think I had my first contraction.”

Claire gaped. “You're in labor?”

She grunted, leaned over again, managing to gasp. “We need to get back to the hospital.”

From the family room, they heard Adam say, “Again?”

Which made Natalie and Colt laugh. Caro looked at Chance, wanting to ask him what was wrong. He should be excited. He was about to become an uncle again. But as she watched, he stood without saying a word. He grabbed his hat and shoved it on his head.

“I'll drive me and Caro to the hospital.”

Her relief was like a physical release. She could feel her shoulders relax. He wouldn't be able to ignore her in the truck.

“I'll put the dogs away first,” she volunteered.

“We'll ride with Colt and Natalie,” Claire said, turning to the family room. “Come on, Adam.”

The boy sighed in resignation as Caro scooped up the puppy. It took her only a minute to lock the baby Malinois in the laundry room and another few minutes to lock up Inga.

Shortly after, she climbed into the truck beside Chance.

“Seat belt,” he reminded her.

He didn't smile. Didn't comment on his sister-in-law's impending delivery. Didn't do anything other than stare straight ahead and put the truck in drive.

“Chance, what's wrong?”

She thought he would ignore her. Thought he might brush her off with a comment. Instead he shifted in his seat, glancing at her for a second.

“I'm leaving in a couple weeks.”

The words were like the stab of a needle. No, a hundred needles...a thousand. She'd known it was coming. She'd never deluded herself into thinking it wasn't. Still...

“I'm sorry to hear that,” she said, looking out the passenger-side window. She didn't want him to see her eyes. If he did, he might note the tears she fought.

“I heard from my new commander over the weekend. I fly out to Germany first, then back to the Middle East.”

Back to the war zone. A place where he might be killed. A place of danger.

She gulped down the lump in her throat. “What will you do there?”

He shrugged. “Mostly escorting corporate executives in and around war zones.”

She nodded, her voice raspy with unshed tears as she asked, “Isn't that dangerous?”

He shrugged again. “I'm used to danger.”

Yes, he was. She could not have asked for a better bodyguard. It was what he did. What he was good at. She didn't blame him for wanting to go back to it.

But was it wrong of her to wish? To dream? To wonder what might have happened had she been woman enough to capture his heart? She inhaled against more tears.

“Congratulations?” She forced a bright smile, making sure she had herself firmly in control before turning to face him. “I think.”

At last their gazes met, and Caro's heart flipped over at what she saw. Sadness. Resignation. Maybe even a hint of fear. But no. Chance didn't feel fear. He was a warrior. A man who had dedicated his life to protecting people, no matter what it might cost him personally.

“No, it's good.” He focused on the road again. “I'm going to break the news to Colt and Natalie once the baby is born.”

Good Lord, it was getting hard to breathe. “And the rodeo business? What about that?”

He gripped the steering wheel, hard. “It's almost the end of the season. And I won't be leaving for a little while yet. I'll be able to finish it out.”

Leaving. She'd known it was coming. Still...

“Take care of yourself while you're over there,” she said. “Promise me you'll keep in touch.”

They'd reached the end of the ranch's private road, and Chance held her gaze as he said, “I will.”

* * *

I
T
WAS
THE
longest night of his life, not because his brother's wife was in labor for twelve hours before she finally gave birth to a healthy baby boy they named Weston, but because he kept catching glimpses of Caro's face while they waited all afternoon for news.

Her face was splotchy. Pinched. Dark circles rimmed her eyes.

He wasn't an idiot. He knew why she'd barely cracked a smile when the Galloping Girlz arrived at the hospital. One of them had asked her if everything was okay. He'd watched as she'd pasted on a bright smile and explained she was just tired now that everything was over with James.

Don't think about it, buddy. This was always the deal.

He knew that. Just as she'd known it, too. Didn't make it any easier to swallow, because the plain and simple truth was he cared. If things had been different, he would have asked her out. He would have wooed and wined and dined her and...

What?

No sense in dwelling on what wouldn't ever happen.

“You can go in now,” a nurse said, her smile aimed at the lobby of waiting people. All of Colt and Natalie's friends. Wes and Jillian. Zach and Mariah. Ethan, his sister's fiancé. “Just close family for now.”

He stood. Ethan and Claire did, too, his sister holding out her hand for Adam. Caro stayed seated, but Chance motioned her up. “You're part of the family, too.”

He caught the look of surprise on his sister's face, but she didn't balk. Claire was too sweet for that, and Natalie didn't seem to mind when they came in together. In fact, she smiled brightly.

“Look what the stork brought.”

Adam rushed to the bed, most likely because he couldn't see the baby swaddled in blankets, but when he finally caught his first glimpse, he drew up short.

“Why is he so red?”

There was such a look of intrigued revulsion on the boy's face that Chance would have laughed if he'd been in a better frame of mind.

“He's exhausted,” Natalie said, her eyes as blue as the blankets around her son. “It's a lot of work being carried by a stork all that way.”

To which Adam replied, “Aunt Natalie, I know babies don't come from a stork. They come from vaginas.”

Stunned silence. Colt emitted a sound reminiscent of a bird squawking. Natalie glanced at Claire. Claire shrugged. Then, as if on cue, they all started laughing. Caro just watched, and Chance realized she felt like an intruder. He scooted closer to her and whispered, “My nephew has no filter.”

She glanced up at him and smiled gratefully. “So I've learned.”

“What do you think, you guys?” Natalie said, holding her baby differently to give everyone a better view. “Weston, meet your family. Family, meet Weston.”

Meet your family.

“I think he's adorable,” his sister said.

“I think he looks like a dried-up tomato.” Adam chortled.

“And I think he's perfect,” his soon-to-be brother-in-law said. “I want one just like him.”

Which made Claire look at Ethan with adoration. Chance averted his gaze. He knew now why he'd invited Caro into the room. He felt like an outsider, too. The brother who had always been off on another continent. The one who only saw people via video chat and conversed through text messages. It had never bothered him before, but right now it did. In a couple of weeks, he'd be leaving. Life would go on here. Ethan was talking about starting up a therapy center for veterans suffering from PTSD. He didn't have the money to do it himself, so Chance had connected him with a wealthy friend—the man he was going to work for, actually, Jaxston Stone, the owner of DTS.

“How are you feeling, Natalie?” Caro asked. Hospital lights did nothing to detract from her pretty features. Chance longed to touch her face.

Natalie smiled. “Tired. Sore. Elated. Scared.”

“Scared?” Caro asked.

She glanced around the room with a bemused expression on her face. “It occurred to me a few minutes ago that this little bundle of joy is now solely my responsibility.”

“And mine,” Colt added.

“Yes, but still a responsibility. It's like learning you were given a monkey.”

“A monkey!” Colt said. “Are you calling my son ugly?”

“He kind of looks like a monkey,” Adam said.

Natalie smiled again. “No, no. I'm just saying that monkeys are cute, and I think I might know how to care for one, but until I do, it's a little scary.”

“I know exactly how you feel,” Claire said. “But you'll get used to it. In a few years, you'll be missing the days when he couldn't talk back.”

“Can I hold him?” Adam interjected.

“Of course,” Natalie said. “Just make sure you support his head.”

They all watched as the two cousins were introduced to each other, and Chance found himself wanting to slip an arm about Caro and draw her closer. It must be the emotions of the day that had him feeling so out of sorts.

“You want to hold him, Chance?” Natalie asked, motioning with her chin toward Adam. “You'll be leaving us here soon. Better get your fill.”

He gulped. Did he want to hold his nephew? He hadn't been around for Adam's birth. Come to think of it, he couldn't recall a single time that he'd held an infant.

“Ah, sure?”

Adam turned to him. “It's easy. Just don't break his head.”

Chance almost laughed. Almost. Because in the next instant, he was holding his nephew and staring down into his eyes and he saw... Colt. And his sister. And his mother before that, and it reminded him of his mom and how much he missed her, and how he wished she were here right now. He needed to look away, because the man who didn't cry, who prided himself on never shedding tears, suddenly couldn't breathe.

* * *

S
OMETHING
WAS
WRONG
.

The whole way home Chance said not one word. She'd tried to engage him in conversation, but he'd merely grunted a time or two. She'd given up after the first few miles.

“See you this weekend,” he said as he put his truck in gear. He moved to open his door.

“Chance.” She stopped him with her hand.

He reacted as if she'd hit him. It immediately prompted her to pull her hand away.

“Sorry,” she said, though she didn't know why she was apologizing. “I wanted to say I don't want things to be awkward between us. We still have two more rodeos to perform together. I want them to be good times, not bad.”

Night had fallen, but she could still make out his face in the light of the dashboard.

“I'm going to miss my family,” he said.

She reached for him again. It was an automatic gesture, and this time he didn't pull away. This time he let her hand rest on his.

“I looked around the hospital room, and I realized I would be gone soon, but they would still be here, back at the ranch, living life without me.”

Don't go.

Oh, how she wanted to say the words.

“I won't get to see Weston grow up. Not really. I'll miss out on Adam's first prom. In a few years, they'll both be grown up and graduated and I'll be...where?”

She took a deep breath made shaky by her tears. “You'll be here,” she said, her free hand lifting to her chest, “in their hearts.”

He seemed so sad in that moment, so lost, that she did the unthinkable. She crossed the line, the invisible barrier that had stood between them for weeks. She kissed him. He didn't move at first, but then he kissed her back and she knew where it would lead. She didn't care.

Stay
, she tried to tell him with every kiss.
Don't leave.

He didn't seem to hear, and that was all right, too, because she was desperate enough to take what she could get. When he slipped out of his truck, she did, too. And when he held out a hand, she took it. Colt was spending the night at the hospital. They had the house to themselves. He led her to his room, his childhood bedroom, slowly undressing her, kissing her shoulder at one point.