The Cowboy's Christmas Baby. Carolyne Aarsen

Чтение книги онлайн.

СКАЧАТЬ stupid joke about Lauren’s “uptight” sister.

      “Then the shed is two days late instead of one.” Vic shrugged, turning onto the highway heading toward the Circle M ranch where Lauren and Jodie were waiting for their sister.

      If they did a quick drop-off he and Vic could be on their way home before Erin arrived. When he’d met her it looked as if she was headed into the Grill and Chill so there was a possibility.

      But Vic was whistling some vague country song, which meant his brother was happy about seeing his fiancée again. Which meant Dean would have to watch Lauren and Vic give each other those stupid, secret smiles. And the occasional kiss.

      He was happy for his brother. Truly.

      But ever since his girlfriend Tiffany broke up with him, less than twenty minutes before the ride he’d injured himself on, Dean had struggled with a combination of anger and betrayal.

      Being dumped just before a ride that could have put him on the road to a major title was bad enough. Finding out that she was leaving him for his brother, whom she’d had a secret crush on the whole time they were dating only added insult to the actual injury he’d been dealt.

      The fact that Vic and Tiffany hadn’t gotten together after the accident helped, but knowing his girlfriend preferred his brother over him still stung.

      And now Erin was in back town. Erin who seemed to prefer anyone to him.

      Every summer since their parents’ divorce, Erin had come from Knoxville to Saddlebank to stay with her father. And every summer, from the time they were both fifteen, he’d asked her out. And every time she’d turned him down. Thankfully his ego was more intact then. He kept thinking that his dogged persistence would do the trick, but when she told him the last time he asked her that she didn’t approve of his lifestyle and didn’t approve of him, he got the message.

      He knew sweet Erin McCauley was above his pay-grade and that she frowned upon his ever-increasing rowdiness, but at that time in his life obstacles had just seemed like challenges he could overcome. And Erin, with her gentle smile and kind nature, was exactly that kind of challenge. One that he’d lost.

      He’d had girlfriends since then but deep down he always compared them to her.

      His gold standard.

      And now?

      Pain twinged through his leg and he shifted it, grimacing as he did. Now he had even less to offer her or any other woman. A crippled ex-bronc rider trying to figure out what he was going to do with his life.

      “So what does Jan have you working on these days?” Vic asked, pulling him from the melancholy memories.

      “We’re finishing up a hay shed for the Bannisters and there’s a big job coming up in Mercy I’m hoping to get in on.”

      “You still enjoy the work?”

      “It’s work,” Dean said carefully knowing that his brother was fishing. Again. Feeling him out about coming in as a partner on the ranch. That had always been the plan when Vic made a deal with Keith McCauley to lease his ranch. Then came the accident that changed so much for Dean. Now he wasn’t sure what he wanted anymore or where he fit. Rodeo was off the table and he didn’t know how much of an asset he could be to Vic.

      If he couldn’t ride a horse.

      “Once Erin comes back Lauren and Jodie can make a final decision about the Circle M. And I was hoping you would make one, too,” Vic returned.

      “I thought their dad said in his will that only two of them had to stay two months.” When Keith McCauley died his will stipulated that two of the girls had to stay two months on the ranch in order for all three to inherit.

      “Lauren and Jodie both fulfilled the conditions of their dad’s will, that’s true, but I think they just want to talk it over with Erin. Out of courtesy.” Vic waited a beat, then shot him a glance. “And once that’s done, we need to make a decision about you coming in with me as a partner.”

      “I know. I need some time.” Dean shifted in his seat again, stifling his frustration as he watched the fields flowing past.

      “You’ve had time. This was the plan,” Vic continued, his voice holding an edge of anger. “We talked about it before I approached Keith McCauley to lease the ranch from him, and now that it’s pretty much a go I want to expand the herd. But I can’t do that if I can’t get a commitment from you.”

      Dean knew he was stalling and understood his brother’s exasperation. Ranching together had been their plan for the past ten years. When he’d dated Tiffany he’d imagined his life with her in the little house on one corner of the Circle M Ranch, tucked up against the river.

      He had been working for Jan Peter for a couple of years as a carpenter and had already planned the renos he was going to do on the house after he and Tiffany got married.

      But those dreams had been busted in two decisive moments. When Tiffany broke up with him and when he smashed his leg half an hour later.

      “Lauren and I are getting married soon,” Vic continued. “I need to know where we’re at. If I need to bring in another partner or if you’re still part of this.”

      “I know and I appreciate that you’ve been willing to wait,” Dean said, staring ahead at the road flowing past rolling fields toward the mountains cradling the valley. “But I’m not sure where I belong anymore.”

      “What do you mean? You belong here. You’re a rancher. It’s your legacy and it’s in your blood.”

      Dean released a humorless laugh. “And what kind of rancher can’t ride a horse?”

      Vic looked back at the road, his one hand tapping his thigh as if restraining his impatience. “You just need to try again.”

      Dean’s mind ticked back to the last time he tried to get on a horse. Vic had come upon him trying to mount up. He wanted to help and they’d had a fight. Dean had wanted to try on his own and his brother didn’t think he could. Trouble was, Vic was right. And though he had come across all tough and independent, truth was he was scared spitless and secretly thankful for the chance to walk away.

      “And lots of ranchers don’t ride horses,” Vic continued. “They use their trucks or quads—”

      “You can’t take a quad up into the high pasture or the back country. We both know that,” he said, his voice hard. “Ranchers in this country ride horses. Simple as that.”

      And Vic’s silence told Dean that his brother knew he was right.

      “You’ll ride again” was all Vic said.

      Dean wished he had his sibling’s optimism. Because right about now, he felt as if both Vic and his boss, Jan, were merely helping him out. Giving the poor cripple a hand up.

      He wasn’t used to that. He was used to being independent and doing things on his own. Like he had up until the accident.

      And now they were going to see his brother’s fiancée and the girl he’d once cared for. And he was coming as half a man.

       СКАЧАТЬ