The Bull Rider Meets His Match

In that regard, alone sucked.

* * *

GRADY WAS JUST putting the finishing touches on dinner when a car pulled into the drive. It wasn’t until it parked in front of the house instead of near the barn that he realized it wasn’t Annie and her girls returning from the big shopping trip in Bozeman. He didn’t recognize the car, but he definitely recognized the blond getting out of it. Danielle. Tall, cool, beautiful, just as he remembered her.

He pulled the dish towel off his shoulder and dropped it on the kitchen table on his way to the door, glad once again that his sister and nieces were late getting home.

Danielle smiled up at him as he opened the door, but it wasn’t the bright open smile he was used to. No. There was a definite touch of wariness in her expression, amplified by the taut way she held her body. Granted, two years had passed since he’d last seen her, but he was surprised at how unfamiliar she seemed, while his encounter with Lex had been like old times. Bad old times.

“Something smells good,” she said instead of hello.

“My famous pot roast.” He stepped back, silently inviting her into Annie’s cozy kitchen. She came inside, and he closed the door. Then for two or three silent seconds they simply stood, like two complete strangers that unexpectedly found themselves sharing a small space. Danielle cleared her throat and met his gaze.

“Lex said you came by today.”

He hadn’t expected that. He’d figured Lex would do her best to shield her friend from the evilness that was him and never mention his visit. “I did. She said you and your grandmas were busy talking wedding plans.”

She gave a slow nod. “That’s true.”

“Good guy?”

“The best.” She spoke with conviction. “I’m engaged. I’m happy.”

“And you don’t want me to mess things up.”

An expression of relief crossed her face as he said what was obviously on her mind. “In a nutshell, yes.”

Fair enough. When she’d broken up with him, over the phone, since he’d been in the middle of his season and she’d apparently taken all she could take, she sounded torn, as if she wasn’t entirely certain she was doing the right thing. But now...now she looked like a woman who knew her mind.

“I won’t mess up your life.”

“Thank you. I didn’t know if you’d come to see me—” her expression shifted to a tentative one “—with thoughts of us getting together again.”

“The thought might have crossed my mind.” It definitely had. He’d wondered more than once if they might now be in a place where they could reevaluate their relationship...maybe even pick it up again.

She gave him a suspicious look. “Might have?”

“Well, I hadn’t seen you in a while, but I thought about you a lot. I wondered...you know...” He gave a small shrug. “I wanted to see you one more time. To make sure.”

“And now?”

It was funny how standing here in this kitchen with Danielle, the flesh and blood Danielle, not the Danielle in his memories, made things so much clearer. He felt no strong urge to take her in his arms, hold her close, ask if it was too late. “I’m happy for you.”

Her expression cleared at the sincerity in his voice. “Thank you.” She reached out to gently touch his shoulder. “We were never meant to be, Grady.”

“What if I hadn’t ridden bulls?” A small part of him had to know if it had been the bulls.

“Ultimately...I don’t think it would have mattered.”

“I think you’re right.” He’d thought he loved her, but he hadn’t been able to sacrifice for her. “We had some good times.”

“We had some excellent times. You taught me a thing or two about taking risks.” Danielle smiled at him, the old smile he remembered so well. “If you’re comfortable with it, I’ll send you a wedding invitation.”

“I’d like that. Thanks.” He realized then that it felt totally right for him to be in the audience instead of at the altar on Danielle’s wedding day. He had an affection for her, deep respect for her, but he knew in his gut they didn’t belong together.

After she drove away, Grady went back to the gravy simmering on top of the stove and gave it a stir. Strange how things worked out. For two years he’d essentially stopped dating. He’d used Danielle as the standard by which he’d measured all women, and no one had measured up.

And now it seemed that his standard had been something he’d worked up in his head, not the woman he’d once thought he’d loved.

* * *

ANNIE GET YOUR GUN smelled of potpourri, spices and flowers, and Lex always inhaled deeply as she walked into the homey space she and Danielle had worked so hard to create after she’d lost her father and Danielle broke up with Grady. She loved this place.

On the far wall was a framed poster of Annie Oakley with her rifle, embellished with paint and glitter. The store itself was filled with quirky Western-themed decor items as well as personal accessories, books, jewelry, T-shirts and fun gift ideas. Most of the stuff they purchased outright, but they had consignment stock—antiques and small furniture items—as well as items that Danielle and Lex made themselves. Lex’s father had been a silversmith, and Lex used his tools to create funky metal jewelry accented with beads and gemstones. Danielle made one-of-a-kind collector’s quilts, and Kelly, their one employee, was a potter.

“Is that you, Lex?” Danielle’s voice came from the back room, where they kept extra stock as well as a refrigerator and electric teakettle.

“Yep. I got the scones.” She shook the white bag. The pleasant aroma of the cinnamon tea Danielle always made for their weekly business meetings wafted from the back room. She set the bag on the antique table they used for their conferences and sat down.

“Kelly won’t be here for the meeting,” Danielle said as she came out of the back room carrying a tray with the teapot and cups. She smiled tightly as she approached, the picture of stress, and Lex’s first thought was, What did Grady do now? She’d had a feeling that Danielle would contact him after she left, just to finish unfinished business. She kept her mouth shut, though, as Danielle set down the tray and opened the bag of scones to arrange them on a porcelain plate embellished with small cowboy boots. When she finished pouring the tea, she finally met Lex’s gaze.

“You look like you could use a shot of whiskey in your tea,” Lex said.

Danielle waved her hand dismissively. “I told my mom and grandmas that I was going to buy my own dress this morning. I hate disappointing any of them.”

Okay. At least it wasn’t Grady that was bothering her. And as for Danielle buying her own dress, it had to be done. That ’80s dress...

“I have a feeling,” Lex said, raising her cup, “that your mom might have disappointed her mom, who in turn disappointed Great-granny, since they all have their own dresses.”

“Good point.” Danielle frowned and then said, “Great point. Anyway, now I’m going to be gown shopping, and I was hoping you might be able to squeeze some time in to help me.”

“As long as it’s not Saturday morning, I’m at your disposal.”

“Big plans?”

“I promised Jared I’d bring quiet horses to the Kids’ Club riding lessons that start this weekend.” Her only cousin, a single dad, worked long hours in a machine shop during the week and then volunteered for the local recreation program on his weekends. “After all the help he gave me after Dad died, I figured it was the least I could do.”

“Are you helping with lessons?”

“Just providing mounts. Jared has high school kids helping with lessons.” Lex frowned at Danielle. “Where is Kelly?” Who was the kind of person who never missed work, never missed a meeting.

Danielle’s mouth flattened as she said, “Job interview.”

Lex set her cup back on the saucer. “No.”

“Afraid so. County courthouse. Primo benefits.”

“Wow.” They paid Kelly fairly well but weren’t in a position to offer anything better than bare-bones benefits. “What now?”

“She’ll know tomorrow if she gets the job and has promised to do everything she can to help us find someone.”

“I don’t think we can find someone like her.” Kelly made every customer feel special, even the crotchety ones like Mrs. Lacombe, who came to browse and complain about prices at least once a week.

“I know,” Danielle said wearily, “but we have to think about what’s best for Kelly.”

* * *

OF COURSE KELLY got the job. Danielle called later in the afternoon to break the news to Lex, who was just heading out to feed.

“I can help out at the store until we get someone.” Lex loved stocking the store and guiding the business decisions, but she wasn’t the warm and fuzzy people person that Kelly and Danielle were. She’d been in deep mourning for her father when she and Danielle started the business, and because of that, Danielle had taken charge of the day-to-day operations. She also pulled in a larger percentage of the proceeds. It worked well. Danielle had more income and Lex had the time she needed to focus on her farm.

“I have an idea,” Danielle said slowly. “What do you think of interviewing Annie Owen?”

“Annie Owen?” Lex barely kept herself from saying, Are you nuts? Instead she said, “Why Annie?”

“Her name is perfect. Annie?” Lex rolled her eyes and waited for the real reason. “We know her. She needs a full-time job. It would help her and it would help us.”

And also bring Grady, Annie’s brother, firmly back into Danielle’s sphere.

“But,” Danielle said, “if you have a problem with hiring her, I won’t call.”

Lex could almost hear her dad saying, Step back, as he often did when Lex felt the urge to fix matters that weren’t necessarily her concern. She liked Annie Owen, had nothing against her, except for her brother. And honestly, the only thing she had against him was that he’d been utterly selfish in regards to her friend.

Let things play out. Stop trying to save everyone.

Fine. She’d back off...but that didn’t mean she wouldn’t remain vigilant. She smiled at Danielle and gave a dismissive shrug. “If you’re good with it, I’m good with it.”

“If you’re concerned about me and Grady, don’t be. I went to see him.”

“I figured you would.”

“Yes. And I felt...nothing.” Danielle gave a small shrug. “I’d bet the store that Grady felt the same.”

“Well...that’s good news.” Very good news. No more worrying about her friend getting mixed up with a selfish bull rider.

“It is. And now there’s no reason not to hire Annie.”

Lex gave a slow nod. “I agree.”

“Great. I’ll see if she wants to meet us at the store tomorrow.”

* * *

“ARE YOU SURE about this?” Annie asked, casting Grady a concerned look as she wrapped a blue silk scarf loosely around her neck.

All of her looks seemed to be concerned lately. Stress had taken a toll on his sister. She didn’t smile as much as she used to, didn’t seem to feel as bulletproof. She was dressed for her interview in clothes that Grady recognized, and he hadn’t been home for two years, which made him wonder if he should have pressed harder for her to take the money he’d offered her. Annie had her pride, but there came a point where accepting monetary help was a matter of common sense. The house needed work, she needed some new clothes and there were her two young daughters to care for.

“I’m sure,” Grady said with an easy grin.

“Emily offered to take care of them.” Emily Mansanti was the girls’ usual afternoon babysitter, who’d happened to have a free morning today.

“Why spend the money when you have me?” He wasn’t fool enough to add, “How hard could it be to take care of two little girls?” The past several days had taught him exactly how hard it could be. Kristen and Katie put new meaning into the word energetic. Although they were blond-haired-green-eyed images of their sensible brown-haired, blue-eyed mother, they seemed to have inherited their uncle Grady’s sense of adventure. And now he was getting an idea of the challenges he must have presented his own parents. Constant energy was exhausting.

Annie gave her head a small shake. “Just making sure,” she said as the girls walked into the kitchen.

“Good luck on your job,” Kristen said, hugging Annie around the waist.

“I don’t have it yet, sweetie, but I’m going to give it a shot.”

“We still get to go to riding lessons, right?” Katie piped up. “If you get the job.”

“I’m going to take you to lessons,” Grady said.

Before the girls could respond, Annie said, “He’ll take you to lessons if you behave while I’m gone. If you don’t...” She held up a finger in a warning gesture, and both girls nodded solemnly.

Somewhere along the line Annie had shifted from easygoing sister to strict mom.

“You’re going to be late,” Grady said.

“Yeah. Wish me luck.”

“Good luck,” Grady said. He’d told himself a couple of times that morning that they wouldn’t have called her in for an interview if she wasn’t a serious candidate. He didn’t trust Lex, but he did trust Danielle, and the fact that she’d arranged for the interview after they talked made him feel hopeful for his sister’s chances. Heaven knew she was due for a break.

“Do we get to help you build the garage?” Kristen asked as soon as the door shut behind her mother.

“Please?” Katie asked. “We like to hammer.”

“Yeah,” Grady said. In fact, that sounded like a fine idea. They could hammer nails into a board and he could get some work done on the frame. He found two lightweight tack hammers in the tool box and two sturdy boards. After partially hammering ten nails into each board, he cautioned the girls to grip the hammer with both hands and to never hold the nails with their fingers. He also told them to tap, not wallop.

Maybe he’d given a few too many strict instructions because after ten minutes, the girls became bored with mindless hammering and wanted another job. It didn’t take long for him to realize that he wasn’t going to get a lot done while they were there helping him.

“What else can you guys do while I work?” he asked. An idea struck him. “Hey, shouldn’t you be reading books for that library award thing your mom told me about?” After the twins had gone to bed the previous evening, Annie had explained to Grady that her girls were dead set on winning the local library’s Dedicated Reader Awards. It was a big deal in town, and part of Grady’s duties would be to sign off on their reading sheets and take them to the library when they ran low on books.

“We finished our books last night,” Kristen said. “Mom’s picking up more today.”

“Um...” Katie frowned a little. “We could clean our rooms.”

Grady lifted a skeptical eyebrow. No kids he knew of volunteered to clean their rooms. “What’s the catch?”

“It’s almost time for allowance and if our rooms aren’t clean, we don’t get allowance.”

Annie really had become a hard-ass. But she always had been a neat freak, so Grady understood the clean-rooms-linked-to-allowance thing.

“Cool.” They’d clean their rooms, get their allowance and he’d get some framing done. Win-win. “If you’re done by lunch and do a good job, I’ll add extra money to your allowance.”

The girls exchanged excited glances, then started running toward the house, laughing as they went.

Feeling rather smug, Grady went back to framing. He figured it was almost two hours until lunch. The girls would probably start cleaning their rooms, then segue into a session of cartoon streaming as they’d done the previous evening while he and Annie discussed futures—hers and his. His sister was struggling, but she wasn’t giving up. He was somehow going to help her without making her feel beholden. Neat trick, that, but he’d figure it out. In the meantime, he would rebuild the garage, patch the barn and reinforce the cellar stairs. He owned half the property, and it was only right that he help with the upkeep, despite Annie pointing out that he didn’t live there so he didn’t reap any benefits. He was reaping them now.

Grady lost himself in the building process as the sun climbed in the sky. He glanced at his watch and realized almost two hours had passed since the girls went inside. He was hungry and thirsty, and he imagined the girls were probably also in need of lunch.

He pulled his ball cap off as he approached the house and slapped it on his thigh. Annie had made sun tea the day before, and he needed about a gallon of it right now. He pushed open the back door into the kitchen and then stopped dead in his tracks as his boots hit a puddle and two pairs of startled green eyes connected with his.

“What the—” He barely cut off the curse. Swallowing hard, he stepped over the wide puddle of tea and broken glass. “Hey! Don’t touch the glass,” he yelled as Katie started picking up the pieces with her bare hands. She instantly dropped the shards and stepped back, putting her hands behind her. Grady walked through the mess and took her hands in his, examining them closely. Other than being sticky from something chocolaty, they seemed fine.

“All right,” he said once he was satisfied he wouldn’t be rendering first aid. “How did this hap...” The word trailed off as he suddenly became aware of the condition of the rest of the kitchen, which had been close to spotless when Annie had left. Egad. Where had all that chocolate come from?

He shifted his gaze back to his nieces, unable to find words. They seemed similarly afflicted until Kristen blinked at him, all wide green eyes and stricken expression. “We wanted to surprise you with a cake.”

Chapter Three

Indeed, there were signs of cake making in the form of chocolate batter pretty much everywhere, including the front of the fridge, the cabinets and the floor. No fewer than five bowls were stacked in the sink, along with a gooey eggbeater lying on the counter. Grady picked it up gingerly and set it in the bowls.

“We aren’t allowed to use the mixer,” Katie explained, casually wiping her gooey hands down the sides of her pink jeans.

Grady could only imagine the havoc they could have created with an electric mixer tossing batter around the room. “I see.” He rubbed his jaw as he took in the carnage. If he was quick, there was an off chance they could get the mess cleaned up before Annie got home.

“Here’s the deal, guys. I want you to stay out of here until I get the floor cleaned up, then—”

The sound of a car interrupted his words.

“Mom,” the girls said simultaneously in a hushed tone.

“Sounds like it,” he agreed, heading for the door and shooting a look out the window. It was indeed Annie who’d pulled into the drive. He turned back to the two wide-eyed girls. “Why don’t you two wait in the living room?”

They turned without argument and walked side by side down the hall. Katie had a perfect chocolate handprint on her backside. They’d just disappeared into the living room when he heard Kristen say in a low voice, “She’s going to be mad.”

No doubt.

Grady pulled open the door to take the heat.

Annie practically danced up the sidewalk. “I got the job!”

“Congratulations,” Grady said, forcing a quick smile. He glanced over his shoulder at the house.

“What happened?” Annie’s voice instantly went flat. The Mom Voice.

“Well...” Grady shrugged. “Slight mishap. The ice tea jug got knocked out of the fridge and broke.”

Annie paled. “No one got hurt?”

“No.” That was the good news. “But the mess is still there.”

“It happens,” Annie said as she headed past him to the door.

“And the girls made a cake.”

She stopped dead and turned back to him. “With supervision...right?”

He gave a small cough. “It was kind of an independent project.”

A curse slipped out of Annie’s lips followed by an even more colorful curse when she opened the door. For a moment she simply stood cataloging the damage to her kitchen. “Did they ask?”

“Uh...”

“Answer enough. Where are they?”

“Living room.”

She carefully skirted the broken glass in her heels before marching toward the living room. Grady thought about intervening, since he had vague memories of him and Annie doing the exact same thing, minus the broken tea jug, but decided not to risk the wrath of his sister.

Half an hour later the kitchen was cleaned, the girls fed and playing on their swing set and Grady was waiting to hear that he was an irresponsible uncle. Instead Annie opened the fridge and looked inside. “Good. Beer. Do you want one?”

Annie didn’t normally partake at home, and Grady hated the thought that he’d driven her to drink. “Sure.”

She pulled out two bottles and set them on the counter. He automatically stepped over to open them and then handed one to Annie before touching the top of his bottle to hers. “Congratulations, sis. I wish your homecoming had been better.”

“Yes. That’s what I want to talk to you about.” She held the bottle in front of her but had yet to take a sip. “I have a favor to ask.”

“Yeah?” he asked cautiously.

“I know you plan to practice at Hennessey’s while you’re here, and you’re going to be busy with the garage and barn and I know today was a bit of a disaster, but—” she pressed her lips together “—could you also watch the girls in the mornings? They have their regular sitter for the afternoons, but she can’t do mornings.”

Grady shrugged as if watching the twins were the easiest thing in the world. “Sure. Not a problem.”

Annie’s face broke into a wide smile. “I don’t know about that, but it would really help me out.”

“Like I said, not a problem. I came home to help.”

“You came home to rebuild the garage and barn, since I underinsured the outbuildings.”

“We underinsured the outbuildings.” Grady went to sit at the kitchen table, but Annie stayed where she was, leaning against the newly cleaned counter. “I don’t mind watching the girls. I learned a lot today, and I can’t see this—” he gestured at the kitchen “—happening again.”

“They’ll think of something else,” Annie said matter-of-factly. “It’s not an easy job keeping them out of trouble.”

“I can handle it.” He hoped. “I’d even keep them in the afternoons if you want.”

“I need to keep my sitter booked or I’ll lose her during the school year.” And she couldn’t count on him then, because he was leaving for a few months at the end of the summer to take part in the traveling Bull Extravaganza Buck-Off.

“Yeah. That makes sense.” He grinned at her. It’d been a while since he saw Annie so happy. “I’m glad that you got the job.”

“I think I’m going to like it. A lot.” She shot him a sideways look after taking a sip of her beer. “Does it bother you that Danielle’s getting married?”

“I thought it might, but it doesn’t.”

She regarded him for a moment, using her truth-detector look. The same look she’d used whenever he said things like, Honest, I haven’t said a word to Joey Barton about you having a crush on him.

“You sound pretty sure about that,” Annie said. “What changed ‘it might’ to ‘it doesn’t’?”

“She stopped by and we talked. It’s pretty clear to me now that when I left two years ago, I accidentally did the best thing for both of us.”

“So you have no issue with me working for her?”

“Of course not.” Actually, he had more of an issue with her working for Lex, but she was a silent partner, as he understood it, so really he had no issue at all. All he wanted was for his sister to be employed and secure.

* * *

ANNIE OWEN’S FIRST day of work was a typical summer Monday at the store. Crotchety Mrs. Lacombe stopped by before lunch to admire the quilts and complain bitterly about the prices, even though she was perhaps the wealthiest person in town. Annie did her best to assist the woman, but nothing she did was right. Lex wanted to rescue her, but when you worked in retail, you had to learn to deal with the Mrs. Lacombes of the world. Annie looked as if her smile were literally frozen in place by the time the woman left—empty-handed as usual, a broken salesperson in her wake.