Lassoed Into Marriage

But slowly Lisa was growing on him. He saw how sad she was over losing her sister. She’d sit on the garden bench and stare endlessly at the note from Carol and Rick, still not opening it.

Sometimes, he’d wanted to sit next to her and say a couple of comforting words, but then he decided that his sympathy wouldn’t be welcome. Instead, he’d rope the statue, think and watch her out of the corner of his eye, pretending he didn’t know she was crying.

He liked how she read books to Rose. She pointed to the pictures, asking her questions, and got her to make up her own stories.

He liked how she tried to cook, too. He saw the recipes she’d printed out from the Young Cooks website. Basic stuff. He supposed he ought to roll up his sleeves and do some cooking—he didn’t mind at all—but he didn’t want to seem like a know-it-all. She was doing fine.

Lisa climbed up the steps of the RV. “I think we’re ready to go now. Oh-nine-thirty hours. Just as scheduled.”

He didn’t remember insisting on a time or a schedule.

“Then let’s roll! Everyone buckle up.” He pointed to the table with bench seats. “You can sit there, or someone can sit in the copilot’s seat.”

Lisa slid into the bench seat and Rose slid in opposite her. They both clicked on their seat belts.

He guessed that he’d be traveling without a copilot.

Nice and quiet. That was the way he liked it. Right?

This isn’t a bad way to travel, Lisa thought as she tucked Rose into bed. She liked how the sides of the bed/kitchen table formed a barrier and secured Rose from rolling off. Traveling with a bathroom was another good perk.

But it still didn’t beat flying.

Her cell phone rang, and she looked at the caller. It was her friend Luann at JFW Aviation. She was in charge of booking charters.

Her heart began to race and the blood started zinging through her veins at the thought of flying again. It had been too long.

“Hi, Luann! Got something for me?”

“Yeah, I do. I have a charter of high rollers going from Albany to Vegas. This would be perfect for you since you’re somewhat near Albany already. It’s just a quickie. You’ll be back in three days.”

“You want me to stay in Vegas?”

“Sure. It doesn’t make sense for me to fly you back commercial and then send you back again the next day just so you can fly the charter back.”

But she’d be gone for three days.

“When?” Lisa asked, pulling her appointment book and a pen from her purse. No electronics for her when it came to her appointments.

“Okay, got it.” Lisa wrote down the information and blocked out the dates. “Should be no problem, but I’ll let you know for sure. Thanks, Luann.”

She was going to fly again! As she hurried toward the front of the RV to tell Sully, she felt like she was walking on sunshine.

Wait! A cloud blocked her sun when she remembered that the dates for the charter fell on a weekend. She’d told Sully that she’d fly during the week so he could ride on weekends. Now what? She didn’t want to turn down her first charter, and it’d be round trip from Albany. Just what she’d wanted.

She had to discuss it with Sully.

Taking the passenger’s seat, she turned toward him. “Where are we?”

“Pennsylvania. We’re not as far as I thought. I forgot that Molly had to be walked, and I didn’t know that Snowball would be barfing up hairballs.”

“I’m the one cleaning up cat barf,” she said. “Not you.”

“And I’m the one walking around with plastic bags picking up dog poop.”

Lisa chuckled. “I never thought I’d ever be doing this.”

“Me, either.” He picked up a bottle of water and took a big draw.

“Thank goodness we don’t have to follow Rose around with a plastic bag,” Lisa said.

Sully spewed his water all over the windshield and the front of his light blue shirt. His laughter bounced around the motor home. Lisa joined in.

When they both sobered up, they fell silent. Lisa watched the lines on the road flash by, and she was beginning to drift off to sleep. She yawned, then pinched her top lip to wake herself up.

“How about if I relieve you for a while?” she asked.

“You’re too tired to drive.”

“I guess I am. When can we quit?”

Sully pointed to the sign on the left that said “Sleepy Bear Campgrounds and RV Park.”

“We can quit just as soon as I get a site and hook up the RV.”

She yawned again. “Good.”

He pulled the rig in front of the office, put the RV in Park and hurried down the steps behind Lisa’s seat. “I’ll be right back.”

Lisa closed her tired eyes, thinking that she’d talk to Sully in the morning about the charter flight.

She must have dozed off because the next thing she heard was Sully talking on his cell.

“Of course I’ll be there, Chet. Wouldn’t miss it. Sure. I’ll be glad to sign autographs at the Boot Yard. What’s the date again? Got it. That’s the Anaheim event? Two weeks from this weekend? Got it. No problem.”

And she hadn’t told Sully about it yet. Now he’d committed to an autograph signing.

Lisa sighed. If she remembered correctly what Sully had told her, the next event was the one event at which some cowboys would be dropped from the tour if they had low scores. Others would replace them. It was important for Sully to ride. He was high enough in the rankings to not worry about being dropped, but other riders were hot on his tail, trying to pass him in the standings. If a rider had a good day in the go-rounds, anything could happen.

She and Rose weren’t going to follow Sully around like a couple of buckle bunnies. Rose needed stability, and that meant the big Victorian, not a home on wheels where she slept on the converted kitchen table for weeks at a time.

So far, Rose was having the time of her life. While Sully was driving, they’d played games, colored and put together puzzles on the table. She wanted Rose to have fun on this trip, to be a little girl without a care in the world, and so did Sully.

Now they were stopping at a park where there was an indoor pool, and Rose had put on her bathing suit fifty miles away in anticipation.

It was only seven-thirty at night, but all Lisa wanted to do was sleep. Yet it was time to be a mother and take Rose to the pool for a while.

She sure hoped that Sully brought his bathing suit, too.

Bonding. Wasn’t that what she’d wanted on this trip?

They pulled into their campsite, and Sully hooked up whatever needed hooking up while she changed into a pair of shorts and a dark T-shirt to swim in. She didn’t bring a bathing suit with her from Atlanta, never thinking that she’d need one, and didn’t have time to go clothes shopping to any great extent.

Neither did Sully, although he found a pair of cutoffs. The three of them walked together to the indoor pool, hand-in-hand, with Rose between them. The stars were shining bright in the black sky and a full moon was smiling down on them.

Sully looked down at Rose, then at Lisa, and grinned. He winked. “What a beautiful night.”

“Sure is.”

“So we’re going swimming, right, Rose?” Lisa asked.

“Yes! I want to swim!” She turned to Sully. “Will you go swimming with me, Uncle Sully?” Rose asked.

Why didn’t Rose ask me to take her swimming?

“I sure will. All three of us are going swimming.”

At least Sully included me.

“Yippee!” Rose yelled, suddenly jumping.

Sully and Lisa tightened their grip on her hand and caught her before she fell.

Just like real parents, Lisa thought.

A half hour later in the pool, Sully was supporting Rose as she splashed, making like she was swimming.

Sully turned to her, water dripping down his strong chest. His arms were thick with muscles, especially his riding arm. His disheveled hair glistened with beads of water, and she liked how he smiled. His whole face lit up.

She understood why the buckle bunnies found him sexy.

A sense of calm came over Lisa as she watched Sully play with their niece. He was good with Rose. Actually, he was like a kid himself.

She wondered how long it would take before he “forgot” his responsibilities and skipped out to party with his pals and a gaggle of groupies, like he was known to do.

Things were going great so far, but it was only day one.

Could Sully go the distance?

Could she?

Rose was safely tucked into the dinette bed. Molly the mutt was sleeping on the floor beside her, and Snowball was currently using the litter pan in the bathroom.

Rose had told them that she was going to say her night prayers, and Sully silently gave Carol and Rick kudos for teaching her right.

“I want to pray for Mommy and Daddy in heaven. I hope they saw how good I was swimming. And I want to tell them that I’m going to Disney World.”

Her prayers broke his heart, and he found himself at a loss for words. Rick would never see his little girl grow up. Would never see her graduate, get married or have children of her own.

It wasn’t the first time he’d heard Lisa and Rose mention the theme park. He’d better take her, or he’d never forgive himself.

As Rose drifted off to sleep, he and Lisa sat on the seats in the front of the RV. He popped the top of a beer as Lisa drank a diet cola.

He took a long draw of his beer. Delicious. “You know, Lisa, you could have told me about your plans.”

“I didn’t have a chance. I just mentioned that we were going to Florida and would be near the park, and Rose took it from there. I’ll have to be more careful about what I say.”

“I’m not mad. I just feel bad that I didn’t think of it myself. I’ll work it in, even if I have to drive all night coming back home. It’ll be worth it.”

“That’s really nice of you, Sully.”

Her emerald eyes met his, and for a brief moment Sully thought that she actually liked him.

Nah!

He noticed Lisa unsuccessfully trying to stifle a yawn.

“You take the bed in back,” he said. “I’ll sleep on the floor.”

“I couldn’t take your bed, could I?”

Lisa tilted her head, almost flirtylike. He must be mistaken. Lisa was not the flirting type. She was too serious, too straight-laced. As a matter of fact, he thought she was a bit of a snob.

Obviously, she wanted the bed.

“I can handle the floor. I spent many days sleeping under the stars in Montana mostly during round-up. At least there’s a carpet here.”

Lisa seemed surprised by what he’d said. “I knew you were from Montana, but I didn’t know you did real cowboy stuff.”

“Bull riding isn’t real cowboy stuff?”

“I think of it more like a sport,” she said.

He shrugged. “You’re right. Bull riding isn’t something that occurs on a typical day on the ranch. I only got on bulls at the ranch to practice. Now I practice at my buddies’ ranches. Someone always has a spread near the events.”

Suddenly her eyes grew wide. “Wait a minute. You had a ranch?”

“Sure did. The Mountain View Ranch in Elsie, Montana. The best place in the world.” He’d loved the place while he had it. “But I sold it to a buddy. Riding the PBR circuit, I was never there.”

He and Sid Peterson had a handshake agreement. If Sid ever wanted to sell, Sully had first dibs on it, but that would never happen. Not now. Not when he had Rick’s daughter to raise back at the big old Victorian in Salmon Falls, New York.

He sighed. If he ever went back to Montana now, it’d only be to visit.

“Funny, I never pictured you as the ranching type,” Lisa said.

“Which means?” He raised an eyebrow.

“I guess I always had you pictured as tumbling tumbleweed.”

“Just drifting along, huh? Just like you? Isn’t that what our respective parents pointed out?” he asked.

She rolled her eyes. “I so want to prove to them that we can be good guardians to Rose.”

“I know.” But proving to his parents that he could do anything major like raising Rose seemed too much of a long shot. However, his brother Rick had been Gordon and Betsy Sullivan’s pride and joy. A Wall Street millionaire, who didn’t even have to work on Wall Street, he had been a total success. He’d even married the perfect woman. They’d adored Carol, and when Rick had put their first grandchild into their arms, he’d become even more perfect, if that was possible.

Sully could never be jealous of Rick. Rick was a great guy, a stand-up guy, a good-natured guy and a terrific big brother. Rick would have gone to the wall for him, and Sully would have returned the favor.

However, Brett Sullivan, second son, was a big disappointment to the Colonel and Mrs. Sullivan. He chose the cowboy lifestyle instead of a civil service job or the army. He did go to West Point briefly after high school, which got their hopes up, but he wasn’t there long enough to unpack before he hitchhiked to the first PBR event.

He’d be considered by many to be a nomad, a rolling stone, a carefree cowboy who was doing what he wanted and living from go-round to go-round. His relationships with the opposite sex were mutually satisfying and perfectly shallow. That’s the way he wanted it. Then he moved on.

How did that old country song go? Something about never loving a woman enough to stay—instead a cowboy saddles up and rides away.

“Sully?” Lisa said. “A penny for your thoughts?”

“They aren’t worth that much.”

“The day went well. Don’t you think?” Lisa asked.

He knew that she wanted him to say yes.

“Sure. It was a great day. We didn’t fight. Rose laughed a lot and enjoyed the long ride, mostly because you played with her. She loved splashing in the pool. And now she’s sleeping like a three-year-old should.”

“You were the one who made her laugh. I was the one who was making sure she didn’t drown.” Lisa yawned, then stood. “I’m still nervous about us raising her.”

“You have to relax, Lisa. You hover over her too much.”

“And you need to hover more!”

“Look, Lisa, anyone in their right mind would be nervous about raising children. We both love her, so it’ll be easy. I think that confidence will come in time. If not confidence, then at least competence.”

Her eyes grew large with surprise. “You are absolutely right about that!”

Her reaction made something in him wake up after a long sleep. Maybe he was lacking confidence and competence in his personal life. In his bull riding career, he’d always had plenty of both.

However, according to his parents, he had no track record of doing anything right.

So what made him think he could do right by Rose?

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