Читать книгу: «The Wrangler's Last Chance», страница 3

Chapter Three

Carter gripped the leather-wrapped steering wheel as he turned his truck to drive out of Red Dog Ranch. His old pickup rattled a little as it ground its way over the pebbled driveway. He had purchased the thing used years ago and had brought the truck back to life more times than he could count. The hunk of metal had been with him longer than most of his possessions. And definitely longer than most people.

Shannon rested her elbow on the armrest between them. “Thanks for driving with me. What made you change your mind?”

Before he pulled out onto the road, Carter checked another time for coming cars. The speed limit was high on the road in front of Red Dog Ranch and his truck took a bit to get up to speed, so he had to wait for a large window or pocket of space to safely maneuver into. “You made a good point—it’s a good chance to talk to Dr. Spira again. And I’m new here.” He gave her a tilted grin. “I should probably start to get the lay of the land, right?”

She laughed softly. “Oh, that won’t take long. Stillwater isn’t a very impressive town.” She directed him to turn left at the next road. A few minutes later they were driving down Hickory Lane.

“This is the main drag,” Shannon explained.

Storefronts with colorful awnings dotted each side of the road—a bakery, a hardware store, a few mom-and-pop cafés and more than half a dozen small churches. He had seen towns like this before, lived in them and been burned by them. Small towns were dangerous because everyone knew everyone, and people talked and banded together. In places like this, boredom bred drama. If someone important decided they didn’t like a person, then the whole town shunned them. Made them feel as unwelcome as they could.

At least, that had been Carter’s small-town experience.

He pointed at a bright banner suspended above the road. It was festooned with fake flower chains and a large painted sun. “‘Stillwater Spring Pageant. Bring your brightest smile to the brightest event of the year,’” he said, reading out loud. “Big-time stuff here.”

“Hey.” Shannon narrowed her eyes in a joking manner. “That is a big-deal thing around here. Little girls fight to be named the Stillwater Sunshine Princess.”

“Did you ever enter?”

She tucked some of her hair behind her ear. He didn’t miss the wash of red that dotted her cheeks. “I’m pleading the Fifth on that one.”

Carter laughed. At least Shannon was fun to be around. She wasn’t the type to be nervous or try to bat her eyes at a guy. Confidence radiated from her carefree personality. She had clearly grown up around a lot of men and was at ease around them. The realization made Carter finally relax. She wasn’t being overfriendly with him—this was just how she was, and he didn’t need to read anything into her behavior or be worried where she was concerned. He was close to Rhett’s age and she was going to treat him and banter with him the same as she did her brothers. He wouldn’t let his guard down because he didn’t do that for anyone, but he could stop worrying.

“Park up here.” Shannon pointed toward a row of diagonal parking spaces near a large grassy area. “Dr. Spira’s office is over there. And his house is just beyond it, there, by the forest preserve.” The little red building had a sign hanging near the front door that read All Creatures Welcome. A white two-story house sat just to the right of the red building, and an American flag suspended from the wide front porch snapped in the wind. Flowers flooded the front walkway. The house sat at the far edge of town and was surrounded by trees.

Carter parked his truck and hopped out. He rounded the vehicle to meet up with Shannon and found her frozen on the sidewalk. Her mouth was open. Her fingers shook where they were hooked onto her purse’s strap. More than anything, the color in her face had fled.

Her posture made him pause. His muscles coiled, ready for an attack or whatever had made her fearful. A muscle memory from childhood.

They hadn’t known each other long, but every time Carter had interacted with Shannon she had been smiling, challenging, teasing or demanding he save her pet goose. Until now, her cheeks had always had a pink tinge to them. What could make a strong woman like that freeze and shake where she stood?

Carter followed her gaze. Across the street a lean man with shaggy dirty-blond hair had his hands on his hips as he stared Shannon down. More like glared. Sickness burned through Carter’s chest. The possessive way the guy was eyeing her didn’t sit well with him.

It was his stepdad bearing down on his mom, fists flying, all over again.

Carter turned his back on the man and stepped into Shannon’s line of vision.

She blinked as if she was waking up from a long sleep and she stumbled forward to grip Carter’s arm. “Can I ask you something? To do something crazy?” Her voice trembled.

Carter stepped closer to her. Warning sirens sounded in his head. He would do whatever she needed. He would protect now when he hadn’t been able to back then. “Anything.”

“Pretend to be my boyfriend.” She grimaced. “Just for a second. Just until—”

Carter wrapped his arms around her, tugging her to his body in a hug the same way she had hugged him yesterday. She was still shaking a little and every long-buried protective instinct clattered alive inside him. No man worth his salt caused a woman to feel terrified. He fought the urge to fist his hands, cross the street and demand answers out of the man by force. That wouldn’t solve anything. And it certainly wouldn’t help defuse the situation for Shannon, which was what mattered right now.

“I’m sorry.” Shannon’s arms were around him, too. Each of her fingertips dug into his back. Each point of contact sending the same message: I need you. Trusting him—a stranger—to keep her safe. “I’m so sorry I asked this of you,” she whispered against his neck.

Carter’s chest burned. Clearly, this was what Shannon’s brothers were afraid of—why they hadn’t wanted her to head into town on her own. Whoever the man across the street was, he had hurt Shannon greatly. He was a danger still.

“It’s fine,” Carter murmured against her hair. He hoped that from the man’s vantage point it looked like they were whispering sweet nothings to each other. He eased her away, placed his hand on the small of her back and veered her toward his truck. Opening the passenger-side door, he flipped up the armrest and helped Shannon back into the cab. He climbed into the passenger seat as she scooted to the middle seat and then he slung his arm to curl protectively over her shoulders. Again, he hoped the guy could see. Hoped their body language was a clear message for him to back off and leave her alone for good, whoever he was.

The insinuation that a woman needed a man to claim her as his in order to get another man to leave her alone chafed at Carter. But sadly, he knew how men like the one across the street thought. That man would have bothered Shannon without Carter there and might have even approached them if he hadn’t thought Carter was attached to her.

In the safety of the cramped truck, Shannon rocked forward and dropped her head into her hands. “I feel so stupid. I can’t believe I freaked out like that.” She groaned. “That wasn’t how this was supposed to go down at all.”

Carter placed a comforting hand on her upper back, encouraging her to keep talking if she needed to. Sometimes the presence of another person was far more important than words.

She sat up again and twisted a bit to face him better. “In my head I’ve run through so many scenarios of how I would react the first time I saw him again. But it was never that. Not panic.” She slumped against the seat, which brought her right under his arm again, snug to his side. Carter debated extracting his arm but couldn’t think of a nonawkward way to go about it, so he stayed where he was. He didn’t mind her so close, but he wanted to make sure she was comfortable with their proximity. She seemed to be.

Carter ducked his head so he could make the eye contact she had been avoiding until then. “Are you going to tell me who that was and why he made you so scared?” He held her gaze for a heartbeat. “You don’t have to if you don’t want to. But if you want to talk, I’m right here.”

She crossed her arms. “He’s an ex. Though I’m guessing you picked up on that by now.”

“He didn’t treat you very well, did he?” Carter kept his voice quiet and steady.

She nodded. “I was going through a rough time when we got together. I felt, I don’t know, really lonely and he was there and always wanted to be around me. At the time that felt really nice.” She laughed once, but it had a bitter edge to it. “I know that sounds dumb now.”

“I don’t think it sounds dumb at all.” He glanced in the rearview mirror. The guy was still there, his gaze trained on the truck. Carter wouldn’t have minded crossing the street to confront him, but he forced himself to look away, to stay put and remain with Shannon. “I get it, believe me.”

She lifted her chin but he could feel the tremors that were still working their way through her body. “Well, wanting to be together all the time turned into him wanting to control what I was doing and who I spent time with. He tried to divide me from my family—I’m ashamed to admit he succeeded for a while.”

“Abusers can start out as being really convincing,” Carter said.

“Abusers,” she whispered. Shannon looked out the driver’s-side window. Away from Carter. “When I finally started to stand up to him he got violent.”

Carter rubbed the stress from his jaw.

Another woman used and broken-down and questioning herself because of the wounds inflicted by an insecure man. Carter had spent too many years watching his mother get tossed around by his stepdad. Too many horrible images were forever imprinted on his mind. Times he couldn’t or didn’t step up to defend her.

Times he had gotten in front of her and taken the hits came to mind, too.

Carter snaked his arm away from Shannon to fist his hands in his lap. He ground his teeth together. “Tell me to go across the street and deal with him, and I will.”

Shannon hooked her hands around Carter’s closest arm, her eyes wide. “Please, don’t. Cord is... I don’t want him to... I don’t—”

Carter forced a smile. It was shaky at best. “I won’t. I wouldn’t have.” Well, he would have if she had asked him to. He ran his fingers over his jaw and blew out a long breath. “I’m just really angry someone treated you that way.” His heart was acting like a penned ram in his chest, going berserk. He hadn’t been this worked up in a long time.

Shannon let go of him and scooted further onto the driver’s side of the vehicle. “So that’s what I am. Now you know my story.” She trailed a finger over the steering wheel. “Some weak girl who—”

“Weak?” Carter angled toward her. “Hold up there.” He held out a hand. “You are not weak.”

Her hands fisted the steering wheel. She kept her head pointed toward the windshield. “Did you hear anything I just said? I am.”

“You’re not,” he said quietly.

“Everyone thinks so.” She finally faced him. Her eyebrows rose with a silent question.

Don’t you think so?

“You left him, didn’t you?”

She bit her bottom lip. “Much later than I should have.”

She had left. Didn’t she understand what a big deal that was? So many never walked away.

“So you’re strong and capable,” he said. “Just like I thought.”

She dropped her hands from the wheel. “I think a strong and capable person wouldn’t have been in that situation to begin with.”

“At some point in life everyone ends up in a situation they later wish they had never been in. I sure have.” He shook his head. “Just remember, how someone else treats you doesn’t define who you are. It only reveals who they are. What you experienced showed you this Cord guy is an abusive jerk who isn’t worth your time and that you are made of strong enough stuff to stand up to him and leave,” Carter said. “Don’t make light of that accomplishment.”

“You really don’t think I’m weak?” she asked as if the answer to his question was incredibly important. It made Carter wonder if others treated Shannon in a way that made her believe that lie. Because it was a lie. She was brave and strong and capable—and if he could see that after knowing her for one day then anyone who thought otherwise had to be blind.

“The woman who demanded a stranger save her goose?” He smiled. “Let’s just say I’m one hundred percent positive the word weak could never be applied to you.” He gently added, “You left, Shannon. Many women never leave.”

His mother hadn’t.

A choice that had cost her life in the end.

Shannon swallowed a few times. “I never thought of it that way.”

They were getting in too deep, touching on too many of his past wounds that he had long ago bandaged up and promised he wouldn’t poke anymore. If he talked any longer she would pick up on the fact that he was speaking from experience, if she hadn’t already.

She was safe. This Cord guy wasn’t approaching her. They could move on.

“Ready to go get your goose?” He jutted his head in the direction of the little red building. Then he opened the passenger door and held out his hand to help her across the seat and out the door. He dropped it just as quickly. Cord was no longer across the street.

They didn’t need to act any longer.

Wing Crosby honked from his place in the pet carrier tucked between Shannon and Carter in the truck. Shannon peeked into the carrier and couldn’t help the smile on her face.

They had ended up visiting with Dr. Spira for more than an hour at his clinic and then Carter had assisted the doctor when someone rushed in with a bundle of abandoned kittens who were clearly starving. After all of that, they had ended up being in town for three hours.

Carter narrowed his eyes as if the incessant honking was giving him a headache. “He’s going to honk like that the whole way home, isn’t he?”

“It’s not honking,” Shannon said. “He’s crooning for you, Carter. You should be honored.”

“Crooning. Right.” Carter hooked his hand over the top of the steering wheel but Shannon caught the glint of humor clear in his eye. When Rhett had first told her he had hired someone to fill the vacant head wrangler position, she had feared he would find someone just like himself. She loved her eldest brother, but he was so serious and withdrawn most of the time. Rhett was happier alone in his office than among a crowd. She was glad Carter hadn’t ended up being what she expected. With Wade and Rhett always busy with their new families, it was nice to have someone around in her age group to visit with who actually seemed to enjoy talking and joking.

It didn’t hurt that he smelled like leather and spice and late-night walks.

Or that he had called her capable and strong and looked at her as if he was proud of her.

How someone else treats you doesn’t define who you are. It only reveals who they are.

Well, his actions had revealed Carter to be a kind and compassionate man who cared about animals and was willing to lend a hand, or a hug when needed. And the intensity in his eyes when they had spoken in the truck had stolen her breath. She didn’t doubt for a second that he would have risen to her defense if he had needed to.

Beyond her family, she rarely shared with anyone what had happened to her. But she felt as if she could trust Carter.

Then again, hadn’t she recently decided to stop trusting her feelings?

She poked a finger through the carrier and Wing immediately butted his head against her. “Please tell me you’re a Bing Crosby fan. Because I don’t know if we can be friends if you’re not.”

Carter made a noncommittal sound.

“Come on,” Shannon urged. “White Christmas is a holiday staple. Tell me you’ve at least seen that one.”

“I mean, I watch it if I happen to catch it on TV, if that’s what you’re asking.”

“Oh, no way. That’s not good enough. Watching White Christmas is an event. There has to be cookie making and popcorn and comfy blankets.”

Carter made a show of peering out the windows. “You know it’s not Christmas, right? You’re three months late.”

She crossed her arms. “Have you seen The Bells of St. Mary’s?”

He shook his head.

“What about My Favorite Brunette?”

He gave a little shrug. “What can I say? I’ve always liked blondes.”

When he peeked her way, Shannon rolled her eyes in a teasing way.

She made a mental note to invite Carter to the next old-movie marathon she planned. For the last few years, about once a month she had invited staff members to movie parties. Sometimes she threw themed parties and sometimes it was more of a spur-of-the-moment marathon. Though lately she had been doing more watching on her own than she would like. Before they were both married to her brothers, Macy and Cassidy used to join Shannon for movies. But Shannon understood they needed time with their new husbands now.

She needed to start making new traditions. Her life shouldn’t be on hold just because her best friends had gotten married. Shannon made a promise to herself to start being more social again.

“Fear not, I’ll help you get caught up on Bing Crosby movies. I could plan a staff party around it.” Wing Crosby honked again. “Something spring themed to celebrate coming on one year since the tornado. We could host it at the barn—use a tarp to project the movie on the side of the building. I’ve seen that online.”

“Sure.” Carter chuckled. “We’ll hang those twinkle lights in the barn and maybe wrap some flower garlands around Memphis for kicks.”

Shannon sat up straighter. “That’s not a half-bad idea.”

“I was kidding.”

“I’m not.”

“Memphis won’t like garland wrapped around him. I promise. He’d probably eat it.”

She remembered the pageant sign that hung in the middle of Stillwater and an idea clicked into place. “Carter, I’m serious. You just gave me the best idea.” One that would give her something to focus on, a way to benefit the ranch. She could finally raise money for the indoor riding center she had wanted to build and, more than anything, do something that could be her project. She would have to run the idea past Rhett, of course, but she would make a point of not letting any of her siblings or their spouses help out. This would be her contribution to the ranch. Something her brothers could come to and see how successful she could be if they would just trust her.

By the time they got back to Red Dog Ranch, Shannon was so excited she could have hugged Carter. Again.

But twice in two days of knowing each other was probably already far more than Carter had wanted. She definitely hadn’t minded, though. Carter had been really great when they were in town and he had encouraged her about the Cord situation in a way no one else ever had. Something about the new head wrangler put her at ease.

She spotted Rhett, Macy, Wade, Cassidy and their daughter, Piper, gathered near the front enclosure that housed the ranch’s miniature pony and overly affectionate donkey.

Carter tossed the truck into Park and picked up Wing Crosby’s carrier. Shannon exited the truck and rushed around the vehicle to meet up with him. He started to hand the carrier over to her when Rhett called to them.

“Come on over here. I want to introduce Carter to everyone.”

Carter shot out a long breath before heading in their direction. It was funny to see that he was nervous around her family. They were just her siblings and all of them were nice.

Wade greeted them with a huge, lopsided grin. “Ah, good. I see you brought Thanksgiving Dinner home.” He pulled Shannon into a side hug.

She elbowed her twin brother in the ribs. “Stop calling him that.”

Piper, Wade’s spunky five-year-old daughter, skipped up to her dad’s side and took his hand. “Are we really going to eat Wing?” Her brow scrunched. “I really don’t want to.”

Shannon hugged the pet carrier to her body. “Not ever.”

“No, sweetheart. Daddy just thinks he’s funny.” Cassidy, Wade’s wife, hooked her arm through Wade’s free one. They made the picture of the ideal family—attractive, young and so in love with each other—no one would suspect how much they had gone through in order to be together. Only nine months ago, Cassidy had believed Wade to be dead, and then after a few bumps, they had faced his cancer diagnosis and treatment together.

Once Wade had introduced his family to Carter, they headed out.

“I’ve been told we’re headed to the Riverwalk for some ice cream.” Wade scooped up Piper as they walked away.

Piper sent Shannon a wink over his shoulder. “It was my idea. I told him.”

Cassidy laughed and joined her husband and daughter.

Rhett had an arm around Macy when he introduced her to Carter. Macy was seven months pregnant, but she hadn’t let that slow her down around the ranch until lately. Shannon had enjoyed watching her “man’s man” brother turn into a family guy who fawned over his wife and their expected child. At heart, her big brother was a huge softy. Nearby, Kodiak, Rhett’s ever-faithful shadow of a dog, and Cloudstorm, Piper’s gray-and-white cat, lounged in the grass. The two pets had finally come to some sort of an understanding.

That, or Kodiak had finally gotten it through her head that Cloudstorm was the boss around these parts.

After Rhett finished introducing Carter to Macy, he turned to Shannon. “How did lessons go?”

“Good. We worked on emergency dismounts today.”

“No one got hurt, did they?” he asked.

She took a breath before answering, calming her frustration. He would have asked the question to anyone, wouldn’t he? She hoped so.

“I know the ranch’s protocol. I would have called you if someone got hurt.” She set Wing’s carrier down and opened the door, letting him waddle out. He honked and ducked through the opening, shaking his tail feathers in an indignant way. He probably would have appreciated being let out of the carrier the second they got back.

Ever a birding dog, Kodiak’s ears perked up as her amber eyes followed Wing’s movements. But Shannon knew Rhett’s dog was incredibly well trained and wouldn’t lurch at her pet goose without Rhett’s blessing. Rhett had been a professional dog trainer before he had inherited Red Dog Ranch. Cloudstorm eyed Wing, but Wing had chased after Cloudstorm on occasion, so Shannon knew he could hold his own if the cat got any dumb ideas.

Shannon patted Wing Crosby’s head one last time and then faced Rhett again. “There’s actually something I wanted to run past you. An event I want to plan.”

Rhett and Macy stepped a little closer.

“I’d love to hear about it,” Macy said. She reached up to entwine her fingers with the hand of the arm Rhett had draped over her shoulders.

Shannon motioned for Carter to join them. He lifted his eyebrows but stepped into their little family huddle. “It was actually Carter’s idea.”

Carter’s head jerked back. “Wait. What was my idea?” His gaze sought hers.

Shannon plowed ahead. “What if we hosted a fun spring horse show as a fund-raiser?” She held up a hand when Rhett opened his mouth. “Hear me out. People would have to pay an entrance fee and we could have a horse-and-rider costume contest and maybe run some other events like they do at any normal horse show. We can advertise it as something to celebrate the one-year mark from the tornado—show how we have rebuilt and moved forward.” She was thinking and speaking on the fly, so she tossed out ideas as they came. “If we have it a week or two before Easter we can invite vendors to set up shops at the event. There would be a small vendor fee.” She added quickly, “And all the money raised can go into a fund to finally build the riding arena.”

Macy’s smile widened. “I think that sounds like a great idea. We had to scale back the egg hunt this year, so I know the community would appreciate an event to replace it.” Macy had always helped to plan the annual egg hunt, which had spawned into a grand affair that had cost a lot of money to run. Funds that were better spent helping foster children in more tangible ways. The ranch was still going to host a small egg hunt for local foster children who already utilized its other programs, but this year’s event wouldn’t be open to the public like it had been in the past.

Rhett rubbed his chin. “I don’t know. You’d have three or four weeks tops to plan, organize and promote the event. Gathering vendors and participants in that time... I’m not sure that’s doable.”

Macy swatted her husband’s chest. “This man of mine is forgetting that he and I threw together the egg hunt last year in even less time.”

Rhett captured his wife’s hand and pressed a kiss to her palm before tucking her close against him again. “My lovely wife is leaving out the fact that the egg hunt had been a longstanding annual tradition we already had all the information on file for. We weren’t building something brand-new on a short deadline.”

“Just let her try,” Macy gently urged.

Rhett sighed. “We’ll do everything we can to help you.”

Shannon hesitated. As much as she loved her siblings and their wives, if she let them get involved they would take over without even meaning to. And she didn’t want that. The whole point was to show them what she could do without them. To prove she could do something that was valuable to the ranch.

To make them proud, for once.

“Well, the thing is I’m going to plan this alone.”

Macy’s mouth went slack. “That’s just not possible. You need at least another hand. Let me—”

“Not alone, alone,” Shannon quickly added. She hooked her arm with Carter’s. “Carter’s going to plan the event with me. It was his idea, after all.”

Carter’s mouth opened, closed, opened again. “It really wasn’t my idea.”

“It was. He joked about decorating the horses and that’s where the idea started.”

Rhett looked at the new head wrangler. “Are you willing to help my sister with this? It will be a lot of extra work.”

Carter looked to Shannon and she tried to use her eyes to plead with him. He took off his hat and ran his hand over his hair. “Do you want me to, sir?”

“Well, she’s definitely not doing it on her own,” Rhett said.

Shannon swallowed the hot wave of emotions Rhett’s heavy-handed words caused. She knew he loved her. Knew he never meant to hurt her. But sometimes his matter-of-fact way of stating things did just that. She didn’t want to plan the event on her own, either, but Rhett could have handled the conversation better.

Carter dipped his head once, acknowledging what Rhett had said. “Then it looks like I’m going to help plan a spring horse show.”

Shannon could have hugged him.

She didn’t.

But she definitely could have.