Wyatt: Return of the Cowboy (4 page)

He wasn’t ready to face his parents, not until he calmed down. Instead, he started in the opposite direction, toward the center of town, intending to walk off his anger. He’d gone only a few steps when he came to a halt.

If his brother hadn’t sent the party invitation, then who?

He was quickly running out of possibilities.

Across the street he spied the local Western wear and tack store, owned by another of his childhood friends and fellow competitors on the rodeo circuit: Austin Wright. He could stop in for a visit with Austin, but then decided he’d drop by later, after his walk.

Crossing the street at a place where the freshly plowed snow wasn’t piled too high, he headed up the block. All at once, he noticed Paige coming out of the dry cleaner’s, her brightly colored scarf and hat hard to miss. She noticed him at the same time. To his relief, she smiled and waited for him to reach her.

“I thought you were at work,” he said in a way he hoped wouldn’t sound like he’d been spying on her comings and goings this morning.

“I’m off today, so I thought I’d run a few errands.” Her gaze narrowed. “Did you sleep okay last night?”

“Fine. Like a log.”

“You look a little…haggard.”

She knew him well, she always had. It pleased him that she still did.

“I just came from the bank. Jay wasn’t any happier to see me than Dad.”

“Oh, Wyatt. I’m sorry.”

“I’m beginning to think I should just go back to Wyoming. Forget trying to reconcile with him and Dad.”

“Is that what you want?”

They moved aside so a pair of elderly women could pass.

“No,” Wyatt admitted, catching Paige’s gaze and holding it. “I want to patch things up with—” he started to say her and changed it to, “them.”

“They’ll come around eventually.”

“Dad would come around sooner if Jay fessed up to what really happened. I did him a favor and took the blame. Dad wouldn’t let me near his car after that third speeding ticket. It was Jay who borrowed the car the night of the accident. Jay’s idea we go to the party and get hammered.”

“I remember,” Paige said. “You wanted to drive us home, but Jay wouldn’t let you. Said your dad would go ballistic if he caught you driving his car.”

“He was probably right, but I still shouldn’t have let Jay drive. We’re damn lucky we’re still alive after that crash.”

“I could back you up. Tell your parents the truth.”

“Thanks.” Wyatt was touched by her generosity. She’d kept quiet all these years because he’d asked her to, even though he’d disappointed her. Without thinking, he brushed a lock of hair from her face. Her skin was satiny smooth and surprisingly warm. “I really appreciate it. But I won’t get you in trouble with my parents.” He let his hand drop. “Not that I think Dad would fire you or anything. He’s more than capable, however, of making work difficult for you.”

“What about talking to Dinah?”

“She was drinking, too. She said back when it happened she didn’t remember much or even who was driving.”

By unspoken agreement, they started strolling toward the bank and the Open Range Saloon.

“Yeah,” Paige agreed hesitantly. “She might remember more now, though. We were scared after the accident. Afraid we were going to get in trouble.”

“You think she was lying?”

“No, Dinah isn’t dishonest. However, she might have pretended to remember less than she did. For you. She was your girlfriend, she’d have gone along with whatever you wanted.”

What Paige said made sense. “Do you think she’d talk to me?”

“Easy enough to find out. The sheriff’s station is right up the road. We can ask her.”

“She’s at the station? Is she in jail?” Dinah had been a lot like Wyatt back then, on the wild side. That commonality had thrown them together often and, more than anything else, accounted for their romance.

“Not in jail,” Paige said. “Though her office isn’t too far from it. She’s our sheriff.”

Wyatt gaped at Paige, almost tripping over his own feet. “Since when?”

“Last election.”

“Her brother Colt mentioned once she’d gone away to school.”

“Police academy.”

“No fooling.”

They walked the few blocks to the sheriff’s station, with Paige filling Wyatt in on Dinah’s transformation over the years from lawbreaker to law enforcer. He was impressed.

“I don’t suppose any of us is where we thought we’d be twelve years ago,” he mused aloud as they reached the station’s main entrance.

Dinah wasn’t on duty; Thursdays were her day off. Wyatt received another shock when he and Paige encountered Duke Adams, Dinah’s cousin and another of their high school cronies. Correction,
Deputy
Duke Adams. He informed Wyatt and Paige that Dinah was at Thunder Ranch, having lunch with her mother and brother, Ace.

They thanked Duke and, after a few minutes of catching up, left.

“I’ll go with you to Thunder Ranch if you want.”

“Are you sure? I don’t want to keep you from your errands.” Actually, Wyatt did want to keep her…from her errands and with him as much as possible.

“The dry cleaner’s was my last stop.”

Taking her elbow, he assisted her down the concrete steps. He didn’t immediately let go, not until they’d crossed the street. She didn’t try to pull away, either.

“We’ll take my truck.”

Fifteen minutes later, they were traveling the long driveway into Thunder Ranch. Not much had changed. The rambling house looked the same, as did most of the barns. Wyatt spotted a new building under construction.

“It’s a mare motel,” Paige informed him. “The Harts are expanding their rodeo stock contracting business to include a horse breeding program.”

They drove straight toward the main barn. Paige had placed a call on the drive over and learned Dinah and Ace were at the hospital pens behind the barn where Ace, a veterinarian, was treating a sick horse.

Wyatt parked the truck beside an SUV with the county sheriff’s department logo on the side. Dinah stood beside the pens next to Ace. Wyatt recognized her instantly and waited for his heart to race like it had when he first saw Paige yesterday.

Nothing happened.

Not until he cast a sidelong glance at Paige. Then, his heart not only raced, it soared.

“Oh, Wyatt! It’s great to see you.” Dinah rushed over the second he exited the truck and gave him an enthusiastic hug.

“Great to see you, too.” He gently extracted himself from Dinah’s grasp as Ace sauntered over to join them. “Ace, how have you been?”

Dinah’s oldest brother and head of the Hart family took hold of Wyatt’s extended hand and gripped it with the strength of ten men. He leaned in close until his face was inches from Wyatt’s and growled, “Hurt my sister again, and I’ll make you sorry you ever set foot in this town.”

Wyatt squeezed Ace’s hand in return. He hadn’t gotten to be a two-time world champion by backing down from a challenge.

Chapter Four

Paige gasped. Had Ace lost his mind? “Do something!” She looked worriedly over at Dinah, who rolled her eyes.

“Ace, honestly,” she said. “Release him now or I’m going to arrest you for assault.”

Ace stepped back—maybe an inch altogether. He didn’t take his eyes off Wyatt, who stood his ground with admirable courage. “He got you in trouble.”

“He did no such thing. I got myself in trouble just fine without any help.” She gave Paige a conspiratorial wink. “That’s what I get for confiding in my big brother.”

Paige was hardly amused. In fact, she was starting to panic. Wyatt’s hand, still gripped in Ace’s, had started turning blue. “I think you should put a stop to this. Now.”

“Come on, Ace,” Dinah insisted, more sternly than before.

“Look,” Wyatt said, “I apologize for any hurt I caused your sister and take full responsibility.”

Ace considered Wyatt’s statement for a moment, then released him. “See that it doesn’t happen again.”

Paige gave Wyatt credit for not rubbing his hand, which must be throbbing. “Are you okay?” She wheeled and confronted Ace, telling him, “Grow up,” in her best mom-has-spoken voice.

Dinah laughed.

So did Wyatt and Ace.

Paige fumed. “Not funny.”

“Sorry about your fall,” Ace told Wyatt. “You were making quite a name for yourself.”

“Sorry about your dad. Colt mentioned he died a while ago.”

“Thanks. Been nearly ten years.”

Wyatt’s gaze traveled from the barn to the nearby arena to the half-constructed mare motel. “Paige told me you’re expanding your rodeo stock contracting business.”

Exchanging smiles, Paige’s tentative and Dinah’s mischievous, the two women leaned against the pen railing, listening to the men talk.

“We are,” Ace answered. “Planning on purchasing some new brood mares and a stallion before breeding season starts in May.”

“You should check out Midnight.”

“The Midnight Express? The horse that threw you?”

“One and the same. I’ve kept track of his whereabouts since my fall. His owner got sick some time ago. Long story short, Midnight hasn’t been competed for nearly a year.”

“I heard. Also that the owner didn’t survive his illness.”

“Rumor is,” Wyatt continued, “there’s going to be a sale soon. All the old man’s rodeo livestock, including Midnight, will be auctioned off by his heirs.”

Ace’s face lit with interest, and the two men continued discussing the horse Midnight, oblivious to Paige and Dinah.

“Go figure,” Dinah said, bumping shoulders with Paige. “At each other’s throats one second, best friends the next.”

“Yeah, go figure.”

“Jealous?”

“Of you? No way.”

“Of Ace. Weren’t you always Wyatt’s best friend? Wait a minute. Why would you think I was referring to myself?” Dinah’s eyes widened. “You like Wyatt.”

“Don’t be ridiculous.”

Dinah saw right through Paige. “If you’re worried about me, forget it. Whatever Wyatt and I had ended when he left. He might have had a crush on me, but you and he had a special connection.” Dinah bumped shoulders with Paige again. “There’s a reason for that.”

“We were close once.”

“Closer than he and I ever were.” Dinah leaned in and whispered, “Tell him.”

“Tell him what?” Paige feigned ignorance.

“How you feel. Before he leaves. Who knows, maybe he’ll change his mind.”

Wyatt stay? Paige didn’t think so. Not for her.

“It isn’t like that between us,” she protested.

“Really?” Dinah rubbed her chin thoughtfully. “Could’ve fooled me.”

Paige glanced in the same direction as Dinah and caught Wyatt watching her—her, not Dinah—with what could only be described as interest. The kind of interest a man shows when he’s…interested.

Dinah beamed. “You go, girl.”

* * *

“I know Dinah wanted to be more help.”

“Maybe she’ll find something in the files.” Wyatt shot Paige a dubious look as he aimed his truck in the direction of town. “But I’m not holding my breath.”

Wyatt had questioned Dinah about the night of the accident. She hadn’t been playing dumb for his sake or out of fear, she really didn’t remember much of anything. She did offer to research the incident records and see if anything in them proved useful.

“What are you going to do next?” Paige asked.

“I’m not sure.” Wyatt released a long breath. “Don’t know why I’m trying. It’s not like my family’s happy to see me.”

“Your mom is.”

“And she had to sneak into the next room to take my call so Dad didn’t hear her.” The recollection of his conversation with his mother last night irritated him. “I told my brother I was staying in Roundup.”

“Are you?”

“Does it matter one way or the other?”

Before she could answer, her cell phone chimed. “It’s your dad,” she said and answered the call. “Hello, Ted. Sure, I can do that, no problem. He’s running late,” she told Wyatt when she disconnected. “Asked if I could cover for Dottie while she takes her lunch break.”

“It’s your day off.”

“I don’t mind.”

“You shouldn’t let him take advantage of you, Paige.”

“He doesn’t.”

“Right.” His father was a demanding boss and Paige a kindhearted, hardworking employee. With a combination like that, she was likely often running to the saloon to fill in at a moment’s notice.

“Where are you parked?” he asked when they reached the outskirts of town.

“At the saloon, actually. All my errands were nearby.”

He pulled into the parking area behind the bar and shut off the truck, then opened his door.

“You don’t have to walk me in.”

He did, anyway. “I know the kind of people who hang out in bars during the middle of the day.”

“I’ve been working here ten years,” she reminded him, an appealing smile on her lips.

He paid no attention—to her protest. Her smile, on the other hand, enchanted him.

Dottie was happy to see Paige and left immediately to check on her sick husband. The bar’s one and only patron, a man about seventy and brandishing a cane, also left, with a, “See you tomorrow, Paige,” as he hobbled to the exit.

“One of the regulars?” Wyatt asked, watching Paige get right to work, setting dirty glassware in the small sink and running water.

“Too regular. He reminds me of my mother.”

“I suppose I should get going.”

“If you have a minute, there’s something I want to show you.”

“Sure.” Wyatt had a lot more than a minute where Paige was concerned.

For the second time in two days, he followed her down the bar’s dim hallway. It was a habit he could grow accustomed to.

She stopped at the closet and reached inside.

Wyatt was mystified. And amused. “What are you doing?”

“Getting this.” She withdrew her arm and produced a book. A scrapbook, he saw when she stood and gestured him into the still empty saloon.

She laid the scrapbook on the bar and began slowly flipping pages. “This is your mom’s. She’s kept it since you left.”

Newspaper clippings, magazine articles, excerpts printed off the Internet, souvenir programs and photographs filled every page. Wyatt’s entire career was spread out before him, from his first professional rodeo at eighteen to the fall from Midnight. There were even several pictures of the stallion, showing the stuff that had made him a two-time bucking horse of the year.