Cowboy Save Me: By Judith Lee (Tiller Brothers Book 1) (5 page)

By the time they helped Josh set the table, and Cody went to get his mother, two trucks had pulled up outside.  Matt, Jenny, Cameron and Dakota made a lot of noise as they came in the front door, flinging their hats at the hat racks near the entry.  Matt lifted Jenny up in the air and announced, “You’re looking at the two time open class Grand Champion rabbit winner!”  He whirled her around.  Everyone clapped and patted her on the back and her mom and dad gave her hugs.

“Sorry, we couldn’t be there little sis,” Cody kissed her on the cheek.   He reached back and grabbed Tammy’s hand and pulled her into the family circle.

“It’s okay Cody.”  Jenny turned and looked at Tammy, and she threw her arms around her.  “I’m so glad you came here.  We can take care of you, you know.  We won’t let him get you.”

Tammy looked to Cody with a question in her eyes, “I had to tell everyone in the house what was going on, so they could all be on the look-out to keep you safe.  We won’t share this with anyone outside of the house except for the attorney and law enforcement.  I promise.”

“Thank you,” she said to Cody, and turned back to the family, “And thanks to all of you for this.  I promise I’ll get out of here as soon as I can so you can get back to your lives.  I don’t want to put any of you in jeopardy either.”

Dakota, Cameron and Matt all introduced themselves and shook her hand and told her not to worry.  Dakota said he and Cameron weren’t staying long, but that if he thought he could get a piece of Marcus’s ass he’d consider staying.  “Sorry mom, that had to be said.”  All the brothers agreed, and they all laughed.

“Let’s all sit down.  I don’t get many opportunities to have you all here at one time.  I made a couple of apple pies for desert, so Dakota and Cameron make sure you stay around long enough for your favorite pie.”  Dakota grabbed Tammy and had her sit between him and Cameron. 

“Damn Dakota, I’m not sharing.”  He glared at Dakota. 

Dakota laughed, “I hear women’s hearts breaking all around the rodeo circuit.  They’re going to miss seeing you brother.”

“I’m sure you and Cameron can fill the gap,” and he threw a napkin at Dakota.

“Speaking of rodeo scoundrels,” Dakota turned to look at Jenny, “what was Jared Stevens doing at the rabbit exhibit? And why was he watching you so closely?”

Cody jerked his head up, “Jenny, you know what I told you about him. You promised.”

“Pleeaassee.  I’m a grown woman, and we didn’t do anything.  He asked me what I was going to be doing today, and I went off about how important raising rabbits was and they never get any recognition for how hard it is to raise them, and how I had the best ones in the whole world. He had argued that rabbits were only good for shooting and eating. I didn’t know he was going to be coming.  I swear Cody.  He seems like a nice guy.”

“Remember the smoke, Jenny,” Tammy added her own two cents.

“I haven’t seen any fire yet, so I’m not ready to judge him, okay.  Just leave it be everyone and let’s eat mom’s famous chicken enchilada casserole.”

Cody could tell Tammy felt bad for voicing her opinion.  He liked that even though Tammy wasn’t part of this family she seemed very protective of Jenny. 

After dinner, while Tammy and his mom and dad were cleaning the dishes, Dakota and Cody went out to sit on the porch. 

“She seems pretty special, Cody.  Are you falling a little for this cute red head?” he asked.  “Seems like she isn’t the buckle bunny type.” 

“With everything going on here, I’m not sure it’s wise to start a relationship right now, but I can’t seem to keep my hands off her.  I’m scared for her, too.  I wish Marcus would show up tonight and you and I could take him down to the barn, and beat the shit out of him.”

“Know what you mean, brother.  Sounds like he treated her like garbage, and she’s lucky to be alive.”

They sat in silence for a while.  “Cody, I’m going to miss you on the circuit.  You know I could stay at home and help you run the ranch. It wouldn’t be much of a loss for me to hang it up. I’m never going to be a world champion or anything.”

“No, you got to keep trying and it’s time for me to quit.  I always wanted to retire on top.  You, Cameron and Matt all deserve to experience the freedom and excitement I had while you guys took turns working at home to support me. Matt will be going to the University of Wyoming soon and I can’t wait to watch him compete for the UW Rodeo Club.”

They both grinned that their little brother was about to join the family in following in their footsteps, as they had followed in their dad’s footsteps at the University of Wyoming on the rodeo team.  It was a right-of-passage for the next son to follow in the family tradition.  Hell, even their mom had been a world ranked barrel racer. Only Jenny had preferred sewing and cooking and didn’t do the rodeo scene.

After a few quiet moments Cody said, “We’re going to get through this.  I’m hoping this new doctor will give us a better diagnosis.”  You could feel the heavy sadness between the two brothers.

Changing the subject before they started crying like babies, Dakota asked, “What did your sponsors say?”

“They want me to compete one more time at Cheyenne Frontier Days, in two weeks so they can give me a proper going out.  I didn’t want to but they’ve been good sponsors.  I’ll talk to mom and dad and see how it will fit in with the treatments.”

“Mom and dad will want you to go.  Hopefully the whole family will be there and maybe you could bring Tammy.  Glad we didn’t cancel the four rooms we reserved. You deserve this, man.  I’m glad the date for Gillette Campbell Fair and Rodeo was moved back two weeks this year.”

They stood and hugged each other.  “I’ll go say bye to mom and dad.  You better call me every day and let me know what’s going on.  I still think we should all go to Casper for their doctor visit.”

“You know mom and dad said they want to go alone.  And he doesn’t want you to quit competing. We have to respect their wishes.”

“They didn’t want you to quit competing either.”

“I know, but it was time for me.  Hell I’ve been doing the rodeo for a damn long time.”

Dakota and Cameron came back out a few minutes later, dragging Tammy between them.  “Here she is brother,” and Dakota pushed her toward him. “Don’t mess up with this one, she’s a keeper.”  He grinned, kissed Tammy on the forehead, and stepped off the porch.

“If you can’t keep your head in the game, don’t get on a 2000 pound bull.  You’ll get yourself killed.  Use your head.  And Cameron, good luck getting a new partner to do the steer roping.  It won’t be hard, you’re a good roper.”  The brothers hugged and Dakota and Cameron got in the truck. 

Cody took her hand and turned to watch his brother drive off.

“Wish you were going with them?” Tammy asked.

“Surprisingly, no.  I’m good.  Maybe I’ve been dumped on my ass a few too many times,” he smiled at her.  “Let’s go for a ride before the sun sets.  I have the need to sit on a horse right now.”

“I’m not a very good rider Cody.  I’m not scared of them, but I’ve only ridden them at fairs and a couple of times my family went back packing with guides, and the horses were so gentle, I thought they were asleep most of the time.

“It’s okay, you can ride with me.  I just want to show you how beautiful the sunset is from the ridge over there.”

The ride had been
real nice
.  He put Tammy in front of him, and held on to her with his free arm.  Her hair occasionally blew in his face but he didn’t mind, it smelled so good. She gripped his arm and the horn to keep from falling off but she didn’t seem afraid. He liked having her in his territory.  He loved this ranch. It was a part of his soul.  The ground may have been flat, with red dirt, and tumbleweeds, and there were only a few trees here where his family had planted wind break trees, but it was home.  He wanted to spend the rest of his life here
with her
. Damn where had that thought come from?

He pulled up and dropped the reigns.

Cody turned her head slowly with a finger that he ran down from her temple to her chin.  God she took his breath away.  He could get used to holding her.

“It’s beautiful here. So serene. The wind isn’t even blowing much today…” she was babbling.  He smiled at her.  “Yes, beautiful.”  His fingers drifted over her freckles.

His hand gently caressed her neck, and as he leaned down to kiss her he felt her heart beat speed up in her throat.  Her eyes were closed, and he just wanted to keep looking at her as he kissed her. Her face held a light blush. The kiss turned deeper and he closed his eyes against his will.  He heard her hum deep in her throat.  God, that turned him on so much. Did she make that sound when she came?
She tasted like cinnamon and apples and he wanted to devour her.

His free hand slid down and curved under her breast.  As he caressed her breast his thumb slid up to her nipple and he felt her jerk.  He pulled back and his lips grazed over her freckles before he lowered his mouth to her neck.  Her head fell back in surrender.  He moaned and kissed the vein in her neck. He unintentionally squeezed his thighs against the horse.

The horse took a lazy step.  It brought them both out of their trance.  “Sorry, you drive me crazy.  I better get you home so you can change and we can get you to the fairgrounds.  If we stay here any longer I won’t be responsible for my actions.” He playfully kissed her nose
.
He picked up the horse’s reigns and headed back to the ranch house. The bulge in his pants was uncomfortable and every bump brought her ass into his lap. Somehow through gritted teeth he held back a groan.

When it was time to take Tammy to work, he couldn’t find his truck.  He told Tammy that Jenny must have borrowed it because her car had been blocked in by his truck. At the ranch he usually just left the keys in the truck. So he grabbed the keys to the ranch SUV and they drove to the fair grounds.  He reached out and held her hand and they talked about her job and what it was like for him to ride broncs.  He couldn’t help smiling at her, she was a breath of fresh air, so sweet and he loved the way she blushed.  Not to mention, she was damn beautiful.

***

At the exhibit hall, Cody sat in a chair next to the table where Tammy was handing out seed packets and information about canning, and talked about the problems the gardeners were having with their roses.  She even had information for the kids about organizing recycling at their schools.

Cody had a constant line of eager women all fighting for his attention.  At first Tammy thought it was funny until a few too many of them set on his lap and flat out kissed him, or they wanted him to sign an autograph across their breasts.  Cody didn’t seem interested and to his credit he politely removed the girls’ arms from his neck and pushed them off his lap. He looked to Tammy several times with an apology in his eyes.

What was she getting herself into with Cody?  He was the equivalent of a super rock star, and she was just a simple woman who had barely gotten her feet back under her if this morning’s events were any indication.  She was going to have to be careful.  Her heart was screaming
NO, NO, NO!!! Jump in with both feet, he is just what you have been looking for
…but she couldn’t risk going back to the helpless woman that she had been. She needed to stand on her own two feet. She wanted to be a strong independent woman, who didn’t need a man to make her happy.

At the end of the night, her boss came over and told her he was proud of her and he shook Cody’s hand and thanked him for helping out in their booth.  He told her she could take a few days off as she had worked most of the show.

On the way home to the ranch, Cody held her hand and they drove in comfortable silence.  After turning onto their dirt road, he hit a particularly bad pot hole and she about flew out the window.  “Damn, I’m sorry darlin’.  I need to get this road fixed before winter or we won’t be able to get in or out.” 

She could tell he had put on his rancher’s hat as his mind seemed to be somewhere else.  “Cody, what’s going on?  You told me you didn’t quit the circuit because of me but why now? Why are you quitting?”

“It’s time.  I’ve been on the back of a bucking bronc for over a decade.  My family needs me now.  I love ranching so it’s not really a big sacrifice; it’s more like coming home,” he smiled at her with sad eyes.

He wasn’t going to tell her. She knew there was something else going on.  She could sense the sadness in the whole family.

***

All the lights were out in the house except for in the kitchen.  They hadn’t left the lights on outside as it would have attracted insects.  Cody took Tammy over and set her on the swing with him.  He had always loved sitting out here late in the evening and listening to the sounds of owls, and crickets, and the other nocturnal animals that were grazing and moving around.  He put his arm around Tammy.

“I like it this time of night.  Are you cold?”  He pulled her closer to his body.

“No.” 

He knew he should take her directly to her room but his mind was out voted by the other parts of his body. All he wanted to do was hold her and make love to her.  The minute he touched her, her body tensed with the same passion he was feeling for her...  She smelled so good he could almost smell her female hormones.  When he was with her everything became intensified.  He swore to himself he could feel sparks flickering just under her skin.