When the Heart Falls (9 page)

Just then Vance appeared with the food he ordered from the concession stand. “I wasn’t sure what you wanted on your burger so I just did ketchup and mustard” he told Misty as he handed her the wrapped burger. Vance looked up to see that the man standing next to Beth wasn’t the same man as when he left. He eyed Dylan with an inquisitive look and then held his hand out. “Hi there, I don’t think we’ve met. The name’s Vance.”

Dylan couldn’t help but automatically despise this Vance character. But being the gentleman that he was he held out his hand and shook Vance’s, squeezing it a little harder than he normally would.

“
Dylan,” he replied short and sweet. “I’m Beth’s older brother.”

Vance could tell that his father was right about Dylan. He was definitely going to be in the way. And it appeared that he’d be in the way more than he expected him to be. Not only was he going to be a problem with the ranch take over, but he also had a feeling that this fellow had a thing for Misty. Not that Vance had intended to fall in love and make Misty his wife or anything. But seeing as Misty was with him, he considered her his property. And he’d be damned if he was going to let another man try to steal what was his.

“
Why don’t we take our food to the Ferris wheel and we can ride while we eat?” Vance suggested and placed a possessive arm around Misty’s waist.

“
Sure,” she replied. She could pick up on his defensiveness and thought that it was quite funny. “It was really nice seeing you again Beth. We’ll have to get together soon for some girl time,” she said as she leaned in a little to give Beth a hug. All the while Vance kept his hand on Misty and his eyes on Dylan. “Dylan, it was nice seeing you too,” she quickly added as Vance guided her toward the Ferris wheel.

“
Her husband seems like a real piece of work. Did you see the way he was eyeing me? The dude acted like he wanted to do some damage to my face or something,” Dylan told Beth as he watched Vance and Misty walk away.

“
Oh that’s not her husband,” Beth replied as she pulled her cell phone from her purse to call Alan.

“
I thought she was married?” Dylan asked, confused but all of a sudden hopeful.

“
Well, I guess she is still technically married. But she’s getting a divorce,” Beth told him. She leaned in closer towards him and spoke a little softer adding, “Turns out her husband was cheating on her with a woman he works with.”

“
I see. So who’s the tool she’s with now?”

Beth shrugged her shoulders and replied, “I don’t know; just some cowpoke who works on her daddy’s ranch. I can’t put my finger on it but I feel like I know him from somewhere. Oh well, maybe I’ve just seen him in passing or something.” She dialed the numbers on her cell phone to reach Alan.

Dylan didn’t pay attention to her conversation as he followed her to where Alan said he was. All he could think of was Misty. This truly was his second chance, and he sure as hell wouldn’t let that jerk she was with stand in his way. He’d do whatever he had to get Misty to notice him as something more than just
Beth’s older brother
. First thing would be getting Vance out of the picture.

CHAPTER 9

“
Dylan! Are you crazy? That thing could kill you!”

“
Stop mothering me, Beth, and just pin this number to the back of my shirt.”

Beth let out a sigh of frustration, pinched her lips together and crossed her arms over her chest.

“
Don’t be like that,” Dylan pleaded. “I won’t get hurt I promise.”

“
It’s a wild animal and it’s going to be tossing you around like a ragdoll.”

“
I’ll be fine. Come on, Beth, please.”

“
No. I’m not budging on this Dylan.”

She was staring him down and he could tell that she was hoping he’d change his mind. He had seen the sign up booth for the bronco ride earlier and thought nothing of it. But now that he had seen Misty, he thought it was the perfect way to get her attention. Surely that arrogant piece of work she was with would be participating in the event. And if Dylan could outlast him, then he would be the better man. At least that’s how it seemed to work in the guy world.

“
Fine.” He spat the word out and turned to Alan. “Can you put this on for me?”

He held out the numbered piece of paper and waited for Alan to take it from him. Alan held out his hand to take the paper from Dylan but stopped and glanced at Beth. If looks could kill he would surely be lying lifeless on the ground right now.

“
Sorry, Dylan, but I’m gonna have to side with my wife on this one,” Alan said as he dropped his hand.

“
You know I’m still going to go through with this. I can get anyone to pin this on my shirt,” Dylan stated looking at Beth.

“
You do whatever you want, Dylan,” she said as she threw her hands up in frustration. “You want to get thrown off a wild mustang and trampled go ahead. But don’t come crying to me when you get more than your pride hurt.” Beth gave him a fierce look and stormed off toward the carnival rides.

“
You’ll have to excuse her dramatics,” Alan said. “Her hormones have been a little all over the place here lately. She’ll warm back up to you before the carnival is over.” He smiled to Dylan and gave him a good luck slap on the back. “I better go chase her down before she turns on me too,” Alan said as he sprinted off to catch up with his wife.

Dylan sighed and turned toward the corral. He knew it was a crazy idea to do this but he figured there really was nothing to it. He knew how to ride a horse and considered himself pretty good at it. He’d been bucked and reared up on in the past and he could only think of the one time that he was actually thrown off. So this should be a piece of cake.

He walked over to where all the other rodeo cowboys were standing and joined in the crowd. They were all leaning on the fence railing sizing up the bronco selection. A heavy set man with his stomach hanging out over the top of his jeans was standing on a platform with a clipboard and pencil. He was writing down the rider’s number and the number of the horse he chose.

Dylan scanned the horses looking for the wildest one he could find. If he got the wildest one, it was surely going to be a good ride and one hell of a good show. He spotted a mean looking black one that was picking a fight with all the other horses. That was the one. He opened his mouth to call out its number only to be interrupted.

“
Fifty four!” He heard from a few men over. He glanced down the line of cowboys to see Vance standing with his hand raised. Son of a bitch had called out his horse.

“
Damn,” Dylan mumbled and quickly looked for another horse. “Twenty seven!” Dylan yelled to the heavy set man.

The man nodded and wrote down Dylan’s number and horse’s number. The horse he chose wasn’t as rambunctious as the black one but it would do. Vance was obviously thinking the same thing Dylan was when it came to picking out his horse. That just meant that Dylan would have to ride better and make it look good. He left the corral and started to walk towards the starting gate where all the other men were lining up. He was fumbling with the numbered paper in his hand and wasn’t paying attention to where he was walking. He was stopped abruptly when he ran into something.

“
Ouch! Hey watch where you’re…oh,” Misty said.

“
Oh gosh I’m real sorry. I didn’t hurt you did I?” Dylan quickly apologized.

“
No it’s ok. I’m fine,” she added.

They stood there in uncomfortable silence for a minute; neither one knowing what to say.

“
So. Where are you headed?” Misty asked.

“
Oh I’m, uh, just heading over there to the starting gate,” Dylan replied pointing to the line of cowboys.

“
You’re riding?” she questioned.

“
Yup. Well, that’s the plan at least.” He chuckled and smiled at her.

She smiled back and dipped her head just a little. God, he was so attractive. Why hadn’t she noticed before?

“
Um, did you want some help putting that on?” she asked, pointing to his paper.

“
Sure,” he said as he handed it over to her. He turned around so she could pin the piece of paper to the back of his shirt. He felt her fingers gently graze his shoulder blades as she lifted the material of his shirt to attach the paper. It sent a warm, tingly sensation down his back and he had to hold himself back from shivering.

“
There. All done,” she said as she walked around to face him.

“
Thanks, Misty.”

“
You’re welcome, Dylan.”

They stood there in silence once more until Misty caught sight of Vance scanning the crowd looking for her.

“
Well, I guess I better go,” she said, gesturing toward Vance. “Good luck to you,” she added.

“
Thanks,” he replied as he watched her walk away. He sighed and turned to take his place in line.

“
Oh and Dylan!”

He heard and turned to see Misty quickly walking back towards him.

“
Try not to get yourself hurt. Ok?”

“
I’ll do my best,” he assured her.

“
Good.” She smiled at him and turned quickly to meet Vance, who was standing by the bleachers waiting for her with an impatient look on his face.

***

“
You’re up next, cowboy,” one of the men in charge yelled to Dylan.

Dylan took his place next to the bucking chute and waited for his turn. The gate lifted and his wild horse came running into the enclosure. The men settled the horse and instructed Dylan to get on. The horse shifted uncomfortably as Dylan situated himself and made sure he had a good grip.

“
You ready?” another man yelled.

Dylan adjusted his hat and placed one hand on the metal gate to brace himself.

He nodded his head and yelled, “Ok boys let’s go!”

The gate flew open and the wild bronco came tearing out of the bucking chute like a bat out of hell. It ran around the edge of the corral and made a sharp left turn. Dylan squeezed with his legs to get a better grip on the animal and tightened his hand around the rope. He leaned back as the horse began to buck and used his other arm to balance himself the best he could. The bronco made another sharp left turn and ran around the edge of the corral again. It stopped abruptly and starting bucking and spinning to the right.

Dylan held on for dear life as the animal tried its hardest to throw him off. At last the buzzer sounded and Dylan loosened his grip on the rope and waited for the right time to dismount. The bronco stopped bucking long enough for him to jump off. Dylan landed on his feet but quickly lost his balance and sank to his knees. Two riders came along side of the horse and guided it out of the corral. Dylan stood up and brushed the dirt off of his jeans. The crowd cheered and he waved as he walked toward the exit.

“
Wow, what a ride ladies and gentleman! This young man is quite the rodeo cowboy. The judges have made their decision. Thirty five points for horse number twenty seven and forty five points for rider number fifteen, Dylan McCoy, a total score of eighty points!” the announcer stated.

Dylan walked through the exit gate and scanned the crowd looking for Misty. Had she seen his ride? He made his way through the sea of people and caught sight of Beth and Alan.

“
Oh my gosh, Dylan!” Beth cried as she grabbed him and pulled him close to hug him.

Dylan staggered a little from being caught off guard but quickly balanced himself and returned Beth’s hug. She pulled back from him and then slapped his arm as hard as she could.

“
What was that for?” he asked as he rubbed his arm.

“
That is for scaring the crap out of me. I almost had a heart attack watching you ride that horse,” she told him.

A sly smile spread across his face. “So you watched, huh?”

“
Yes,” she unwillingly admitted. “I couldn’t help myself. I had to watch to make sure you were ok.”

“
And?” he prompted.

“
And you did a good job,” she told him as she smiled.

“
You did a real good job!” Alan chimed in. “That score is going to be pretty hard to beat. All these other fellas are having a hard time staying on.”

Dylan nodded and continued his search for Misty.

“
What are you looking at, Dylan,” Beth asked as she too started scanning the crowd.

“
Nothing. Let’s go watch the rest of the riders.”