Rough Rider (Hot Cowboy Nights, #2)(37)

“Just give me a minute,” he pleaded.

“I’m sorry, Dirk. I don’t have time for this right now.”

He had to talk to her, and swore he would, but she was in no frame of mind to listen. “Have it your way.” He spun away, grinding his teeth.

*

Feeling all too raw and vulnerable, Janice watched Dirk stalk off. Did he think she was just going to wait around on him forever? He’d had weeks to talk to her but now, the very minute she’d decided to move on, he was all of a sudden interested? No way in hell was she going to let him manipulate her like that. In all truth, Grady couldn’t hurt her if he tried, but if she gave Dirk half a chance, he’d surely break her heart.





Chapter 8


Dirk walked off, shaking his head as he moved down to Grady’s chute. He was coming up on Death Wish, one of the rankest and most dangerous bulls on the circuit with twenty-some outs and no rides. Grady was geared up and looking like the cat that ate the canary when Dirk stepped up to the chute.

“So, you used Chris LeDoux to get to her?” Dirk growled.

“Told you weeks ago I was staking my claim. Just had to figure out the right approach.”

Grady climbed over the rail, placing his booted foot on the bull’s back. Death Wish gave a loud snort, jamming himself against the panel, an act that would have crushed Grady’s leg had he already been in position. He waited for the bull to settle down again before easing himself onto its back. Dirk pulled the bull rope taut and handed the tail to Grady.

“You’re just using her, Grady, and I don’t like it.”

Their eyes met. “I don’t give a shit what you like.” Grady jerked his hand up and down, warming the rosin and then making his wrap. “She’s mine now, Pretty Boy…” He looked up with a confident smirk. “Just like this bull right here.” Seconds later, Grady pulled his hat down low, shifted his hips forward over the rope, and gave his nod to the chute man.

The gate flew open with Death Wish hurling himself airborne and into a spin, coming down bucking and kicking wildly, while Grady sat the bull tight as a tick. The seconds sped by while Dirk watched his buddy spurring the bull, his body still balanced and moving in perfect synchrony with the animal’s frenetic fits and sudden starts. Whatever his character flaws, there was no denying that Grady was a helluva bull rider.

At the sound of the buzzer, he looked up, released his rope, and threw his right leg over to dismount, landing on all fours and scrambling away from the bull. He’d made the whistle on the toughest bull for a record ninety-point ride. With that performance, he’d clearly go into the short round and qualify for the finals in Las Vegas.

*

It was during Grady’s ride that Janice’s phone jolted her. Pulling it out of her pocket, she found she’d missed three calls from home. She didn’t understand how, until she recalled switching the setting to vibrate the night before at the Outlaw Saloon. She’d done it figuring she’d never hear the ring over the band and had forgotten to switch it back when she left. Her mind had been far too preoccupied.

With a strong sense of foreboding, she walked as far as she could away from the mayhem and then hit redial. A few rings later her mother picked up. “Hey, Mama, it’s me. I saw you called. Is everything OK?”

A long pause followed. “Are you sitting down, baby girl?”

“No.” Her heart raced. “Do I need to be?”

“It might be best,” her mother replied.

Hugging the phone between her shoulder and ear, Janice turned over a nearby feed bucket and sat down on it. “I am now. Tell me, Mama, what is it?”

Her mother audibly inhaled. “We heard back from the doc yesterday. Your daddy has cancer in his pancreas.”

“What?” Janice gasped. “Oh my God! Are they sure?”

“Yes. They’re sure. They did the CAT scan and all those other tests. They followed with a biopsy day before yesterday.”

This could not be happening. He couldn’t have cancer.

“Why didn’t you call and tell me? I would have come home! I would have been there with you.”

“There’s nothing you could have done, baby, and I didn’t want to worry you until we knew for sure.”

“Where’s Daddy now?”

“They admitted him to the VA up in Helena.”

“I’ll come now. Tonight.”

“You can’t, Janice. I know you want to, but I don’t see that it’s a choice at least until after the rodeo’s done. We need the money, especially with all the medical bills.”

“But I can’t just stay here!”

“We need you to, baby girl. We need the contracts. You have to be strong for your daddy right now. He’s countin’ on you…” her mother added in a choking voice. “So am I.”

“All right, Mama.” Janice swallowed down the lump in her throat. “I’ll stay until we’re done, and then I’ll come straight home. How’s he doing? Can I talk to him?”

“He’s on a lot of pain medication. Why don’t you wait? I’m driving up to Helena tomorrow. I’ll be staying a night or two with my cousin Claire who lives up there. I’ll call you from the hospital as soon as I get there. OK, sweetheart?”