Racing Christmas Read online

  “What in the…?” He pulled on the door handle a third time.

  Brylee reached out and gave the door a push inward. It swung open. They were greeted by the cackles of an old man who looked like he might have settled there right after the first tumbleweeds blew through the area. Tufts of white hair randomly dotted his liver-spotted head. The teeth he wasn’t missing appeared chipped and stained. And his shoulders were so hunched he was probably half a foot shorter than he’d been as a young man.

  He slapped the counter in front of him and released another amused guffaw. “That pull sign is the best five bucks I’ve ever spent. You’d be amazed how many people it fools in a day.”

  Shaun didn’t see any amusement in the sign, at least not since the old man was laughing at his expense.

  “It is a little funny,” Brylee said, nudging Shaun in the side.

  A grin kicked up the right corner of his mouth. “Maybe a little.” He nodded to the old man. “May we use the restrooms, please?”

  “Sure can. You head through that door to your right, son. The little lady should walk down that hall there by the soda machines. You’ll see the door, darlin’.”

  “Thank you,” Brylee said, offering the old man a smile as she turned and made her way to the bathroom. Unlike most gas station restrooms, it was clean and smelled fresh. A tiny table near the door even held a bouquet of wildflowers. Glad Jason decided to stop there instead of some public facility on the side of the road that didn’t even have running water, she took a moment to finger-comb her hair and let the tension in her shoulders relax.

  She didn’t know why she felt like she was strung so tightly. Shaun had been courteous and kind. He’d not made any attempt at discussing their past or if she’d forgiven him, which she hadn’t. At least not entirely.

  If they could just keep things on an impersonal acquaintance-like level, she’d be fine. Perhaps these next few weeks spent in his company would provide the opportunity to finally forgive him and move on with her life.

  Years had come and gone. Years riddled with more anguish than she thought herself capable of enduring, but she had. Yet, some days the memories of what she’d had with Shaun, of how much she’d loved him, would wash over her with such paralyzing pain, it left her gasping for breath.

  She didn’t have time for those memories or the accompanying pain. Her entire focus needed to be on winning.

  Winning isn’t everything, baby girl.

  “If you didn’t want me to focus on winning, Dad, you shouldn’t have left us in debt,” she whispered then strode out of the bathroom and into the store.

  Shaun was grabbing a large bottle of water out of a cooler and glanced up at her. He held up a bottle and she nodded.

  The bag full of snacks Barb had packed for them that morning was in the pickup, but Brylee was out of gum. She picked up two packages along with a little tin of breath mints and went to the counter to pay.

  Shaun was already swiping his card to pay for the water and tried to add her stuff to his purchase. She shook her head and took out money to pay. As Shaun finished his transaction, she glanced at a shelf near the cash register and noticed a variety of touristy items, like shot glasses, a little stand with postcards, and a stack of road maps. The cutest little mouse with huge ears sat on top of the maps, staring at her.

  Brylee almost reached out to touch it, sure it was a toy. Then it blinked just as she handed the old man her money.

  She gasped and pointed to the shelf. “Is that supposed to be there?”

  “What’s that, darlin’?” He leaned forward and looked in the direction she indicated.

  The mouse chose that moment to launch off the shelf and onto the counter behind the cash register.

  “Dadgummit!” The old man yelled, scrambling around the counter with a purple flyswatter. “You are gettin’ it this time, Dumbo.”

  “Let’s get out of here,” Shaun said, taking Brylee’s hand and propelling her toward the door. She snatched her gum and mints off the counter, glad she’d given the old man exact change. The store owner was shouting and whipping the flyswatter around, chasing the mouse.

  Outside, she glanced up at Shaun and they both started laughing.

  Jason strolled over and gave them both odd looks. “What’s so funny?”

  “Push the door and watch out for the mouse,” Shaun wheezed between laughs as he and Brylee tried to curtail their amusement.

  Jason shook his head and went inside the store. The old man’s shouts as he whacked at the mouse trickled out to them. Brylee caught the word “varmint” and “big-eared freak show.” Giggles spilled out of her all over again.

  “Come on, giggle box. Let’s leave this stuff in the truck and take a little walk while we wait for Dad.” Shaun set the water bottles in the front seat while Brylee left her things in the back. She shoved her hands in the front pockets of her denim shorts and fell into step with Shaun as he meandered around the parking lot.

  “I’d suggest walking down the road, but that gravel on the edge wouldn’t be good for you to walk in and I’m fairly certain the mouse in the store is hiding from whatever’s out here in the brush.”

  “I’ve never seen a mouse that looked like that before.” Brylee glanced up at him. “Have you?”

  “I have, but they were in Arizona. Maybe that little guy hitched a ride and got dumped off at this fine establishment.” Shaun grinned as they circled the parking lot and began another lap. “I kind of feel sorry for the little feller, stuck in there with that ornery ol’ coot.”

  “Oh, I doubt he’d really smash it. Chasing it around is probably the most excitement he gets in a day.” Brylee stopped and looked up at Shaun. “Speaking of ornery ol’ coots, how is your grandpa?”

  Shaun grinned. “He’s good. We celebrated his eightieth birthday back in May.”

  “I’m glad he’s well, Shaun. I enjoyed visiting with him the few times I saw him.”

  “He liked you, too, Bitsy. In fact, when I saw him a few weeks ago, he asked about you.”

  “He did?” Brylee asked, surprised.

  “According to him, I’m the biggest fool in the world for letting you get away.” Shaun waved at his dad as he walked out of the store grinning from ear to ear.

  “You didn’t exactly let me get away, Shaun. If you recall, you ran out on me.”

  Before he could respond, Jason was there, laughing over the old man and the mouse.

  “Did he catch it?” Brylee asked as Jason opened the passenger door and gave her a hand inside, leaving Shaun to drive.

  “No, but he was teetering after it, hollering about it spreading the plague around his store.” Jason glanced back at Brylee. “I got the idea this is a daily routine for the two of them.”

  “I bet he has a little feeding area with cheese for it in a back room,” Brylee said, glancing at the store one last time as they pulled back on the road.

  “And a bed with a pillow. Something big enough to support those ears,” Shaun said, looking in the rearview mirror with a grin.

  Brylee ignored what his grin did to her insides and focused on the road ahead of them. They still had a long way to go before they could call it a day.

  Chapter Six

  “How did we manage before Brylee joined us?” Jason asked as he and Shaun rode into the rodeo arena. They’d finished the rodeo in North Dakota then headed to one in South Dakota before they drove back to the Rockin’ K.

  In the past week, Brylee had filled in gaps neither man even realized existed. Since they insisted she stay in the trailer with them, she cleaned it, did their laundry and pressed their clothes, and she cooked meals. Not just sandwiches, but real food. It might be late when they ate it, but there was always something delicious waiting for them when they finished up each night. One night, she’d even made meatloaf with mashed potatoes and gravy, served with hot rolls and green beans. Shaun couldn’t remember when a meal had tasted so good.

  On top of that, Brylee helped with their horses. Generally,
Shaun and Jason switched mounts halfway through the bareback riding and did the same thing during the saddle bronc riding. It was such exhausting work for the horses, they didn’t want them to overdo. Bull riding wasn’t generally as taxing, so they only rode one horse during that event, usually the one they rode first during the bareback event. At any rate, they needed four horses saddled and ready to ride during the course of the evening.

  Brylee had taken it upon herself to make sure their mount changes were ready to go when they needed them. She would ride one and lead the other, warming them up as the bareback riding began. The moment they’d head out the gate to switch, she’d be there with them. She’d take the two they dismounted back to the trailer, switch the tack to a new set, then cool down the two who’d just been working.

  Truthfully, she deserved a paycheck from the Rockin’ K for all the help she offered without expecting anything in return. When Shaun mentioned it to her, she gave him a dismissive look. “I wouldn’t be here competing if it wasn’t for you guys. Just accept what I do as my thank you.”

  Shaun thought she did far more than was necessary, but he wasn’t going to argue with her. In fact, he’d done his best to keep a friendly distance, even when everything in him begged to draw closer to her, to love her.

  Who was he trying to kid? Since Brylee had entered his life again, it had become crystal clear to Shaun he’d never stopped loving her, never gotten over her. And he wasn’t sure he wanted to.

  Regardless of his feelings, Brylee would rather take a filthy pocket knife from a hobo on the street and carve her heart right out of her chest than let him have a second crack at breaking it. She’d made no secret of her thoughts on the matter, although they hadn’t actually gotten around to discussing the past and the stupid, stupid mistake Shaun had made that ended the best thing to ever happen to him.

  With his thoughts about to suck him down to a place he shouldn’t go, Shaun shook them off and focused on the rodeo. He needed be fully present to do his job, and that meant keeping Brylee out of his head, at least until the rodeo ended and the stock was settled for the night.

  “She’s been a good helper,” Shaun said, realizing he never answered his dad’s question. They watched as the first bronc rider of the evening climbed on the back of one of Kash’s prized horses. Shaun mentally went through the rider’s every move. After so many years spent participating in the sport, sometimes it was hard for him to be on this side of the gate instead of on the back of a bucking horse.

  In spite of dreams that came to an end sooner than he liked, he really did love his job. It kept his mind and body busy. Although he and his dad were primarily tasked with keeping the rider as safe as possible, they did their best to ensure animal safety, too. They also chased the stock out of the arena, loosened and removed flank straps, and kept an eye on photographers and press in the arena. They did their best to make sure the photographers didn’t get kicked or trampled. Not all of them were as good as Celia Kressley at rushing right up to the action then racing out of the way.

  The job of a pickup man involved a complex combination of moving parts and pieces. They had to be constantly alert, focused on the animals, the riders, everyone in the arena, and, in some cases, the crowd, too.

  Not only that, but Shaun had learned right away that a pickup man couldn’t be sensitive about people touching him. When those cowboys reached out looking to get off a thousand pounds of bucking bronc, they weren’t too particular where they grabbed. Shaun had suffered bruises on nearly every part of his body at one point or another since he went to work for the Rockin’ K. Even so, it wasn’t anything like the beating he took when he rode broncs.

  He nodded to his dad that he was ready as the gate swung open and the horse leaped into the arena. They remained back the first buck or two, giving the horse and rider plenty of room. Then they hurried to catch up to the horse, staying a few feet away, but close enough they were ready when the rider needed them.

  The rider made it the full eight seconds and pumped a fist in the air before he reached behind him and loosened the flank strap. Shaun rode in close to the bronc on the left while his dad circled around on the right. The rider hooked an arm around Shaun’s shoulders and pulled himself off the still bucking horse. Jason edged the bronc forward and the rider dropped to the ground. Shaun gave him a quick glance to make sure he was on his feet and safe before racing ahead to guide the bronc through the open gate.

  “Good job, Lucky,” Shaun said, patting his horse on the neck once the bronc trotted down the alleyway. The big bay shook his mane, as though he congratulated himself for doing well.

  Pickup men might work long, hard days with little acknowledgement for their efforts, but their horses really went the extra mile. Without a doubt, Shaun knew the horses he and his dad rode were the most versatile in the arena. Their mounts had to be able to turn on a dime, stop in less than a second, and control their action while other horses kicked at them and cowboys jumped onto and off of them. The horses had to be smart, intuitive, adaptive, and confident, rather like the cowboys who rode them. The pickup men and their horses had to be willing to race into a situation that others ran away from, like a bull charging into a crowd or a bucking bronc gone rogue.

  Thankfully, Shaun hadn’t faced too many bad-case scenarios, although his dad and uncle had experienced their share over the years. The first time a cowboy got hung up in his rigging, though, Shaun had battled the urge to panic. As a rider who’d had that happen, he knew it was terrifying. Instead, he’d stayed glued to the horse and helped the rider get loose. It took until the end of the event for his heart to settle back into a normal beat, but he’d survived and learned a few things, too.

  Today, there were twenty bareback riders competing, so when the tenth one fell off at three seconds in, he and his dad chased the horse through the gate then rode over to where Brylee waited with their mount changes near the bucking chutes.

  She swung off Buster and moved to his far side. Shaun and his dad rode alongside the two horses and slid from their mounts onto the fresh ones. In a matter of seconds they were back in the arena. They’d never done it as quickly as they had with Brylee there.

  “Thanks, honey,” Jason hollered at her as he rode back into the arena.

  Shaun tipped his hat to her and followed his dad. He could think of a hundred things he could have said, most of which would have embarrassed her, so he kept his mouth shut.

  He grinned as he thought about the old boot she wore to hide her cast. Anyone who saw her walking would just think she had a slight limp, thanks to the cowboy boot Frank Kressley had unearthed. In fact, the man had found two matching boots of different sizes that had once belonged to Ransom and Kash when they were boys. It seemed Frank never got rid of anything. In Brylee’s case, it turned out to be a good thing. The boots were well worn, but they at least gave her something to wear that kept her cast clean and covered.

  Why she thought she needed to keep the break a big secret was beyond him, but they all agreed to abide by her wishes. Maybe she thought if people knew she was riding with a broken leg, they’d pity her, which they would. Or they’d judge her incapable of competing, which was a distinct possibility.

  He turned back and looked at her as she led away Lucky and Jingo. Even with the cast impeding her walk, she still had that little sway in her step that always made Shaun’s internal thermostat spike.

  “Head in the game, son,” Jason said as he rode up beside him. “I can’t blame you for getting distracted by our girl.”

  The fact his father referred to Brylee as “our girl” hadn’t escaped Shaun’s notice. He didn’t know if his dad did it just to irritate him or remind him of what he’d lost — what he could possibly have again if he worked hard at it.

  A part of Shaun knew, though, that winning Brylee’s heart a second time was going to be an even bigger miracle than her winning enough money to save the ranch.

  He wished she’d let him help. Despite his reputation of living wild and
free the past handful of years, the hype was exaggerated. He’d saved a good portion of his winnings as well as the money he made modeling. As much as he enjoyed his work, he didn’t want to do it forever. Shaun hoped to someday have a ranch of his own or at least build a house on the back of his family’s property, of which he owned a quarter, where he could settle down with a wife and raise a few kids.

  Stunned by thoughts of standing still long enough to grow deep roots, Shaun had no idea where they’d come from. Sure, he’d thought about what he’d do when he retired. That’s why he’d been saving his money. But never, not even once, had he envisioned a house with a family. And why, exactly, did the wife in his vision look exactly like Brylee?

  Trouble.

  Brylee was pure, unadulterated trouble when it came to his head and heart. Shaun forced himself to focus on his work and chased after a bucking bronc with his dad, wondering how he’d survive until Brylee could return to traveling on her own.

  A little while later, when it was time for the saddle bronc riding, he and his dad rode into the arena to the sound of Joe Diffie singing “Pickup Man.”

  Cooper James just happened to be the barrelman at the event and stood in the middle of the arena clapping his hands and encouraging the crowd to sing along.

  After the rodeo-goers joined in singing, “there’s just something women like about a pickup man,” the music faded and the announcer’s voice boomed throughout the grandstands. “Folks, let’s give our hardworking pickup men and their highly skilled horses a hand. For those of you who don’t know, Jason and Shaun Price are a father-son team. And for you ladies who are wondering, they are both single.”

  Jason and Shaun removed their hats and waved them to the crowd. Shaun glanced around and saw Brylee watching over the gate as she sat on the back of a black horse they called Coal. She looked so tiny up on the big beast, but she rode him with confidence and ease. He waggled his hat at her before he slapped it back on his head and got down to business.