Chapter 19
Lily looked back in shock at the young woman, then over at Dakota. His face was still and unreadable, with only his jaw twitching. She could see his white-knuckled grip on the steering wheel as he fought to keep his composure, but from the angry gleam in his eye, she suspected he was losing the battle.
Reaching out timidly to touch his arm, she turned around to the couple and said, “Just get out now, please. Buy yourselves a cup of coffee or something. I’ll come and get you, but we need a minute.”
The urgency in her voice finally spurred the young man to take his girlfriend’s hand and hustle her out of the truck, both of them dashing through the snow to scramble into the building.
“Good, they’re gone—let’s go.” Dakota’s voice was strained, his jaw tight.
She gently squeezed his forearm, hoping to bring him back to the land of the compassionate. “We can’t just leave them here, Dakota, you know that.” Lily tried to keep her own voice as calm as possible. She wanted him to see a gentler approach to the circumstances.
“Watch me,” he said, slamming the truck into drive, but Lily was already unbuckled and out of the truck before he could move.
Dakota had fire in his eyes as he stared at Lily. “What are you doing? Get back in the truck!” Dakota yelled.
She shook her head and crossed her arms. “No! No matter how rude they are, I’m not going to just leave that young couple here to fend for themselves. They’re going to end up in trouble. We have to take them with us at least until we reach a town where they can get real help.” All she could think about were her own children. If one of them was in that situation, she’d want a passerby to be kind to them, and that was what she intended to do for Jill and her companion.
Lily had no idea what Dakota would do. He didn’t have to listen to her, and he might very well leave her there with the hapless couple. He certainly didn’t owe her anything, and she suspected he wasn’t all too fond of her anyway. But she knew one thing for certain: the couple was too young and arrogant to be left there among a bunch of rough truckers and transients.
She could see the muscles in Dakota’s jaw ticking until he finally said, “Fine. Go get them. You’re going to freeze us both to death with that truck door wide open.”
Sighing in relief, she shut the door and dashed in after the couple, anxiously listening for the sound of Dakota’s truck roaring off—but thankfully, he seemed to be waiting.
She saw the couple by the coffee machine; the girl, Jill, was shivering and huddled against the man, who was trying to convince the clerk to make a fresh batch for them. Judging from the clerk’s face and the looks they were getting from the men standing around, Lily guessed she’d been right in her assessment. These two were already about to find themselves in big trouble.
Dashing over, she said, “We need to go. Dakota’s about to leave, and if you want a ride to the next town, you’d better climb in and keep your mouths shut.”
The guy didn’t budge. “We need to at least get a decent cup of coffee first; my girl is freezing. Can’t you see that?” the man snapped, eyeing both her and the clerk angrily.
Dear Lord, the man was completely dense.
Lily glanced around at the hostile looks being cast in their direction. “Listen, I’m not about to hang around here with you two, so if you want to spend the rest of the night in the company of these fine gentlemen, be my guest. But I’m heading back out to the truck, and if you want a ride to the next town, you’ll follow me.” Lily started to walk back to the doors. She understood Dakota’s frustration with them, even if she didn’t have the heart to leave them to their fates.
The girl whimpered. “Forget the coffee, honey. Let’s just go.”
“But I promised you coffee, sweetie,” the man whined.
“There’s not going to be any coffee for you. If you’ve got half a brain, you’ll get out of here with these two women while you still can, you arrogant little punk.” The clerk’s voice was cold and harsh, but Lily had to agree that the advice he gave was certainly sound.
Before she reached the door, she heard the hurried steps of the couple behind her and breathed a sigh of relief. At least the man had a little bit of common sense left in him. Now, hopefully, Dakota had kept his word and waited for them. The thought of spending the night at a truck stop caused a shiver to run through her.
Thankfully, the truck was right where she’d left it, and as they hurried through the snow, Lily said, “I think you should apologize to Dakota and thank him. He could still decide to dump us all somewhere on the road.”
Jill was shivering hard, but Lily saw the look of panic in her eyes, and she nodded. As the three of them clambered back into the truck, Jill timidly said, “Thank you. We really do appreciate your help, and I’m sorry for my earlier outburst. That was entirely uncalled for.”
Dakota gave Lily a sideways look, his eyebrow raised, but he didn’t say anything. He only acknowledged the woman with a slight nod as he started driving, pulling carefully out into the heavy snow.
The couple, thankfully, seemed to have finally gotten the message and remained silent for the rest of the trip. After they offloaded the pair at a diner in the next town, Lily expected Dakota to start scolding her, but instead, he kept his eyes straight ahead, barely acknowledging her at all. Before she knew it, they were pulling into Ray and Camellia’s driveway. Lily opened her eyes with a start, realizing she must have nodded off.
“Here we are,” Dakota didn’t look at her. “I’m guessing that Ray or Camellia will bring you to the event center with them tomorrow, so I’ll say goodnight here and see you there tomorrow.”
That couldn’t be all he planned to say.
Lily stared at him. He’s either really mad or really upset, she thought. “Thanks for driving. I really do appreciate it. That snow was worse than I expected. And I’m sorry about that couple.”
She saw his head tilt in a barely visible nod, but other than that, he ignored her. So, she got out and headed in to let Camellia know she’d made it. If that was any indication of how tomorrow and the next day would go, she would need to get some sleep.
*
“Oh, Lily! Would you mind helping me set up this booth right here with the tickets? I think we’ll put a few of the raffle baskets here as well, so people can see them and hopefully buy a few tickets—a sort of one-stop shop!” The redheaded, freckle- faced girl in her plaid shirt giggled at her own joke, and Lily smiled despite her exhaustion.
They’d all been working since early morning, and Lily hadn’t stopped for even a bite to eat or a sip of water. She had a whole new respect for what it took to put on an event like this and was determined to do her share.
As she set up baskets and arranged tickets, she saw Dakota in the distance, calmly overseeing the chaos and directing people in his quiet, authoritative manner. She’d had no idea just how much influence he seemed to have over the people bustling around.
“He’s quite the character, isn’t he?” The redhead’s comment brought her back to the present.
Embarrassed, she realized she’d been caught staring. “I guess so. I mean, I don’t really know him that well, but it seems that people around here really listen to him.”
She huffed out a chuckle and stared after the man they were speaking about. “Well, they’d better, or they’ll be shown the door. Dakota Clifton doesn’t put up with slackers when it comes to his rodeos,” the girl said.
“ His rodeos?”
She lifted one shoulder in a meager shrug. “Yeah. Didn’t you know? Dakota owns and runs this whole show. What he says goes,” the girl explained.
Lily’s mouth parted in awe, or maybe it was shock. It took her a second to gather her thoughts. “I thought he just worked for some rodeo company,” Lily said, looking at the girl.
“Well, he works as hard as everyone else does, which is rare from what I’ve heard, but he finances the whole thing and runs it, too. If it weren’t for his generosity, this whole charity event wouldn’t even happen.” The girl looked at Lily and grinned. “You’re pretty new around here, aren’t you? If you’re interested in him, I’m guessing you could do a lot worse.”
Lily felt herself flush as she hastily said, “No, no! Nothing like that. I’m not going to be around long anyway. I’m just here to help out my sister and her husband. After the holidays, I’ll be heading back to San Francisco.” Snapping her mouth shut, Lily flushed even deeper. Why on earth did she feel the need to tell this girl her whole life story?
Smiling knowingly, the girl said, “Well, I guess that’s a good thing. You’d be facing a lot of competition anyway. Most of the older cowgirls would happily throw their hat into the ring for a chance with him.”
Lily laughed nervously. “I don’t have a hat, and even if I did, I don’t intend to throw it anywhere.”
Thankfully, Lily saw Camellia walking toward them, and she turned her attention away from the girl and this uncomfortable conversation to smile at her sister.
“Have you heard from Violet?” Camellia asked, coming up with a roll of tickets for the raffle and slipping them under the makeshift counter.
“Yes, she called this morning and was hoping to leave by early afternoon, as soon as Lawrence’s new caretaker shows up so she can get him settled in and show him around,” Lily said.
Camellia looked at her quizzically. “Him? I guess I’m still pretty old-fashioned. I always figured these traveling caretakers were women.”
Laughing, Lily said, “Most of them are, but there was no way Violet was about to leave her bedridden, drugged-up husband with a young and attractive nurse. She’s much too jealous for that.”
Smiling, Camellia just nodded. “I see. Well, if she gets here in time, we can all go to dinner together. I’m already tired, and we still have hours to go before we’re ready. I’m sure as heck not going to feel like cooking tonight.” Looking at Lily with a frown, she continued, “Speaking of which, have you eaten anything today? I don’t think you ate before we left, and I haven’t seen you sit down once since we got here.”
She shook her head and felt her cheeks flush with embarrassment. Lily felt like she was being called out by her mother, even though that wasn’t what Camellia meant by her comment. “No, I haven’t,” Lily admitted. “I’m not too hungry, but I could sure go for a cup of coffee.”
Camellia took Lily by the hand and smiled. “Come on. The food area is partially open, with coffee and food for the workers. Let’s get something into your stomach before you keel over.”
She led Lily over to the gathering of food stations in the large arena and told her to sit while she collected sandwiches and coffee, setting them in front of Lily before sitting next to her.
Noticing that Lily had pushed the sandwich to the side and picked up her coffee instead, Camellia said, “They’re not the most appealing-looking things in the world, but you really do need to eat something, Lily.”
“It’s not that. They look fine. I’m just tired, and my stomach’s a bit uptight. Maybe after a few sips of coffee, I can eat something,” Lily said.
Sighing, Camellia took a halfhearted bite of her own sandwich. “I know what you mean. I’m not feeling so great today, either. What’s got you worried? You were awfully quiet when you got back last night. Did you quarrel with Dakota? If you did, don’t take it too hard. He quarrels with pretty much everyone.” She winked at Lily, and Lily appreciated knowing that Dakota was someone people seemed to have a hard time getting along with.
“We didn’t quarrel exactly, no. But I think he’s still mad at me for insisting we help that young couple last night. He hasn’t even looked my way all morning. I’m not sure how I’m going to be his assistant tomorrow if he’s not speaking to me.”
Camellia sipped her coffee and looked over to where Dakota and Ray were talking. “Don’t worry about it too much. Dakota may be difficult, but he’s a true professional when it comes to business. He’s just not used to someone standing up to him, I imagine. Not too many people do. He’ll get over it.”
Lily looked at Camellia curiously, wondering how much she should pry into Dakota’s life. “Speaking of business, why didn’t you tell me Dakota actually owns the rodeo? Here I thought he was just some wayward cowboy barely getting by, and it turns out he runs the whole show.”
Camellia just shrugged. “I didn’t think it mattered. Frankly, he acts like he’s just some wayward cowboy, so I tend to forget about it until we all work together. There’s no mistaking who’s in charge when we’re working, but he’s just not the type of man to go around telling everyone who calls the shots. His presence just kind of commands that level of respect.”
Lily didn’t buy it, but maybe they’d been friends for so long that it just didn’t occur to her sister to share that kind of information with the new girl in town. “Owning a whole rodeo show and just being one of the bull riders are pretty different things, Camellia. It’s not something you forget easily.”
Lily wondered why Camellia hadn’t been more forthcoming with the details on their friend. After all, if it weren’t for him, they wouldn’t all be here organizing a fundraiser. She wasn’t close enough to Camellia to feel comfortable calling her out, but Lily had a nagging suspicion there was a reason the information had been concealed.
“He can be both the owner and a bull rider—oh, and an announcer. Whatever he needs to be to keep the show going.” Camellia glanced over at Ray and Dakota, who were still talking, their heads so close together that it was clear whatever they were discussing was for their ears only. “I wonder what those two are up to now?” She looked at Lily. “Did either of them say anything to you?”
“No. Like I said, Dakota hasn’t said a word to me all morning, and I’ve barely even seen Ray.”
Lily wondered if she should mention that the true reason Dakota had come to the Tahoe house hadn’t been to pick her up but to get an item that Ray seemed to need this weekend. But the distracted look on Camellia’s face made her think it was better to keep that information to herself for now. Whatever was bothering Camellia, she didn’t want to add to it by making her suspicious of what her husband was up to.
“What’s wrong, Camellia? You seem kind of down in the dumps and distracted today. Has something happened?” she asked instead.
Camellia grimaced. “No, I’m fine. Really. It’s nothing for you to worry about.”
Lily didn’t believe her, but before she got a chance to question her further, she saw a flash of overly bright hair approaching them from the left and groaned. “Don’t look now, but the redheaded menace is on her way,” she said, shoving a huge mouthful of sandwich into her mouth so she couldn’t talk.