Chapter Thirteen
“S orry to interrupt.”
Emily looked at the petite blonde woman who had approached them, unsure whether to be sorry she had in fact interrupted them, or grateful. But either way, there was nothing to do but welcome Maggie Rafferty, such was her standing around here.
“Hi, Mrs. Rafferty.”
The older woman smiled. “Just Maggie. We’re both off duty—you don’t have to be so formal.”
Emily chuckled. “Okay. Maggie it is. How are you?”
“Fine, for an old lady.”
Emily scoffed. “Hah. I’ve met women half your age who are older than you.”
The woman most people considered the matriarch, not just of one of the founding families, but of the entire town of Last Stand, laughed.
“I do need a favor, however,” Maggie said. “I need you to introduce me to this young man.”
Emily had been about to do that anyway. She had noticed Tucker had gone silent at the woman’s arrival, but he hadn’t moved away as they talked. Maybe he was curious about this foundation of the Rafferty family, since he’d already met Chance and Ariel.
“Not,” Maggie added as she shifted her gaze to Tucker, “that I don’t know who he is, of course.”
Emily had assumed she probably did, given her eldest son, Keller, had spent some time on the circuit before tragedy had brought him home to see to his family and the Rafferty ranch.
“Then let me make it official,” she said. “Tucker, meet the royal matriarch of Last Stand, Maggie Rafferty. Maggie, meet rodeo star, Hollywood stunt guy, and—” she added it on impulse “—tonight’s amazing pianist, Tucker Culhane.”
The last words clearly startled him, and for a moment his gaze shot to her face. But he quickly recovered and gave Maggie a respectful nod that was practically a bow. Which Emily had to admit, she found charming.
So what do you not find charming about this guy?
She would have rolled her eyes at herself if she wasn’t in a crowd. She made herself tune back in to the conversation; if Maggie Rafferty was talking, it was wisest to keep up.
“—already talked to the mayor about it and he thinks it’s a great idea. And Jackson too. In fact, he’ll be the one to introduce you.”
Emily blinked. Whatever the subject was, Maggie was talking as if it had already been decided, but Tucker was looking at her as if taken aback by whatever she had said.
“I don’t know…I mean I’m not…I’m ancient history in that world.”
“Hardly,” Maggie said with a dismissive wave of her hand. “Everyone I spoke to remembers you.”
He swallowed visibly. “You’re serious?”
Tucker looked at Emily, as if seeking help. Which she couldn’t give, because she’d entirely missed what Maggie had said. She looked away then, pretending to be focused on avoiding the knot of people who had just gathered at the bar. They stepped out of the way, ending up in a quieter corner.
Some cop you are, can’t pay attention to more than one thing at a time?
Apparently, when Tucker Culhane was involved, that was true.
She looked at him and went with the only thing she could think of that was absolute truth, no matter what Maggie had asked him. “If you live in Last Stand, and it’s Maggie Rafferty asking, the answer is generally yes.”
Emily breathed a sigh of relief when Maggie laughed delightedly. But the relief vanished when Maggie said, “And any young man smart enough to single out Emily Stratton is smart enough to say yes when I ask.”
Apparently she’d become a coward, too, because she looked away, not wanting to see his reaction to that remark. But after a moment and what she thought was a very deep breath, she heard his answer to the woman who saw to so much of Last Stand’s life and energy.
“Yes, ma’am.” His tone was both respectful and humble. “I’d be honored.”
“As it’s intended,” Maggie said, and there could be no doubt about her sincerity. “And well-earned. Not many could come back the way you did.”
“I didn’t. I never competed again,” he said with a shrug.
“Tucker Culhane, you got up and walked and breathed again. You rode again, thankfully not bulls. You had the courage to risk yourself again, even if it was for Hollywood. And,” she added with that steady gaze that had cowed more than one big, strong man, “when your friend needed you, you came.”
She said it as if that last was all that really mattered, and Emily knew that to Maggie it probably was. But what truly fascinated her was Tucker’s face as she said all that; he’d gone from self-effacing to embarrassed to suddenly, solidly steady when she said those last words.
Because, Emily realized, that was what was most important to him. A friend who needed him.
And that told her a great deal. Maybe everything she needed to know about Tucker Culhane.
“So, that’s settled,” Maggie said. “I know it’s very short notice, but we’ll get the word out. And,” she added, with a look at Emily that she couldn’t mistake, “luckily we have one of the best organizers in town to help out. Right, Emily?”
Emily swallowed, wishing more than ever now she’d been paying closer attention rather than mooning over Tucker. But what she had said was true. In Last Stand if Maggie Rafferty asked, you said yes.
“Of course,” she said, wondering what she’d just agreed to help with.
“Excellent. I’ll let the committee know. And Shane, since it’s him you’ll be relieving, Tucker.”
“Wait, what?” Tucker almost yelped it. “I’m replacing the police chief?”
Maggie laughed. “He will be more than happy to surrender that initiator spotlight, won’t he, Emily?”
Tucker looked at her then, his expression uneasy. While she in turn relaxed. She finally had the clue she’d needed to tell her what the Last Stand powerhouse had just arranged in a matter of minutes.
“He will,” Emily said with a laugh. “He never liked it in the first place, but he’s the one we always turn to in a pinch. He’s used to public speaking, much as he hates it.”
Tucker swallowed visibly. “Public speaking?”
“It’s only a short speech,” Maggie said with a careless wave of her hand. “Just to say hello and give the command to start the festivities. And who would know better than you what to say to a crowd of rodeo lovers?”
“In front of a crowd? If it’s more than three words, I can mess it up,” Tucker said, sounding so grim Emily couldn’t stop herself.
“Then those three words should be ‘Let ’er rip,’” she said.
His eyes widened as she quoted the idiom she remembered he’d always used in the chute, to signal he was ready for the near ton of fired-up bull beneath him to be cut loose. It had become part of the legend that had been Tucker Culhane.
Maggie laughed and exclaimed, “Perfect! See what I meant? Emily is a master at cutting to the chase. Now I’ll leave you two to work out the details. There’s a table clear now.”
She gestured to a small, two-person table in the corner behind them, and then was gone before Tucker could protest. They both moved toward the table, as if even when she was gone Maggie still ruled. They sat down, and only then did Emily realize just how small and intimate this corner was.
When Tucker finally looked at Emily again, he seemed a little dazed. “What just happened here?”
She grinned at him. “Maggie Rafferty just happened. Don’t feel bad, we all know what it’s like. And I can’t blame her for jumping on the chance to have a famous rodeo rider do the official launch of the Last Stand rodeo.”
“I thought maybe that meant I’d just open the first chute or something,” he muttered. “Not get up and talk to the whole crowd.”
“It’ll be fine. They’ll be so excited to see you it won’t matter if all you say is hello, thanks, glad to be here.”
“And ‘Let ’er rip’?”
“And that. So they’ll know it’s really you.”
“I’m surprised you remembered that.” He smiled as he said it, as if it pleased him that she had.
“I think you’ll find a lot of people here remember that. And you.”
His mouth quirked at one corner. “As long as it’s not just for that last ride.”
He sounded a bit sour, and who could blame him? She chose her next words carefully. “It might have been that way at first, because it was so…horrible, but after a while I mostly heard people simply saying they were sorry it had happened because you were the best.”
He just looked at her for a moment, and she wondered if she hadn’t chosen carefully enough. But then, in a low, rough voice that sent an odd ripple of both chill and heat through her, he said, “Thank you. For telling me that.”
She wondered if perhaps he thought he’d been long forgotten. If so, she was glad he knew better now. Texas would never forget him.
She certainly hadn’t.
“What will you do now? I mean, if Stonewall is over.”
“It is,” he said, rather flatly. “Jackson got the call before I left L.A.” Then his forehead furrowed a bit as he added, “That’s not general knowledge, by the way.”
She nodded in understanding. “I’ll not mention it to my multiple friends in the media.”
He blinked and drew back slightly. She couldn’t stop the corners of her mouth from twitching. And in the next moment he burst out laughing. And she let the grin she’d been fighting break loose.
“I like you, Officer Stratton,” he said, still chuckling.
“Back at you,” she said. “Although I’d like you more if you just called me Emily.”
“Do you promise that…Emily?”
Her breath caught. Not just because of his words but because there had suddenly been a quietly serious undertone in his voice. Any trace of teasing or lightweight flirting had vanished.
“Yes,” she answered, surprising even herself with her tone, which matched his.
And when he looked at her now, those blue eyes boring into hers, she knew she meant it.