Chapter 33
THIRTY-THREE
WINNIE
Ride a Woolly
The ram bounces its way across the permanent area at Valiant Peak in pursuit of Billy’s buns.
Or at least that’s what he presents the woolly with as he bends over and shakes his denim-clad behind in the sheep’s direction to encourage it to get moving.
The horned critter is the next best thing West could wrangle me out of season that I’d let Sally get on, and even now, looking at it, the poor thing is a bit undersized.
“One lap, then off,” I growl, and clamp a hand to my side. My stitches have been out for weeks, but the pain remains whenever I try to do pretty much anything. The knife Brad stabbed me with was one of our steak-knife wedding gifts that he took with him when we split years before.
I never wanted them back and was relieved to see one disappear as evidence.
“Take it easy.” Trixie swings her sheath of long caramel hair over her shoulder as she taps away at the tablet Billy gave her to handle Valiant Peak accounts.
It’s far from her favorite activity, but she’s gripping this new duty with both hands and going at it full speed just like she does everything else.
She’s who Cord has set to babysit me in case I overdo it while he works around the stadium for the next few hours with West. The two boys are cooking up some plans, but I know I won’t be able to figure it out until it’s hatched.
“I’ve been taking it easy for months now. What I want is to work,” I bitch. Sally is on her woolly, which finally deigns to move.
“Oh, I hear you. I can’t sleep if I have work left to do. My bed doesn’t get much use, trust me.” Trixie never looks up and she never stops tapping, two-fingered.
I look at her with a sliver of more respect than before.
Not for the hideous work hours— those are unhealthy as hell and I’ve been there.
And I’m going back. West and I have worked that out together.
We’re still not sure what, but at the moment I’m enjoying just spending time with the most important person in my life— Sally.
“Yeah. A pity about the bed, though. There are other rooms in the house,” I muse, thinking of the amount of times West and I have crept about the rental in Valiant Peak that we’ve chosen for the moment until we figure ourselves out.
Sally, oddly, in my unprofessional opinion, opted to be homeschooled, and currently Lanie and I are sharing pictures of baby Sally and the Rand family’s newest addition.
Lanie is helping teach as well as studying her wolves, or Coyote Falls’s wolves, because giving birth to her brand-new baby isn’t enough.
Overachiever doesn’t come close to covering it.
But Sally loves having baby Randall—yeah, the poor kid—nearby on his playmat while she does her classes.
And I get to see Lanie. So that’s a win for us all right now.
We’re still deciding what family looks like for us.
West has work in the form of his old architecture job.
But I know he desperately misses the ranch work, to the point of irritation.
Irritation that we discuss nightly. In the nude. In different rooms of the house.
And hence the comment to Trixie about which rooms she can use apart from the bedroom.
“Ah—” She looks up at me with a blank face before she catches on. “Oh, hell, yes. Sleep is at a premium.”
I blink at her. “What, they don’t have sex in barrel-rider rodeo land?” I say baldly.
Her smile wavers at the edges. “Not unless it’s tall, dark and has the devil’s eyes,” she mutters, looking straight down at the tablet.
I cover a cough, knowing that the only man I’ve seen Trixie flirt with is Slade.
He’s nowhere around, thankfully for the rest of us, because when they get anywhere within range of each other, it’s fireworks time.
“That’s sweet,” I manage, promising myself to stay out of the way the next time I see them within proximity of each other. “Is he likely to pop by Coyote?”
I’m caught in a hazel stare laced with the gold of the sunset. “That’s not likely while I’m here.”
“Of course not.” I shift on my seat as Trixie picks up a call and rises, wandering away. My breath puffs out in a long blast. “Hell on a hotdog with hot sauce on top.”
“What’s that?” Cordell plops down beside me. “How are you doing?” He looks me over like I might shatter if a stiff breeze picks up.
“I am fine. That is a problem,” I inform him, waving a hand after Trixie.
“How so?” Cord frowns. “Trixie’s great value.”
“Sure.” The laugh I’ve been concealing erupts as she leaves the stadium and heads to the offices behind it. “If you put her and Slade in the same room, someone will die. It might be him.” I consider. “Or maybe not.”
His eyebrows rise. “Is there a fling going on that I need to know about?”
“Not yet.” The urge to snicker is strong. I rein it back. “What are you up to?”
“I’m about to offer two men a job.” He pauses. “Well, I was gonna offer two men a job.”
“Yeah? Who?” My need for gossip has never disappeared. And Valiant Peak is the king of all small towns.
“Slade. He needs a focus. He’s brilliant at organizing, and he knows the rodeo. So he—”
“Should run the Invitational. Cord. You’re a genius,” I say, impressed with my brother for the first time in ages. I stare at him, hard. “Have you been sleeping?”
He laughs at me. “I have a three-month-old. Do you think I’ve slept for a while?”
I grin. “Randall Rand sleeps at my place just fine.”
“Yes, and that means he’s not sleeping at mine. Thank you so much.”
I giggle. “Okay, that’s one down.” I just hope Slade and Trixie can keep out of each other’s hair. “So. Who gets the next job? Jesse?”
Cord shakes his head. “Kid’s still got some growing up to do.” He leans back and stretches his arms along the seat back. His mobility has increased, right around the time that mine took a significant nosedive. “I was thinking of offering your boy some permanency.”
I choke on my own spit. “West?” The man can barely plant his fine ass for dinner, let alone work on a project that lasts longer than a week. I watch Cord, take in the tight line of his shoulders. Well, Dustan was a six-month project. And my brother was the mammoth of all impossible tasks.
“Do you have another lover I should catalog? Don’t let West know. He’s a jealous bastard.”
I shake my head. “You should probably go make that offer now, then.”
Cord frowns. “Why’s that?”
“Because Billy’s done with the ram and Sally’s looking for fresh meat.” I point to where West is heckling my child.
Billy has made his escape over the railing to the arena. His boots go flying over the top, and he lands face-first in a dust bunny that puffs around his head, giving him an instant Coyote Falls tan.
“You’re going to lose your chance.” West looks like he’s about to fold and replace Billy as ramming target practice.
“Ah. On it. Any objections?”
“It’s his choice.” It always has been.
Cord grins at me. “Thanks, Winnie.”
West is rescued, and Sally trots about on her tiring sheep for another few minutes before sliding off the poor beast’s back and attempting to feed it.
I close my eyes, not needing to watch West and Cord go at it.
One of them will tell me what I need to know without my prying.
That’s something I’ve learned over the last months.
I don’t actually need to chase the people I love and trust.
After a few minutes, West plops down beside me. “Coffee.” Warmth presses against one knee. “Water refill.”
“Oh, I love you.”
“Yeah, I know, gorgeous.” West stills and then leans over, gripping my chin firmly, and kisses me hard.
My eyes fly open, my peace shattering. “What was that?” I gasp as he lets me go and sits back, a satisfied look on his face.
“I don’t do it often enough.”
“You mean you want to show off,” I counter. “In front of…” Not my brother. Or Slade. Or… Oh. “Billy? Still? West…” I groan. “I am not interested in any man but you. Is that clear?”
“Yeah?” He watches me closely. “Do you want to stay here?”
“Huh?” I blink at the subject change and grip my coffee tight. “What are we doing?”
“Cord told you.” His eyes are on me, a heavy weight.
I return that stare, like for like. “He told me he was going to offer you a job. I never said much, to be honest. And I don’t know what it is.”
“He seemed happy.”
“West.” I look at him, exasperated. “I don’t remember what happened five minutes ago. What is going on, please?”
He seems satisfied with that explanation. Maybe my memory is that faulty. “He’s offered me a job here, seeking new talent for the rodeo. For the Invitational.”
“Okay.” I sip my coffee.
“That includes training. And travel.”
“More than you already do?” I check in. Because from what I’ve seen, there’s a bit of that.
He tips his head to one side. “There’d be a little bit. We can travel together, if you want. Sally too, as long as it doesn’t screw with her schoolwork and you’re happy with that, or I can go alone. I’ll need to look at what I want to invest in, equipment-wise.”
“Like a trailer.”
“Like a trailer,” he agrees.
“Okay.”
West glares at me. “Stop agreeing with everything I say.”
I cuddle my beverage gifts. “Why? I like this conversation. I like Valiant Peak. Sally likes where we are. And no take-backsies. On anything,” I clarify.
“Beautiful,” West growls.
I smile at him. “I like that too. When you’re all growls and possessiveness.”
“So, you’re okay with staying, and traveling?” His hand lands on my hip, curling protectively so he won’t bump my scars.
“I’m okay with everything. Yes, I’d prefer if we travel with you, especially for now. As Sally gets older, we can look at working around coursework and exams depending on the time of year, or not, okay?”
“Is there anything you want to ask me?” He searches my eyes like there’s an answer he seeks.
“When do you start?”
His kiss is fire, searing across my lips. I clutch my coffee tight to my stomach and kiss him back until he pulls back, cursing. “Too many damn people, Rand.”
“Sucks, doesn’t it!” Trixie calls cheerfully from a few rows further along, where she walks with her halter slung over her shoulder, traded out for her tablet.
“Slade just told me about your job. Congratulations! It’s a great space.
” Her nose twitches at the tall cowboy’s name, but other than that, there are no signs of immediate death.
I nudge West’s thigh. “Did you accept straightaway?”
He frowns. “Fucking Cordell. No, I didn’t. But I’m sure he heard yes anyway.”
I laugh as West leans in to kiss me, the drifter who found a place to stay, whom I’ve been orbiting around for years. The one I was never supposed to want, but I did anyway.
West’s heart has always been in the right place. And now it looks like he’s found a place to call home.