Chapter 19
JULES
T he only thing better than the sight of Riley waiting for her on his tailgate? Riley waiting for her on his tailgate with a delicious looking cinnamon roll sitting untouched at his side.
As she climbed out of her Mustang, he flashed his smile that made her weak in the knees. “How are you feeling?” he asked, lifting the pastry to his lap and patting the tailgate for her to sit.
“Much better—physically.”
She jumped up beside him, their boots knocking together as their legs dangled from the truck bed.
He handed over the cinnamon roll and said, “It’s from Laurel. And it’s a big deal, especially now that she’s pregnant and craving these now more than ever. Her and Brett covet them. Like… they are weirdly greedy about it. I’ve never even had one.”
“Why do I get one?” she asked, reaching for it eagerly. Her appetite was definitely back.
“She said it’s sure to make you feel better. I guess I should have gotten sick ‘round here to earn one,” he chuckled, eyeing it as she pulled a piece off.
“Maybe if you’re nice to me, I’ll give you a taste.” She dangled the bite before him.
His eyes grew hungry, but he was looking past the pastry. His focus locked onto her lips. “I’d take a taste,” he replied, his voice dangerously serious now.
She leaned closer, hypnotized by the need that swam in his gaze. Her own need pulsing through her.
“You remember we’re in the center of the compound, right out in the open,” he warned. Even still, he lifted his hand and dragged his knuckles along her jaw.
Pulling back, she blinked away the daze she was in. They were in the center of the ranch compound where anyone could walk by. Including the car pulling up the dirt drive this very moment.
Jules leaned forward, squinting into the rising sun. She recognized the posh, champagne colored SUV. Blinking, she wondered if maybe she wasn’t still ill and seeing things. Because she recognized it as her mother’s.
There was no way, though. Turning back to Riley, she replied, “I remember. I was just offering you some cinnamon roll.”
She held up the piece between her fingers for him to accept. And he did so by eating it right out of her hand. An indecent moan escaped him, causing her mind to drift back to a hotel room in Texas. Back to the moment he let out a similar moan while she was on her knees before him.
Distracted, she nearly missed the way he leaned in for another piece of the sweet treat.
“I said a taste.” She swiftly pulled it back away.
“I can make it worth your while,” he offered with an amused grin.
“That I believe.”
The sound of tires crunching on the rough drive grew nearer. Stealing another glance, she tried to make out the shape of the driver. It appeared to be a woman of pale complexion with light-colored hair. Same as hers. Same as her mother’s.
“Do you normally see this car around here?”
“Actually.” He lifted a hand to rub the back of his neck, a slight tilt to his head. “This is the first time.”
“Oh my…”
Jules could see her clearly now. Francine Graham in the flesh. But how?
She sucked in a breath as her mom parked before them, pushing open her door and gracefully stepping down to the dirt below.
“I’m guessing you’re familiar with her?” Riley offered. His eyes darted back and forth, cataloging the similarities in their appearances.
“Riley, please meet my mother , Francine.”
Surprise flashed across his face for a split second. To his credit, he recovered quickly. Far quicker than she was managing.
“Hi there, Jules. And, Riley, was it?” her mom greeted them calmly. As if it was completely natural for her to hunt Jules down and show up unannounced.
“Yes, nice to meet you, ma’am.”
Confusion gave way to curiosity. “What did you—how are you?” She couldn’t decide what to focus on first. Jules hadn’t heard from her mother since she landed in the States and received a glad you had a safe trip text message.
She certainly hadn’t told her mother that she was coming to Sterling Ridge.
She wasn’t even sure her mother had been in Denver at the time.
“How did I find you? Social media, darling. You forget that I follow Maddie. That rodeo looked fun.”
Hearing her mom’s reasoning, it really wasn’t a huge leap that she found her.
Her eyes drifted over to Riley and she shifted in her seat on his tailgate.
He seemed perfectly at ease despite the dysfunction on display.
She envied his ability to be laid back in any situation, and wondered if it was genuine.
“What time are you done here today? I was hoping we could have dinner.”
Jules bit her lip through a frown. “You could have called to plan something.”
Francine’s delicate laugh drifted through the air. “ Please , I’m your mother! And you have to eat dinner at some point, don’t you? I thought I’d explore this cute little town until you are ready.”
“Yeah, okay,” she replied, ruing the fatigue still fogging her brain. Not a single excuse was coming to mind. “Let’s do dinner.”
“Wonderful.” Her mother clapped her hands together before turning for her SUV once again. Climbing back inside, she offered a wave and turned the vehicle around, heading back down the drive.
“Wow,” Jules pondered aloud. “What just happened?”
“Is it safe to assume that this isn’t typical?”
“It is very safe to assume that.”
He nodded, his thumb rubbing across the corner of his mustache. “And your family didn’t know you were here?”
“Oh, you caught that.” She dropped her attention to the cinnamon roll, ripping off a bite for herself.
Of course he did because he didn’t miss anything.
“I wasn’t trying to hide it. But my dad is always so busy, he barely looked up when I went by to tell him.
Then he assumed I was headed to Argentina now, so I didn’t correct him.
” She shook her head. “I wasn’t even sure my mom was around.
After she left my dad, she kind of just disappeared altogether. ”
He shifted on the tailgate to face her. “She left you too.”
“I guess.” She pursed her lips and glanced up at him. “It was like she just didn’t want to deal with the mess of it all. My father’s withdrawal from their relationship, his grief. My grief.”
A strong, warm hand closed over her knee. “Jules,” he murmured. “I’m sorry.”
“She just ran from everything. And I must take after her, because in the end that’s all I’ve been doing too. I mean hell, with her showing up like this, I want to make a run for it now ,” she replied with a hollow laugh.
“We can, you know. I’d run with you.” He looked up at the mountains stretching across the horizon. She followed with his gaze. There was such freedom out there, freedom she hadn’t experienced since starting here. Suddenly, she had a desperate urge to do just that.
Looking back towards Riley, her mouth pulled into a reckless smile. The same smile he shot her in return. For a moment, they were just two wild fools that managed to understand the other without having to say another word.
The thunder of racing hooves filled the air. In a full gallop, they charged along a plateau overlooking the ranch below. From up here, everything seemed so small. Including the worries she vowed to leave back at the compound.
For now, it was just her, Riley, and the geldings carrying them.
Cooper had volunteered his Appaloosa to her, insisting he’d hold his own racing Riley’s horse.
And as she looked down at Checkers below her, she wondered yet again why this all felt easy and familiar.
As if she’d known these people, and horses, forever.
Following Riley and Atlas as they veered away from the ridge line, the wide open basin and weaving river disappeared from sight.
Instead, they were moving down a grassy slope lined with dense pines.
Jules loved how many different places she could experience at one ranch alone.
The expansive plains, the crystal clear river, rolling hills and treacherous mountain switchbacks had all been a part of her experience on this ride alone. And she loved every second of it.
Slowing to a canter, they fell into place side by side.
She stole a glance at the cowboy beside her, his dark golden mustache twitching with a smile as he turned to her as well.
He sat with such balance and control, perfectly centered as if he was simply an extension of his horse. He belonged in that saddle.
As she smiled back at him, the gesture carried appreciation, relief, and joy.
The feeling of freedom coursing through her was typically something she achieved only through her travels to a foreign country.
The further she ran, the freer she felt.
But here she was, only a few hours from Denver—chased down by what she was running from—and she was on cloud nine.
You’re allowed to be wild here . Riley’s words from her first day of work had been persistent in her thoughts this whole ride. Maybe that was the key, allowing herself to feel free. And she did—when she was with him.
“If I let myself, I think I could completely fall for you,” she blurted out.
“ Whoa .” Without missing a beat, he brought his horse to a halt. He waited for her to do the same, turning Checkers to face him.
“We never talked about… and I?—”
“So why not let yourself?” he rasped.
“I think I’ve started to.”
It was easier to be honest out here. Away from the worries she left back at the compound. But she was still terrified of returning to everything waiting for her after this admission. She hadn’t thought this through.
Riley brought Atlas forward until they were side by side. He reached his hand out for hers, and after a second of hesitation, she accepted it. Lifting it to his lips, he murmured against her skin, “You’ve started to. And tell me, has it been so bad?”
“It hasn’t been bad at all. That’s the problem,” she whispered in return.
“Why is it a problem?”
Her fingers twitched around the reins. Her brain yelled at her to run, to protect herself. People leave. Homes fall apart. And she couldn’t have the rug ripped out from under her a second time.
Understanding swirled in his gaze as she remained silent. As if he could read every thought she couldn’t say. He saw her—and had told her as much recently.
“I just need more time.”
He nodded. “I’m the kind of man that’ll wait when something’s meant for him.”
Forget butterflies, her chest felt like a fleet of meadowlarks just took flight in it. She blinked back at the cowboy that had just taken her breath away, greeted by that damn crooked smile of his. With a twitch of his mustache, he dropped her hand and spurred Atlas on.
“It’s about time you chase after me,” he called over his shoulder as he rode away, amused confidence in his tone.
His ability to be undeterred was frustratingly charming. Yes, she was already falling indeed.
Riley
If I let myself, I think I could completely fall for you .
What kind of frustrating, intoxicating, and utterly magnificent woman had he fallen for? Because he had. Somewhere between that first night under the Texas sky and these last few weeks of being granted a peek at what it was that she carried on her heart, he had fallen.
Jules was real and raw and unapologetically passionate about things that matched his own drive. Yet she was still soft in there. He wasn’t fooled by her fire.
They had returned to the compound, riding up to the wash stall to cool the horses down. She dismounted, straightened out her lady lawless tee and turned to him. There was a lightness in her eyes that hadn’t been there this morning, the sight bolstering him as he moved to dismount too.
His boots hit the ground.
Then his knee hit the ground.
Pain ripped up his spine, paralyzing his legs. He couldn’t move from the kneeling position, facing an agony he hadn’t felt in some time.
“Riley, oh my god! What’s happening?” Her voice was panicked, high pitched and breathy, as she rushed to him.
His only response was a groan, the pain persisting.
He dropped his head, blindly reaching a hand out to steady himself.
Expecting to get a hold on the stirrup hanging from Atlas, he was surprised when his hand connected with Jules.
She stepped into his space, her hand closing over his as he grasped at her hip like an anchor.
“Can I do anything to help?” she begged.
He managed to shake his head, breathing as the first signs of relief crept in. “It’s passing,” he gritted out.
Even still, he curled his finger tighter, the feel of her acting as a way to ground himself. A very preferable way, if he was being honest.
The pain written across his face must have been subsiding because when she spoke again, her voice was a fraction calmer. “Does this happen often?”
“Not like this,” he admitted. “It hasn’t been this bad since the accident.”
Slowly, he rose to his feet, keeping his grasp firm on her hip. She pressed her hands to his chest, her eyes giving him a once over. Not to check him out though; she was assessing him. Worried.
“What happened?” she asked carefully. “The accident, I mean.”
Riley wrapped his arms around her, only to keep himself steady, then said, “I’m still not sure where exactly I went wrong, but I did. And when I was thrown from the horse, I fractured my spine.”
“ Fractured your spine ? I thought this injury everyone was talking about was like… not that! Should you even be riding this soon? And competing in tie down roping? Riley!”
He brought a hand up to the back of her head, caressing her against his chest. Then dropping his face into her hair, he smiled and inhaled. “I’m allowed to do these things if I pay attention to any concerning symptoms.”
“I’d call this concerning,” she muttered against his shirt. “You need to go to the doctor. Tell them about this.”
“I’ll go,” he replied automatically.
“But will you?” She raised her head, shooting him a skeptical glare.
On either side of them, the horses remained patient, grazing unconcerned. They clearly weren’t as in tune with his bullshit as Jules.
“I’ll make you a deal,” she offered. “I’ll go to the doctor with you, if you go to this dinner with me tonight.”
“You want me at dinner?” He grinned back at her.
“Misery loves company, so we do the miserable things together.”
“Together,” he agreed. As if he’d tell her no.