Just dealing with the fact she was pregnant would have filled a normal day. Couple that with needing to tell Kyle they were going to have a baby, and finding the right time to tell him amidst the chaos that would surely arrive in less than a half hour and she was more than overwhelmed.
After grabbing a glass of juice she walked outside to determine where to start. The day had dawned with a bright orange sun, the blue skies clear and without a single cloud. And it was already warm. The temperature was sure to bake the participants in the rodeo today. The dusty ground already felt heated under her feet. Temperatures hadn't cooled down much overnight, a sure sign it was going to be a blistering hot day.
Better to wait until after the rodeo to tell him. She wanted to set the scene, make sure they were alone so she would have his complete attention. She couldn't wait to see the look in his eyes when she told him he was going to be a father. That they had made a baby together.
-197-
Jaci Burton
But not before the rodeo. There were already people arriving on the ranch, and she didn't want Kyle distracted with that not-so-little piece of news while he was trying to compete. Besides, she already had one surprise lined up for him today, in fact a few of those surprises would be showing up any minute now. She'd let the really big news wait until later tonight.
K K K
Damn. It was hot already and the sun had barely risen. Kyle wiped the sweat from his brow as he prepared the horses and tack for the day's events.
It was hard as hell to pull away from Sabrina's warmth well before dawn, but he forced himself to choose the rodeo over pulling her naked body under him and waking her with a soft kiss and some gentle lovemaking.
She'd be mad at him for not waking her, but she really needed some sleep. He noticed she hadn't been feeling well the past few days, and he wanted her to get some rest before the day started. She was overworking herself, and with it being so hot lately he didn't want her to suffer heat exhaustion in the middle of the rodeo.
As he dressed and went downstairs to brew a pot of coffee, he wondered exactly when he had fallen in love with his partner. The first time they argued, that mixture of never before expressed indignation and pure innocence on her face? When he massaged her beautiful body after her first riding lesson? Or when they argued in the barn and he kissed her. Maybe it was when they made love in the warm lake water.
No. He knew when it was. When he first saw her, he was mesmerized by her beauty, her nervousness, and her guts. He remembered then thinking she was trouble. He was right. Since that first day everything about her had troubled him. Despite his upfront honesty about keeping
-198-
Rescue Me
things purely physical between them, he had gone ahead and lost his heart to her. And his mind in the process.
Today was the rodeo, he had a million things to do, and absolutely no time to stand around mooning over Sabrina.
"So who are the cow eyes for, wild man?"
Kyle whirled at the familiar voice. His eyes widened as he recognized Joey Lantin, one of his former rodeo buddies from the professional days.
"What the hell are you doing here?"
Joey grinned, clear blue eyes glittering brightly in the morning sun.
"Getting ready to kick your butt in your own rodeo. What do you think I'm doing here?"
"I don't think so, Lantin. If there's any butt kicking to be done, it'll be done by me." Another professional rider, Marsh Sampson's booming voice was unmistakable. Thick and muscular, he looked more like a wrestler than a cowboy. "Damn, Morgan, ranch life looks to be about killing you. You look old and worn out," he said with a wink.
"Yeah. Hard to believe he's lost the boyish looks that used to draw the ladies." A third of the top competing rodeo stars in the business stood next to the other two. Rod Thomas was short and wiry, and could ride a bull like nobody's business.
"I can't believe you're all here," Kyle said as he shook hands with his friends. "Damn, it's been years, hasn't it?"
"Sure has," Joey said. "We thought you'd be back after you got things settled here. Must have found something to keep you at the ranch."
Yeah. Near bankruptcy almost costing his family their ranch. "Just been busy," he said as he looked over his friends. "Are you all really going to compete here today?"
"Sure," Marsh said with a smile, a piece of straw tucked neatly between the top and bottom row of teeth. "Should be easy money for us, considering there's no competition here."
-199-
Jaci Burton
Kyle didn't know how or why three of the best competitors in professional rodeo were competing in a small circuit event on the Rocking M, but he was damn glad to see them. He grinned at all three as his long lost competitive spirit resurfaced with a vengeance. "We'll see about that, guys. We'll see."
K K K
The crowds in attendance exceeded everyone's expectations. The additional bleachers they'd brought in for the rodeo were full, every available space was occupied, and anyone who didn't get a seat was milling around trying to seek out a viewable location.
Sabrina milled through the crowds, smiling at people she already knew and introducing herself to those she didn't. From the conversations she'd had this morning, people had come from over a hundred miles away to either participate in or watch the rodeo. And they told her it was because some of the big names in rodeo were here, both past and present.
How they'd managed to keep that information from Kyle was beyond her capacity to understand. She chalked it up to him being busy and preoccupied both with the rodeo and with her, and silently thanked the heavens for divine intervention. Kyle hadn't found out what she'd done.
She couldn't help but grin like a Cheshire cat. Her plan had worked, beyond anything she had dreamed. Not only had professional rodeo cowboys come through and shown up, but some pretty big corporate sponsors had put up prizes for the winners once they discovered some of their spokesmen were coming to this little rodeo in the middle of nowhere.
And one thing she learned was that word got out fast around rodeo.
Once they started spreading the news, it blew through Oklahoma and the surrounding states like a brushfire in a drought-ridden forest.
-200-
Rescue Me
Not only could amateur riders compete alongside the best in professional rodeo, but people coming to watch could see the cream of the crop for less than half the price of a ticket to a big professional event.
It was going to be a great day. With the best yet to come tonight.
When she had the father of her child alone at last.
The father of her child. The hairs rose on the back of her neck. In some ways the fact she really was pregnant hadn't soaked in yet--she couldn't really believe it was true. But it was.
She was dying to tell Kyle. But like she told Jenna this morning, she wanted to wait until the time was right to tell him. Jenna swore she wouldn't breathe a word of it to anyone until Sabrina told her that Kyle knew.
Speaking of Jenna, she was in her element, supervising a couple of the local high school girls they employed to run the food and drink stands. A line ten people deep kept the girls busy, and Jenna looked pleased as she could be while giving instructions and smiling at the patrons.
"Where's Matthew?" Sabrina asked as she walked behind the counter.
"In the house. Maylene Davis is sitting with him while he naps. Good thing too, since it's way too hot out here today for him." Jenna wiped sweat from the back of her neck as she opened another box of cups to place under the counter. "We're selling drinks as fast as Ashley and Megan can put them out there."
"That's good news," Sabrina answered as she bent to help Jenna.
"Everything seems to be going well so far."
"Yeah. Thanks to you and your great ideas. I don't know how we could have done all this without you. You have such wonderful organizational skills." Jenna leaned back and stretched. "You put all of this together in such a short period
of time. I could never have done it all."
-201-
Jaci Burton
Sabrina grinned. "You were a little too busy doing other things to think about all this, don't you think?"
"Maybe you're right about that. But still--take a bow. You deserve it.
And my family will be forever in your debt. With the word out about the stock available for lease at the Rocking M, we'll make plenty of money to keep this ranch afloat for many years."
Sabrina breathed deeply to quell the threatening tears. All she wanted was to help the Morgan family save the ranch. If things worked out like she hoped, she could leave knowing she had done the best she could to insure their future.
Leave. She'd be leaving soon. Or would she? Thoughts about leaving, about her pregnancy and what it would mean for her and Kyle, ran rampant through her mind despite her best efforts to put them aside for now.
Yes, she had a million questions. But until she and Kyle could talk, there would be no answers. Now was the time to think about the rodeo.
"I think I'll head over to the arena and see what's going on. Will you be all right here or would you like me to stay and help?"
Jenna shooed her away. "I've seen hundreds of rodeos, and I'll take some time to peek when I can. The girls and I have it covered here. Go.
Enjoy."
She didn't need to be told twice. She was itching with excitement to grab a spot where she could see and watch the rodeo. Her heart raced in anticipation of fulfilling yet another one of her dreams. Another realization of something she had always wanted, but had been denied.
"Need me to help you find a spot so you can see?" Brady nudged his horse alongside her as she walked. A beautiful caramel and white Paint, Sabrina had named the horse Crazy, more so for his owner, she thought, than the horse himself.
"I don't think there's a spot left," Sabrina said with a smile, disappointed she wouldn't get a ringside seat, but thrilled nonetheless at
-202-
Rescue Me
the size of the crowd. "I might have to grab a pair of binoculars and climb up on the roof."
Brady laughed at her. "No you won't, honey." He held out his hand as he had with Emma not too long ago. "Climb aboard--I'll find you a spot."
As she grabbed Brady's hand and climbed up on his lap in the saddle, Sabrina remembered a few short months ago she had never even seen a horse up close, let alone ridden one. Now she rode almost daily, with confidence and a never-ending feeling of joy and freedom as soon as she mounted one of the beautiful creatures owned by the Rocking M.
How much her life had changed.
Brady rode behind the seating area reserved for the competitors. He held Crazy still as she dismounted. "Have a seat over there--you'll be closer to the action than any of the people who paid for their tickets. I gotta run and get ready for my event. Kyle and I have to seriously whoop some ass in team roping." He winked at her and rode away.
She hadn't met any of the men she invited to attend the rodeo, but she knew them from their pictures on the professional rodeo website she searched while looking for competitors for the Rocking M's event.
"Come on up here, darlin', we'll make room for you." A big bear of a man held out his hand and helped her onto the bleachers, yelling at the young cowboys sitting in the first row. "Lady here, you lazy good for nothing cowpokes. Scoot yer as...er...rear ends over and let her take a seat." After she settled in, he sat his massive frame next to her. "It's about time I had something to look at around here besides a bunch of ugly, smelly cowboys." He tipped his hat and introduced himself as Marsh Sampson.
"So you're the girl with the pretty voice who invited us all here," he said with a grin. He introduced her to the rest of professional rodeo's finest. Almost everyone she'd invited had shown up. She was overwhelmed by the friendship these men felt for Kyle. When she told
-203-
Jaci Burton
them he needed them here, not one of them hesitated before saying they'd come.
She met both professional and amateur rodeo cowboys, a nicer group of men she'd never met before. Sabrina thought with some satisfaction that despite the education and money all of Mark's friends and associates had, she had never been as comfortable with any of them as she immediately was with this down-to-earth group of horse and bull riders.
She had never been happier in her life.
One by one the events took place. She cheered and gasped along with the crowd as participants rode like a gusting wind, threw a rope like an arc of lightning, maintained their balance on a bucking horse or angry bull, and sometimes fell with a thud, raising a cloud of dust so thick you had to wait for it to clear to see if the rider would get up or not.
Every time an event came up in which Kyle participated, she watched in total amazement as he mastered it. He won almost every event in which he competed. Somehow she wasn't surprised.
His friends won a few events too, as did some of the circuit competitors, which made for a very exciting rodeo. No one came away disappointed as prizes and prize money were handed out at the end.
With a contented sigh, Sabrina rose from the bleachers. The dust had long settled and the crowd spilled out of the bleachers in search of a last drink or hot dog before the long ride home. The sun had begun to descend toward the treetops, its fiery hot glow shimmering like laser beams through the thick branches.
It had been an incredible day, and not one she'd soon forget. Now she had to wrap things up so she could spend some time with Kyle. Between catching up with his old friends and participating in the rodeo, they hadn't done more than glance and smile at each other the entire day.
She was anxious to get to him, but first there was work to be done.
-204-
Rescue Me
In a minute. As soon as the sun sank below the trees, as soon as she visually inhaled once more the picturesque beauty of a dusty golden sunset over the Rocking M's first rodeo.
"I've missed you."
She turned her head and smiled at the man she loved. "I've missed you too. You were wonderful today."
He smiled back, his full lips curving in genuine pleasure. "I had a good time. It was a great day, and the Rocking M made a ton of money. I can't believe how it turned out."
"I can. I told you people would come, Kyle. I told you this rodeo would be a success. I can't imagine there's a soul within a hundred miles who went to Jackson Dent's rodeo today."
"We're about to find out," he said as his eyes narrowed at the approach of his nemesis.
Dent stormed up to them, hands fisted at his sides. Kyle smiled benignly. "Aren't you supposed to be busy at your own rodeo today?"
"You know damn well almost no one showed up at my rodeo," Dent said. "You invited all your professional pals to yours, and everyone wanted to come here to see them instead. Do you know how much money I lost today because of you?"
Kyle affected a look of mock regret. "Gee that breaks my heart. Guess that means you won't be trying to buy the Rocking M, then, doesn't it?"
"I'll still get this ranch, you'll see."
Kyle brushed dirt off the sleeve of his shirt, shrugging off Dent's warning. "Your threats don't mean a damn thing to me anymore, Dent.
You're nothing more than a blowing tumbleweed across my property. So why don't you just blow back on out the same way you came in?"
"I'll beat you yet, Morgan. I took your wife and a third of your money along with her. Soon enough I'll have your ranch too."
-205-
Jaci Burton
Sabrina watched the interplay, noticing the tic forming at the side of Kyle's mouth. She hoped they wouldn't come to blows and end up spoiling what so far had been a perfect day.
Kyle advanced on Dent, causing the man to back up a few steps. He grabbed hold of Dent's shirtfront and held on with his fist. "Let me make this as clear as I can. You didn't take my wife, I let her go. As soon as you put your hands on her she was worthless to me. Actually even before then, and you can feel free
to tell her that. And if it took some of our money to get her off my hands and into yours, that's fine with me."
Sabrina smiled as she listened to Kyle give Dent what she knew was well deserved. The man had been a prickly thorn as long as she'd been on the Rocking M. Frankly, she didn't know what kept Kyle from knocking the man out.
"And another thing," Kyle added. "You didn't best me today like you thought you would. You've never been able to. Not when we were kids, not when we entered rodeo competitions, and sure as hell not now."
Dent paled at Kyle's words. "I will, Morgan. Someday, somehow, I'll take this ranch from you."
She shook her head, almost pitying Jackson Dent. He was one of those people who would never be happy, never be satisfied. Always comparing himself to someone else and coming up short. And of course since the object of his comparison was Kyle, in her opinion he'd never win.
Kyle released his hold on Dent's shirt and pushed him away with the palm of his hand. "I'm tired of playing this game with you, Dent. Get off my property now or I will personally throw you off. And if you come back again, I'll take out my shotgun and shoot you as a trespasser."
The tone of his last statement carried a threat no sane man would ignore. Apparently Dent had some sanity within him because he straightened his shirt, turned quickly on one booted heel and stomped away.
-206-
Rescue Me
"About time you shut that slime ball up," she said as she threw her arms around him.
Kyle's face changed instantly from anger to a smile as he pressed a kiss to her forehead. "He's all talk and no action. Always has been, always will be."
"Well you're certainly not," she said with a grin.
He removed his cowboy hat, his hair and face soaked with sweat, dirt streaks like painted stripes smudged along his tanned face. He'd never looked more appealing to her.
"I need a shower. Care to join me?" His eyes held a promise of more than just cleanliness if she took him up on his offer.
"Mmm, I'd be delighted to scrub your back for you."
"Good." He dipped his head for a light kiss. "I've been thinking about your hands all day," he said as he pulled a wisp of hair from her ponytail. "And your mouth, and your--"
The sound of a clearing throat interrupted Kyle's next words. They both turned to see Kyle's friends with gear in hand and grins bigger than their faces could hold.