Chapter 3

My cell phone rang. I quickly answered it. "Dad?"

"You know, Jules, you are one extremely lucky girl."

"Well, I don't feel very lucky at the moment."

"Your mother remembered that Tim Riggins was in the Seattle area and was heading home today."

Tim Riggins?

Dad went on. "I just got off the phone with him and he stopped in Redmond for the night. That's southeast of you. He said he'll swing by and get you."

The thought of seeing him again made me feel faint. Although the mere mention of his name was probably enough to put out my lights. "Really?" I tried to keep my voice neutral. "What's Tim doing in Seattle?"

"He was at a horse auction."

"Why was he at a horse auction?"

"What else do you do at a horse auction, Jules? I don't know. He bought a horse, I guess."

"Wait, he drove all the way from Dillon to Seattle?"

"Well, he's not gonna put a horse on a plane, honey."

I looked at my watch. It was 5:30pm. "How long will it take him to get here?"

"He said maybe about an hour. Just sit tight and don't think about getting into anyone else's car, understood?"

"Yes, Dad."

"And don't worry. He'll find you."

I imagined he still had that old black pickup truck and was pulling a horse trailer. "Okay."

Three years had passed since I last saw Tim and because of him, I still couldn't get close to anyone else. There were so many nice guys that had asked me out, especially the ones that flirted with me at work. But I just couldn't find anything interesting in any of them. It was frightening. I didn't know what was wrong with me. My parents had no idea what had happened between Tim and I in high school. In fact nobody knew…I never even told my bestfriend, Lois. We both had an obscenely huge crush on Tim Riggins back then and she would have freaked if she knew what Tim and I had actually done.

"Hey…Jules." My dad brought me back to the present.

"Yeah?"

"Are you all right?"

Only a father would recognize that something was wrong. "Yeah, I'm good. I'll be fine."

My dad knew people in every state. If I told him what happened or mentioned the fresh bruise on the left side of my face, he would send someone to Oregon to deal with the situation. The robber wouldn't have a chance. Always the protective father. But now wasn't the right time for me to discuss the robbery…not on the phone.

"Did you break up with that dickhead?" That was my dad's favorite label lately for any guy I dated.

I rolled my eyes. Not that he could see my reaction. I probably never should have told my parents I was seeing anyone. "Sort of…"

"Well, honey, it's probably for the best. Maybe hanging with Riggins for a couple of hours will be just what you need to get your mind off whatever his name is."

"Henry," I replied, wondering why he would think Tim could preoccupy my mind.

"Yeah, whatever. I'll check on you later."

"Thanks, Dad."

"I'll see ya."

I hung up.

Tim Riggins was coming to my rescue. It was going to be torture just seeing him again. Then I remembered the bruise on my face. He would see it and question me and then I would have to tell him what happened.

An hour. What was I going to do while I waited for my knight in shining armor to come to my rescue?

I looked up. That damned buzzard was circling lower over my car. It probably hoped I was on the verge of death so it could feast on my corpse. I eyed the forest on both sides of the street. Were there any wolves or grizzly bears in the forest? I quickly jumped in my car and shut the door, just in case.

As I leaned my head against the headrest and released a heavy sigh, an image of Tim Riggins in full football uniform came to mind. Number thirty-three, fullback of the Dillon Panthers. I closed my eyes and smiled, picturing him removing his helmet, his sweat-soaked hair stuck to his forehead and his smile…That smile had been so easy for him back when things weren't so awkward between us. I really missed those days.

But one night changed it all. It unhinged our comfortable friendship and turned it upside down and inside out. Tim Riggins had been the first to ever touch me and from that moment on, I just couldn't even think about going there with anyone. I was convinced that no other guy could ever make me feel the way I did about Tim.

Flashback – Five Years Ago

My dad was head coach of the Dillon High School football team. Tim Riggins was one of his star players and I had known him since we moved to Dillon in my freshman year. I quickly learned he was the school rebel, always getting in trouble. Conceit oozed out of his pores. He was good-looking. He knew it and so did everybody else. Every girl wanted him in their pants and I was no exception. But he was a player who broke the heart of anyone he dated, never holding on to a relationship for more than a day unless there was sex involved. And even then, it never amounted to anything because Riggins was allergic to commitment.

I tried to ignore him through my first two years of school. It was all I could do. I wasn't going to fall all over him like everyone else did. I had my pride to consider, even though I didn't have the resolve or the common sense to stop fantasizing about being with him.

And then suddenly Tim was living in my house during my junior year at school. My dad said it was temporary, until Tim sorted out some kind of mess with his brother, Billy. The more I was subjected to Tim's presence, the harder I crushed on him. It was an infatuation I hoped I'd eventually get over.

It took a tornado to make me realize that my infatuation was more than an idol crush.

It was raining and I went to the store with Tim to get formula for my baby sister. The reporter on TV warned about a tornado in Dillon. Tim ran outside and then suddenly he ran back in and grabbed my hand. He dragged me away from the front of the store. I was terrified as I sat on the floor. He crouched and wrapped his entire body around me from behind, the side of his face pressed against my head. He shielded me as the store front windows all shattered. I screamed and Tim held me tighter. It sounded like a runaway freight train was passing through the store and it seemed to last forever.

It was from that moment on, after he saved my life, that I realized I was in love with him and willing to do anything.

My fate began with a dare, a hundred to one chance, and I was dealt a surprising hand. My bestfriend, Lois dared me to drop my name in the bucket for the annual rally girl selection. I didn't know what I was thinking at the time. I just never backed down from a dare. So I tossed my name in and sat down with everyone else. There were hundreds of names in that bucket. I was confident I had no chance of getting picked.

Tyra Colette, the class president, called each of the players and they picked the names from the bucket.

"And now we have everyone's favorite, fullback, number thirty-three, Tim Riggins."

Tim walked up and clapped his hands before rubbing them together. "Alright, ladies, you all remember I like chocolate chip cookies, right? And candy bars." He pointed to a girl sitting at the front table. "You remember that, right?"

Tyra held the bucket out to him.

Tim put his hand in and mixed the papers around. Finally he picked one and frowned as he saw the name. He shook his head before looking up. "Julie Taylor."

I heard the name but it didn't register until Lois jumped up and pointed to me.

"Here she is!"

What? Tim Riggins picked my name out of the hundreds in the bucket?

Lois grabbed my arm and pulled me to my feet. Then she gave me a shove in the direction of the stage. "You are damned lucky. I'll be living vicariously through you. Get up there!"

I was in complete shock as I made my feet walk to the stage and up the steps, while everyone clapped and cheered.

"Hey, Jules," Tim said.

"I…I guess I'm your rally girl?"

"Excellent," he said softly. "That's great." He led me off the stage by the arm and when he leaned in, I could smell his freshly showered scent. "So, you know what I like. Chocolate chips cookies, candy bars. Are you good in geography because I suck and I'll need you to do some of my homework."

I pulled my arm out of his grip the minute we were alone outside the cafeteria and turned to glare at him. "You're joking, right?"

"No, I'm not."

"I'm not doing your homework, Tim."

"Yeah, you are and I want those cookies freshly baked. Not store bought."

"I'm not doing any of that for you."

"You're my rally girl for the year, Taylor. You get me whatever I want."

I shook my head. "No way."

He frowned. "Then why'd you put your name in the bucket?"

"It was a bet. I didn't think anyone would actually pick it."

"Well, that's too bad. You're stuck. Cookies, candy bars, homework," he ticked off on his fingers. "Not necessarily in that order."

"Cookies, candy bars and homework? That's it?"

He stepped even closer. "Yeah, what else did you think I'd want from you?"

I swallowed thickly, thoroughly intimidated by his size…a wall of temptation I couldn't climb over, or break down. Not even with a sledgehammer. Oh, the things I could think of doing for him…but it was all in my head. It wasn't anything I ever actually planned in real life.

He looked into my eyes. "If you want a quick roll in the back of my truck, Taylor, I'm all for it."

I tried my best to sound unaffected by the invitation I fantasized about day and night. Was he kidding me with those eyes? They were the color of a wet meadow in the spring time. He had to know how affected I really was. "That's never going to happen," I uttered. I tried to believe my own words, but it was impossible with those eyes so completely focused on me.

He shrugged and looked elsewhere. "Yeah, probably not. Coach would murder me." He smiled and walked away.

I stood in the hallway, my knees literally shaking like jello.

End of Flashback

I jolted awake, not even realizing I had fallen asleep. I glanced at my watch. It was a little after 7:00pm and the sun was starting to disappear over the tops of the trees.

A loud sound made me get out of the car and stand at the edge of the road. The rumbling sounded like thunder and was headed my way from the opposite lane. It wasn't long before a car raced passed me at some ungodly speed. A second later the driver hit the brakes and skidded about five hundred feet before coming to a complete stop sideways across both lanes of the highway. There was a slight pause and I could see the driver, in dark sunglasses, looking in my direction.

Then I remembered I was still wearing my work clothes from Gothic Treasures. The very sexy, revealing outfit I loved so much and had completely forgot to change out of before I left the apartment with my meager belongings. What if the guy in the car was a rapist? Or even worse, what if it was him, the robber coming to kill me? I dug into my purse for the small can of mace.

The driver started to back up. It was a black car, with double white stripes on the hood and trunk. The engine was loud and obnoxious. It came to a halt next to me. "Fight Inside" by Red was blaring from the stereo. And then the volume was lowered.

I pointed the mace in the car's direction. "I have a man-eating pitbull in the back seat of my car and he will attack and eat your face off!"

The driver leaned his head out the window. "Jules?"

My mouth fell open. It was Tim. The long, light brown hair, the full lips and behind the dark shades, I knew those tempting green eyes were staring back at me. He looked the same. Not that three years would have changed his appearance much. But even after all that time, the sight of him affected me. I was still infatuated, still obsessed, still crazy in love with him…all of those feelings assaulted me at once.

And now here he was…driving a sports car? I had been expecting his old Chevy Silverado, pulling a horse trailer. So where was the horse then?

Coming back to my senses, I pretended not to recognize him and threatened with the mace again.

He proceeded to back up onto the side of the road in front of my car and turned off the engine. Then he got out and started walking toward me, his hands raised in a defenseless manner. Just the sight of his lithe frame in torn faded blue jeans and a white teeshirt…he still made my knees shake. "Don't you know who I am?" He took off his sunglasses, as if that was what would be necessary for me to recognize him.

"Tim…"

He came up and surprised me with an all encompassing embrace. He was like a warm Tim Riggins blanket, covering me with his powerful arms. I basked in the heat of his chest and the smell…sweat and barn animals. The scent coming out of his clothes and his pores was disgusting and intoxicating at the same time and I inhaled it all in.

For the first time all day, after everything that had happened to me, I finally felt completely safe. And unfortunately that's when the floodgates suddenly opened and I started balling like a baby as he cradled my head against him.

"Hey, it's okay. I'm here." His hands moved up and down my back. "I'm sorry it took me so long to find you, Jules. I thought I was on the wrong road and I started panicking because it was gonna get dark soon."

I pulled away and shook my head, wiping at my eyes. "No, it's fine. I'm fine. I'm just having a really, really bad day. Thanks for coming to get me."

My face turned thirty shades of red as he looked down at my clothes in a very slow, deliberate way and it sent a shiver through me.

When he looked back up, he frowned at the sight of my face. "What the hell is this?" he asked, his fingers moving my bangs aside.

I looked down with a quick shake of my head. "It's nothing." When I looked back up at him, he raised his eyebrows and looked in my eyes for a moment. I knew he was trying to figure it all out without me saying anything.

Then he turned to my car. "Well, let's have a look," he said in a soft voice.

I was glad he dropped the subject of my face, but noticed him glance back at me again before he bent over my car's engine and inspected things. I knew he would want an explanation soon.

After a minute or so, Tim straightened up and walked back to me. "Yeah, it's definitely dead. You should have put it out of its misery a long time ago. Were you planning to drive this thing all the way to Dillon?"

"No, I was heading for the airport in Salem."

He frowned at me. "Don't they have an airport closer to where you live?"

I sighed. "It's a long story."

When I didn't volunteer any more answers, he asked "Is your suitcase in the trunk?"

"Yeah, just a couple of things." I followed him to the trunk where I had two suitcases and three boxes. My entire life was in the trunk of that clunker.

"A couple of things?" He gave me a sardonic look.

Tim helped me transfer my stuff from my trunk to his trunk. Before he closed the lid, I went into one of my suitcases and retrieved a pair of skinny jeans, a top and some flip flops.

As he closed the trunk lid, I walked toward the passenger side.

"Hey, what about your pitbull?" he asked, his thumb pointing to my wreck.

"I don't really have a dog. I just wasn't sure it was you." I slid into the passenger side.

He got in, started the engine and revved it several times before he released the break and threw the gearshift into first. I held on as he made a u-turn and headed in the direction he had come from.

As I watched him shift and accelerate, his eyes looked at my clothes again and he still didn't comment. My work clothes were intended to draw male eyes. I felt self-conscious, like he was judging me by my attire.

I glanced over my shoulder to look out the back window at the quickly diminishing sight of my car, saying a silent good-bye for all the good times. When I faced forward again, I glanced around the cabin of Tim's car. "Let's talk about this car! It's sick!"

"I hope you mean that in a good way."

"Yeah, like way cool. What kind of car is this?"

"It's a 1969 Chevy Chevelle. I call her Mad Maxine."

The car was stunning and modernized, with an elaborate stereo and GPS screen. I briefly wondered where he got the money to buy such a car, and a horse, for that matter.

"So, how've you been?" he asked. "How's school?"

"It's pretty good. I'm on summer break."

"Heading home for the wedding?"

"Yeah. It's a little early, but…" I shrugged. "It'll be good to see everyone again."

He nodded. "Yeah." He briefly looked in my direction. "You know, I gotta ask, Jules. Why are you dressed like this?"

"These are my work clothes." I saw his curious frown and felt compelled to explain further. "I'm a waitress at a restaurant called Gothic Treasures. Sort of like Hooters in a dark dungeon."

"Seriously? This outfit is way hotter than what they wear at Hooters."

I had been working at Gothic Treasures for the last three years and had received many, many compliments. But coming from Tim, it really made me blush. "The tips are great," I added. "I make good money there."

"Yeah, I'll bet."

I wanted to change the subject fast. "When I talked to my dad, he told me you were in Seattle buying a horse?"

He smiled, his eyes remaining on the road. "Yeah. It's crazy, huh?"

"So where is it?"

"He's in the trailer. I left the truck and trailer at the motel in Redmond."

"Wait a minute. How are you driving two vehicles?"

"It's a big trailer. I had the car in the back. The horse is in the front."

I laughed. "Why don't you start from the beginning because I am really, really confused. I mean, there are probably like twenty thousand horses for sale in Texas. Why did you go all the way to Seattle and why did you haul this car with you?"

"You remember old man Foster?"

"The drunk who lost his leg in Vietnam?"

"Yeah, but he's on the wagon now. But anyway, he gave me a hot tip, I went and I won the bid. I was gonna use this car as a trade, in case the bidding got higher than the cash I had in hand. Luckily I didn't have to part with it."

"What're you going to do with the horse? Trail ride on your property?"

"Strike While It's Hot. That's his registered name. I was told he has the potential to be an outstanding cutting horse. With Foster's help, I'm gonna train him, put him in some competitions, maybe win the championship, and then…" He glanced at me with enthusiasm. "And then…I offer him up for breeding. It's a win/win situation."

I tried to envision Tim Riggins riding a cutting horse, or any horse. It wasn't such a bad image. "That's pretty ambitious."

He shrugged. "Well, I gotta do something."

I glanced at the GPS screen. "Can we stop at a gas station so I can change my clothes?"

"I didn't come across any on the way here, for at least a hundred miles. There's really nothing on this road. I can get you to the airport in Salem in about an hour, if you can wait that long."

"Oh," I said, unable to mask the disappointment in my voice. I thought we would have a little more time to spend together. "Right. The airport. That's fine." I felt his eyes on me and resisted the urge to turn to him.

"Unless you wanna skip the airport and drive back to Dillon with me," he said. "I could really use some help with the horse."

"How long will it take to get to Dillon?"

"Three days if I drive straight through, but not with a horse. Plus I was gonna stop in Vegas for a couple of days. They're holding the U.S. Cutting Horse Championship this weekend and I wanted to check it out and see what I'm getting myself into. It'd be more fun if I had some company."

I chewed on my lower lip. His invitation was tempting.

He shrugged. "Whatta you say, Taylor? You wanna go to Vegas with me?"

I smiled without looking at him. "I say Vegas is exactly what I need right now."

"That's awesome. Vegas it is."