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Chapter 8

The screen door of Buck and JD's trailer swung open with a bang and Buck stood there, grinning broadly.

"You came!" he exclaimed.

Ezra knew the smile and welcome was for Kaylee, because it was no surprise Ezra was joining the other six men for poker night. Kaylee let Ezra help her up the steps into the trailer and returned the greetings of the other five men.

Buck and JD's camper was too old to be considered nice, but not old enough to be vintage. And, while structurally sound if you didn't consider the couple places the roof leaked, not cosmetically appealing. But it was bigger than Ezra's, and certainly bigger than Josiah's pick-up camper, it didn't house the medical trailer where Nathan stayed, so it was where they gathered for poker night while on the circuit.

"Casey's not here?" Kaylee asked JD, letting Ezra settle her onto the bench seat around the large dinette table.

JD shook his head mournfully. "Nettie doesn't want her gambling."

Kaylee nodded in understanding, but gave JD a sympathetic squeeze on the forearm. "That's probably smart. No way for her to lose everything and have to find a new place to stay if she doesn't lose it all gambling." She gave Ezra a small smile.

He pulled a chair up next to her and leaned close enough so only she could hear him. "It doesn't seem to be working out too badly for you. Or me."

The light pink flush of her cheeks was his reward, but Ezra pretended not to notice. Just like he pretended not to notice Chris' raised eyebrow or Josiah's approving smile.

Ezra reached for the deck of cards and fanned them, shuffled them, made them airborne from one hand to the other, and shuffled them again.

"Can you teach me to do that?" Kaylee asked, her eyes bright as she watched the shuffling he did without conscious thought or effort.

"Might be better if he taught you to tuck an ace in your sling," Vin commented.

Kaylee grinned at him. "Maybe he already has."

Ezra pretended offense as the men laughed. "I would never cheat, nor teach such a despicable skill to a lady."

Kaylee picked up the cards he tossed in front of her and her face immediately lit up. Ezra entertained the thought that it may be necessary to teach her to keep a few cards in her sling. And her boot once the sling was gone.

The hand went quickly. Nathan folded, JD bet too high with terrible cards, and Ezra beat them all. Except Kaylee.

She grinned at him as she used her free hand to pull the chips toward her.

The next few hands went the same way. Kaylee seemed to know when she should fold and when she should raise her bet and, in spite of Ezra being able to read every thought she broadcast across her face, she seemed to be able to read him just as easily.

When she raised Ezra with almost all she had, he stared at her impassively. Then saw her raise. The others had folded, not because they couldn't beat Kaylee, but because they couldn't beat Ezra. He hid how flustered she was making him and laid his cards out.

She had won again.

"Ok, I gotta know," Chris finally said. "Is this some prank? You two trying to convince us Kaylee can beat Ezra at poker? Because I'm not falling for it."

Kaylee's guileless eyes widened. "None of you ever beat Ezra?" she asked, clearly surprised.

JD frowned and looked to Buck. Buck smiled, though he was clearly confused by her question. "I'm not sure who you've been livin' with, but you do know Ezra's a darn good gambler, right? And you're…not."

Kaylee looked down at her pile of chips, then around the table. "Well, yeah, Ezra's good. He took everything I had the first time we met, but that was before I knew him."

"You've learned his tells?" Josiah asked.

"Oh man, you gotta tell us what they are," JD said.

Kaylee looked at Ezra. He waited for her to enlighten him. He had worked for a lifetime to make certain he had no tells. But she had clearly figured out something.

One side of her mouth lifted as she looked at Ezra. "His eyes change colors," she said, her expression soft as she looked at him.

There was silence around the table.

Finally JD spoke. "They…change?"

Kaylee looked over at JD then. "Well, yeah. They turn a little more green when he's happy. A little more hazel when he's disappointed. And almost brown when he's getting frustrated."

Ezra was keenly aware of six men studying his eyes while Kaylee smiled at him.

Chris finally broke the silence. "If I have to gaze into Ezra's eyes to win every hand, then I'll happily throw my money away."

Kaylee must have realized then what she was saying because she winced and turned a shade of pink that Ezra wouldn't have admitted to finding endearing.

A phone buzzed and Kaylee reached into her pocket to pull it out. She looked at the caller ID and any merriment left her face. She hit the button to reject the call, her jaw tightening.

Vin was seated at her right and asked her quietly if everything was ok. Kaylee nodded shortly.

Kaylee's phone buzzed again and she pulled it out, only to stab at the red button to ignore the call again. Ezra saw her hand tremble as she put the phone away.

"Well, gentlemen, I do believe I'll call it a night, unless anyone else would like to offer up their money for easy taking? Miss Kaylee, would you like to stay, or can I escort you back?"

She looked at him with relief and started to slide out of the bench seat.

"I'll cash out your chips and figure what we owe you," Nathan said.

Kaylee was clearly distracted and thanked him, letting Ezra help her down the steps.

While he was happy her knee was healing and she was able to bear weight on her leg again, he couldn't deny he missed having to keep her close to his side to help her along, as he had for the previous two days.

Her phone buzzed again, and with a sound of frustration, she pulled it out, but this time turned it completely off.

Ezra looked down at her. She shook her head, silently telling him she didn't want to talk about it.

"Can you just reassure me that you aren't in any trouble," he said.

"Nothing like that," she said. "Just…things back at home that never change." Her voice was filled with pain.

"I'm familiar with that," he said.

She looked up at him, searching his face. Whatever she saw, she seemed to deem him a kindred spirit and her hand found his.

#

Kaylee loaded Alcott into Vin's trailer. She pressed her face against the horse's, breathing the familiar scent.

"We're riding in the next rodeo," she promised. "We'll be in Reno by tomorrow and I don't care what Nathan and the doctors say. We're racing."

Alcott snorted in agreement. Kaylee smiled.

She made her way to the back of the trailer, letting Vin help her down. Her knee still didn't support her up and down steps without a whole lot of pain, but at least she could walk on her own.

Vin swung the door of the trailer shut and pulled the bar in place to latch it.

"You been to Reno before?" he asked.

Kaylee was about to answer when she saw Ezra coming toward them. He nodded a hello to Vin.

"I wasn't sure what your plans are, Mr. Tanner," he said. "But I was going to offer Miss Timms a ride to Reno, if you needed to make any stops along the way."

Vin's mouth twitched. "Sure, Ez. I s'pose I do have some stops I could make. Might be better if Kaylee rides with you. That ok with you?" he asked, turning to her.

Kaylee looked at Ezra, his unreadable poker face on. His hat shaded his eyes. "I mean, if you don't mind, Ezra? I can ride with you. I'd like that."

Vin nodded, a smile creeping across his face. "Ok then. I'll take good care of Alcott and see you two in Reno." He gave Ezra a last look that included a knowing grin and went to get in his truck.

Ezra opened the passenger door to his shiny black and chrome four door pick up. It was taller than Vin's old truck, but he helped Kaylee up, making sure she was settled comfortably. He moved to close the door, but Kaylee paused him, calling for Barney.

The big dog leapt up agilely, climbed across Kaylee's feet and then hopped up onto the middle seat.

Ezra started to shake his head. "That…beast does not belong on the seat."

"But he can't see out the windows otherwise," Kaylee explained.

Ezra didn't seem to have an answer to that. Mumbling something under his breath about losing his mind and becoming a push-over, he closed Kaylee's door and walked around to the other side of the truck. When he climbed in, Barney nudged him until Ezra obligingly gave him a scruff behind the ears. The dog pressed into his side and Ezra didn't make him move.

"You never answered Vin," he commented.

Kaylee shook her head, not sure what he was talking about.

"Have you ever been to Reno?"

Kaylee let out a laugh at the ridiculousness of the suggestion. "No."

Ezra glanced at her, silently asking her to go on.

"I was on the rodeo circuit in Nebraska, South Dakota, Kansas for the last two years. I made it as far as North Dakota for one rodeo." She paused, thinking of how desperate she had been that first summer, needing to get away.

"You couldn't have been very old that first summer."

Kaylee pushed a bright smile on her face to avoid thinking of how scared she had been, traveling on her own. "Aw, Ezra, you sound like you're worried."

He slanted a look at her. Kaylee's smile fell and she answered him honestly. "I was seventeen."

"And traipsing around on your own?" he asked, his voice tight.

Kaylee's lips twisted wryly. "I was on my own way before that." But she didn't want to think about that, she didn't want to think about the past. She reached for the radio, pushing buttons until she found a good station, turning it up a little.

Ezra looked pained. "What is that awful caterwauling?" he asked.

Kaylee looked at him. She laughed, thankful he didn't push her for more about her past. "It's Taylor Swift," she said.

"It's horrible," Ezra responded.

Kaylee turned the radio louder and sang along to the song, serenading Ezra that she knew he was trouble from the very start. She saw his face softening, the small movement of his mouth. And then Ezra Standish caught her off-guard. He started singing along with her.

#

Ezra usually looked forward to getting into larger cities when the rodeo circuit took them that way. Especially Reno and Las Vegas, where there was never a shortage of high stakes games. But Kaylee had never seen the mountains before. He had ended up pulling into a campground near Park City, Utah.

Kaylee was in no shape for hiking yet, Ezra cringed every time he saw the mess of purple, yellow, and green bruising that covered her knee. Limited to their campsite, something had possessed him to start a campfire.

Their campsite was tucked back into the pine trees. The only sound was the pop of the fire. The woodsmoke scent mixed with the pine in the air around them.

Kaylee sat on the bench of the campsite's picnic table and snuggled down further into her sweatshirt, head tilted back, looking up at the stars. Ezra went into the trailer and got a blanket. He dropped it over Kaylee's shoulders, then sat next to her. Kaylee surprised him by moving closer to him, holding open the blanket and wrapping it around him, too. Ezra could have easily echoed her sigh of contentment as she rested her head against his shoulder.

He used a finger to brush back the hair that had escaped her braid, pressing a kiss to her forehead. Kaylee looked up at him with a warmth that rivaled the fire. A warmth Ezra knew he didn't deserve. A warmth he didn't want to lose.

#

"Anyone seen Ezra?" Josiah asked.

Buck and JD shook their heads.

Nathan looked up from where he was setting up the medical trailer, getting an area outside of it ready for any and all minor injuries that would need to be dealt with in Reno, and preparing to tape up old injuries before riders went out for their event. "He's usually the first one to pull into Reno," he said. He jerked his head toward the chair, motioning for Chris to sit down. His supplies ready, he would tape up the bullrider's shoulder now, give it some extra support before he rode tonight.

"Hey, Vin," Buck called.

Vin changed course and headed over toward them.

"You heard from Ezra?" Buck asked.

"Heard from Kaylee," he said.

The others all waited.

"And?" JD finally asked when Vin didn't offer anything more.

"They stopped over in the mountains to camp last night." He grinned. "And I guess Ez knows all of Taylor Swift's songs now. Kaylee said he's a real good singer."

There was a beat where no one knew what to say to that.

Buck finally broke the silence. "Ezra…sings? To Taylor Swift?"

Vin nodded. "Yep. And Dolly Parton."

Nathan snorted.

Chris leaned back in the chair, holding his arm still while Nathan pulled the kinesiology tape tight over the joint. "I think Kaylee's been good for old Ezra."

"I think he's been good for her," Vin murmured. Chris shot him a look. Vin knew Kaylee better than any of them did, but he didn't elaborate on whatever it was he knew.

"Never would have thought of Ezra falling for…well anyone," JD said.

"Sure not a sweet little thing like Kaylee," Buck agreed. He dropped his long frame into one of Nathan's other chairs, propped his booted feet on the edge of the table until Nathan shot him a look, and lowered them to the ground. "I only ever pictured him with some lady who knew the ways of the world. Someone who got her claws into a man with money and could hold her own with Ezra. Like—"

"Maude," Josiah said.

"Well, yeah," Buck said. "Someone like Maude. She's a real piece a' work, but she made Ezra who she is."

"No," Josiah clarified. He inclined his head across the sprawling rodeo camp. "Maude."

They all turned to see the elegant blonde, dolled up in perfectly fitted jeans, expensive heels, diamonds glittering at her ears, making her way toward them.

Ezra's mother only showed up once or twice a year, always without warning, and none of them missed how Ezra tried to hide the turmoil her visit always brought. None of them missed the chaos she wreaked wherever she went.

Chris hissed out a breath. "Someone should get a hold of Ezra and warn him."

#