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Chapter 16

The two day drive to Long Branch, Texas had been uneventful. Vin, never one to push for conversation anyway, had left Kaylee alone with her thoughts for most of the drive. She had slept at a rest stop in Buck and JD's camper, tossing and turning most of the night.

But now she was at the next rodeo and things would get better, she told herself. Her phone rang again and she lifted her head from the pillow to reach for it. Chances were it would be Gage, ready to make plans for later now that they were all in Texas, or Vin to see if she was ready to find some breakfast.

She squinted through the morning light at the screen and instantly threw the phone aside when she saw the Nebraska area code.

With a groan that was more of a sob, she buried her head under the pillow and let it muffle the sound.

A rap on the bedroom door sounded. Kaylee took a second to gather herself before tossing the pillow away and sitting up.

"Yeah?" she called.

The door inched open and Buck stuck his head in. "We're all going for some breakfast. Vin said there's a good diner down the road. You coming?"

Kaylee pushed back the blond hair that was falling in her face and nodded. "I'll be ready in a minute."

The same look of concern that had had hovered around Buck's eyes since he had seen Gage with her pushed up against the side of the camper was still there, and Kaylee wished she could make it go away. She tried to sell an extra bright smile which Buck didn't look to be buying, but he told her he'd be outside and closed the door.
Kaylee's smile fell and she dragged a hand through her mess of hair before swinging her legs over the side of the bed. She pulled a pair of jean shorts on with a t-shirt and added her boots and tattered ball cap in lieu of actually doing her hair. She shoved her phone in her pocket with some cash that was quickly dwindling after she had wired most of her winnings back to Nebraska.

JD was just stepping out of the bathroom, his hair still wet from the shower and pulling on a shirt. He jumped back from Kaylee.

"Whoa, sorry. Didn't see you…I should have expected to, though, right? I mean, you're living with me and Buck, so you should be here." His eyes darted around the camper, before finally landing somewhere near his feet.

The day just kept getting better and better. Kaylee started to move past JD, figuring getting out of the camper would be the best course of action, but she stopped as soon as she got past him and turned.

"JD, I'm going to tell Casey again that me being here means nothing. And I'm going to find somewhere else to stay, ok? There's only a few weeks left of the season anyway, and then I'll…I won't be living anywhere near you or Casey then." Or near Buck, or Vin, or Chris, Josiah, or Nathan. And most definitely not near Ezra. Kaylee blinked back the unexpected tears, ducking her head to let her hat block them from JD. "I'll see you at breakfast," she said, hoping he didn't hear the wobble in her voice.

She didn't expect both Vin and Buck to be standing outside waiting for her. She doubled her efforts at blinking back the tears.

The camper door opened right behind her and JD came out, hopping on one foot to tug on his second boot. He glanced at Kaylee and opened his mouth, his brow wrinkling with whatever he intended to say.

"Let's go eat. I'm starving," Kaylee said. She felt like the knots in her stomach would reject any food she tried, but started walking in the direction of town.

Vin fell into step next to her, letting Buck and JD go ahead. "You know you're an awful liar, right?" he asked under his breath.

Kaylee's shoulders fell as the weight of everything she was trying to avoid started weighing on them.

"Hey," Vin said. He stopped walking, ducking his head to look at her. "What's goin' on?"

They had made it two days in the truck without Vin asking that, and now he was going to ask in the middle of the rodeo grounds with everyone around. Kaylee blinked quickly, shaking her head.

Vin backed off, not saying anything more, but putting a warm hand on her shoulder as they started walking again.

By the time they got to the small, outdated diner, three tables had been pushed together and everyone was seated. Kaylee sank down into a chair between Vin and Chris, taking the menu Josiah handed down to her.

She kept her eyes on her menu, letting the camaraderie flow around her. Buck said something about a date after the rodeo tonight and JD started singing about all Buck's exes live in Texas, which brought a laugh from the others.

Nathan had just started to remind Chris, and included Kaylee in it, that they needed to be sure to come by the medical trailer and get their shoulders taped up before their go-rounds that night unless they wanted to have constant pain, when the door over the door of the diner jingled.

Ezra walked in, and Kaylee's traitorous heart lurched at the sight of him. She pressed her lips together and her fingers tightened on the edges of the laminated menu.

"Morning, Ezra," Josiah's low voice rumbled out.

Ezra nodded at the table, pausing when he saw Kaylee seated between Vin and Chris. Kaylee wondered if anyone saw the flash of unreadable emotion in his eyes because his face was impassive. But she was sure anyone could see how slightly frayed he looked around the edges.

"I didn't realize…" he said, trailing off, then clearing his throat. "I was just coming to get something to go."

Kaylee felt the familiar squeeze of pain she was coming to recognize any time she ran into Ezra and he held himself back from her. She abruptly pushed her chair back. "I should get going…" But her excuse rang hollow when she couldn't think of a plausible reason for running out.

"Sit," Chris said, putting a hand on her shoulder and keeping her in her seat. He shot Ezra a firm look. "Sit," he ordered him too, kicking out the empty chair across from him.

Ezra stood still, his eyes meeting Kaylee's long enough for her to struggle to breathe. Finally he looked away, taking the seat.

Kaylee felt Vin shift slightly on the other side of her, moving closer protectively. She took the comfort his presence offered and tried not to let Ezra's proximity shake her. Easier said than done with him sitting nearly straight across from her.

An awkward silence fell over the table.

"Well, don't let my attendance bring a pallor to the morning," Ezra said, leaning comfortably back in his chair.

"Ezra," Kaylee said quietly. "Don't do this."

"Are you sleeping comfortably amid the toxic waste in Buck and JD's home?" he asked amiably, reaching for a menu of his own.

Kaylee slapped her own menu down on the table. "I like staying with them," she said, her jaw growing tight even as her heart bled a little more. Why was Ezra doing this? "Their camper is nice."

Buck eyed Ezra as he spoke to Kaylee. "Don't worry about it, Kaylee. Some folks can't appreciate the simple pleasures in life. Or the folks who bring those simple pleasures to them."

Ezra's jaw ticked slightly, a muscle jumping. "You didn't need to move out," he said, meeting her eyes again.

Kaylee leaned forward and Vin must have thought there was a risk of her lunging over the table at Ezra because he moved closer again.

"What was I supposed to do?" she demanded, her voice shaking with emotion. "Stay in your camper while you hide from me?"

That time Ezra did flinch. "I'm not hiding," he said, refusing to look at her as he studied his menu.

Kaylee's hand reached out for the glass of ice water in front of her, ready to pitch in Ezra's face.

Josiah reached across and took the glass from her hand. "Maybe it would be best if we all ordered something to eat now."

"Good idea," Nathan said, flagging down a waitress.

Kaylee's phone rang and she jumped up, pulling it from her pocket. She would go out with Gage every night this week after all, to thank him for calling at the perfect time and getting her away from this painful breakfast.

"Hi," she said without looking at caller ID, starting to edge around the table.

"About time you answered my calls."

Kaylee froze at the deep voice. Not Gage.

She glanced at the men seated at the table and quickly started walking away. "Stop calling me," she said in a low voice. "I can't give you anything more."

A dark chuckle came through the phone. "That's not for you to decide."

Kaylee's hand was shaking as she pushed out the door of the diner and into the Texas heat.

#

"What are you doing, Ezra?" Chris asked with a weary sigh.

Ezra watched Kaylee walk out the door. He could see her hands shaking from here.

He glanced over at Chris. The dark look on his face was aimed at Ezra, not at whoever Kaylee was on the phone with. Clearly no one else had heard the fear in her voice when she realized whoever it was on the phone. He tossed down his menu and stood, attention fixed on the door Kaylee had just gone through.

"Where are you going?" Buck asked, clear warning in his voice.

Ezra could see Kaylee standing at the edge of the parking lot, her back to the restaurant, gesturing frantically as she spoke into the phone. Ezra glanced at Buck long enough to silently answer the question.

"Ezra," Nathan said, a warning in his tone.

Vin was watching him with some sort of concern that seemed to be aimed at him, not just Kaylee. But Ezra had no doubt that concern would flee if Ezra did anything to hurt Kaylee more.

"I'll reconvene with you all later today," Ezra said, pulling out his unconcerned smile.

"Don't make things worse," Chris said bluntly.

Ezra paused long enough to lift an eyebrow at Larabee.

He heard a chair scrape against the floor as he headed toward the door and then Josiah telling whoever it was to give him a chance to fix things with Kaylee.

Fixing things was not going to happen. Ezra knew that. There was no way he was going to drag an innocent like Kaylee into his life, Maude, his sure descent back into cons and lies eventually. He couldn't do that to her.

But he also couldn't stop himself from going to make sure she was ok. Whoever had called her had shaken her up and the anger that was building in him toward the unknown caller was drowning out the wiser, more pragmatic feelings of making sure he kept his distance from Kaylee.

Kaylee was listening to whoever was on the other end of the phone when he made it outside. She paced a few agitated steps and stopped, her back still to Ezra.

"I don't have anything more," she said, her voice so tight she sounded ready to snap. "Please," she begged with a desperation Ezra had never heard from her before.

"Ok," she finally choked out, the rush of frantic anger gone and her shoulders falling forward. "Two weeks."

She ended the call and stood staring down at her phone.

Ezra moved closer, his boots crunching on the gravel of the parking lot.

"A friend from back home?" Ezra asked.

Kaylee jumped and spun around. It didn't matter that she wasn't quick enough to hide the fear and panic the phone call had brought, she wasn't a good enough liar anyway.

"Just an old mistake from back home," she said, her wide eyes and trembling voice at odds with her nonchalant words.

Ezra moved closer, intending to reach a hand out and tuck her loose hair away from her face, or brush a hand over her cheek. Something to comfort her because suddenly in the light of her fear and the obvious hurt over him pushing away, he wasn't sure he was doing the right thing anymore by trying to end things between them before they started.

"Kaylee," he said.

But the sound of him saying her name seemed to snap her back to some sort of false bravado and she shook her head. "Save it, Ezra. I don't need you telling me to stay away. I have enough to worry about without you stabbing me in the heart again and again."

Was that what he was doing to her? He hadn't thought anyone could possibly feel any sort of deep pain over losing him. He only knew he had been willing to shoulder the sure pain that would come with losing Kaylee, but he didn't know how he could put her through whatever loss she was foolishly feeling for him.

"I don't want—" he started to say, ready to tell her he couldn't hold her at arm's length any longer.

"Hey there," came a familiar voice, cutting Ezra off and catching Kaylee's attention.

Kaylee stiffened at Gage's greeting. She glanced at Ezra, down at her phone and made a decision. Ezra could see it in the way she shoved her phone in her pocket, and halfheartedly replaced the storm of emotions on her face with the smile she offered Gage. Without another look at Ezra, she went to the cowboy.

Gage's smile was two steps past cocky when he slung his arm around Kaylee and looked over at Ezra. "Hey Standish," he said.

Ezra gave the man, closer in age to his twenty six years than Kaylee's twenty, a nod. He looked between Gage's possessive stance to Kaylee's clearly determined effort to be at ease with the womanizer.

"I'm sure Vin and the others are waiting for you inside," Ezra said to Kaylee.

Kaylee shook her head and Gage's arm tightened around her. "You go ahead. They're your friends. They're probably waiting for you. I'll grab breakfast with Gage."

And then she started to walk away with the man who Ezra knew could hurt Kaylee in ways he never would.

His mind turned quickly, working over possible ways to get between them, but before he could say or do anything, Gage stopped and turned back to Ezra.

"You still sitting on the sidelines, Standish?" Gage called back to him.

"I'm still providing the stock, rather than competing," Ezra said evenly.

Gage nodded knowingly. "A lot easier to do that than actually get up on a horseback, I suppose. I heard you liked to take the easy way out, just didn't realize you did it with rodeo and with women."

Ezra's hands fisted and he started toward the bullrider.

Gage tipped his hat at Ezra. "I'll make sure to look for you when I'm up there getting my buckle tonight. We both will," he said, with a grin for Kaylee, before turning again and leading her back into the diner.

Ezra took a steadying breath, then two. He couldn't go back in the diner and watch Kaylee with that man. Reassured that there was a table full of good men in the diner who wouldn't take their eyes off Kaylee, he headed back toward the rodeo grounds to find Orrin Travis.

#

Vin stretched his legs out in front of him, smiling a little when Chris cussed at Nathan and Nathan didn't flinch.

"You shouldn't be competing anymore. You know that, right?" Nathan said, moving the steroid injection to another spot on Chris' shoulder.

Chris hissed out a breath between his teeth as the shot went in. "Shot hurts worse than the injury," he muttered.

Nathan disposed off the syringe and reached for the tape needed to give the shoulder some support.

"You could retire and probably avoid a lot of this pain," Nathan said.

Vin could nearly recite the old argument, he had heard it enough times between Nathan and Chris. But then he saw the picture of a little boy's face tattooed on Chris' upper arm and knew Chris wouldn't retire from putting his body through the brutal punishment of bullriding until he was physically unable to continue.

"Anyone see Kaylee today?" Chris asked, changing the subject.

Vin kept his posture relaxed even as everything in him tensed. "Don't know where she and Fulton went after breakfast, but she turned up to do some practice runs this afternoon."

Chris muttered out a long string of profanity-laced names for Gage Fulton, and Vin and Nathan didn't argue.

"She's smart," Nathan said. "She'll see him for what he is."

Vin didn't argue that Kaylee was also stubborn and impulsive and he didn't trust her judgement. Not with Ezra and Gage both involved.

Steps sounded and the door to the medical trailer opened, Kaylee standing there. She looked at Chris, his shirt off for Nathan to work on his shoulder, and flushed taking a step back out the door. "Sorry," she said, wincing.

"Have a seat. I'm almost done here," Nathan said, focused on his task at hand and not realizing Kaylee was clearly flustered.

Kaylee edged into the trailer and took the seat closest to the door. She glanced once toward Chris and Vin saw her eyes flick toward the tattoo, confusion and then a bit of understanding sympathy lighting her eyes before she looked away again.

Vin wondered, not for the first time, how someone as innocent and naïve as Kaylee ended up on her own traveling the rodeo circuit. And thought to himself, also not for the first time, that innocence and compassion was exactly why she was perfect with Ezra. And, no doubt, why she sent Ezra running in self-preservation.

Chris stood, getting his shirt off the counter and pulling it on. Kaylee took the vacated seat Nathan nodded her toward.

Nathan lifted her arm gently and moved it through range of motion. "Any pain?" he asked.

"Nope," Kaylee answered. "Just stiff sometimes."

Nathan nodded, then knelt down in front of her. He put a hand on her calf and the other on her foot, moving her knee through some extension and flexion. "And your knee?"

"Not quite as good as my shoulder," she said, and Vin figured that was as much of a complaint as Nathan was likely to get from her.

Chris finished buttoning his shirt. "You spend the morning with Gage?" he asked.

"We drove over to El Paso." Guilt flashed across her face. "I'm sorry about everything with Ezra," she said hesitantly, "but Gage isn't—"

Three voices instantly cut her off.

"Nope, that's not it at all," Nathan said.

"Ezra's makin' his own bed to lie in," Vin said.

Chris shook his head, his face dark. "Ezra's head is so far up his—"

"Chris," Nathan interjected.

Chris paused, gathering in the anger that was building and tried for a more level tone. "We know what's going on with Ezra isn't your fault." He caught himself before he said more about that. "But Gage is trouble."

Kaylee looked to Vin, clearly hoping he'd be on her side. Vin didn't speak up. She shook her head. "Did Buck tell you what he thinks he saw?" she asked.

Vin frowned at her phrasing. "Buck was pretty sure about what he saw," he said.

"It doesn't matter what Buck saw," Chris snapped. "Gage Fulton has a reputation and he's dangerous."

Vin saw the second Kaylee stiffened her spine and made up her mind to prove Chris wrong.

"He's nice, just a little aggressive sometimes," she said. "But maybe I like someone finally wanting me." She stood up, ready to go toe to toe with Chris Larabee, and Vin had to give her credit for that. "Maybe I'm tired of Ezra shoving me away for no reason, and sick of being alone, and just want to forget about Nebraska and Ezra and everything else!"

Vin had no idea what 'everything else' might be, he didn't even know what it was about Nebraska she wanted to forget, though he had his suspicions, but Chris didn't look like he was about to back down any sooner than Kaylee would.

Nathan had stood when Kaylee jumped up and held out his hands between both Chris and Kaylee. "Let's all just calm down."

Vin stood, speaking quietly. "C'mon, Chris."

Chris stood, staring down at Kaylee and she didn't budge, glaring up at him.

Shaking his head, Chris finally turned to go. Vin followed after him, intending to make sure he didn't do something that would end up getting him thrown in jail.

#

"He's not mad at you," Nathan finally spoke.

Kaylee held still, letting him tape her shoulder. "He has a funny way of showing it."

Nathan frowned, cutting off a length of tape and gently moving her arm so her shoulder was in the right position for the supportive taping.

"He's worried about you. We all are."

Whatever she had expected Nathan to say, it wasn't that. She stared at him. "Why?"

Nathan looked at her then, his brow wrinkled. "What do you mean?"

"Why in the world are you all worried about me?" Even saying it was too ridiculous.

Nathan turned his back on her, giving her privacy to slip her arm back into the sleeve of her t-shirt and pull it down into place. She didn't expect him to answer, but he finally spoke.

"We like you," he said. "And it has nothing to do with Ezra, or Gage, or any of that nonsense."

Kaylee blinked at the tears that suddenly threatened. Without meaning to, she flung her arms around Nathan and gave him a tight hug. She was going to miss him when the season ended in three weeks.

She could tell she had startled the athletic trainer, but he caught himself and wrapped his arms around her, hugging her warmly.

Kaylee took a deep breath, telling herself to remember how this felt because it was going to be a long, lonely winter wherever she ended up. She sniffled a little, then stepped back, dashing at her eyes with her fingertips.

Nathan handed her a tissue without comment.

"I better get going. Grand entry's in less than an hour."

Nathan nodded. Kaylee had the door open and was about to leave when Nathan spoke again.

"You know if you ever need anything, I'm here."

Kaylee knew if she told anyone about one piece of her life in Nebraska, it would all spill out, and she couldn't do that. So she just nodded her thanks and blinked back more tears, heading back out into the fading sunlight, the sun setting on the day and on her time with the seven men she had come to think of as family.

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