Chapter 17
Ezra loved the thrill of not knowing what hand of cards was going to be dealt. Flipping over the cards in front of him and the rush of finding out if he was going to have to bluff his way to a win, or have a strong enough hand to stand on its own merits.
He had found that same thrill in the rodeo. The stands filled with people shouting and whistling. Sitting astride his horse Chaucer, waiting for the calf to be released from the shoot, knowing he couldn't let Chaucer go too soon or there would be a penalty, but a second of hesitation would cause the calf to get too far out to make up the difference.
And then everything fading into the background when he swung the rope overhead, focused only on a clean throw that would rope the calf, flying off Chaucer while the horse did his job of pulling the rope taut to keep the calf under control until Ezra got to the calf to toss it on its side, gather three legs together and get his piggin' string from where he held it between his teeth and tie the quickest half hitch knot he could.
Tie down roping had been the ideal event for Ezra Standish. Tying the knot had always felt similar to dealing a deck of cards to him. The same dexterity and speed required. And the independence of the event was no different from sitting alone at a card table against the other players. No hazer, no roping partner, Ezra was on his own.
It wasn't until the knot in place and Ezra lifted his hands to stop the clock that the sounds of the crowd would filter back in. And, more often than not, the crowd would be cheering for his winning time.
Until Ezra had won a handful of bulls from a stock contractor. And then used winnings to buy some breeding stock from another contractor. Soon, raising aggressive bulls at his ranch had become a new sport for Ezra, seeing how big and how ornery they would be, how fast they would spin, how high they would buck, and how many cowboys they would throw. It had seemed natural to step back from competing two years ago. Maude's pleasure that Ezra was now on the business end of the rodeo, rather than competing, had cemented the decision.
But tonight, with the bright lights illuminating the arena, and the adrenaline of the crowd and other competitors swirling around him, Ezra didn't have anywhere else he wanted to be.
He hadn't been able to avoid coming to the edge of the arena to watch steer wrestling, his eyes on Kaylee as Vin's hazer, rather than the bulldogger who was actually competing. He had stepped back into the crowd before she saw him, but stayed near enough after Vin's event to see Buck and JD throw two clean catches and win team roping.
Saddle bronc was always a crowd pleaser, but that was when Ezra finally left the rails of the fence to go find Vin.
Vin had kept his spare horse saddled and handed the reins to Ezra with a grin.
"Don't know why you didn't want me say nothin' when everyone's gonna see you out there anyway," Vin commented.
Ezra swung up in the saddle. "No need to invite unnecessary comments and attention," he said.
Vin grinned. "You may not invite them, Ez, but I bet you'll get plenty anyway."
"Thank you for the horse," he said, choosing to ignore the threat of notice that would be coming his direction. "Smokey has an unfortunately pedestrian name, but seems to still be a good roping horse."
"Should be, you helped train him."
The announcer called for tie down roping to begin and Vin's grin broadened. "Go win a new buckle for yourself." He handed up the lariat and piggin' string up to Ezra.
Ezra couldn't hold back a small smile of his own, the rush of adrenaline already starting to infuse his veins.
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Kaylee had Alcott saddled and walked her at an easy pace along the edge of the rodeo grounds. She could hear the announcer call for tie down roping, barrel racing would be next. She was about to nudge Alcott into a trot when she heard the announcer call the first three names.
"Finn, Judson, Standish."
There was no way. She was far enough away and the PA system echoed over the parking lot, so she must have misheard.
She went ahead and started trotting Alcott, getting the mare warmed up for their sprint around the barrels. But she couldn't help listening to the cheers as the first roper went out. By the time the crowd was yelling for the second roper, she was guiding Alcott back over toward the arena.
She saw Vin with his foot propped up against the steel pipe that made the fence around the arena. He didn't watch tie-down roping usually. She saw Chris, Buck, and JD on the other side of the arena, also positioned to watch the event. And Josiah over working the chute. Right behind him, she saw the familiar figure, though seeing him on horseback wasn't familiar.
Kaylee slid down from Alcott and led her over to where Vin was standing.
"He's competing?" she asked.
She didn't have to say who she was talking about. Vin gave her a broad smile. "Yep."
Kaylee didn't know why her heart was in her throat. And she didn't know why she cared so deeply that Ezra had a clean ride, that he won, when she could care less if Gage got another buckle and prize money tonight or not.
Up in the announcer's box, Murray called out Ezra's name, announcing him as the cowboy from New Orleans who was coming out of retirement tonight.
"He's from New Orleans?" Kaylee asked, realizing how little she actually knew about Ezra.
Vin lifted a shoulder. "That's what he says sometimes." He didn't sound concerned about the void in knowledge.
So it wasn't just her that didn't know the details of his life. And to be fair, it wasn't like she had told Ezra anything about her own past.
And then she couldn't talk. One hand gripped the reins and the other held tight on the fence. She couldn't cheer, couldn't whistle. She just watched the unfazed way Ezra walked Smokey into place amidst the cheers. And then the way he leaned forward in the saddle, Smokey starting to shift in place, Ezra's face settling into focused determination before kicking the horse to a run.
Kaylee had no idea how long it had been since Ezra had roped, but he didn't look like any time had passed. His movements were second nature, his knot tied quickly and flawlessly, and hands held up nonchalantly at the end.
At some point Kaylee had moved her grasp from the fence to Vin's forearm and she squeezed him in excitement. "That was good, wasn't it? Enough to win, you think?"
Vin's smile stretched from ear to ear. "I think Ezra'll be pulling in some money tonight."
She could see Chris stop clapping and cup his hands around his mouth and yell something to Ezra that made Ezra tip his hat at the group on the other side as he made his way out of the arena.
The announcer called out the official time for Ezra's run and it was enough to put him in first place. Kaylee knew it was a fast enough time that it would be hard to beat.
Ezra disappeared out of the arena and Kaylee let go of Vin. She took a breath, gathering her thoughts. She shouldn't care so much about Ezra. She shouldn't care that he was competing or how he did. He had made it clear he wasn't going to have anything to do with her.
"You ok?" Vin asked, watching as she steeled herself against the feelings that Ezra somehow managed to stir against her will.
Kaylee nodded shortly. "I need to go warm up," she said. She needed to get some distance. She needed to get Ezra out of her life.
And she really needed to win that night. She needed the money.
#
JD followed Casey into the Texas roadside bar at the edge of Long Branch. She flashed a smile at him. "You're buying tonight since you won, right JD?"
JD gave Casey a look. "I'm buying, but only soft drinks. Nettie'll skin me alive if I take you out drinking."
Casey rolled her eyes.
"And I'm getting you home by midnight, just like she said."
Casey opened her mouth to argue that, but stopped when she looked toward the bar. "Hey, Kaylee's here."
JD followed where Casey was looking and immediately tensed. Kaylee was sitting at the bar with Gage Fulton. The older bullrider handed her a drink and Kaylee accepted it, not seeming to pay attention to the hand Gage rested on her leg.
"Grab a table," JD said to Casey. "I'll be right back."
"JD!" he heard Casey's call behind him. "What are you going to do?"
"Hey Kaylee," JD greeted her, giving Gage a look of disdain.
Gage looked amused at JD's disgust. "Hey there, kid."
JD stood a little straighter. It was one thing for Buck or the others to call him 'kid', not that he liked it any better then, but he was traveling the same rodeo circuit at Gage, living on his own, drinking in bars. Nothing about him made him more of a kid than Gage. Gage moved a hand to toy with Kaylee's hair, brushing her hair away from her neck and moving his lips there.
"I wasn't talkin' to you, Fulton," JD said tersely.
Kaylee looked at him then. Her eyes were already dulled by however many drinks she had downed.
"I didn't think you were drinkin' age yet," JD said, trying to sound friendly. Maybe that would be what would get Kaylee out of here. He could let the bartender know she was only 20.
Gage laughed. "No one cares about the drinking age when you're with a championship bullrider." To prove his point, he motioned to the bartender to bring another drink for Kaylee.
JD's hands curled into fists. "C'mon, Kaylee," he said, trying to make his voice as easy as he knew Buck's would be if he were trying to cajole her to do the right thing. "You won big money tonight. Let's go see if the others want to throw their winnings into a poker game back at the camper."
Kaylee's lips finally curved in a smile, but she looked at JD without any humor. "The money's gone already, JD." What she was saying didn't make any sense, but she continued before JD could ask her what she was talking about. "In two weeks you all will be gone, too. Might as well start forgetting you now."
JD shook his head in confusion. He tried again. "Let's get out of here. Casey and I can bring you home." He put a hand on Kaylee's arm, avoiding looking at Gage.
Kaylee surprised him by shaking off his hand. "Leave me alone, JD," she said.
Her refusal was enough to bring Gage to his feet. He was tall enough to look down on JD. "You heard her."
The bartender hadn't gone far and stepped down the counter, closer to JD. "You going to cause a problem here?" he asked JD.
JD looked at Kaylee. She had turned her attention back to her drink. The burly bartender looked ready to throw JD out the front door and JD knew there was no way he could keep an eye on things if that happened.
He took a step back. "No problem here," he said. He held Gage's eye for a minute, before turning away. He hoped the table Casey had found had a clear view of Gage Fulton.
Casey had ordered two beers for them when JD got to the table. He was so distracted by Gage putting his hands on a clearly inebriated Kaylee that he didn't even argue.
He tried to listen to Casey talk about her plans for Vegas in two weeks. Nettie was hoping Casey wouldn't have enough prize money to make it to the finals. She was close to being the eighth rider to round out the competition and next week's rodeo would determine if she was going to be in Vegas with him.
JD watched as Kaylee got off her stool, weaving slightly. Gage was all too ready to steady her with his arms around her. He whispered something in her ear, a predatory smile on his face that Kaylee couldn't see, and JD wasn't sure if she was with it enough to read the look anyway.
Kaylee shook her head and gave a push at Gage, but he pulled her closer to him and started walking her toward the door.
"JD, what in the world?" Casey demanded when he pushed away from the table. She looked over to where he was watching. "What's wrong with you? You ask me out and then spend the whole night staring at Kaylee!"
Gage got Kaylee out the door. JD hurried toward the door they had left through. He heard Casey jump up behind him and follow.
Outside the parking lot was nearly full. The Long Branch Longneck was situated on the outskirts of the medium sized town, surrounded by a whole lot of nothing to the east and south.
The neon light of the sign lit the front of the building and JD didn't see Gage or Kaylee. He spotted Gage's fancy truck in the lot still. The people walking from the bar toward town weren't familiar, so JD rounded the building, Casey on his heels.
In the deserted darkness behind the bar, JD could hear a noise. There was no light on this side, but JD didn't need his eyes to adjust to the dark to figure out what was happening.
Kaylee was shoving at Gage, her movements uncoordinated and having no effect. JD could hear her telling Gage to get away from her, to stop.
Pure fury driving him, JD grabbed Gage by the shoulders and pulled him away from Kaylee. Casey rushed forward and grabbed Kaylee to keep her from falling to the ground.
JD didn't give Gage a chance to see who had grabbed him before hauling back and giving him a solid punch to the gut.
JD was smaller and younger, but after three years with Buck and Chris, he had learned how to handle himself in a brawl.
Gage got upright from the hit and went toward JD. He connected with JD's jaw, but JD hardly slowed, coming after Gage for blood.
"JD stop!" Casey screamed. JD didn't risk taking his eyes off his opponent, but from the corner of his eye could see that Casey wasn't holding Kaylee anymore. Casey skirted the edge of their fight. "Stop it!" she yelled again. "Both of you, or I'll call the cops!"
That was enough to make Gage stop. JD wondered if he was thinking of all his fancy sponsorships he would lose if the sponsors got word of him fighting behind a bar. Or worse, what had started the fight.
Gage took a half step toward JD and JD squared off, ready for another round. Gage glanced at Casey, then shook his head. "It's not worth it," he scoffed. He turned to go.
JD watched him until he was in the parking lot, then turned back to Kaylee and Casey.
"Where's Kaylee?" he asked, searching the vacant field around him.
Casey scanned the area. "She was just here."
They hurried around to the parking lot, but no sign of Kaylee.
JD pulled his phone from his pocket, wiping at the blood that dripped from his nose with his other hand. He pressed the button and kept moving, searching for any sign of Kaylee.
"Buck," he said when the older man answered. "We've got a problem."
#
The buzz of the tattoo needle filled Kaylee's ears. She hissed in a breath when the tip touched her back.
A small mark she would carry with her when she lost everything else and had to stay in Vegas, or find a way back to Nebraska.
She gripped the vinyl of the table she laid on, alcohol numbing the pain. Numbing the fear she felt if she thought back to Gage getting her out of the bar. If JD hadn't found her…
She squeezed her eyes shut, relief coming from the physical pain at least when the tattoo artist, a hard worn woman named Vicky, sprayed water on the small area of Kaylee's lower back where she was working.
"There ya go, hon," Vicky said, handing Kaylee a hand mirror to look at the small picture.
Kaylee barely glanced at it, digging in her pocket for the last of her cash, the rest having been wired back to Nebraska already.
The bleached blonde woman placed a bandage over the area before snapping off her gloves and taking the money.
Kaylee adjusted the waistband of her jeans and pulled her t-shirt down.
Vicky didn't look too concerned when Kaylee stumbled slightly on her way out of the small storefront.
Kaylee took a deep breath of the night air. The Texas heat hadn't cooled that much. She looked down the side street. A smaller bar than the one she had been in earlier looked welcoming with it's neon buzzing in the dark of the night. This one had motorcycles lined up in front, rather than a parking lot of pick ups.
Decisively, Kaylee headed that direction.
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