Chapter 35

Buck let his legs carry him into the tavern at the edge of the small town, even though it was the last place he wanted to be.

"Buck!" a feminine voice called out.

Buck drummed up a smile for the bleached blonde as she shimmied off her stool and over to him.

"We heard you got back more than a week ago!" she said, light accusation in her words. "Where have you been keeping yourself?"

"Been busy," he answered, trying to keep his smile in place. "Larabee's got a a handful of colts needin' to be worked and Ezra's gettin' close to bringin' his yearlings in for the fall." He didn't mention the lonely nights laying in bed, staring at the ceiling, wishing he was back in Vegas.

No, not back in Vegas. With Inez. Whether that was in Vegas or in the bunkhouse on Chris' ranch, he didn't much care. He would give anything for another day with her.

"Buck," the blonde said, her penciled brows knitting in annoyance. "Are you listening to a thing I'm saying?"

Buck thought for a second of how pretty Inez was without a lick of makeup on her face. He forced the thought of her from his head with a frown and turned his attention back to the woman in front of him.

"Course I am," he said amiably, as if his chest hadn't been hollow since the day he said good bye to Inez. He put an arm over her shoulder and headed toward the bar, holding up two fingers to the bar tender to request a drink for each of them. "I want to catch up on everything I missed this summer. You start fillin' me in."

He helped her up onto the stool, even though it was clear she didn't need any assistance, and took the stool next to her. The bartender handed him a drink and Buck took a good long swallow, hoping it would drown away the memories of Inez. More than that, the missing of Inez.

#

"Buck coming?" Chris asked Vin.

Kaylee looked up from saddling Smokey. She had assumed everyone would be there. Ezra said they usually worked together to bring in his yearling steers from the farther pasture.

Vin gave Chris a look. "He was movin' a little slow this morning."

Josiah hid a smile and Nathan rubbed a hand over his mouth like he was pulling the smile away that threatened.

"What's wrong with Buck?" Kaylee asked when no one said anything more. "Is he sick?" She looked over at Ezra. "Should I go over and check on him?"

"Mr. Wilmington usually makes his grand return to town with a little too much spirit," Ezra said.

Kaylee pursed her lips in confusion.

"He went drinking last night," Ezra explained.

Kaylee winced in sympathy.

"Just surprised it took him over a week to turn up in town," Nathan commented. "He's usually there the first night we're back."

"Man left his heart back in Vegas," Josiah said.

Kaylee felt her heart twist in sympathy for Buck. There had been no missing the jovial bounce usually in Buck's step had been missing since they left Vegas. She left Smokey tied to the side of the trailer Vin and Chris had driven over and slipped over to Ezra's side, trying not to imagine what would have happened if she and Ezra hadn't ended up married and she had been on her own at the end of the season.

Ezra looked down at her with understanding. He laced his fingers through hers and gave them a squeeze.

The sound of an engine drew Kaylee's attention and she saw Buck's pickup bouncing down the driveway.

She let out a sigh of relief, until she saw Buck get out of the truck. His eyes were shaded by sunglasses and he stumbled slightly and Kaylee didn't miss his grumbled curse.

"Morning, Buck," she said tentatively.

Buck lifted a hand in greeting then lowered himself to sit on the fender of the horse trailer.

"You gonna need someone to saddle Roxie for you?" JD asked.

"Just need a minute," Buck muttered.

Chris let out a snort. "More like a couple days."

With one last squeeze of Ezra's hand, Kaylee slipped her hand free from his and went back to saddling Vin's horse she had ridden to haze for him. Alcott hadn't worked cattle before so would be staying back in her stall.

With a groan, Buck stood and went to where Chris had tied his horse. He went to the tack room at the front of the trailer and got his saddle. Kaylee watched him, feeling the sympathy turn into worry. She forced her attention back to tightening her cinch.

"Thanks for letting me ride Smokey," she said to Vin. She wanted to apologize again, for his injured knee that would keep him back from riding today. She opened her mouth, but Vin cut her off.

"I'll see you when you get back. Gonna spend the day with Rain and her granddad lookin' over the colt prospects Chris has, seein' how they move. Might be a couple futurity horses in there. We'll see you back over here tonight."

Kaylee nodded, reminding herself Vin would be having surgery soon enough and then rehab. He would be riding again by spring.

Ezra gave a whistle and Kaylee untied Smokey and swung up into the saddle. With one last look back at Vin, standing next to the trucks with Barney at his side, and a glance over at Buck, slouched in his saddle, she grimaced. Then looked over at Ezra and caught the wink he had for her. Her heart lifted and she nudged Smokey to pick up the pace and catch up to Ezra. The morning breeze was cool on her cheeks, but warmth filled her chest, riding next to Ezra on his land.

#

Ezra moved Chaucer to a quicker pace to head off a couple of steers heading off from the fringe of the herd. Chaucer got in front of them and quickly turned to push them the right direction.

With those two back on track, Ezra glanced over the group. Buck had perked up enough to ride at the back end of the herd, pushing the steers forward and not requiring much movement. Josiah and JD had the right side, Chris and Nathan spread out a distance on either side of Buck, and he and Kaylee had the left side of the herd.

Ezra looked for her and saw her riding at an easy lope towards a straggler that had separated off. She whistled and swung a rope lightly toward the steer to get it moving the right direction. She looked content. Her cheeks were rosy, her face at ease, her shoulders without the tension that had been keeping them bunched for the past weeks. Ezra hoped that meant she was settling in.

He called to Buck. "We'll stop here, eat some lunch, rest the horses."

Buck gave a half hearted gesture that he heard and Ezra didn't bother to hide the grin on his own face. Chris and Nathan slowed, and JD and Josiah moved around toward the front of the herd to slow their movement.

Ezra made sure the herd looked settled before joining the others where they were dismounting. He stretched his back as soon as his feet were on the ground, unaccustomed to so much time in the saddle compared to past years when he spent the summer competing.

Kaylee drew Smokey up next to him and dismounted. She faltered, stumbling forward and reaching a hand out to the horse's side.

Ezra lunged forward and caught her.

"Are you ok?" he asked. He held her to him, but tried to look down at her, see her face.

Kaylee blinked a couple times. Ezra tightened his hold on her.

She shook her head lightly, then squeezed her eyes shut before lightly disentangling herself from him. "Just got a little lightheaded," she said.

Ezra hesitated before letting her go, making sure she was steady on her feet.

"Really, Ezra, I'm fine." Kaylee smiled then, and Ezra didn't see anything to say otherwise, so he gave her some more space. "I didn't sleep so good last night, just kind of caught up with me," she said, clearly trying to reassure him.

Ezra knew she hadn't slept well. There had been the nightmares again, and she had been restless. But it wasn't just last night. He wasn't sure how much restful sleep she was actually getting on any given night.

"Ezra," Kaylee said, waiting for him to meet her green eyes. "It's nothing."

Ezra nodded then, but made a mental note to ask Nathan if there was something he should be doing for Kaylee. Maybe a sleeping pill in the evening wouldn't be a terrible idea for her.

A long groan came from the grass on the other side of the horses and Ezra followed Kaylee toward the sound, staying near her side, even as she glanced at him with a look that let him know he was being none too subtle.

"Buck?" Kaylee asked.

Another long groan.

Kaylee laughed and Ezra felt the last of the tension leave him. She moved to where Buck was lying on his back in the grass, one arm over his face.

"Just leave me here," Buck said. "I'm not goin' on."

"Come on," Kaylee said, giving his arm a light tug. "Have some water. I packed turkey on rye for everyone."

Buck reluctantly let her pull the arm off his face. He removed his sunglasses and Ezra had to give Kaylee credit for not recoiling at the sight of Buck's bloodshot eyes.

"There you go," Kaylee encouraged him. "The sun's not so bad anymore, is it?"

"The man's got enough of a flair for the dramatic without you encouraging it," Chris said.

Kaylee looked toward Chris and frowned. "He had his heart broke," she defended Buck.

Chris looked at Buck, then back at Kaylee. "He's had his heart broke twenty times a summer since he started rodeo-ing. There'll be a new buckle bunny to help him over his heartache by next week."

At that, Buck pushed up to sitting, his eyes growing hard. "Inez wasn't just some buckle bunny," he said.

Ezra could hear the warning in Buck's voice.

"I know that, Buck," Chris said. "But she ended it. Wasn't more than a week long fling and you pickling your liver ain't gonna change that."

And then Buck was moving with more speed than Ezra had seen out of him all day. Kaylee jumped back as Buck launched himself toward Chris. He got his arms around Chris with a tackle to the midsection and both men hit the ground hard.

Kaylee ran forward like she was personally going to pull them apart, but Ezra put a restraining hand on her arm. Kaylee looked at Ezra, eyes wide with worry, then back to where Chris and Buck tousled on the ground, an occasional grunt when one of them landed a blow.

Ezra went to get his food from his saddlebag, Josiah and Nathan following suit. JD and Kaylee stayed rooted to the spot, watching the sudden brawl play out.

Ezra handed a canteen to Kaylee, but she didn't take it.

"You need to stop them!" she said, making another move like she would try to do so herself.

Ezra nodded toward them, encouraging Kaylee to look.

The sudden burst of aggression was dying out and with one last half-hearted hit, Buck let Chris go, rolling away from him. He resumed his previous position on his back, one arm draped over his eyes. This time, though, he prodded at a split lip with his free hand.

Chris pushed up to sitting with a grunt, one hand braced against ribs that were no doubt tender, dried grass clinging to his clothes. He reached over to get the hat that had been knocked from his head.

"Got that out of your system?" Chris asked.

Buck started to nod, then thought better of the movement. "Reckon so."

"Good," was all Chris said. Then he got to his feet and made his way over to Buck. He held out a hand and waited for Buck to take it before hauling the other man to his feet.

"Thanks Buddy," Buck said.

Chris didn't answer, just gave Buck a solid clap on the shoulder, grinning slightly when Buck winced in pain.

"An evolved and dignified way to work through Mr. Wilmington's emotional distress," Ezra commented drily to Chris as he walked past.

Chris gave him a raised eyebrow. "Worked, didn't it?"

Ezra couldn't hold back the chuckle. Buck did at least look like he had returned to the land of the living.

Kaylee had grabbed her lunch from her bag and Ezra settled down on the grass, his wife by his side. His ragtag group of friends found their own seats nearby. Kaylee looked at Ezra and in that moment, Ezra thought nothing could possibly go wrong.

#

Vin cursed under his breath.

Rain stood next to him, empty bucket in hand, long shadows in front of them as they finished the evening chores. She looked from the car that parked in front of Ezra's house and back over to Vin, her eyebrows lifted in silent question.

Vin held back another curse as the woman got out of the shiny car and looked around the empty ranch yard. Her gaze landed on Vin and Rain.

Trying to hold back the frown, Vin started moving forward on his crutches. This was the last thing Kaylee needed in her life. Ezra never needed this in his life.

"Well, Vin," came the honeyed southern accent. "How are you, young man?"

"Maude," Vin greeted her. He managed a civil nod. At his side, Barney let out a low growl and Vin hushed him. Reminded himself this was Ezra's mother and it wasn't his place to load her back in her car and send her on her way.

"Where is my son?" Maude asked, looking toward the dark house.

Vin wanted to tell her Ezra wouldn't be back any time soon, but the sound of hooves approaching took that decision away from him.

Vin turned to see the group riding toward the barn. He knew from past years they would have left the steers that were going to market in a closer pasture, ready to be loaded into trailers in the coming days.

He could tell the second Ezra spotted Maude. Even from this distance, he saw the change in Ezra's posture.

Maude approached the good sized trailer Chris had driven over from his place, where the men and Kaylee were dismounting. He almost missed seeing How Ezra stood close to Kaylee, as if she needed help getting down, and wondered briefly at the move, but then Maude was approaching them.

Kaylee's face hardened into a look of anger Vin didn't think he had seen on her before. She moved as if she was going to get between Ezra and Maude, but Josiah stepped forward before Kaylee could say whatever she was clearly thinking.

"Maude," Josiah greeted her. "It's been awhile. Only saw you in passing back in Reno."

Vin moved on his crutches, intending to get closer to Kaylee, to Ezra, to stop whatever was boiling up, but he wasn't quick enough. Kaylee opened her mouth.

#

"That's right," Kaylee said. "Reno. When you told Ezra he was a disappointment." Her hands curled into fists so tight the skin pulled across her knuckles painfully.

Maude's eyes flashed with annoyance when they flicked over to Kaylee, but she recovered quickly and let out an apologetic smile.

"What nonsense I said when I let my concern get the better of me," she said.

Kaylee glared at her, remembering Ezra's bloodied knuckle after he had slammed it against the camper wall in the wake of Maude's caustic words. And the way Maude had leaned close to her and told her she knew Kaylee was hiding something from Ezra and called her a liar. Maude had said it was only a matter of time before Ezra found out what she was hiding.

Kaylee thought of the thousand dollars she had managed to withdraw from Ezra's account over the last week to send to Cletus. The thousand dollars she needed to get this week.

Maude's eyes glinted knowingly and Kaylee tried to keep her fear from her expression.

"What are you doing here, Mother?" Ezra asked, no welcome in his tone.

"Well imagine my surprise, Ezra dear, when I was watching your little rodeo in Vegas on television and there was a cute little barrel racer with your last name." She gave Kaylee a warm smile that didn't quite reach her eyes. "Is there something you'd like to tell me?"

"No," Ezra said bluntly. Kaylee felt his hand on her arm, was aware of the gentle pressure there, trying to get her behind him, away from Maude. Kaylee let him move her, not wanting to make this any more difficult for him.

"I guess we have plenty of time to get to all that," Maude said. "I'm planning on staying with you for this visit. I need time to get to know my new daughter in law." She looked at Kaylee with a slight challenge lifting one corner of her mouth, daring her to give a reason to want Maude at bay. "Unless there's some reason this sweet girl doesn't want me around?"

Kaylee felt her stomach pitch in panic. "You should stay," she blurted out. She felt Ezra turn to look at her in disbelief. "She should stay," she said to Ezra. "It will be good for me and your mom to get to know each other." She forced a smile, doing everything she could to hide the terror she felt at the thought of Maude giving Ezra any reason to start to doubt her.

"Lovely," Maude said, a satisfied curve to her lips. "Josiah, JD, my bags are in the trunk of the rental."

Kaylee tried to slow her breathing, tried to act like this was fine. And it would be fine. She told herself that. She would show Maude that she would never do anything to hurt Ezra. She would make sure Ezra had no reason to be hurt any worse by his mother. It would be fine.

Spots danced in front of her eyes and she felt like she was going to pass out. She slowed her breathing, leaned a little more heavily against Ezra and willed the feeling to pass. She couldn't show weakness. She had to be strong. For Ezra.

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