Page 4 of The Cowboy's Redemption
He’d at least ask after her horse before he looked after minding his business. “Lady looks in good shape,” he said. A tall, slim thoroughbred with long, elegant legs and a gorgeous, glossy black coat, she was a beauty. She had a slight swelling in her rear left hock, which explained the poor turn on the last barrel, but nothing too obvious. Yet. “Is the arthritis manageable with exercise alone, or does the vet have her on steroid injections?”
“Arthritis?” Chance echoed, taking a closer look at the horse.
“It’s too soon for injections. She’s got a lot of years left in her and I worry more about stomach ulcers than her joints.” Dana’s cheeks had pinkened, as if he’d let out a big secret she hadn’t planned to reveal.
Maybe he had. The hesitation before her response—the way her gaze boomeranged off Chance and snapped back to him—suggested as much. She was competitive—single-mindedly so—but unlike some high-level competitors, not at the expense of her ride. She’d always taken good care of her horses. She had to know that Lady was no longer fit for serious competition.
Stop talking, his common sense warned, because he could see plain as day that he’d hit on a sore subject, but his mouth kept on going as if it had a mind of its own. “No reason to cripple her, either. Crackerjack is a good horse, too.”
Dana’s spine stiffened and her chin snapped up as if some puppeteer had pulled a string taut. Ice hardened those deep-blue, fathomless eyes. She was five eight to his six feet, but she managed to look down her nose at him, nonetheless.
“I know my own horses and what they’re capable of,” she said, her tone the correct side of polite but nudging the line.
He heardso mind your own businessloud and clear. He kicked himself. She’d never been good with being told what to do. Or, for that matter, showing weakness. He’d seen firsthand how she’d fallen apart in the stands when Tanner was killed. She’d been sitting with Tate, Tanner’s sister, watching his ride. Within minutes, photos of the two women had been all over social media, because people loved sensation, and it wasn’t until the Women’s Pro Rodeo Association intervened that most of the photos came down. But not all. Since then, Dana had cut enough interviews short that reporters had learned not to ask her about it.
Except all she’d accomplished was to heighten public interest in her personal life.
She pivoted on one booted heel. Spurs jangled. She tugged Lady’s reins and the horse obediently followed, without the slightest hint of a limp. Levi’s heart sighed like a leaky balloon. She was gorgeous. Mind-numbingly sexy. And as much out of his league as she was everyone else’s.
“I see you still have a way with the ladies,” Chance said.
Chapter Two
Dana
Dana hadn’t plannedon attending the street dance but sitting alone in her trailer on the last night of the rodeo, cleaning her gear and drinking a bottle of wine, had turned out to be about as much fun as it sounded.
When had she turned into such an old woman? When had the joy been sucked from her life? She was barely twenty-eight, not eighty. She used to love parties. She’d loved concerts and dances and bars. She’d loved the crush of people pushing the limits of fire regulations. More than anything, she’d loved the anonymity of being nothing more than one more face in the crowd. Seeing Levi Harrington had brought back memories of those better days, when life had been simpler and all about fun, and people had paid more attention to Tanner than to her.
She set her empty glass on the small, fold-down table with a thud. She was tired of her own company. She was tired of dwelling on things that couldn’t be changed. And she was damned tired of pity. Maybe, if she made it clear to the world that she wasn’t mourning for Tanner, they’d get tired of watching her every move.Pull up those panties and be a big girl.
The decision was made. She snapped the lid on the saddle soap, capped what remained of the bottle of wine, dug out a dress and a cute pair of boots, fixed her hair and her face, and headed into the night.
Bremner was a dinky little dust bowl on the pro rodeo circuit whose main claim to fame was its history as a nineteenth-century trading post for miners prospecting in the mountains nearby. Because it wasn’t too far from the Canadian border, Dana had signed up for the rodeo on her way home from the Calgary Stampede. She was in desperate need of the points today’s sizeable prize money would have brought her. Since that hadn’t panned out, she’d have to add two more pro rodeos to her schedule to make up the difference.
The town’s one main street had been closed off for the night, so the dance wasn’t difficult to find, and the local country band was surprisingly good. Music pulsed, flowing like an invisible river of sound over the crowd, ramping up the already high mood. Strings of light supported by streetlamps lit up the blue and gold of descending night. Rain earlier on in the day had left the air clean and clear. Asphalt retained the warmth of the sun. Ambient heat licked Dana’s bare limbs.
She saw none of her usual rodeo companions—they might still be at dinner. They might have found entertainment elsewhere for the evening. They might be packing their gear so they could make an early start in the morning. It didn’t matter. She swayed to the music, ignoring the stares and the whispers, content to dance by herself so long as she wasn’t alone.
A man—she couldn’t have said if she knew him or not—bumped up against her. She ignored him. She wasn’t here for a hookup. Not in this crowd. She was here to confirm that she was alive.
Someone pressed a cold, sweating bottle of beer into her hand. Dana didn’t normally drink much in public anymore, because she disliked the loss of control, but the music was good, and she retained a bit of the buzz from the wine, so figured, what the hell. Just this once. She was entitled to cut loose now and then, the same as everyone else.
She chugged down half the bottle. The alcohol landed in her stomach on top of the two glasses of wine she’d already consumed, reminding her that she’d skipped supper and might want to slow down. She poured the remainder of the beer on a patch of grass in front of a building and stashed the bottle in one of the cartons set up for the empties, then plunged back into the middle of the crowd.
She spied Levi Harrington, leaning against a post on the outer edge of the action. She’d been rude to him earlier. She couldn’t recall why.Oh, yes.He’d pointed out Lady’s weakness, as if she hadn’t already known about her arthritis, and she’d felt judged. Truthfully, however, she’d probably been rude to him because he’d been a close friend of Tanner’s. Someone Tanner admired, and who’d admired Tanner, too.
She was sick to death of all the admiration for Tanner. It had become hers by default and she didn’t want it. But all Levi had done was express concern for her horse, and she shouldn’t have been rude. She’d apologize to him for it, then she’d return to her camper and call it a night.
The music was too loud now, and it made her head spin so that she could no longer move in sync with the beat, and the path to where she’d last spotted Levi’s blond head wasn’t as direct as she’d thought. People kept stopping her, wanting to talk, and she had no idea what they were saying to her, which freaked her out. By the time she got to where she’d last seen him, he was no longer there.
What a disappointment. She’d always liked Levi. He was handsome and smart and had adorable dimples to offset those too-serious blue eyes. When he didn’t shave, his chin stubble came in scruffy and red. Tanner used to be jealous of the way Levi looked at her, which was ridiculous, because Levi was too straitlaced and loyal to ever look at a friend’s girlfriend with anything other than the utmost respect.
Also, in fairness to Levi, Tanner had been jealous in general. They’d first gotten together because the sex was incredibly hot, but his growing insecurity had become a huge problem for her.
She was more drunk than she’d thought. If her brain continued to ride that train of thought she might burst into tears, and she couldn’t have that. She had to get back to her camper before people noticed.
But how did she get to her camper? She turned in a circle, completely lost and confused. Blood pulsed against the top of her head and her ribs bear-hugged her lungs.
