Page 38 of Catch Me, Cowboy
“I would, but I need him—at least until the fence is done.”
Shelby was surprised at his admission, but was careful not to show it. Gramps had just come very close to showing weakness. “I can hang on until then.” Even though she was half afraid she was getting to the point that she needed Ty, too.
“We should be done a few days after the rodeo weekend if all goes well.”
“Good thing,” Shelby said matter-of-factly. “Because he plans on hitting the circuit again.”
“And you don’t like that.” Gramps’s gaze was just a little too shrewd.
“I can take it if he can.” She meant the comment to come off as tough and uncaring, but the effect was ruined when her voice came close to cracking. What the hell?
Oh… she knew what the hell. She was scared. Scared of Ty riding. He’d ridden for years, but she’d removed herself from that realm, so she hadn’t needed to acknowledge the fact he put himself in danger on a weekly basis.
She put her cup aside. “I’m going to town.”
Gramps didn’t argue with her. It was only seven o’clock. Still early. There was no roping practice that night and she needed a couple of shots of decent whiskey. Drinking might not solve problems, but it dulled them in the short term.
“Are we going to behave?” Cassie asked when Shelby called to tell her that she was coming to Marietta for the evening.
“I hope not.”
“Then plan on crashing here with me.”
“That was exactly my plan.”
*
Shelby met upwith Cassie at Grey’s, where her friend had claimed their usual table near the billiard area. It was their tradition to have a tall beer and conversation at least once a month while they watched the cowboys play pool, either at Grey’s or FlintWorks. But cowboys with pool cues didn’t interest Shelby tonight, and it didn’t take Cassie long to both notice and comment.
“I’m fine,” Shelby replied.
“I don’t think so.” Shelby gave her friend a let’s-not-go-there look, but Cassie, true to form, ignored it. “Spill your guts now or later. I don’t care. But wewilltalk.”
“You sound confident.”
“Remember when I didn’t want to talk after Tod cheated on me? You wore me down.”
“That’s different.”
Cassie gave a soft snort, but didn’t bother asking how it was different. She focused on the game closest to their table while Shelby stewed.
Finally, without looking at Cassie, Shelby said, “It’s Ty. He has entry into the rodeo.”
Cassie set her glass down. Other than the first sip, Shelby hadn’t touched hers. “I thought he was back in Marietta because he retired.”
“Apparently he didn’t get the memo.”
“Hewrotethe memo.”
“And we argued about it. The stupidity of him coming out of retirement.” That was one of the things they’d fought about anyway. “It blindsided me and I totally overreacted.”
“Of course it did.” Cassie said, shifting her chair and leaning her arms on the table so they could speak more softly and still hear one another.
“I’ve been lying to myself.”
“About being over Ty?”
“Among other things.” She pushed her beer aside. “I can’t go back into a relationship where I invest and get nothing in return.”
