AllFreeNovel
Share Us
His late wife must have been a heck of a woman. She found herself wondering more about her, but didn’t want to ask. She didn’t stop to analyze why, just dropped it.
“Let’s get that fledgling cowboy geared up for a ride,” she said.
And as she headed for the tack room for the pony’s gear, she tried not to wonder why she’d wanted to know more about a woman who’d died two years ago.
Chapter Ten
Why on earthhad he vomited all that out?
Jackson tried to focus on the GPS map, but he didn’t really need it now that they were on the edge of Last Stand. The town’s layout wasn’t all that tricky, mostly a square grid once you were inside the limits.
“Dad?”
He glanced over at Jeremy, and memory rushed over him, nearly swamping him. It had taken weeks after Leah’s death to get the boy into a vehicle without screaming protests. He understood it. He was a bit paranoid about it himself. In those early days he’d almost taken Miles’s offer to have someone pick him up and get him to wherever they were shooting that day, but that idea was at war with the thought of surrendering what little control he had left in his life. Nor would he let anyone else drive the protesting Jeremy, not just because of the boy’s distraught state, but because he didn’t trust anyone else to be as hyperalert as he would be with his son in the car.
“What?” he asked, pulling himself out of the memories with what was still an effort, even after two years.
“Can we come back tomorrow?”
“Ms. Baylor said you could.”
“Yeah, but I didn’t know if you would. And why do you call her Ms. Baylor?”
He gave Jeremy a sideways look and a rather lopsided smile. “Because, unlike you, she hasn’t given me permission to call her anything else.”
“Oh.” The boy’s brow furrowed. “Why?”
“You’ll have to ask her, but I suspect she doesn’t like actors much.”
“Is that why she doesn’t watchStonewall?”
“Again, you’ll have to ask her.”
Although those last questions hadn’t been comfortable, it was better than stewing about why he’d poured half his guts out in front of this woman who didn’t even like him. It had to have been in reaction to seeing Jeremy actually having fun for the first time in two years. He would have done much more than spill a chunk of his sad story for that.
“I will,” Jeremy said solemnly.
He almost wished he hadn’t said it, because he could imagine the way that would go.
Nic, why don’t you watch my dad’s show?
Because he’s a fake cowboy, Jeremy.
And the weirdest part was, he couldn’t blame her for that. She lived the life. She was the real deal, and no doubt knew many actual, genuine cowboys. Why would she care about Hollywood’s idea of them?
“So . . . we can go back tomorrow?”
“Why don’t you ask your aunt if she’d like to go? Since it’s Saturday.” And maybe I can avoid it altogether. Something about being with someone who so clearly didn’t like him or what he did for a living was surprisingly draining.
Although he had to say she was wonderful with Jeremy. Understanding, kind, welcoming... just not with him. But then, he didn’t need it. Jeremy did. And that was all that mattered.
As it turned out, Tris said she’d love to go. “I’ve heard about Nicole often, usually after the rodeo, when she’s trained half the horses who compete. And I’ve seen her around town occasionally, but I’ve never really met her.”
“Rodeo?” Jeremy asked, that reborn curiosity of his showing in his face. “A real one, like Uncle T did, with bucking horses and roping cows and stuff?”
“Exactly. Last Stand has one of the biggest in the area, every July.”
“July? Oh.” Jeremy looked suddenly crestfallen. Jackson caught his sideways look before the boy said in a tone that matched that look, “We’ll be back home so I can’t go.”
