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“I’ll remind myself of that when Tess is driving me crazy,” she said. “I’ll tell her about Corey tonight, when she’s not so distracted. Do you know when the funeral will be? I want to be there for Rianne. She’s still my friend. With the guilt she must be feeling, she’s going to need some support.”
Shane wasn’t sure he could be that nonjudgmental. But that kind of compassion made Lexie who she was. It was part of why he was falling in love with her. “The date hasn’t been set. But I imagine it’ll be in Ajo, sometime next week, after the body’s released. If you want, we could go together.”
“I’d like that. Let me know when you hear,” she said. “Are you still going to be in Pueblo this weekend?”
“I’m planning on it. I’ll be competing both Saturday and Sunday, if I don’t get bucked off the first night.” They’d reached his truck, which was parked with the driver’s side door away from the house. Opening it, he pulled her close for a quick kiss. “I’m hoping for more than that ‘howdy’ we talked about.”
She kissed him back. “I’ll keep that in mind.”
* * *
Lexie watched him drive away. His words and his kiss had made it clear that he wanted them to spend more nights together. The thought of being with Shane again, his hardness filling the need inside her, sent a shimmer of heat through her body. A tiny moan quivered in her throat.
Her gaze followed the truck as it zigzagged up the road and vanished over the pass. Keep him safe. The silent prayer came unbidden to her mind. What if something were to happen to him—like Jack? Like Corey, or other rodeo cowboys she’d known about?
Bull riders faced danger every time they climbed on a bucker. But the leading cause of death in the rodeo profession wasn’t the arena. It was highway accidents, driving from event to event—driving long, late, and tired.
Keep him safe. There were so many dangers, so many things that could go wrong. But she already knew that; and if fate willed it, she still wanted to share a life with Shane Tully.
But Shane would never give up the arena, not even if she begged him—not even if she made threats and demands. Pulling him away from the sport he loved would only drive a wedge between them. Did she have the courage to accept that? Days ago, she might have said no. Now she had no alternative except to try. She loved him too much to walk away.
Hopefully, she would be with Shane in Pueblo this weekend. But right now she had other concerns. She had yet to approach Tess with her idea of buying bull semen for their cows. She’d hoped to get Ruben on her side first, but she’d had no chance to talk to the foreman alone. With time growing short, and Tess in the office this morning, now could be her best chance.
In her bedroom, she gathered u
p the printed copies of her research and took them back up the hall. The office door was closed, which meant Tess didn’t want to be disturbed. But Lexie couldn’t let that stop her. It was now or never, she told herself as she rapped on the door and, without waiting for an answer, opened it and walked in.
“Tess, we need to talk,” she said.
Tess looked up from a desk spread with bills and receipts. “If it’s about your boyfriend, he seems all right. But the last thing we need around here is another bull rider. Why can’t you hook up with some nice tax accountant? We could use one of those.”
“This isn’t about Shane,” Lexie said. “I’m here about something else.” She pulled up a straight-backed chair and sat down. “Are you aware that it’s getting past time to breed our cows?”
“I am, and I’ve got it covered.”
“Covered how? I’ve looked at Dad’s records. There’s no way we can use our bulls without inbreeding. We need new bloodlines.”
“I know.” Tess paused to enter an item on the computer. “I said I’ve got it covered. It’s part of my job.”
“Well, I took genetics and breeding classes in college, and I’ve been doing research online. Take a look at this.” She spread the pages she’d printed in front of her sister. “If we go with artificial insemination, we can buy semen from some really great bulls. The calves from our cows could ensure the future of this ranch.”
Tess pushed the pages away with scarcely a glance. “Forget it, Lexie. Good semen is expensive, and there’s no guarantee that the process will work. If it fails, there goes the money. Besides, natural breeding is healthier for the cows.”
Lexie bit back her frustration. She should have expected this. “You say you’ve got it covered. So what’s the plan?”
“You know the Jensen Ranch—the one east of Phoenix? They raise beef cattle and a few bucking bulls.”
“I know who they are. But their bulls aren’t first-class. They do small-town and high school rodeos, mostly.”
“Well, I’ve been in touch with them, and I’ve arranged a trade,” Tess said. “They’ll truck one of their better bulls here to our ranch and take him back once he’s done his job. In return, they’ll get one of our yearling bulls—their pick. Our cows will be taken care of, and it won’t cost us a cent.”
By the time her sister finished, Lexie was livid. “It’s not just about money, Tess. They’ll be taking the best of our yearlings. I already know which calf they’ll want. And we don’t even know whether the bull will be any good.” She shoved the papers back in front of her sister. “Just look at this list. Right here—for a few hundred dollars we can get a straw from a bull with lineage going back to Little Yellow Jacket. And here’s another one—a bull from a granddaughter of Bodacious. These are fabulous bloodlines, Tess. Even one straw, with the right cow, could give us a line of world-class bulls.”
“All that money for one little straw—to take care of just one cow.” Tess shook her head. “We’d have to pay a vet to do the job right, and even then the pregnancy might not take. It isn’t going to happen, Lexie. I’ve already made the arrangements. The Jensen bull will be arriving in the next few days.”
“And if his calves don’t turn out to be any good?”
“Then we’ll sell them. At least that’ll leave us with some money.”
