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“Another reason to move home…”
“I know.” I look to my left and see that the cars in the left lane are now zipping along at twice the speed we are. In my rear-view mirror, I see Billy Crystal signaling to get left. He’s shaking his head and yelling something, which is exactly what I want to do at the moment. “Okay, I love you, Mom. I’ll call you in a couple of days.”
“Love you, too.”
When I hang up, I think about my life here in L.A. Four hours of my day are spent in this little, old car. Four hours. My mind wanders to my trip next week. “I bet in Montana, there are no traffic jams like this…” I mutter. “Nothing else there either, I suppose.”
Two
Ryder
I’m up at the crack of dawn like I am every morning. Only in the winter, it’s a whole hell of a lot harder to drag myself out of my warm bed and into the cold, dark air to go feed the cattle. I could’ve chosen an easier life, but I picked this one so I gotta live it. I take a deep breath and throw off the covers, disturbing my border collie, Axel, who was asleep at the foot of my bed. He sighs and rolls over while I get up and cross the cold, creaky wooden floor to the bathroom.
When I flip the light on, it blinds me for a second. I blink a few times, then remember that today a sports reporter is showing up to interview me. I sigh at the thought of having to answer those dumb questions. None of them ever seem to have an original thought. Instead, they all ask the same things over and over. “Aren’t you scared? How do you stay on? What kind of injuries have you had in your career? Whatever made you get on a bull to begin with?”
The answers are, “Yes, but I do it anyway. I have incredible balance and rhythm, not to mention I’m strong as hell. I’ve broken just about everything you can break. I was too young and dumb to know better.”
I dress, then go outside before I change my mind and crawl back into bed. Crossing the crunchy, snow-covered yard with Axel at my side, I slide open the barn door and find the cattle huddled together in the warmth of the barn. I have a small herd of twenty. They aren’t for meat and they aren’t for milk. They’re for breeding the best riding bulls alive. Big, tough, and ornery as hell, just like me.
The cows all make their way over to me as soon as they see me carrying the buckets of feed. I dump them into the trough and go back for more. After that, I use the hose to fill their enormous watering trough, then clean out the barn floor and bring in fresh hay while they’re eating. It’s too cold to put them out in the pasture this week, well at least in my opinion. I never could stand seeing farm animals outside in a field in the dead of winter. I figure they don’t want to be there any more than I do, so why not let them go inside where they can stay out of the wind and snow?
Next, it’s to the smaller barn for the bulls. Two of the rankest specimens to ever retire from the sport, each in their own large pen on opposite sides of the heated barn. They cost me a pretty penny but I’m betting they’ll more than pay off—that is, if I can keep my ranch running long enough to raise some good riding stock.
When I open the door, I hear a loud sno
rt and a stomp from Vicious and I smile. He’s the bull who speared me through my arm when I was first on the tour. I don’t hold a grudge though. He was just doing his job. Besides, there’s more money in breeding than riding, and with Vicious as one of my sires, he might just make up for the scar he left me by making me rich. I set to work feeding and watering them. The horses are last. I have four thoroughbreds in the stables on the far side of the barns. They’re a little skittish, so there’s no way I wanted them in with the bulls. In the warmer months, they graze in their own field when I’m not training them.
My agent, Ty, can’t stand that I insist on doing all this work myself, especially now that I’m this close to the million-dollar prize. But for me, this routine—this life—is my religion. The more regular I keep everything, the calmer I can stay and the better I ride.
My mind wanders back to that sports reporter. I’ve seen her on TV. She’s cute as hell, but that doesn’t mean I want her nosing around my ranch or breaking my routine. I need solitude. I need space. To be honest, I need to get laid, too, but that’s going to have to wait until I have the trophy in my hand and the million bucks I need to keep the ranch in my pocket.
It’s nearly four in the afternoon when Axel barks twice to let me know that our guests have arrived. I’ve ploughed the driveway for them, finished my workout, showered, and was just hunched over my bank statement when the big black SUV finally pulls into the long driveway. I knew they’d have trouble in this storm. Why they insisted on coming on a day like today is beyond me. I grab my wool coat off the rack, slip on my boots, and head out to greet my guests. I think back to my conversation with Ty earlier. He called to tell me to ‘smile pretty for the camera’ and not to forget that if I can come off as likeable on air, it could mean some decent sponsorship money, which he and I both know I need.
I watch as the bonehead driving comes barreling down the snow-covered driveway. He’s never going to make the curve at that speed. I can tell from here. I shake my head as I watch him slide into the ditch. Sighing, I walk down to meet them. I’m going to have to get the tractor to pull them out, which means I’ll need to put chains on the tires to keep from ending up in the ditch myself. That alone is going to take me over forty-five minutes.
When I get up to the vehicle, the guy in the driver’s seat unrolls the window and gives me a sheepish look. “I’m not really used to winter driving.”
“I can see that.” I smile to soften the edge of my sharp words, remembering what Ty said. As much as I hate to play the PR game, I have to keep my eye on the prize. And a big prize it is.
I look past him to the blonde little beauty sitting next to him in a light pink sweater and some jeans. She smiles at me with enough warmth to melt the snow. I give her my best, cocky cowboy grin and a little nod. “You all right?”
She nods. “I’m fine, thanks.”
“You must be Julia.”
“I am, and this is Kyle, he’s the camera crew and sound tech rolled into one.”
“Nice to meet you, Kyle. I’m Ryder,” I say, even though my gaze is fixed on Julia. I stare at her longer than I should, mesmerized by her bright blue eyes. I didn’t know eyes could come in that shade. She must have colored-contacts. Probably fake boobs, too. Nobody looks like that without some enhancement. “So, I guess before we can do any filming, I’ll have to pull you out of this ditch.”
Kyle speaks up. “I’m sure I can call a tow truck. I have an AAA card.”
“You could call ‘em, but they might be several hours getting out this far. Especially with this cold snap.”
“Well, we’re going to lose the light if we don’t film now. We wanted to get some shots of the ranch and the animals.”
“Suit yourself.” I shrug as he turns off the engine.
He swings the door open and steps out, landing up to his knees in snow. “Dammit! That’s cold!”
