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That was an interesting answer, and it had Russell wondering if what his gut was telling him was correct—that Rafe rode the same side of the fence that he did. “I’m sorry about that.” He was at a loss for words. “It must have been a shock when you found out about the ranch.”
“Yeah. And who knows how my parents will react when they find out. Not that I intend to tell them. We pretty much have an agreement—I don’t talk to them, and they don’t lecture me about the way I live my life.”
Damn, therewasmore than a little bitterness there. Though Russell couldn’t blame Rafe a bit. If Russell’s folks had turned their backs on him, it would have hurt like hell.
“What I need to do is let that shit go and figure out a way forward. You know?” Rafe said.
“The ranch is a great place to do that. Being close to nature has a way of showing us what’s really important.” Russell took a drink of his beer. “So, what have you been doing besides riding rodeo?” he asked to change the subject.
“I worked on a number of ranches in the off season. Uncle Mack taught me how to ride and take care of horses when I was a kid, and I stayed pretty close to them when I could afterwards. When I graduated high school, I took off and joined the rodeo. I started out riding the bulls and taking care of the stock. It was a way to pay the bills and earn the entrance fees. Eventually I started to win, which really helped with the finances. The last five years or so, I’ve been in the top ten on the tour. But this is the first year everything came together and I took the championship.”
“What you did was get fucking lucky,” a voice slurred from behind him. Russell turned and groaned. “If I hadn’t gotten bucked, you—”
Rafe shook his head. “That’s the way it goes. You got bucked, I didn’t, and I won. It was that simple.” He stood. “I also rode a bull that bucked you twice during the season. So give it up.”
“Fuck you,” Duane snapped.
“Do you kiss your mama with that mouth?” Rafe asked. “No wait, you open it and get yourself disqualified.” Duane must have been just drunk enough to be stupid, because he brought his hand back to take a swing at Rafe. But Russell caught him first, knocking him off balance, and Duane ended up on the floor.
“That’s enough, Mendeltom,” Russell said loudly as the Ralston brothers lifted Duane off the floor and hauled his sorry ass toward the door.
“They won’t let him drive, will they?” Rafe asked. He picked up his chair and sat back down.
Russell shook his head. “No. What they will do is call out to the ranch and have his father come pick him up. That will go over like a lead balloon.” He rolled his eyes. “If you think Duane is a piece of work, wait till you meet his father. If you look up asshole in the dictionary, there’s a picture of Grant Mendeltom. Grant’s meanness comes largely from being stingy, while Duane is full of himself and mean as hell.” He snickered. “As you can guess, I’ve never liked either of them, but Duane….” He shook his head.
“No one on tour liked Duane much either. He had a few guys who hung around him, but I always thought they did it because Duane comes from money.”
Rafe seemed to have a pretty good head on his shoulders. Russell watched as he finished his burger. “I saw you ride up from the south, and your horse was no stable animal, so I’m assuming it’s your family that owns the adjoining ranch.”
“My father does, yes,” Russell answered. He was always leery of giving away too much about his family connections. It had gotten him in trouble more than once.
Rafe set down his mug. “I was told it was a pretty big operation.”
“Is that your way of asking if we’re rich?” Russell asked.
Rafe rolled his eyes. “Prickly much?” he countered. “And no, I certainly was not. I’ve worked on a number of small-to-medium-sized spreads, but I’ve never managed to see one of the real big operations. I do have more manners that that.” He glared for a second, and Russell put up a hand in surrender.
“I didn’t mean to call your integrity into question. Yes, we have a large operation, and like Duane, I had people who hung around me because of what they thought I could do for them. It got worse after I started Banion Software, but by then I was better equipped to handle it.” He hated this part of his history because he always felt like such a complete fool. His dad had warned him to be cautious and to make friends carefully.
Rafe shrugged. “That’s a problem I never had. After I left home, I spent a lot of my time just figuring out how to feed myself and keep a roof over my head. No one was lining up to hang around me other than the true friends I’d made.”
Russell had to give Rafe credit—he seemed honest and straightforward. Russell liked that, and he lowered some of his guard. “Our ranch was built over decades. Dad has good instincts when it comes to the land and cattle. He saved the family more than once during some really hard years. But now it’s doing very well.” That was an understatement, but there was no need to brag. “When I was in college, there were a few times when people realized what my family had and cozied up to me in the hope that the friendship would get them something.”
Rafe leaned closer. “From your expression, I’d guess that someone got under your defenses.”
“Yeah, one of the guys did.” He picked up his water glass, because if he told this story while he was drinking, he’d be tempted to continue and not stop. “He was one of those smooth guys that everyone liked. You know?” Russell said, and Rafe nodded slowly.
“We had one of those on the circuit,” he said.
“I met him at a party of a friend I trusted. He and I talked a lot that night and on the phone afterwards. Normal dating kind of stuff. Jase seemed nice and he was attentive and all. He listened when I bitched about my parents. Not that they were so bad, but what college student doesn’t gripe about their mom and dad every now and then? Anyway, I fell for him, and the two of us got an apartment together. Things were looking serious.” He sighed, finding it hard to believe he was telling a near stranger this story.
Rafe half stood and moved his chair around so he sat closer. “You’re as pale as a ghost. If you don’t want to tell me this, you don’t have to.”
And just like that, Russell felt worse for the way he’d treated Rafe earlier. The guy seemed nice, and when Russell lifted his gaze from the table, Rafe’s huge, deep eyes drew him right in.
But Russell managed to control himself. Because damn, just like Jase, Rafe was a nice guy with a killer body. But Jase would never have told him to stop or been concerned that Russell might be uncomfortable. Instead, Jase would have encouraged him to talk so he could use the information against him later.
Rafe signaled the server and spoke to her quietly. She hurried away and returned with a plate of crackers and another glass of water. “Eat a few of those. They’ll settle your nerves.”
