Betting the Rainbow (Harmony) Page 6

  The sun was low over Vegas when the plane taxied in as she awoke. If she hurried, she might be able to make it to the rodeo grounds before he rode. He’d look up and see her and she’d see that wide lovable smile. Then she’d know everything was all right.

  The rent-a-car place was crowded. The parking lot at the arena was full. By the time she walked to the entrance, her curly red hair was wet with sweat from the 105-degree heat that had baked into the asphalt that day. She’d worn her boots and jeans. Not the right attire for Las Vegas in summer.

  By the time she spent half her cash on a ticket and walked to where the contestants had parked their trailers and pickups, Reagan wished she’d just found a hotel and called Noah. She lived in a world where personal space was measured in feet and everyone around here seemed to think an inch was plenty.

  Finally she reached the guard to the contestants’ gate. He was dressed in a red western shirt with an official circle logo on his pocket. Over forty and bored, she thought, with ex–bull rider written all over him.

  “I’m with Noah McAllen,” she yelled over the voices behind her. “I’m his friend.”

  “Sure you are, miss.” The guard’s voice had a chain smoker’s rattle about it. “You don’t even look like you’re out of high school.”

  Reagan fought down an oath. She’d always looked younger than she was. At five feet three with no makeup, she probably did look seventeen. With her luck, she’d probably be carded until she was forty. “Can you get a message to Noah? He’ll want to know I’m here.”

  “For twenty bucks I’ll try.”

  Reagan backed into a corner and scribbled a note to Noah on the sleeve that had held her plane ticket. He hadn’t answered the dozen messages she’d left. Probably lost his phone again, she reasoned as she folded a twenty around the envelope.

  The guard took it without a word, just winked at her as if they now shared a secret, and shoved the note, along with the twenty, in his back pocket.

  Reagan waited, moving back in the crowd far enough to breathe, but so she could still see the passageway. If Noah got the note, he might have time to come find her before he rode.

  No one paid any attention to her. In the ocean of people wanting through the gate, only a trickle made it. Several other women around her were dressed in fancy western wear. They were hanging around laughing and waving as a few of the cowboys rode past. Some were made up to look younger; a few were trying to look older. All fought to look available. All the cowboys competing were professionals. The money was good and the rides were wild, in and out of the arena.

  Reagan smiled. When she found Noah, they’d laugh about how some of these outfits would scare cows. She’d tell him some of the things the girls said about the riders.

  An hour passed and the rodeo started, but she didn’t move. Anyone riding tonight would have to pass by here. Noah might not be close enough to hear her yell, but if he glanced her way she knew he’d see her. He used to laugh that he could pick her out of any crowd. All he had to do was look for her hair. He swore no woman ever born had hair the color of sunset across open plains.

  Guards changed at the gate. She watched the winker head back to where horse trailers were lined up. He reached in his back pocket and pulled out the airline envelope she’d given him with her note written on it. Finally her message would be delivered. Her long day, her long trip, would be over.

  The guard shoved the twenty in his front pocket and tossed the envelope in a trash can as he passed.

  Reagan fought back tears, thinking that coming here had been the dumbest idea she’d ever had. Noah knew she never liked to watch him ride, not since the early days when she’d felt like a part of her died each time she saw him fighting to get out from under a thousand pounds of angry bull.

  Even if she went to the stands, he’d never see her. Not among thousands. Not as high up as her seat was. People began to move away toward the show, but Reagan stood with a dozen others waiting. She had no idea where he was staying. He might be sleeping in his newest trailer. He’d said something about wanting one, but she hadn’t paid enough attention to remember if he’d bought it or just added it to a wish list. He’d told her it had living quarters bigger than some hotels he’d stayed in during his early days of rodeo.

  Her only chance was to stay right where she was and hope that eventually he’d pass by. Or, she realized, be sensible and go back to Harmony. Eventually he’d come back, he always did. The first few days back he played the star, but finally the rodeo champion would melt away and her Noah was there again, saying he didn’t want to leave her, telling her what their life would someday be like, loving her.

  One of the glitter cowgirls noticed Reagan. She shook her overstyled, oversprayed, overcolored curls. “You all right, honey? You look like you might faint. This your first rodeo?”

  “I’m fine. I’m just waiting for someone.”

  “One of the riders?”

  Reagan nodded. She really didn’t want to talk to anyone, but she couldn’t be rude. “Noah McAllen. I’ve been watching him ride since we were in high school.”

  The Dolly Parton lookalike smiled. “I hate to tell you, honey, but McAllen won’t be interested in seeing you. He’s all business. Never picks a girl up. He stays alone and, win or lose, drinks alone.”

  “You know him?”

  “I’ve seen him. Heard about him mostly from a few of the other riders. They say he’s a loner who does his job and steps away from the lights as soon as he’s finished. He’s not in it for the fun. I know most of the girls who follow the circuit, and not one of them has gone more than a few rounds on the dance floor with him.”

  Reagan was glad to hear that he didn’t sleep around, but if he was burned out, why hadn’t he come home? Why stay? He’d made enough money. Every ride was a roll of the dice that he might get hurt again, and one time he might not walk out of the hospital. He might never walk again.

  “How do I get to him, or at least get a message? I really do know him.”

  The blonde shrugged. “You probably do. No woman would wear that outfit and come here hoping to get picked up.” She lowered her voice as if passing a secret. “My Johnny says he sometimes goes downtown to a little bar near the Golden Nugget. It’s so dark in there no one would recognize their own mother. You might try there. I think it’s called the Lucky Sevens.”

  “Thanks.” Reagan watched several riders pass by. All were tall and lean and wore their hats low.

  For a minute none looked familiar but, in a blink, one turned toward the gate and stared directly at her. Tired brown eyes took in all the crowd, the bright lights making the night bright as high noon.

  “Noah!” she yelled, shoving her way to the front of the crowd. “Noah.”

  A few other cowboys glanced in her direction, but Noah turned away. He hadn’t seen her.

  She’d become invisible in his world.

  Chapter 10

  HAWK HOUSE

  AUSTIN HAD JUST FINISHED HIS MORNING RUN AND COLLAPSED in the shade-covered grass beside his house when he heard movement in the willows.

  Slowly he stood, shedding his pack and lifting his rifle. Wild hogs could weigh hundreds of pounds, but they had poor sight. If the hog was in the brush there was a good chance he hadn’t spotted a human yet.

  Scanning the trees to the lake’s edge, Austin made out Ronny Logan walking toward him. Her slender body seemed to sway with the branches, blinking in and out of sunshine. Like a kid, she tapped the trees and brush with a stick as she walked, one arm swinging free and the other holding the strings of a bag over one shoulder.

  He rolled his shoulder as if shucking off the alert, then lowered his rifle atop his pack before she looked up. As always, she didn’t smile, but watched him as if somehow thinking she could understand him just by sight.

  Forcing a grin, he stepped into the sun. “You scaring off pigs for me with that
stick?”

  Pushing down the urge to yell at her and tell her to go back to her side of the trees, he forced an easy manner. If she knew how damaged he was, she’d probably run. Maybe he should warn her. Some days he felt more machine than human. He’d kept everyone at a distance for so long he didn’t know how to talk to normal people. Ronny Logan was shy to start with, and if he growled at her, it would probably frighten her more than the pig had.

  But damn if she didn’t look adorable and totally out of place in her tailored linen trousers and silk sleeveless blouse. The woman was a jigsaw puzzle with half the pieces missing. She’d be polite and cold one minute and vulnerable the next.

  He didn’t want to even think about how he felt when they’d kissed. That side of Ronny was sexy as hell and was still keeping him awake half the night.

  The lady didn’t look at him even now but turned to study Hawk House as if she’d never noticed it before.

  “That house doesn’t seem to belong out here on a little lake. It looks like something I saw in Maine. It should be staring out at the Atlantic.”

  “Yeah, tell that to my grandfather. I inherited it from my dad, who spent every summer pretending like he didn’t hate having to stay out here away from work for a week.”

  “What about your mom? She must have loved it.”

  He shrugged. “She split when I was five. I have no idea what she loves. To me, Mom is a Christmas card once a year. But at least I get that. She didn’t even bother to send a card when my dad died.”

  Better change the subject before I start blabbering on about being a motherless child, he thought. “But I loved it out here as a kid. My dad usually got bored by the end of the first week and left me alone with the housekeeper. We had a great agreement for the rest of the summer. I’d leave her alone until dark and she’d feed me supper. I made a few friends and this place was our playground.”

  “Is that when you met Kieran?” She walked toward the house, still more interested in it than him.

  “You know Kieran O’Toole?”

  She shook her head. “My first job was sorting mail in Harmony. I knew his grandmother. She didn’t trust mailboxes, so I’d hold her mail until she walked two blocks to pick it up. Kieran’s grandmother was always talking about him.”

  Austin thought he saw her blush, so he waited for more.

  Without facing him, she added, “I used to read the postcards he sent her. Folks around here call him the Scot, but he’s lived all over the world. Now and then, he’d asked about you in his notes. Things like, ‘Tell my old friend Hawk hello.’”

  Austin stood perfectly still. This was more than Ronny Logan had ever talked to him, and he didn’t want to do anything to screw it up. He figured he had a pretty tight window of opportunity here. Somewhere between shoving her down and making love to her on the grass and asking her in for tea. If he guessed wrong, the only woman he’d found interesting in years would disappear.

  “We keep in touch now and then on the Internet.” She didn’t look like she cared, but he had to say something.

  He’d never been good with boundaries and he had no idea why she was here this morning, so he’d better be careful. She’d made it plain that she didn’t want him talking to her or touching her the other night when he’d told her about the pig. Maybe she’d just been afraid, or maybe she’d been mad that she came home to find him sitting on her porch.

  She kept standing in front of him now, so he guessed she wasn’t ready to leave. He couldn’t think of anything that made sense to say. All ideas for action were R-rated, and he didn’t think she’d be interested.

  “You want something?” He finally managed to come up with a question that had sounded better in his head than it did in the air between them.

  Now she looked down. But she didn’t run. He considered that progress.

  “I want to ask you a favor.” A breeze caught her short hair and brushed it across her forehead, shading her eyes.

  Austin relaxed. He could handle that. A favor. Start her car? Drive her to town? Fix her stopped-up sink? “Name it. It’s done,” he answered.

  “Aren’t you even going to ask what it is?”

  Oh yeah, he should have done that. “Ronny, if I can, I’ll help you out. It’s not complicated. You must think it’s possible or you won’t have walked over here to ask me.”

  Finally, she looked at him and he saw indecision in her eyes. “Will you teach me to shoot?”

  Holding out a leather case, Ronny looked like she didn’t even know how to open it. The minute he took the small bag, she stepped back as if she didn’t want to stand too close.

  He pulled out an old but well-cared-for Colt .45 and turned it over in his grip. “Pretty powerful piece.”

  “A friend bought it for me.”

  “Mind telling me why you want this?” If she said she needed it to protect herself from her crazy neighbor, Austin swore he’d move.

  “Because of the pig. I think I’d better have protection with me or leave. And I don’t want to leave.”

  He checked the weapon to make sure it was unloaded and offered it back to her. She didn’t reach for it. “You got any bullets?”

  She shook her head. “I forgot to ask for them.”

  Austin folded the Colt back into its pouch. “How about we have a cup of coffee on my porch that you think doesn’t belong here and talk about this favor you’re asking for?”

  She had that look of a wild animal about to run, but finally she nodded. He walked ahead of her to the porch and held the front door open until she walked in.

  The place was all in order, just as he’d found it, with the same layer of dust covering everything. To be honest, he hadn’t noticed until today. The third-floor bedroom, the bathroom, and the kitchen were the only three rooms he used.

  “The kitchen’s clean,” he said as she followed him down the hallway.

  They silently agreed to suspend conversation while he made coffee. He didn’t miss that she looked around, always returning to the leather gun case on the counter as if it were a rattler in the room.

  She held the tray as he stacked mugs, a glass coffeepot, and paper towels. As an afterthought he added a tin of shortbread cookies he’d picked up at the last airport layover before he made it here. “Nearest I have to coffee cake,” he said, trying to act like he had a plan.

  “Looks nice,” she lied back.

  He held the door again as they moved outside. Huge old wicker chairs sat in one corner. Both looked like they were ready to be tossed, but he’d tried them out and knew they’d hold.

  She took a seat carefully and he poured her coffee into a stained mug.

  “Thank you,” she said, as if he were handing her fine china.

  Austin took his seat and poured his coffee. Neither touched the tin of cookies.

  This time it was her turn to break the silence. Austin waited her out.

  Finally, she said in a whisper, “What did you and Kieran do out here in the summers?”

  Austin relaxed. Safe territory. “One year we built a fort in the trees. I usually go out to make sure it’s still there, hidden away, but this time I think I’ll wait until I know the hogs aren’t out.”

  She lifted her cup to her lips, but he couldn’t tell if she drank any coffee or just pretended.

  “When we were just into our teens, we spent a few summers swimming with the Delaney girls, but then one summer they wouldn’t speak to us. Might have had something to do with us giving up bathing that year. Or, maybe it was because they developed breasts and realized we weren’t like them.

  “I remember every hot summer day Kieran would ride his bike out, and we’d run wild till almost dark like we were the lost boys. His grandmother must have had the same rule as my housekeeper did . . . be home by dark. Only she usually packed him a huge lunch. I’d sneak into the house and steal drinks. Onc
e in a while I’d take a couple of the housekeeper’s beers. She drank so many I don’t think she noticed. Kieran and I would sit in the fort and feel all grown up.”

  “It sounds like fun. My mother would never let me play with the other kids in the neighborhood. I spent my childhood staying right beside her. Wherever she went, I went. Summers were usually endless soap operas and trips to the grocery store.”

  “You never went wild?”

  Ronny smiled. “Sometimes I’d sneak out at night and walk the creek bed behind our house.”

  “I’m guessing your mother would like to have you back under her thumb since she came all the way out here the other night.” He could almost see the shy little girl inside the woman before him.

  “No. She disowned me when I left home at twenty-seven. I lived on my own for a time, and then my boyfriend moved in for a while. I’ve been traveling since he left. Dallas probably only dropped by to remind me she’s still not speaking to me.”

  “You all right with that?”

  “With her not speaking to me, yes. With her dropping by, no.”

  Austin leaned forward. He’d spent enough time with small talk. “Ronny, want to tell me what you’re afraid of? If you got a gun, I’m guessing it’s more than the pig.”

  She stood, walked to the porch railing, and turned her back to him. Her warm brown eyes seemed to hold an ocean of secrets. She crossed her arms as if the morning had suddenly grown cold.

  He’d started down this road, he might as well continue. “You don’t want a gun, Ronny. Hell, I’m betting you’re more afraid of it than the pig. Not much chance I can teach you to shoot when you won’t even hold the thing.”

  She couldn’t have been more still if she’d been made of glass. He placed his untouched coffee beside her cup and moved beside her.

  “I’ll take care of the pig. Don’t worry about him. The Delaneys told me they’ve already called in the game warden. Pigs can do a lot of damage to the land. He could root up several of their pecan trees in one night. Wild pigs eat everything in sight, including pets and small livestock. I promise, before you could learn to load a Colt, the pig will no longer be a threat.”