And Then You Kiss (Crested Butte Cowboys Series Book 3) (5 page)

“I’m not,” she murmured.

“Me either,” she thought she heard him say, but he had cleaned his plate.

It was as though the three of them were frozen in silence—trapped in an air pocket of stifling tension.

When her dad looked at the three of them and said, “Jeez, look at the three of you. What happened, did somebody die?” The already overpowering tension spread around the table. He laughed, but it was too late, the words were already out there.

Tucker mumbled, “excuse me,” and left the table.

“What?” asked Mark. “I was joking.”

“It’s okay,” said Carol, Jace and Tucker’s mom, who was sitting next to Mark. She patted his hand as she said it.

“What do you mean? Somebody did die?”

“Mark, drop it,” said Paige, giving her husband a stern look.

“I’m sorry. I didn’t know.”

“Stop,” Paige said again.

“Who’s ready for pie?” asked Liv. “Anybody?” She looked around the table trying to draw attention away from Mark, who wasn’t doing a very good job recovering his gaff.

Blythe got up to look for Tucker. She hadn’t seen where he’d gone. She went downstairs, but he wasn’t down there. When she turned to go back upstairs, Jace stood in front of her.

“He’s gone.”

“What do you mean he’s gone? Where did he go?”

“I’m not sure. He took the truck.”

“What happened Jace?”

Jace rubbed his hands over his face. “Blythe, I…it’s a long story. One I’d rather not get into right now.”

Blythe didn’t know what to think. There was an ache in her chest that she couldn’t put a name to. Dread mixed with sorrow, was as close as she could get.

***

Before Thanksgiving, Renie had talked Ben and the rest of the guys in CB Rice into playing at the Goat that night. The bar, owned by the Rice family, was an institution on the main drag in Crested Butte, Elk Avenue.

With Tucker gone, the mood was subdued.

Her dad sat in on a couple songs, and when he wasn’t, he danced with Blythe. She loved to dance with her dad; it was something they’d done since she was a little girl.

“My turn,” said Jace, tapping her father on the shoulder. Mark stepped aside, and Jace wrapped his arm around her waist, pulling her in close to him. He rested his cheek against her hair and breathed in the scent of her.

“I’m sorry about today.”

“Why are you sorry?”

“Tucker…”

“Again, why are you sorry? Tucker was the one who disappeared without so much as a goodbye.”

He didn’t know what to say. He understood how Tucker was feeling, more than he wanted to. The guilt began to creep in again.

“Jace, are you okay?”

He knew she could feel the tension that was slowly spreading throughout his body. He’d hoped holding her would stop it from happening this time.

“Yeah, I’m okay.”

She pulled back so she could look in his eyes. He didn’t want her to look in his eyes. Not tonight.

“Let me hold you Blythe.” He wrapped his arm around her waist a little tighter. Her breath caught, he felt it as much as he heard it.

“It must be bad, whatever it is.”

He couldn’t answer her, but yes, it was bad.

The rest of the band took a break, but Ben stayed where he was, just him and his guitar. Every word he sang cut into Jace’s heart. It was as if Ben knew what had happened, but he knew that wasn’t possible. Nobody knew, but him. Not even Tucker.

So don’t fall in love, there’s just too much to lose
If you’re given the choice, then I beg you to choose
To walk away, walk away, don’t let her get you.
I can’t bear to see the same happen to you.

Please, don’t be sad now, I really believe,
She was the greatest thing that ever happened to me.

It was January before Blythe heard from Jace again. She still hadn’t heard from Tucker.

Jace rode back to Aspen with his parents the day after Thanksgiving. When they said goodbye, it was friendly, cordial, but lacking the heat that had been between them before Tucker disappeared.

Renie asked her about it, but Blythe told her Jace hadn’t wanted to talk about it.

The Cochrans spent Christmas in Monument. Liv and Ben brought his sons over with them Christmas night, so they could spend the morning with their mother and her husband.

She and her parents spent the day quietly. Blythe’s older sisters were both married to Air Force officers. Brooke, the oldest was in Germany with her husband, Tom. Blythe’s other sister, Bree, was the one she was closest to. She was in Northern California. Her husband, Zack, had been deployed, and was in Afghanistan. Paige and Mark wanted her to come and spend Christmas with them, but Bree told them there was a chance Zack would make it home for Christmas, and if he did, she wanted to be there.

Billy and Renie were at the ranch in Black Forest, but Blythe hadn’t wanted to intrude on their time together. They saw each other between Christmas and New Year’s Eve. Then, Billy took Renie and Willow back to Crested Butte.

Blythe didn’t recognize the phone number when the call came in. She considered letting it go to voice mail, but changed her mind. There was a chance, however remote, that it was Tucker, and if it was, she doubted he’d leave a message. And then she’d wonder if it had been him calling.

“Hey, it’s Jace,” he said when she answered.

“Oh. Hi. How are you?”

“I’m good. How ’bout you?”

“I’m good. Um…how’s Tucker?”

Jace hesitated long enough that Blythe thought she’d made a mistake by asking. “He’s back in Europe. I think he might be somewhere in France at this point, or back in Spain.”

“Oh.”

More silence.

“I’m calling because I’m going to the stock show, with Billy of all people,” he laughed. “I wanted to see if we could get together while I’m in town.”

“Um, sure.”

Jace told her they would be in Denver for six days. Maybe longer, depending on what happened at the show.

“What do you mean?”

“Well…you’re not going to believe this, but Billy is my trainer.”

“For what?”

“Saddle bronc riding.”

“Huh?”

“I’m riding saddle broncs.”

“I heard you the first time. Why?”

“Kind of a long story.”

“Have you always done this?”

“No, I used to ride bulls.” he answered. “Listen, I’ll explain later. I’ve got to run now, but I want to see you Blythe. Can I call you in a couple days?”

“Uh sure. Of course. Bye Jace.”

***

Jace hadn’t told anybody of his plans to get back into bull riding. He intended to tell Tucker, but his brother was gone when they got back from Crested Butte.

“Be in touch,” was basically all Tuck said. Jace knew better than to ask more than that.

Instead, he called Billy Patterson.

“You goin’ back on the circuit?” he asked him.

“Thinkin’ about it, even if only to officially announce my retirement. Why do you ask? You hopin’ I’ll leave Renie here alone or somethin’?”

Jace laughed. “No, nothing like that. It’s more that I’m thinkin’ of goin’ out myself.”

“For what?”

“Bulls.”

“Huh? Since when are you a bull rider?”

“You don’t know much about me, do ya?”

“Can’t say I ever wanted to. Still don’t.”

Jace told Billy that his dad had been a bull rider and his grandfather had been too. Jace toured on the circuit at the same time Billy had. He wasn’t as competitive on bulls as Billy was on broncs, so their paths never crossed.

When Jace tore his ACL skiing, he figured his bull-riding career was over. He hadn’t told anyone, but he’d been riding practice bulls for about a year. He also rode bareback as often as he could, getting his muscles to grip and release, without relying on a rope or spurs.

“You know what I don’t get,” Billy said after listening to him talk for a while.

“What’s that?”

“Why bulls? Why not broncs?”

“I don’t know. I never thought about broncs.”

“My dad was a bull rider too. He retired before I came along. I didn’t get on broncs on purpose, at least not with competin’ in mind. Had a couple rough ones to break, and my dad saw somethin’ in the way I road ’em. He said I was a natural.

“You’ve ridden all your life, haven’t ya?” He didn’t wait for Jace to answer. “You’re ridin’ now, a flat-back horse I’d guess, if you’re workin’ your muscles for bulls. But what do I know?”

“You think I should try it—that’s what you’re sayin’.”

“Why the hell not?”

Jace spent most of December in Crested Butte. Ben Rice and his brothers were talking about getting into stock contracting, so they set up a practice area on the ranch where he and Billy trained most every day.

The only time he went home was for Christmas. He rented a studio apartment near the ski area, and no one, other than Billy and Renie knew he was there.

Once he got in the saddle, he never talked about going back to bulls.

He wasn’t sure he’d be ready to compete in Denver. Jace would be Billy’s travel partner, part of his crew for this rodeo. Billy was serious about his retirement and this would be the beginning of his last season. Going to the National Western would give the two some time out on the road together, working and practicing.

When Jace told Renie he and Billy would be traveling together, she didn’t believe him.

“But, he never travels with anybody.”

“I don’t know what to tell you darlin’. It was his idea, not mine.”

“Huh,” she answered, still looking perplexed.

***

“Isn’t it weird?” Blythe asked Renie when she told her what had been going on for the past few weeks.

“It was at first, but now it isn’t. They’re a lot alike. They still bicker all the time, if I didn’t know better, I’d think they hated each other. But whatever, it works for them.”

“Is Jace any good?”

“Better than he thinks. That’s why Billy wants him to go to the stock show. Jace may be a full-time bronc rider a lot sooner than he thinks.”

“I can’t wait to see you.” Blythe meant it. The whole thing with Tucker had thrown her. She wished there was someone willing to tell her what his story was, but other than Jace, she didn’t know anyone who knew any more than she did. She’d asked Renie to ask Ben, but he had no idea, and wasn’t willing to ask his aunt and uncle about it.

“Is Jace staying at the ranch in Black Forest with you during the stock show?”

“Yeah, there’s plenty of room, so it would be silly for him to stay anywhere else. I don’t know why he doesn’t stay with Ben and my mom in Crested Butte. He says he likes his privacy.”

“I bet,” laughed Blythe. She doubted Jace spent much time alone with his privacy.

“Hey, what’s going on with you and school? Are you goin’ back?”

“Yep, so I’ll be around a lot more, at least on the weekends. It’s going to be so hard to be away from Willow, but I only have a year left. I’m going to try to accelerate it if I can. I’ve stopped and started so many times. Plus Billy said they’d stay in Fort Collins with me as much as they could, during the week.”

Blythe didn’t know much about Billy’s financial situation, but it had always been clear the Pattersons had plenty of money. Other than working on the ranch and traveling to rodeos, she’d never known Billy to do anything else. Renie said something about investments they had in oil somewhere up north. Blythe wasn’t paying much attention when Renie told
her.

Obviously he had enough money to buy Liv’s ranch, a big and very nice house in Crested Butte, and rent a place in Fort Collins.

Blythe didn’t have the luxury of a flush bank account. Her parents had been patient with her, but she could tell it was wearing thin. Her mother started suggesting different programs she could look into. So far she’d given her brochures on becoming a home health-care aide, a dental technician, and a computer programmer. None appealed to her. She’d hated the nursing program she’d been in enough to quit. Any job in a medically-related field was out as far as she was concerned. And sitting in front of a computer writing code sounded like the most boring thing she could imagine.

She’d been working at the tea house in downtown Monument since right before Christmas. Tom and Diane, who owned it, were such nice people, as were everyone else who worked there. She enjoyed it, despite her mother’s nagging that she wasn’t being sufficiently challenged.

Now that Renie was going to finish her degree, Blythe knew her mother’s pressure would intensify.

Ben and Liv were in town for the stock show too. They stayed at the house with Blythe and her parents. Liv’s pregnancy was starting to show, but even Blythe had to admit, she looked great. She said her intuition told her she was having a girl, but swore to Ben she didn’t know for sure. Every time she referred to the baby as
her,
Ben winced.

“We have three of them,” Mark told him. “I lived. At least you’ve got some other testosterone in your house. Look at me. Even the dog is female.”

Jace called Blythe and asked if he could see her that night. The stock show didn’t open until the next day. Once it did, he still wanted to see her, but he wouldn’t have as much time.

Blythe was a nervous wreck waiting for him to get to the house. A couple times she thought about texting him and canceling, but they had plans to be at the show every day Billy and Jace were in town, so it would’ve been awkward to beg off their date.

When he got there, she invited him in. An hour later, she wished she hadn’t. Jace fit in so well with her parents, and Ben and Liv, she wondered if he remembered she was there.

Lost in thought, feeling ignored, she checked Facebook on her phone. When she looked up Jace was watching her. He smiled. And winked.

“You ready to go darlin’?”

“Sure. I mean, if you still want to. We could hang out here if you want.”

Jace stood in front of her. “Of course I still want to spend the evening with you sweet girl. I was trying to make a good impression on your parents, but I neglected you in the meantime, didn’t I?”

She shrugged.

“C’mon, let’s get outa here.”

“Where are we going?” she asked once they were in his truck.

“I have options for you. Either Augustine Grille or the Castle Café. What’s your pleasure darlin’?”

That was a tough decision. Both were in Castle Rock, about twenty minutes north of Monument. The Castle Café was more casual. Augustine Grille was definitely more romantic. She hated being the one to decide where to eat. Renie knew that about her and never made her pick. When she went out with Tucker, he hadn’t even asked.

“Oh my,” Jace said, touching her chin. “You’re workin’ quite a pout over there. You want me to choose darlin’?”

“Yes. You pick, either one is okay with me.”

He didn’t say anything on the drive. When he pulled up across the street from the grille, she grinned. He was going for romance.

“Figured I dropped the ball wooin’ you at Thanksgiving. Maybe you’ll let me give it another try. Whaddaya say?”

She didn’t answer him with words, but gave him a sweet smile instead. That seemed to make him happy.

Over dinner he told her all about training with Billy. As she’d asked Renie, she asked him if it was weird.

“Nah. I was over Renie by the time I met you Blythe.”

She raised her eyebrows.

“Okay, I’ll admit it. Maybe not over her, but resigned to her bein’ with Billy. No point beating a dead horse, if ya know what I mean.” That was the last they talked of Renie.

Blythe had hoped Jace would bring up Tucker himself, so she didn’t have to ask, but he didn’t.

He was affectionate and attentive throughout dinner, like he had been the day they spent skiing. It was hard to remember that had been Thanksgiving morning. So many things had happened that day, it seemed like two or three days crammed into one.

“Have you been to the Next Door Bar?” she asked him as they were leaving the grille.

“No, where is it? Next door?”

She laughed. “Not next door to here. It’s actually next door to Castle Café.”

“Let’s do it. Can we walk from here?”

“Definitely,” she answered.

This would give her a good opportunity to ask about Tucker.

“What happened Jace?”

“With Tuck?”

“Yeah.”