Austin (New Horizon Ranch Book 8) (12 page)

“Nope,” Jolene said. “My friends will get me. Maddie knows why I do what I do. Don’t you, Maddie?”

Maddie nodded. “Girlfriend, that must be some strong painkiller you are on. We’ve got her, Austin. You look like the dickens. Stop worrying and go relax somewhere.”

Jolene’s head spun as Maddie and Sadie put arms around her, careful not to bump her hurt arm, and helped her into her apartment.

Jolene glanced over her shoulder and saw Austin holding his hat in his hands and looking as if he’d just left her funeral.

“I’m not dead,” she called. “But I don’t feel so good.”

Austin climbed in his truck and got out of there. He went to town. He was still on duty. By Tuesday, he was worn out from not sleeping much. He’d called on Monday and asked Maddie how Jolene was doing; Maddie said she was mending but still in pain and taking the pain medication.

He saw Ty at Pete’s Feed and Seed and he told Austin it would be awhile before she could ride.

The thought that at least she was safe flickered through his head.

But it gave him no satisfaction.

On Monday night, Jolene finally called him. He had reached his limit and couldn’t stay away any longer so he was relieved to hear her voice.

“Austin,” she said, her voice sounded soft and he thought, regretful. Instantly he was on alert. . “I’m not going to make the trip tomorrow. I hope your niece has a wonderful program.”

His heart tightened as his grip did the same on the phone. He’d known this was coming. “I wish you would reconsider. How are you feeling today?”

There was silence on the line. “I’m not on pain meds. That’s a plus. I hate not remembering what’s been said by me or around me. I hope I made sense when I was with you.”

He wondered whether she had a clue what she’d said to him. He would never forget that she’d told him she wanted to kiss him…but he’d messed that up royally. And it was probably true but she had a dangerous job. Even if Charles was still alive and Austin hadn’t seen firsthand how dangerous her job was, Austinwould have still felt like her career choice was too dangerous for her.

“You were fine. I wish you would come with me.”

“I can’t.”

There was silence between them.

“Austin,.” she said at last..

“Yes,” he answered, feeling stiff and out of sorts.

“Nothing… Good-bye.”

He sat in his patrol vehicle and tried to tell himself that that wasn’t a good-bye for good. But it was probably for the best. There was no sense prolonging the inevitable. The longer they pretended their differences didn’t cause contention in their relationship, the harder it would be to move on.

Chapter Fourteen

“How about ice cream to celebrate your performance?” Austin picked up Julie and gave her a big hug. She was still in her tulip outfit and the pink flower headpiece bobbed back and forth as she nodded enthusiastically.

“Yes!” she added, as if to make sure there was no misunderstanding. “I like strawberry, Uncle Austin.”

“Then strawberry you’ll have.” He set her on her feet. At six, she was growing up. It killed him every time he thought about her not having her dad here to watch her grow. He caught the sad look in Sydney’s eyes and knew she was thinking something similar. He’d caught her dabbing at her eyes during the program too.

“You okay?” he asked, immediately thinking of Jolene and how many times on Sunday he’d asked her the same thing.

“I’m fine. Just missing Charles. He’d have loved this.”

“Yes, I know he would have. Come on, let’s get Miss Broadway her ice cream.”

After they’d settled at the table and Julie had scarfed down her sundae, she’d run to play with some of her friends on the playground.

“So, what’s up, big brother?”

He kept his expression blank. “What do you mean?”

She laughed. “Don’t give me that blank look. You know something is bothering you and you know I can see it. You love chocolate ice cream and you haven’t eaten but maybe one bite of that now melting glob of goo in your cup. And you’re extremely quiet.”

He set his spoon down. “Do you ever get mad at Charles for riding that bronc?”

“Well, that came out of left field.” She thought about it for a moment. “I’ll admit that I did for a long time. But, then about two months after Charles was killed, a woman I knew here in town died. Everyone in town knew Peg. She was a shell of a woman who barely got out. She was afraid of everything and protected herself from it by not leaving her home much. She died in her home when she tripped on a rug in her kitchen, fell and hit her head. When they found her, they said she’d been dead for days.”

“Man, that’s terrible.”

“Yes, it was. But it hit me, Austin. That Charles could have played it completely safe, ignored something that gave him tremendous joy and lived to have a long life. Instead, he lived a shorter life enjoying what he loved.”

“What about you and Julie? He loved y’all.”

She looked sad. “Yes, he did. And he wouldn’t have left us for the world. But, thinking about it, he knew what he was doing, had the skills to do the job. He wasn’t reckless. He was good training horses. It was just a freak accident. He could have just as easily had a car wreck or fallen off the roof fixing a shingle or something else freakish like that. I make myself remember that when I start feeling sorry for myself.”

Austin looked away.

“Who is it, Austin? Someone has you tied in knots.”

“Yeah, she does. But I don’t know if I could do what you do.”

She looked curious. “Does she break horses or something?”

“Yeah, she does. And she got hurt Sunday.”

“Ahhh.” Sydney sighed. “So that’s it. Do you love her?”

He gave a dry laugh. “I barely know her.”

“I didn’t ask that. I asked do you love her?”

“Yes, I do,” he admitted at last.

Sydney laid her hands on top of his and squeezed tightly. “Then hold on to her as hard as you can. Because differences can be overcome but love is too special to give up on. I didn’t have as long with Charles as I’d hoped for. But I wouldn’t have missed a moment of it, even if I’d known I was going to lose him early.” Tears dampened her eyes.

Austin was amazed by his sister. She had come such a long way. “You’re going to be okay, aren’t you?”

She smiled softly. “I am. I won’t forget, ever…but Charles would be the first to cheer me on to be strong, especially for Julie. Austin, what’s her name, this woman who has captured your heart?”

“Jolene.” Austin heart tugged hard.

“The odds that you’d fall in love with someone with the same love as Charles is…hard but okay. If you’re worried about me, don’t be. I can’t wait to meet her. Did I ever tell you that I loved watching Charles breaking a horse? It was a beautiful sight watching the way he worked with it and then when he finally moved into the saddle, it always took my breath away.” Her gaze softened. “It was one of the things that attracted me to him.”

Austin let that sink in. “I don’t know if I can do that.”

“If you love her,” Sydney cocked her head and met his gaze, “you’ll love her and support her choices.” Sydney kissed his cheek. “Don’t let fear hold you back. I so want you to have and to
feel
what I was so privileged to have with Charles. If you pass it by you’ll live to regret it. And I can tell you that I don’t regret one moment spent with Charles.” She cupped his jaw. “Don’t pass it by.”

Jolene bit back a yelp as she hauled a saddle off the saddle rack and it dropped to the ground, yanking her with it as she tried to hold onto it with one hand. Breathing hard, she lifted it up and propped it on her hip as she strode out of the barn and into the sunshine.

“Jolene, come on, what are you doing?” Dalton hopped from his horse and strode over to try to take the saddle from her.

“I’ve got this, Dalton.”

“You have a broken collarbone.”

Rafe dismounted and stuffed his fist on his hips. “You are as stubborn as Maddie Masterson. She wouldn’t quit when she was hurt either. You are not getting on a horse today. Tell her, Ty.”

Ty came out of the round pen. “No way. The doctor said take it easy. You’ll be in worse shape than now if you rush this.”

“They’re right.” Treb, the foreman, moved from where he was helping Maddie load horses on a trailer. “You’re not going to be any good to anyone if you keep this up.”

Heat suffused her. “I am going stir-crazy just sitting around. If I can’t break horses right now, I can go on a roundup.”

“No ma’am, you cannot.” Dalton took the saddle.

Maddie came out of the trailer. “I get it, Jolene, but when I was hurt I had to listen to reason. You have to get well. And that collarbone will be screaming at you after a day of being jostled around on a horse.”

Jolene’s attention was snagged by a truck pulling to a halt beside the trailer.

Austin.

Her pulse rate instantly shot to the moon. She’d missed him. Been furious with him. And missed him some more…the missing could not be overcome. The missing was a deep wretched emotion that curled in the pit of her soul and hurt more than her injuries.

Her bosses all grew silent as everyone watched Austin cross the parking lot with purposeful steps.

“A man on a mission,” Maddie muttered and shot Jolene a grin.

Jolene moistened her suddenly dry lips as she watched him cross the parking lot. To her surprise, he didn’t stop until he stood half a foot in front of her.

“Jolene, we need to talk.”

“We have nothing to talk about.”

He bumped his hat back off his forehead and narrowed his gaze. “Yes, darlin’, we do. And if you want to do it here with witnesses, that’s fine with me. I love you. I want to spend the rest of my life getting to know every little hope and joy and desire of your heart.”

“But—”

He stopped her words with a gentle finger to her lips. “I want you to do what you love. I’ll deal with my fear for you but what I can’t deal with is not having you.”

Jolene’s mouth wouldn’t move. Her lips were on pause as she stared in disbelief. No one who loved her had ever supported her in her career choice. It was their fear for her that held them back and now Austin had acknowledged that he would deal with it because he loved her.

“You mean that?”

He nodded; he stepped close and cupped her face between his palms and he kissed her. Gently, ever so thoroughly, and leaving her breathless. “I mean it. Every word of it.”

Jolene knew her bosses were all watching but she didn’t care as she leaned into himand laid her head on his chest, feeling his strong heartbeat pounding there. “I mean it too. I can’t stand the thought of you not being here with me.” And then she lifted her head for another kiss.

He looked into her eyes. “We’re going to get through this and I’m going to support your choices. I love you.” And then he lowered his head and his lips met hers…and the differences and worries melted away in the circle of their love.

Epilogue

“How do I look?” Jolene asked the small room full of friends. She felt nervous and happy and thrilled as she gently ran a hand down the simple white wedding dress that she wore with her white cowboy boots. Boots that Austin had given her just for the occasion as a show of support for her career. It had touched her deeply.

Now, as she looked at all of her new friends she thanked God for bringing her to New Horizon Ranch. The door to her other jobs had closed but He’d opened this door for her and she’d never looked back. And these women and their husbands’ had welcomed her: Maddie and Cliff, Mia and Ty, Amber and Chase, Sadie and Rafe, Rae Ann and Dalton and Megan and Treb. And they were all standing up with her. Their husbands were standing with Austin. Both of them felt like they’d belonged here all of their lives and were excited to get started on that life together.

“Beautiful,” Maddie said instantly. “And I love the boots.”

“So pretty and perfect,” Sadie agreed and everyone else said similar words of encouragement.

“Thank y’all. I’m just so nervous.”

“That’s normal,” Mia laughed.

“It’s a day you’ll never forget.” Rae Ann smiled and looked teary eyed.

“Don’t start crying,” Jolene warned, unable to stop smiling. “I’ll start blubbering if you do.”

Everyone dabbed at their eyes.

Amber stepped up and hugged her. “I’m just so happy for you. And we are so glad you here.”

Megan put her hand on her heart. “Austin is going to fall in love all over again when he sees you.”

“Ain’t that the truth,” Norma Sue agreed stepping into the room and grinning at Jolene. “You clean up good for a cowgirl.”

Jolene laughed. The ranch woman was a kindred spirit in her love of all things western living. “Thanks, Norma Sue. You do too. I love the sprig of daises you put on your Stetson for the wedding.”

“I like to be festive. So are you ready?” She peeked out the door. “Adela is at the piano and Esther Mae says the church is full. “Oh my goodness,” she gushed suddenly.