One Texas Night (19 page)

Rowdy smiled, knowing he’d just moved to third place and Dan had won first. He looked for Laurel but the rain curtained the other end of the arena from sight.

Fifteen minutes later, he roped a steer almost by the time he cleared the gate and rolled in the mud to twist the horns until the animal tumbled, splattering water and dirt all over him.

Rowdy stood, waved his hat and walked to the gate knowing he’d just taken the lead in steer roping. He stepped behind the pens looking for Dan but the rain was driving so hard he couldn’t see more than the dark outline of the barn. He guessed most of the hands sleeping around chuck wagons would be in the dry hay tonight.

Slashing through the mud, he headed toward the barn hoping to find Dan and congratulate him. When he stepped out of the rain at the side of the corral, he heard someone coming up fast behind him.

He swung around expecting Dan, but a fist caught him so hard in the stomach he folded over. All he saw were three men in oil slickers, boots and dark rain-drenched hats. The next blow knocked him against the side of the barn and he thought he heard the chime of silver spurs.

Rowdy shook his ringing head and came up fighting. He knew he hit one man hard enough on the jaw to knock him down and felt another’s nose crack beneath his knuckles, but their fists rained down worse than the storm. Finally, when he twisted to avoid one blow, a man behind him hit him hard in the back of the head with what felt like an anvil.

Rowdy crumbled and the dark night turned black. Vaguely, from far away, he thought he felt a few kicks to his ribs and then nothing.

Chapter 8

“Miss Hayes. Laurel?”

Laurel shifted in her chair by the window and looked around the café. Everyone from the rodeo seemed to have moved into the hotel out of the rain. Most of the cowboys were in the bar in the back, but her father had insisted she stay in the parlor surrounded by nursing mothers and whining children ready to go home.

She’d heard rumors that even though the dance tonight had be cancelled, there were still games the men called “outlawed events” going on. There the betting was heavy. Those not out in the rain participating were inside awaiting the outcome.

She had no idea where her sisters were, but her father had gone upstairs with several men to drink and play poker until the rain let up enough to head for home.

Staring out the window she decided that might never be.

“Laurel?” The whisper came again as if it were drifting in the wind.

She studied the people around her. No one was even looking in her direction.

“Laurel,” the voice whispered again.

This time she had a direction to follow. Three feet away she saw Bonnie Lynn serving tea to one of the older women.

“Yes,” Laurel took a chance and answered.

Bonnie Lynn only spared her a quick glance as she straightened. “Follow me.”

Laurel didn’t ask questions. She stood slowly, looked around and followed several feet behind Bonnie Lynn as they left the room and moved into a hallway to the kitchen that served both the parlor and the café.

“What is it?” she asked as soon as Bonnie Lynn turned around in the quiet passage.

“Dan’s at the kitchen door. He says he has to talk to you.”

If it had been anyone but Dan O’Brien, Laurel would have thought it was some kind of joke her sisters were playing on her.

“From the look on his face, I think you’d better hurry,” Bonnie Lynn said as she slipped into the kitchen.

Laurel tried not to look at the rotting food and dirty dishes scattered around. The place was so busy it looked as if it hadn’t been cleaned in weeks.

Just outside the back door, Dan stood in the rain. Bonnie Lynn was at her side as they stepped onto the tiny back porch. “What is it?” Laurel yelled over the rain and the kitchen noises behind her.

“It’s Darnell, miss. He’s hurt. I don’t know what to do for him.”

Bonnie Lynn’s hand caught Laurel’s arm before she could step into the downpour. “Wait, miss. Take my cape.”

It took all her control to stand still as the maid wrapped a cape over her shoulders. She pulled the hood up and Dan offered his arm.

“Where is he?” Laurel asked as she matched the big man’s stride.

“In the old barn down by the corrals.”

“What happened?”

“One of the men who work the stock said he saw three cowhands kicking something in the mud. He didn’t know it was a man until he almost fell over him when the cowhands walked away. We got him in the barn, but he’s bleeding, miss, and I wasn’t sure what to do.”

“What about the doctor?”

“Rowdy wouldn’t hear of us getting him. He says they’d disqualify him if they knew he was hurt.”

Laurel could barely speak. Fear blocked her words. “Did he tell you to come find me?”

“No, miss. He’s going to be madder than hell when he figures out I came to get you, but I’m hoping you can talk some sense into him.”

“But why me?”

Dan smiled. “I seen the way you looked at him that night at the dance and the way he looked at me when I was holding you. I didn’t think it was nothing much until I saw that basket of food this morning on his porch. A man don’t pack a basket with lace napkins, and the food was too hot to have come all the way from town.” He helped her over a mud hole and added, “It made sense it came from the captain’s place, and I knew if it was one of your sisters he liked that’d make my friend dumber than a warm cow patty.”

She looked away so he wouldn’t see her smile.

“Meaning no disrespect against your sisters.”

They stepped into the sudden silence of the barn.

“If you won’t take offense,” Dan said as he pointed to the loft, “I’ll swing you up.”

She nodded and she was lifted up like a child.

For a moment she saw nothing but hay, then, in the corner, a tiny light flickered.

“Bring another lantern,” she called down to Dan and ran toward Rowdy.

He moaned as she tugged his shoulder and turned him onto his back. Blood and mud were everywhere.

“Laurel,” he whispered, then tried to push her away.

“Stop it.” She shoved back. “Be still. I need to see where you’re hurt.”

“Pretty much all over,” he mumbled.

“Then let me look.”

She wasn’t sure if he passed out or just decided to follow orders for once. He crumbled like a rag doll.

The light wasn’t good enough to see, but she could feel. Laurel tugged off her cape and pressed her hand against his heart. It beat solid and strong. She took a deep breath and began to move over him, feeling the strong muscles of his body beneath his soaked clothes.

When she touched his left side, he jerked in pain but didn’t cry out. None of his limbs seemed broken but warm blood dripped from his bottom lip and nose. A cut sliced across his forehead close to his hairline and a knot as big as an egg stood out on the back of his skull. By the time Dan arrived with the lantern, she felt safe in believing Rowdy wasn’t going to die.

When Rowdy opened his eyes, she said, “You need to see a doctor.”

“No,” he answered.

“But . . .”

“No,” he repeated.

Dan knelt on one knee. “I figure whoever did this was trying to take Rowdy out of the competition. I don’t think it was anything personal. If we take him to a doc, he’ll be out no matter how it happened.”

“But he can’t ride tomorrow like this.”

“He has to. I heard one of the judges say if he places even third tomorrow, he’ll win best all-around.”

“No. His ribs could be broken.” She pulled his shirt away and saw the dark bruises already forming.

“Stop talking about me like I’m not in my right mind.” Rowdy swore as he forced himself to sit up. “I’m riding tomorrow. End of discussion.”

“I say no. It’s not worth risking your life.”

He stared at her. “If I don’t ride, I’ll be risking both our lives. I’m not willing to do that.” He closed his bruised hand over hers. “I’ve been hurt far worse than this. I can ride tomorrow.”

Laurel shoved the tear off her cheek. “Dan, can you get him home?”

“I’ll borrow a wagon and have him there in an hour.”

“Good. Stay with him until I get there. I’ll bring bandages and all the medicine I can find.”

If the big man thought it strange that Laurel Hayes was crying over Rowdy, he didn’t say a word. He helped her get him downstairs to a wagon. She pulled all the blankets from her buggy and packed them around him.

When Dan brought his horse and Cinnamon to the back of the wagon, she whispered her thanks.

“Ain’t nothing he wouldn’t do for me,” Dan answered, then hesitated before adding, “He’s a good man, Miss Laurel.”

“I know,” she answered. “I’ll be there as soon as I can.”

She watched the wagon move into the rain and then walked back to the hotel.

Bonnie Lynn met her at the kitchen door. “Your father is looking for you.”

She handed Bonnie Lynn back her cape and stepped into the hallway. She could hear her father yelling.

He’d lost at poker and was too drunk to notice the mud on her clothes. All he wanted to do was go home. When they reached the barn, he borrowed one of his men’s horses and had two of the cowhands ride with the women.

Her sisters complained about the lack of blankets until the men offered an arm around them. Laurel sat in the back too worried to be cold. She ordered the man driving to go faster, but he was in no hurry to get home. The road seemed endless.

When they finally made it, she ran in the house and up the stairs. Minutes later she was dressed in her wool riding clothes and leather jacket. Tossing all the supplies she could find in a bag, she started out of the house.

At the front door she almost collided with her father and one of his men.

“Where do you think you are going?”

Laurel knew better than to tell him the truth. She might be twenty, but he’d think he was well within his rights to lock her in her room if he thought she was leaving. “I’m going to check on my mare.”

“At this hour?” He wasn’t sober enough to figure out why her story made little sense.

“I couldn’t sleep. I think the mare might have hurt her leg.” She lifted the bag as if to prove what she was doing.

The cowhand laughed. “The horse isn’t the only one hurting tonight.”

To her shock, her father laughed and seemed to forget about Laurel. “We need a drink.” He put his arm around the cowhand. “You’ve put in a long day.”

Laurel disappeared the minute they turned the corner. She didn’t like the feeling gnawing away inside her. Despite all her father was, until now she never would have believed he would have done something so unfair. He wanted his men to win tomorrow and he seemed to be covering his bet with a beating.

She shot out of the barn and rode full out into the rain. Once she reached the water, she had to slow because the banks were slippery. She would do Rowdy no good if she broke her neck getting to him.

Ten minutes later, she stepped into the cabin.

Dan had built a fire and laid down straw to soften the bedroll. The rain had washed most of the mud off them both, but Rowdy was still bleeding.

Without a word, she set to work. Dan watched, fetched water when she needed more and kept the fire going, but he was helpless in doctoring.

“He started talking out of his head about halfway home.” Dan paced as he mumbled. “Kept wanting to know where you were and if you were all right. He thought you might get yourself in big trouble for coming to the barn.” Dan stopped and watched her for a while. “You care about him, don’t you, miss? That’s why you came even knowing it might not set well with your old man.”

“I do care,” she answered.

“Does your father know?”

“I have a feeling he might know something about Rowdy being hurt, but not about us.” She could only guess how angry her father would be. “If he did, they might have killed Rowdy tonight.”

Dan nodded, understanding. “I’m going to take care of the horses and then, if you don’t mind, I think I’ll sleep with my rifle on that porch. You just call me if you need me.”

“Thanks,” she said as he lifted Rowdy enough so she could circle a bandage around his ribs. “I’ll give him enough medicine to ease the pain. Maybe if he can sleep, he’ll feel better tomorrow morning.”

Dan left, closing the door. Laurel worked for another hour cleaning every cut until the bleeding stopped and keeping a cool rag on the back of Rowdy’s head. She knew no one would miss her until breakfast so she could stay until sunup and have plenty of time to get back.

Finally, exhausted, she curled next to him, placed her hand over his heart and fell asleep.

Chapter 9

Rowdy woke feeling warm in the calm darkness. He moved and felt pain rattle through his body.

He smiled, remembering how worried Laurel had looked. She couldn’t have known that he’d taken far worse in prison.

Silently, he took inventory. He was hurt but nothing was broken. In prison he’d been in fights where he wasn’t sure he’d ever stand much less walk again. This seemed mild in comparison.