The Cowboy Meets His Match (11 page)

Erin started to answer, but Sawyer cut her off. “Mel, we discussed this before. Doing it online will speed things up.”

Mel's irritation didn't diminish. “I know, but the Johnson Brothers have been working with the rodeo for the last fifteen years and I wanted to explain to them face-to-face how we were doing the bidding now. Since they're the biggest concrete manufacturer in the state, it's assumed they'd get the job. It would've been nice to have a heads-up.” He flushed, jutting out his chin.

“I'm sorry, Mel. I thought that's why the board hired me to bring this project in as close to budget as possible, but all jobs need to go through the same process. We want everything we do to be aboveboard, and we want to let everyone see our costs and be able to answer their questions.”

Mel's mouth tightened. Sawyer's answer obviously didn't sit well with him, but if he protested further, questions would arise.

He brought his chin down with a firm movement. “Next time, warn me. I just don't want to be hanging out there, looking like an amateur.”

“The Johnson Brothers know better, Mel. There's a contract process they go through with government entities,” Erin pointed out.

“I know that,” he snarled.

Something wasn't right. Sawyer traded glances with Erin and Traci. From their expressions, they thought so, too. Why complain about something the Johnson brothers knew they had to do to get a job?

“Let's go, Traci. Your mom is waiting on us.”

Mel and his daughter drove off in different cars. Erin and Sawyer stood there in the quiet night. In the distance, they could hear children playing and an occasional car or truck drive by.

Things were going so well.

“Where's your car?” Erin looked around the parking lot.

“I walked. I like the option of walking on this job.” Sawyer stepped closer to Erin. “How's your brother?”

“I haven't gotten a call from the school or my aunt, so I assume everything is good.”

“Since you didn't leave when school was over, I assume that Betty picked up Tate.”

“Auntie and I agreed she would do afternoon duty if I'd take morning.” She opened her truck door. “I don't know who is being punished the most—Tate, Auntie or me.”

He walked around the car and stood face-to-face with Erin. “It will be worth the price in the end. You're showing him that he matters.”

He wanted to say more than just “hang in there.” She cocked her head as if she understood his old hurts. “I'll remember that in the morning when I have to dash to the school at eight fifteen.” She opened her car door.

“You surprised me today,” Sawyer said, stepping closer.

She stood in the V of the open door. “How's that?”

“When you learned about Traci working on the website, I expected you to object, but you didn't. You sat down and worked with her. Why?”

She hesitated. “Traci won several awards for her website designs. She's good and she has a talent for it, and for me to object didn't make sense.”

Lots of people he knew wouldn't have taken that broad view. With every turn of the rodeo redo, this woman surprised him, kept him off guard. She acted with courage and grace, and his admiration for her was growing. No, it was more than admiration, but he wasn't ready to admit what emotion it was.

“Why don't you hop inside and I'll drive you to the hotel? I feel like there's a neon light shining on us for everyone to see.” She unlocked his door from the panel on the driver's door.

“Are you going to ask more questions if you drive me to the hotel?” Sawyer asked.

“No, but I might answer some.”

He raced around the truck and hopped in. Quiet ruled in the cab on the short drive. She parked in front of his room.

“I'm going to explain some things. Traci's ideas on the website were good, and I asked her about the different ideas she had for the setup. It made sense for her to do it.”

“But you and she haven't been getting along,” Sawyer commented. He had been talking to people in town. He didn't want to walk into a war zone.

“Traci does excellent work with her websites and graphics. She's set up websites for different people in town and around the county.”

He stared at her, as if to make sure she wasn't teasing him. “Why this change?”

“Because, as Traci told me about her ideas, I suddenly realized how much I missed talking to her. How my life had diminished since our...dustup. Fight?”

“Fight? I heard it was more like a major battle.”

“It ended our friendship. I really didn't realize the depth of her feelings for Andy. I knew I didn't love Andy enough to marry him. I wanted to go to college, compete on the rodeo circuit and do things I couldn't if I stayed here. I had big dreams, and getting married wasn't one of them.” She shook her head. “Looking back on some of the comments Traci made, I can see she had feelings for Andy.”

“I heard that blowout wasn't your fault.”

“I could've handled things better, but I didn't try.” She took a breath and rested her head on the headrest. “As a matter of fact, I think you should let Traci run the website. You could check out bids and then decide which ones are the best.”

He considered her idea, but he wasn't that comfortable trusting Traci at this point. “I might ask you if the person doing the bidding is up to the job.”

Erin nodded. “Sure, or ask the secretary. You could even check the person out with Lulu.”

He noticed her list of who to check with. “Not Mel or Traci?”

“At this point, things are still too new and shaky.” She shrugged. “Traci is too involved with her dad. And, lately, Mel's actions are off.”

Lencho walked out of the office and he looked into the driver's seat.

Erin rolled down her window and smiled, feeling like a high school girl being caught by her parents out in the car.

“Is everything all right here?” Lencho asked.

“We're talking about the website.” Sawyer leaned forward to see the teen's face. “You know that we took it live a few minutes ago.”

“You're fooling me,” Lencho said.

He gave the address of the domain. “Check it out,” Sawyer instructed. “Tell us what you think and look over the jobs that need to be done.”

“Lencho, we need you to spread the word about it. It's the future of rodeo, so we want to be cutting-edge,” Erin explained.

Leaning down, he addressed Sawyer. “I like the idea. I'll go look.” He turned and dashed into the lobby.

“Maybe we won't have to do any advertising.”

“You're right.”

Sawyer started to lean closer to brush a kiss across her lips. Then they heard a door slam. He jerked up straight and slipped out of the car and walked to his room.

What was happening? Next thing he knew, he'd want to court her. He needed to remember he had a job to do here and nothing else.

Chapter Eight

E
rin sat in her dad's office. “Thank You, Lord. Dad's getting better and better.” She took a deep, steadying breath. The doctors couldn't say the extent of the damage caused by the stroke. Time would tell. Since her sister was there in the city finishing her degree at the university, Kai would visit the hospital daily, bring her iPad and they'd FaceTime. Erin felt torn between driving to Albuquerque to be with her father and staying put, tending to the rodeo, which she knew he wanted. When she'd suggested coming to see him, both her parents had nixed the idea. They counted on her to oversee the redo.

Where had the week gone? The days melted one into another and there wasn't a moment when they weren't all busy. Lencho had his pulse on the pipeline of information. Within a day, everyone in the county knew about the job openings and every proposal had been bid on.

Sawyer asked about the people who bid on the different jobs and listened to Erin and Traci give him background on them.

Erin savored the process. The man listened to her. He argued his position. Sometimes his ideas were better than hers, and sometimes it went the other way. She loved it and had never felt so alive. She felt herself blooming, growing and being challenged in a way she hadn't before. The unique experience burrowed into her heart, especially after the near miss of a kiss in the library and again last night at his motel. The back door crashed against the wall and it sounded as if a herd of horses were running through the house. Erin stood, hurried to the library door and caught a glimpse of Tate's face, which resembled a thundercloud. He stomped past her and into his room, slamming the door behind him. Amazingly, the door stayed on its hinges. Erin looked back and saw Betty's sober expression. She shook her head.

Erin walked into the kitchen. “What's wrong?”

Betty sighed. “Some boy yelled out that Delong's ride was here. Another boy mentioned that his mama quit picking him up when he was in the first grade. It didn't go well after that.” She poured herself a glass of water and sat at the table. “I wanted to get out of the car and straighten that young man out, but I knew it would make things worse for your brother.”

Erin wanted to go and talk to him but stopped herself, knowing that Sawyer would recommend leaving her brother alone for a while.

“You're not going to talk to Tate?”

“No.”

Betty studied her. “What happened?”

“Sawyer's made me realize that sometimes, with a young man, you don't have to have the answer immediately. You wait until they are ready.”

“Ah, a wise man.”

Erin shrugged. “I don't know if I'd call him a wise man, but he is helping me understand things from Tate's view.”

“I think Sawyer's thinking is wise.”

“I heard my name mentioned,” Sawyer called out from the walk leading to the back door. Obviously their conversation had drifted outside. He walked inside. “Betty, did you say something about me being wise?” His eyes twinkled as he looked at her.

“And you have excellent hearing, too,” Betty added.

He laughed.

“What are you doing out here?” Erin asked.

“It sounds as if you don't want me.” He stood behind one of the kitchen chairs, looking from Betty to Erin with a wounded expression.

“What Daughter means is that your appearance is a surprise.”

Sawyer studied her. Erin felt itchy under his gaze, remembering how close they had come to a real kiss.

“Why are you here?” she asked.

His eyes danced. “I realized the last time I rode how much I missed riding.”

Tate's door opened, and he walked out of his room. “I thought I heard you.”

“I'm here to ride.”

The thundercloud lifted from her brother's face. “I'd like that. C'mon, let's go saddle the mounts.” Tate headed outside.

Sawyer's gaze met Erin's. “That okay with you?”

Relief flooded her and she smiled. “That's an excellent idea.”

He stepped closer and whispered, “I thought your brother might need some guy time after being hauled around all week by women.”

“Thank you,” she whispered and had to stop herself from brushing a kiss across his cheek.

“It would've been okay with me if you'd done it.”

Her heart raced as if he'd heard her thoughts.

He turned and walked outside, leaving Erin with her mouth hanging open.

Betty laughed. “I've never seen a man able to confuse you like that.”

Starting to protest, Erin saw Betty shake her head. Erin snapped her mouth shut.

“Good. Truth is good.”

* * *

Sawyer and Tate rode north of the ranch house.

Stopping his horse, Sawyer took in the harsh landscape. Range grass grew in clumps. Tree-like cacti and shorter cluster groups of cactus dotted the horizon along with rocks and boulders.

Tate pulled on the reins when he noticed Sawyer had stopped. “What are you looking at?”

“There's a rare beauty to this land.”

Tate turned his mount around and rode back to where Sawyer sat. “Are you sure the folks at the rodeo haven't hit you in the head?”

Chuckling to himself, Sawyer understood what Tate asked. “I guess you might think me crazy, but I like this place. I feel it in my bones.”

“Now I know you're nuts.”

Sawyer lightly kicked his horse into motion. “Why would you say that?”

“Because you see how harsh this land is. What's the beauty in that?”

“The simplicity. The starkness. The colors.”

Tate looked at the landscape again and shrugged. “If you say so.”

They continued riding. The land dipped, and they walked their mounts down into the gully below.

“How'd the week go?” Sawyer asked.

Tate's lips tightened.

“Has your sister told you what's going on with the rodeo? Have you seen the website?”

“I looked. I'm surprised Sis could do that.”

“She didn't. Traci did. And she worked with your sister on it.”

Stopping his horse, Tate blinked at Sawyer. “Are you trying to pull something on me?”

“No. It made me do a double take, too. But this week, they've worked together on the website, getting it up and running.”

“That's unreal.”

“Proves you shouldn't lose faith.”

“All I know is that I'm a laughingstock at school. Baby Tate is what they're calling me.”

Stopping his mount, Sawyer leaned on the saddle horn. “What it proves is that you're a man who takes his punishment without complaining. Ignore the other guys. They know you ditched and were caught. Let their stupidity roll off your back. You know you're paying for what you did. Be proud of yourself. I am.”

“Really?”

“You got it. I've been on the wrong end of different situations. Some were my mistakes. Others weren't. I'll admit, I had a mouth as a teen.” Sawyer remembered the beatings he'd gotten. “It took a while for me to smarten up. When my mouth almost got me and my brother beaten to a pulp, I decided it was time to change.

“You strike me as a smarter guy than I was. It might look dark now, but God's in control.”

“What if my dad dies? I mean when Mom calls, she's always so cheerful, trying to hide Dad's condition, but I hear Auntie and Erin talking. They should be up-front with me. I mean Sis could pick me up after school and take me to see Dad.”

The fear in Tate's voice punched Sawyer in the heart. “True, but a five-hour round trip is not something you could do during the week. Hey, the FaceTime exchanges are great. You get to see your parents.”

Tate scowled.

“Sometimes moms try to shield their children.” That was an experience Sawyer had never had. “Be up-front and honest with your mom. Tell her you worry more not knowing. She'll respond. Has your sister talked about what they think is going to happen?”

“No. When I saw Dad after the stroke, he was pretty out of it. I know he wanted Sis to take over for him.”

“True, but I don't think your father would want you to spin out of control. You want to be able to face him and lift your head up high and say, ‘I stood strong.'”

Tate didn't look sure, but he nodded.

“I wanted to ask you if you like the rodeo. Have a specialty?”

“I love trick riding. Sometimes I work with Dad and the other wranglers, but I haven't competed.”

“You've got to do what you love.”

Tate stopped and stared at him. “You mean you're not going to lecture me about tradition? I need to compete since my great-grandfather started the rodeo?”

“No.”

After a moment of thinking, Tate nodded and started riding. They didn't say anything on the ride back to the barn.

* * *

“Who's that riding back into the corral with Tate?” Mary Morning Star Delong asked as she entered the kitchen.

Her mother's voice startled Erin so badly that all sorts of bad outcomes raced through her mind. Had something happened to her father? Erin jumped up from the table and ran to her mother's side. “Is Dad okay? Why didn't you tell us you were coming home?”

“Your father's condition has improved enough that the nurses encouraged me to go home and sleep in my own bed.”

“So Dad's doing better? Talking and moving his arms and legs?” Erin's heart danced at the news.

“He is, and he asked about you and the rodeo.” Her mom's eyes glistened with moisture.

Both Erin and Betty smiled.

“But no one has answered my question about the man who rode in with your brother. I assume that truck parked in our driveway is his.”

Erin nodded. “Sawyer Jensen. He's the man the rodeo board hired to do the rodeo overhaul.” Erin had avoided telling her mother details of her initial meeting with Sawyer.

Mary studied her sister, then daughter. “And what's he doing here?”

“He's been out riding with Tate,” Erin answered.

“Is that wise?”

Mary barely stood five feet tall, and had lost her slender frame years ago, but anyone who thought Mary wasn't a force to be reckoned with hadn't met her.

“Mom, Tate hadn't said anything about Dad, but all anyone needed to do was look at him to know he is hurting. Sawyer stepped in to help. It's been good for Tate.”

“It's true, Sister.”

Before anyone could respond, the screen door opened and the men walked in.

Tate froze and Sawyer bumped into him. He reached out and steadied the teen.

Her mom didn't wait for her son to say anything, but embraced him. She whispered softly in Tate's ear in Navajo. He nodded.

Mary stepped back and studied Sawyer. Although the height difference should've been comical, somehow Erin saw equally matched opponents.

“I'm Mary Morning Star Delong. And you are?”

Sawyer took Mary's hand and met her probing gaze head-on. “I'm Sawyer Jensen. It's nice to meet you, ma'am. I hope everything is all right with your husband.”

“Detrick is doing better and encouraged me to come home for the weekend. I decided my children needed to see their mother.”

“I'm glad to hear it. You have a wonderful family.” He didn't retreat under her scrutiny.

Mary nodded her head regally.

Erin knew more would come. No one moved, waiting for Mary to continue. “So, you are the man who won the contract over my daughter.”

Her mother didn't disappoint Erin. No bitterness or anger tinged Mary's words, just strength to learn the truth. Ground rules were laid out.

Sawyer didn't shrink away; instead, he stood up straighter. “I am, but Erin and I have been working together, and she's pointed out some places where I needed to improve my plan.”

Tate snorted. Betty harrumphed.

Mary glanced at her son as to stop any further “comments.”

“So, you and my daughter are working together?”

“We are. And Erin and Traci have been collaborating this week on the website for the rest of the county to see and use.”

“I see.” Her mother turned to Erin, and Erin saw the countless questions she would have to answer. “Many things have changed.”

“Yes, the world's been turned upside down,” Betty commented.

Erin fought ducking her head. Suddenly, she felt exposed in a way she hadn't since she was six and dyed her mother's prize lamb green for Saint Patrick's Day.

“Stay for dinner with us, Sawyer,” Mary said. “I would like to learn more of your plan and the working relationship you've developed with my children.”

Her mother had
that
tone, which no one refused. “Thank you, ma'am. I appreciate the invitation, but I need to be back in town.”

Shock ran through the kitchen from Erin and Tate to Betty and Mary. No one had ever refused Mary when she used that tone.

Mary quickly hid her reaction and studied him. Sawyer didn't squirm under her mother's penetrating gaze.

Slowly, acceptance filled Mary's eyes. “Then you must have Sunday dinner with us after church. I would like to learn more about you and what you are working on for the rodeo.”

“I don't wish to be trouble, ma'am.”

“Sometimes no matter how hard we try, we are. So stop fighting it and accept your role.”

Sawyer blinked, then a smile curved his mouth. “I see the mother is as formidable as the daughter.”

“Give in now,” Tate said. “Your life will be simpler.” He snatched a piece of bread out of the bowl on the table.

“I'd be delighted.” He nodded and walked out.

Erin followed Sawyer to his truck. When he heard the screen door slam, he paused and turned.

“Is there something else?”

He stood there, open and ready to answer any of her questions.

She waited until she stood before him, not wanting her words to carry on the wind. “Thank you for reaching out to Tate.”