A Wild Ride (23 page)

Dante nodded and Gramps released his hand. “Thanks,” Dante said and then pulled his grandfather into a hug. “I’ll do my best for both of them.”

“I know you will,” Gramps said, and Dante released him and then stood up. “Go on,” Gramps prodded, and Dante turned and left the room to try to find his lover. He wandered through the house and then outside, finally finding Ryan beside one of the paddocks.

“Did you figure out what you want to do?” Ryan asked without turning around.

“Not yet,” Dante answered as he leaned on the fence rail next to Ryan. “I know what I want to do, but what actually happens… well, part of that depends on you.” Dante watched as one of Gramps’s horses ambled up to where they were leaning, looking for treats.

Ryan straightened up and turned toward him. “How so? This is your family’s ranch.”

“I know, but….” Dante faltered briefly. “I want you in my life. The time we’ve had together hasn’t just been us fooling around, so that means if I keep the ranch, then….” God, why was this so hard? Dante took a deep breath and plowed on. “If I decide to keep the ranch, it affects you, because I’m hoping you’ll live here too someday. If I keep it, then I’m tied to the land and this place.”

Ryan grinned. “I’ve known that for a while.”

“You bastard, you made me say all that on purpose,” Dante said, tugging Ryan close.

“Yeah, because sometimes a guy likes to be asked. And for the record, I want you to keep the ranch. My condo is just the place I come home to after work. It’s nice, but it isn’t home. I haven’t had a home in a long time. So when the time comes, I’ll sell it and move out here, if that’s what you’re asking. As long as we can get high-speed Internet and cable TV and stuff, we can convert one of the bedrooms to an office, and I can work there most days and go in to Houston when I need to meet with clients. It can work if we make it work.” Ryan leaned closer. “If you want to make it work.”

“How do you do that? You seem to know what I want before I say anything,” Dante said.

“Hey,” Ryan whispered. “Close your eyes and let everything go.” Dante wasn’t sure if this was the right place for this, but he did as Ryan asked. “Good. Now listen to your heart. It’ll tell you what I want because I’m part of you, just like you’re part of me.” Dante nodded and let the warmth spread through his body. “See, you already knew the answer before you asked. This is a wonderful place, with space for horses and cattle, and maybe a kid or two.” Dante’s eyes popped open, and Ryan smiled back to him. “Not for a while, but yeah, we can have kids.”

The warmth spread further and deepened. This was so right, bone-deep right. Then Ryan kissed him, and everything was better than right. It was perfect.

R
YAN
pulled into the covered entrance outside the arena. “Can I help you?” one of the guards asked warily through the window. Ryan flashed the pass Dante had given him, and it was like the waters parted. Ryan opened the truck door, and the surly guard was now all smiles. “Sorry about that,” he said, and Ryan smiled back.

“No problem,” he said as he walked around to the tailgate. He lowered it and carefully removed the wheelchair from the back.

“Can we help?” the guard asked, taking the chair and getting it set up while Ryan reached behind his seat and pulled out the pads that would help Hy be more comfortable.

“Thank you,” Ryan said, and then he made sure the pads were all properly set before wheeling the chair to the passenger door. He opened it and unbuckled Hy before gently lifting him into the chair. A year ago, if anyone had told him he would be able to lift Hy in and out of his chair, he’d have said they were crazy, but you do what you have to, and he’d promised Dante he’d take care of Hy when he was away.

The past year had been the best of his life, though in some ways also the hardest. He’d moved out to the ranch a month before Dante had gone back on the road with the circuit. The time apart had been the toughest. He’d about nerved himself half to death until he’d gotten the call each night from Dante, telling him that he’d made it to wherever they were going or that he’d had a good ride. Some of the phone calls had nearly scared him out of his wits, but he did his best to keep his worry to himself. Dante had been having the season of his life. Whenever Ryan had watched him on television, he’d been able to see it. A few times he’d been able to attend an event in person, but mostly when Dante was away he looked after Hy or worked.

The months had not been kind to Hy, but he was a tough old bird, and with treatments and medication, he’d managed to weather the past year better than most would have. “Are you ready to watch Dante?” Ryan asked, and Hy smiled the half smile he could manage. The guard closed the truck door.

“You can park right there if you want,” the guard said, indicating a parking space. “That was supposed to be my spot, but my wife dropped me off. I’ll stay with him.”

“Much obliged,” Ryan said, and he got the truck pulled into the spot, then walked back to where Hy and the guard waited. “Thank you,” Ryan said and slowly pushed Hy through the doors and into the arena.

The sound of the crowd nearly blew him back outside as they yelled and cheered for whatever was happening. “What’s going on?” Ryan asked, hoping they hadn’t missed Dante’s ride. It had taken longer than he’d expected to get on the road.

“Just the initial entertainment to warm up the crowd,” a man said, and Ryan thanked him. He pulled the tickets out of his shirt pocket and walked around to the section indicated before handing them to a man at the door. He led them down a sloped ramp and into the arena proper to a section with a seat and a place for Hy’s chair.

“Dante took care of everything,” Ryan told Hy, getting him into position so he could see. People were running off the arena floor whooping and hollering, and the crowd answered until they disappeared. Then the din settled to the sound of a thousand individual conversations until the riding order flashed on the screens that hung above the arena floor and the deep voice of the announcer informed the crowd of the current standing and which rider would be riding which bull. All of that information was available on the screens, but the announcement was tradition, and cowboys were all about their traditions.

“Do you want something to drink?” Ryan asked Hy, and he got the small bit of movement that indicated yes. Ryan knew what Hy wanted, but with his medication, a beer was out of the question, so he opened a small bottle of water from the cooler he’d brought along, placed a straw in it, and then held it to Hy’s mouth so he could drink.

“It’s lovely how you take care of your grandfather,” the woman behind them said.

Ryan turned to her and smiled. “Thank you,” Ryan said. He’d long ago stopped correcting people, and it didn’t matter anyhow. Hy was nearly as much a grandfather to him as he was to Dante. Ryan had never known either set of his actual grandparents, so Hy had simply slipped into that role for him. “Dante rides second to last,” Ryan told Hy, and he half expected him to drift to sleep for a while until it got closer to Dante’s turn.

“Are you Rivers’s fans?” the woman asked, and Ryan turned back to her again. “We’re rooting for Maddox. He won last year and is right near the top of the standings. He and Rivers have been neck and neck all season.” She leaned closer. “You do know what they’re saying about that Rivers boy?” she said in a whisper, raising her eyebrows.

Ryan couldn’t resist. “Yes, and you know what?” She shook her head in anticipation of a bit of juicy gossip. “It’s true.” She stiffened. “I know, because when he’s home, I’m the one he sleeps with.” Ryan heard her gasp, and she turned to her husband, who began to laugh.

“He’s pulling yer leg, Ruth,” he said, and Ryan felt the other man smack him lightly on the shoulder. “That was a good one.” Ryan chuckled and kept to himself as the first rider was announced. Ryan watched as they got ready just off to the side of them. Ryan swore they were almost close enough to the chute that he could smell the damned bull.

Suddenly, the gate burst open. The cowboy and bull burst into the arena, the bull jumping and twisting. Within seconds, the cowboy flew off the bull and landed in the dirt. The bull kept jumping, and Ryan cringed and looked away. When he looked back, the cowboy was hightailing it toward the fence with the damned bull right behind him. The smack of the bull running into the rail resounded across the arena and settled right into Ryan’s spine. The clowns captured the bull’s attention, leading him away while the cowboy waved to the crowd. Even though he’d been thrown, he played to the crowd and then left the arena. Ryan clapped and yelled with the rest of the crowd even as his stomach tied itself in knots.

Rider after rider took their turn. Most stayed on; some didn’t. One got stomped and dragged until the clowns could get him away from the bull. Ryan couldn’t watch, as all he could see was Dante being carried out of the arena on the stretcher. “I’m fine,” he told himself. Dante had made it all the way through the season and he only had one more ride.

“Ladies and gentlemen, our last riders are numbers one and two in the standings, separated by less than a point. Put your hands together for Dante Rivers!” The last part of the announcement was drowned out by the sound of the crowd as Dante climbed onto the side of the cage and waved his hat to the crowd. Tingles went up Ryan’s spine and goose bumps broke out on his skin at the thought that all this was for Dante. Many times he’d wanted to ask him to quit and come home, but he could never bring himself to do it, and now he was happy he hadn’t. Everyone deserved their moment in the sun, and this was Dante’s. Good or bad, this was Dante’s last ride.

The crowd stilled as Dante lowered himself onto the bull. Ryan knew he was wrapping the bull rope so he could get his hand out when he needed to. Dante had told him everything he did, and Ryan watched all of it. He saw Dante’s body stiffen, and when he nodded slightly, the gate opened. From then on, everything seemed to happen in slow motion. The bull jumped out of the gate and swung around, trying to get Dante off his back, but all Dante did was spur him on and swing his arm in the air. Dante’s hat went one direction and he the other as the bull lunged toward the side of the arena. Dante had told him they sometimes tried to squeeze riders into the rails, but Dante spurred the bastard again. To Ryan it looked like the eighteen-hundred-pound bull went straight up and then came straight down. Dante was having the time of his life; even Ryan could see that. Whatever happened, win or lose, Dante was giving them all a show and showing them all how it was done.

The buzzer sounded and that fucking bull went nuts. Ryan watched as Dante held on, and then the bull bucked again. This time, Dante flew through the air, and goddamn if he didn’t land on his feet. Ryan thought for a second Dante was going to take a bow, but he raced for the rail and then watched as the rodeo clowns herded the bull away. One of the men handed him his hat. Dante waved it, and the crowd went wild.

Ryan saw Dante looking over the crowd, and he knew the exact moment he saw them. Dante broke into a radiant smile, the same one he reserved for those special moments—the one that Ryan knew was for him alone. Then Dante brought his arm close to his body and flung his hat into the crowd. The applause had started to die down, but it swelled again, and Dante basked in it. Ryan got to his feet, adding his own cries, and stomped his feet along with everyone else. Then the score flashed on the board and the entire place erupted all over again. Even the Maddox fans behind him were screaming their lungs out. Dante was in first place, but would the score hold?

Eventually Dante climbed down from the rail, and the crowd settled down, but the air bristled with electricity. Would Maddox be able to get the score he needed? Ryan shuddered in his seat, and he could see that even Hy was excited, his hands moving erratically. Ryan contemplated getting him out of here. He was afraid he might hurt himself, but Hy had lived over eight decades already, and if he went, he’d go happy.

The announcer introduced the last cowboy, and the hall erupted again, maybe even louder. Maddox took his place at the gate, whooping and hollering along with the crowd. Then he climbed on the bull, and Ryan had to sit on his hands to keep from chewing his nails to the nubs. He could hardly stand it until the bull and rider burst from the gate. Maddox knew he had to make good, and Ryan could see he was really trying. The eight seconds flew, and Maddox jumped off, hitting the dirt and then racing for the rail. He whooped when he reached it and waved to the crowd the way Dante had. But this time all eyes were on the scoreboard. The score flashed, and Ryan knew it would be close. Everyone held their breath, and then the scoreboard changed and the standings flashed on the screen.

Dante seemed to appear out of nowhere next to him, and Ryan turned, momentarily stunned, and then he jumped up and into Dante’s arms.

“Does it feel different being hugged by a champion?” Dante asked with a grin.

“You were always a champion to me,” Ryan said, but the only person who heard was Dante, because the entire arena was coming to pieces. Dante hugged him once more and then hugged Gramps before hurrying back down onto the arena floor. He was the champion of the world, and Ryan felt every second of it right along with him.