Baby I'm In (Honky Tonk Angels #3) (2 page)

Two hundred miles.  Just two hundred miles more.  Liz chugged down the rest of the energy drink and grimaced. Leaving Sioux Falls had been a spur of the moment decision, one made in the heat of anger.  At the time it seemed the right thing to do.  Maybe it still was, but damn if she wasn’t tired of driving.  She’d been awake for thirty-six hours and driving over twenty-four, existing on fast food, coffee and energy drinks.  Her eyes felt like they had sand in them and her body was stiff.

She’d stopped only when she had to refuel, grab food or use a bathroom. A sudden longing for a hot shower had her tempted to look for road signs advertising motels, but she dismissed that thought.  Two hundred miles to go.

Her phone rang, and she grabbed it off the seat.  One look at its face and she frowned.  She almost ignored the call, but knew if she did the caller would just keep trying.

“Hey.”  She answered after punching the speakerphone button.

“Do you have any idea the shit you’re in?”  Her brother, Cooper asked.

“Yep.”

“You know he’s going to send people after you.”

“Yep.”

“Liz, don’t do this.  Not this way.  Come back and I’ll help you.  We’ll work it out.”

“Nope.”

“Listen to me, Liz—”

“No.  You listen, Coop.  You’re the golden boy and that’s fine. I don’t care.  But he’s taken everything from me.  I thought we could start over and be a family and for a while I was starting to believe that.  Then he sold Landing right out from under me. 
My
horse, Coop.  Mine. I bought and trained him.  And that bastard sold him.”

“He wasn’t in your name, Liz.”

“Only because Dad cheated. He was supposed to be in my name.”

“You sure you’re not rewriting history?  Dad bought him.”

“And I paid him back.  Every dime.  He was supposed to transfer ownership to me.”

“He gave you back the money, Lizzy.”

“I didn’t want the money!  Don’t you get it? I love Landing.”

“I know.  But there are other horses.  Like the one you stole.”

“I did
not
steal him.  Traveler is mine.”

“Not according to Dad.”

“Well, I don’t care what he says.  He’s mine and I’m keeping him.”

“And doing what?”

“None of your business.”

“Come on, Lizzy.”

“No. You’ll tell him.”

“No, I won’t.”

Liz wanted to believe Cooper.  He was her only brother, her twin brother at that, and there was no one she loved more in the world.  He was more than just a sibling.  He was her best friend.  At least he had been until five years ago.  Then he became Mr. Cooper Evan Quinlan, Esquire, the heir apparent who crawled under the old man’s wing and camped out.

She guessed she didn’t blame him.  Someone had to take over one day and Cooper was the logical choice.  But his allegiance to their father made him untrustworthy.  He’d betrayed her once and cost her Landing.  She couldn’t take the chance that he’d do it again.

“Sorry, Coop.  Gotta go. Love you.”

She ended the call and turned off the phone, swiping at the tears of anger and loneliness that threatened.  She had to stay strong and prove that this wasn’t a game to her.  She was as good as any man and she’d make her father see that.  And only when he admitted it to her, said that he was wrong, only then would she think about mending fences with him.

It was a long shot to even hope that her father would admit he was wrong.  She could not remember a single time in her life he’d done that.  In fact, she’d heard him say “I may not be right but I’m never wrong” too many times to count.  Chances were this would be no different.

She’d continue to try to build a life for herself with people who knew how to love, and he’d continue to try to sabotage and control.  What kind of person did that?  More importantly, what kind of father?  Did the problem lie with him or was there something inherently wrong with her?

Liz shook off the depressive thoughts of family and focused on driving. Miles ticked by and after a while she forgot to watch the road signs.  When she checked her odometer and realized she’d traveled two hundred and ten miles she panicked.

“Shit, shit, shit!” Liz pulled off onto the side of the road before she reached for her phone and turned it on. Great, no service.

Just her luck.  She was lost, had no GPS in the truck and no cell-phone service. Now what?  With a curse, she got out, reached behind the seat and picked up a gallon of water.  She took the water to the trailer hitched to the truck.

A whinny greeted her when she climbed into the trailer.  She filled a water bucket and held it for the horse to drink.  He finished and shook his head, showering her.  That was followed by a nuzzle.  Liz smiled and rubbed him.  “Hey buddy.  I know you’re tired and I swear it won’t be much longer.  Honest.  I’ll find the damn place… somehow, and then you can have a good long run.  Just hang in there, okay Traveler?”

A toss of his head was the only response she received.  She gave him another rub and headed back for the truck to check the map on her phone.  Where the heck did she go wrong?  Liz glanced up and checked the road.  Nothing coming toward her.  She then checked the side mirror and hope leapt inside her.  There was a car, no, a truck.  It was in the distance and approaching.  She hopped back out of her truck and hurried to the rear of the trailer.

As the truck drew near she waved.  It slowed and pulled in behind her.  There was a man at the wheel.  He parked and got out. Something about him looked familiar but Liz couldn’t place him.  He walked over to her.

“Trouble?”

“Lost.”

He smiled and extended his hand.  “Wes Pursell.  Maybe I can help.  Where are you headed?”

Wes Pursell?  What were the chances? Liz shook his hand, feeling relieved.  “Your place.”

“My place?”

“Oh, sorry.  I have an interview with you today.  For the jockey position.”

Surprise registered on his face and she tried not to feel annoyed.  Why did men think that only someone with a penis was qualified for the position? She’d been turned away before because of her gender, before she was even given a chance to prove herself.  That wasn’t going to happen this time.

“Look, I get it.  You don’t think women can cut it, but I promise that if you give me a chance, I can prove I’m the best candidate.”

He looked her up and down and then smiled.  “I never said women can’t cut it, and I’ll give you the same chance I give every candidate.  You prove you’re better and the job is yours, Miss…”

“Liz.”

“Just Liz?”

“Redgate.”

“Okay, Miss Redgate, like I said, prove you’re better and you’re hired.”

“Deal.”

“One thing.”  He looked at the trailer. “Why bring a horse?”

“It’s not just any horse.”

“Oh?  What makes it so special?”

“I don’t know you well enough to tell you that.”

“Is that right?”

“Yes, sir.”

“Well then, why don’t you follow me and I’ll show you the way.  We’re about ten miles down.”

“Thank you.”

“No problem.”

He turned to go back to his truck, and she hurried to get in hers.  Nervousness competed with excitement.  Part of her was relieved that Wes didn’t recognize her.  Another part was a little disappointed, but then she had changed a lot since they met.

She was seven years old the first time she saw him.  Their fathers both had horses in the Belmont Stakes and both ended up in the top three of the race.  She had posed with her family, and Wes with his for photos. She could still remember how she crushed on him.  He was probably sixteen, tall and handsome and she thought he was the prettiest boy she’d ever seen.

Apparently she hadn’t made much of an impression on him as a child which was expected.  She’d only seen him two other times since then and it had always been at events with their families.  Liz doubted he even remembered those times.  She had.  At least for a while. The crush faded, but she never forgot him entirely. 

She hoped he was as fair as he was handsome. She knew she could beat out the competition.  It wasn’t vanity, she just knew she was better.  She understood horses and how to work with them.  She knew how to make them want to give her their all. More importantly, she loved horses and would never push one past its ability.

She had to get this job.  Everything was riding on it.

*****

Wes activated the call function in his truck.  Two rings later, his executive assistant, Sandy, picked up.  “Hey boss.”

“I need you to get me some information on one of the jockey candidates.”

“Sure, who?”

“Liz Redgate.  She said she was scheduled for a try-out this afternoon.”

“Hold on.”

Wes waited a few seconds before Sandy spoke again.  “Yes, we have her scheduled for two today.”

“Okay, do me a favor and call my investigator and ask him to get me everything he can on her.”

“Something about her bothering you?”

“Yeah. I think I’ve seen her before but I can’t figure out where.  And she’s hauling a trailer with her and the tag is Wichita, Kansas.”

“That’s a long way to go for a job interview pulling a trailer.”

“My thoughts exactly.”

“Okay, I’m on it.”

“Thanks, Sandy.”

“You bet.”

Wes ended the call and thought about it.  He knew he’d seen Liz Redgate before.  She’d be a little hard to forget. She wasn’t a big woman, maybe five foot two, petite with a physique that spelled she was strong and firm, but still possessed of womanly attributes.

Her hair was dark, held in a braid, her skin tanned and her eyes a curious brown, darker around the rims of the iris and then lightening to gold.  It was hard to tell how old she was.  Probably somewhere in her twenties.  All in all, she was quite stunning.

Where the heck had he seen her?

Wes shook his head and dismissed the thought as his truck announced an incoming call from Kyle Stadler.  Wes answered it.  “Kyle, hey.”

“Did I get the time wrong?  Your housekeeper said you weren’t here.”

“No, on my way back now.  Be there in about ten minutes and there’s a candidate for the job following me.”

“Okay, I’ll start setting up.  Which horse you want to run today?”

“You tell me.”

“You’re the boss. Your call.”

“We need to give Landing a workout.”

“With a newbie?”

Wes chuckled.  “Well, it’ll definitely tell the tale won’t it? I’ll meet you at the track.”

“Yep. See you soon.”

Wes considered it.  King’s Landing was one of the most spirited animals he’d ever seen. It would take a strong and experienced rider to control him.  Was it irresponsible to put a woman on his back or was he stacking the deck against her by having her ride Landing?

He dismissed the question. After all, he was looking to hire someone who would put him in the winner’s circle. If Liz Redgate couldn’t handle his horse, then she wasn’t the man for the job.  Or the woman.

*****

Kyle finished saddling King’s Landing and walked him out to the gate of the track. Not many places could afford the kind of practice track the Pursell’s had. It was a huge place with first notch facilities, the kind of ranch Kyle couldn’t imagine ever having.

“You’re rearing to go aren’t you, big boy?” Kyle smiled as the horse pranced and whinnied.  One thing Kyle had learned about Landing, as everyone had taken to calling the horse, he purely loved to run.

The problem was, he was one hard animal to control.  So far, three experienced applicants for the jockey position had crashed and burned.  None of them had been able to control Landing and unless the rider could control the animal, Pursell’s Racing wasn’t going to win any races.

Just as they reached the practice track, Wes pulled up.  Behind him was another truck, one not as new or fancy but in good condition.  It was pulling a horse trailer.  Kyle called out to Wes as Wes got out of his truck. “He needs to warm up.”

“You want to do it?”

“Love to but not gonna happen.”  There was nothing he’d like better. He loved to ride, and it wasn’t often he got a chance to ride an animal the caliber of Landing. However, his healing leg wasn’t quite back in shape for standing in stirrups.

“Crap, your leg.  Sorry, I forgot you just got the cast off.  Okay, call Pete and have him send someone down.”

“I’ll do it.”

Kyle looked in the direction of the female voice and for the space of a couple of seconds it felt like the world stood still. A woman stepped up beside Wes.  Small but with curves in all the right places, soft faded denim hugged her hips and thighs. A black tank top displayed arms that were toned and strong and stretched across the swell of her breasts.

Her long hair hung in a braid over one shoulder and a worn Stetson shaded eyes the color of Tennessee whiskey rimmed with dark thick lashes.