Wishing on a Rodeo Moon (Women of Character) (26 page)

Tye had
gotten into the habit of arriving at the Riverdale barn early in anticipation
of her riding lessons at the clinic. Today, it looked like she was the first
one to arrive.

She had
lined up a few apartments in town, but she hadn’t had time to go look at
all of them yet. She knew she couldn’t stay with Jake much longer, not
after what had happened. Her pride wouldn’t allow her to stay with a man
she loved, but who might still harbor resentment over a decade-old mistake.
When had she changed? Suddenly, the idea of forever with Jake was something she
wanted. It scared the hell out of her, too. He wanted an affair for a short
while, she wanted more, but she wouldn’t go begging to Jake. She had
never begged for anything in her life.

Tye
looked at the barn. She had been giving lessons almost two weeks and found she
really looked forward to working with the kids. They were so eager and ready to
learn, but what really made it worthwhile was they weren't easily discouraged.
They tried time and again and their efforts paid off. Riding gave them the
mobility they lacked on the ground. The children ranged in age from five years
up into their teens. Tye worked four days instead of the originally agreed-upon
two. By the end of her first week she and Sam were fast becoming friends.

Tye
admired Sam for her dedication to the program, despite the odds against her.
Tye could see the equipment was badly in need of replacing and some of the
horses were ready for retirement. Tye wondered what would happen to the
children if the program was dropped. There was nothing in the area to replace
it.

Sam’s
car drove up to the barn. Sam exited the vehicle. "Tye!" she called.
Tye saw Sam walk toward the other barn and waved her arm at her. "Come
over to the tack room first, I have someone I want you to meet."

When Tye
entered the barn she found Sam with a tall, blond man. He had a camera slung
over his shoulder. Curiously, Tye approached them. The man was casually dressed
in dark jeans and a sweatshirt, while Sam wore her customary breeches and
leather boots. Sam held out her hand to Tye and gave her a friendly smile.
"Morning, Tye. I'd like to introduce you to a friend of mine, Dan
Anderson."

Dan
lifted a brow, a somewhat speculative grin on his handsome face as he looked at
Tye. He thrust his hand out to her. "Tye Jenkins, it's great to meet you.
Sam told me you were helping her out. I thought she was pulling my leg."

"We're
helping each other out. I’m loving this too."

"Ever
since Sam told me you showed up an idea’s been in my head. I wouldn't be
adverse to interviewing you. We could let your fans know what you've been up to
in the last several months."

"Uh,
one thing I should mention, Tye," Sam said quickly, "Dan's a
reporter."

"Oh."
That information made Tye a bit edgy.

"Now
don't go running off," Dan said, his eyes sharp, as if he could read her
thoughts of escape. "I'm really a nice guy." He placed his hand over
his heart, then held up two fingers. "Scout's honor."

Tye
couldn’t suppress her grin. "Since you're hooked up with Sam, who's
a really nice person, I'm going to believe that."

"However,"
he went on smoothly, "I do think you should let me interview you, Tye. You
name the time and place."

Tye
immediately shook her head. "Thanks, but no thanks."

"It
would be a great story...non-intrusive, I promise. We’ll let everyone
know what’s going on in your life. You really dropped out of sight."

"I
don't do interviews anymore," Tye said firmly, smiling to soften the
words.

"Okay,
but I think it would be a great human interest story." Reaching into his
jean's pocket Dan pulled out a slim gray wallet and extracted a business card.
He held it out to her, his face now serious. "If you change your mind, I'd
be glad to talk to you. Really...call me any time." He pocketed his wallet
and strung the camera back over his shoulder as he turned to Sam. "I've
got to go, Sam. I'll call you tonight." He dropped a kiss on Sam's mouth
then turned back to Tye. "I'll be seeing you, Tye, nice meeting you."

"Nice
to meet you too, Dan."

Tye
looked over at Sam as Dan walked around the back of the barn. She leaned
against a stall door, crossing her feet at the ankles. "I hope he isn't
offended, but I really don't want to do an interview."

"Believe
me, Dan isn't easily offended, but I do think he's right," Sam added
quietly. "And it's not because he's my boyfriend, either. You could do
this program a world of good if you got back out in the public eye and stirred
things up, let people know what's going on."

"I
don't know how an interview from me can help, Sam. It's been almost five months
since my last rodeo. People forget. There's always a new face out there."
In truth, the idea of going before the cameras again gave Tye an edgy,
uncomfortable feeling. During her rodeo years she had been interviewed
countless times, but now she didn't want to entertain the thought. She felt
like she had been out of the public eye too long. Why would anyone care what
she was up to?

Sam
snorted disbelievingly. "Come on, Tye, you can't be that naive. You've
been a name in the sport far too long for people to forget you overnight."
She shrugged. "It's just a thought. At least promise me you'll think about
it."

"All
right, I promise I'll think about it. If I decide to do an interview, Dan will
be the first to know." Tye said the words, but in her mind she knew
she’d never call him.

"On
to other business. I talked to the program director. Tomorrow morning they're
having a budget meeting on the riding program's renewal. He didn't sound real
optimistic."

Tye felt
a great wave of disappointment drop on her shoulders. "Great. I know you
told me that from the beginning, but now that I've seen what the program does
for the kids, it’s even worse of a letdown." Tye drew a deep breath.
"There must be something we can do."

"Give
me an idea to work with," the other woman said.

"You’ll
be the first to know if I come up with something," Tye promised, her mind
searching out possible avenues. "But, since it isn’t going to help
if we worry about that meeting, I think we'd better check out the Palomino mare
before the kids arrive. Yesterday she seemed to be limping a bit."

#

As Tye
ran a brush over Arnie, one of the riding program’s horses, she kept
going over in her mind the angry words she and Jake had exchanged. He said
he’d forgive and forget. Those words stirred her anger and a deep
anguish. Had she really done something so terrible all those years ago? At the
time she had made the best decision a seventeen-year old could make. Why
couldn’t Jake see that? She had never wanted to hurt him. She had thought
it out so carefully. Why couldn’t he see that? She had been too young.

Tye gave
the horse one last swipe with the brush, then led the mare into her stall and
pulled the door closed. She had plans of her own to think about. She loved
Jake, but was afraid they’d only keep hurting each other if she
didn’t leave. They seemed to want different things out of their
relationship. Because of their disagreement, their relationship was strained.
Why couldn’t things go on as they were? Tye knew they couldn’t.
Everything progressed, changed, that was the whole excitement with living.
Nothing remained the same. Sadly, Tye knew Jake no longer loved her. If he had,
surely he would have said something, given some indication. Then again, she
hadn’t told him she loved him either. She was a coward. Plain and simple.
She was too afraid of him not wanting her love. Rejecting her love as she had
rejected his years ago.

Even if
Jake wanted her to stay, Tye didn’t know how that would sit with her. A
relationship meant permanence, staying in one place. She didn’t know how
to deal with permanence.

Tye had
been half-heartedly looking through the papers the last few days for an apartment.
She knew she had to find something. It wasn’t fair to Jake or herself to
prolong matters. Tye wondered how she’d ever thought they could go back.
How could two people who cared so much keep hurting each other? Why had it
turned out so wrong?

The only
bright spot in Tye’s life right now was she might have come up with a way
to save the riding program. She had run her ideas by Denny and Lynn, and the
approval on their faces had convinced Tye her idea was worth a shot. She
hadn’t told Sam yet, she had needed to do more research before spilling
the beans. Tye wanted the other woman to be as excited as she was. For once in
her life, she was looking outward, and it felt good. If she could pull this
off...

"Time
to call it a day," Sam said behind her. Tye swung around with a startled
yelp.

"I
didn’t know you were here! I thought you had left." Tye studied the
grimness of Sam’s face. "What’s the matter?"

"I
was planning on leaving but I got a call from the director. The remainder of
the funding has been moved to another program." Sam put both hands behind
her neck and let her head fall back. "It’s official, the riding
program is finished."

Tye was
hardly aware the halter and lead rope in her hand slipped to the stable floor.
"No. Just like that?"

"I’m
afraid so. They’ve given me two weeks to tie things up, but we’re
officially done."

Tye
walked in a tight circle, frowning, then looked back at Sam. "I talked to
some friends and I may have an idea to save the program. It’s just
happened so fast, we need a little time to pull it together."

"I
would love to halt this, but it’s not a matter of holding things up.
Shoot ―" Sam’s voice sounded tired, "I’ve waived my
pay for a month to keep it going for the kids. They’re shutting us
down."

"Those
are details we can work out," Tye exclaimed, refusing to be daunted.

Sam
shrugged resignedly. "I warned you up front what could happen. Now it
has," she finished flatly.

Tye
stared at Sam. "I’m not giving up, and you can’t either. I
need your help Sam. You’ve got the training, you keep this program
together. What if I can get the money, secure backers, would you want to
continue the program?"

Sam
began to smile and the tiredness lifted from her face. "Are you kidding?
Of course I would."

Tye’s
thoughts ran in ten different directions. "I’m not going to let this
get away. I think I have a solution but it’ll take some work to pull it
together. I want to raise money by having a rodeo."

"Tye!"
Sam exclaimed excitedly, "that’s a perfect solution. You know
people, your name alone will draw crowds. You could probably get some of your
famous rodeo friends to come."

Tye
started laughing. Sam’s enthusiasm was infectious. "Hang on, we have
to put it all together first."

"We
can get Dan in on this. He’s got a lot of contacts. Right now he’s
doing some reporting for a local television station. Maybe he can put together
some preliminary interviews to get the word out." Sam clasped her hands
together. "Tye, I have a good feeling about this. I really think we can do
it."

"Let’s
just hope you’re right about my name being a draw," Tye cautioned
her. She didn’t want to build false hope, but Tye felt her own excitement
escalating. Could she do this? Could she pull it off?

#

From his
vantage point on the back deck Jake saw Tye’s vehicle arrive back at the
house. She was doing so well. She had adjusted to her prosthesis and walked
with a hardly discernible limp. Jake's chest expanded in a deep breath. She
seemed happy and content. Tye was a strong woman whom circumstances could not keep
down. He knew she saw her father on a regular basis and he thought that was her
way of dealing with his terminal illness. He’d had some time to do some
soul searching, but he hadn’t come up with any easy conclusions.

Jake
knew they couldn’t go on like this, saying polite hellos. He stared out
across the flat expanse of his land, wondering if Tye would ever settle
someplace permanently. Since he had known her, she had always been a mover and
a shaker, constantly in motion.

Restlessly,
Jake hopped off the deck rail and strode across the deck. No matter the
outcome, he had to break the stalemate between he and Tye.

Jake
stopped just short of the house. Tye stood in the doorway. She let go of the
door and it closed with a soft thud behind her.

"Hello,
Jake."

"Tye."
He swallowed hard, gazing at her, his insides tightening as he watched her. She
stood still for a moment, her jeans hugging slim hips, her tee-shirt lovingly
following the curves of her breasts. She looked dusty and tired, but she looked
so good to him, a tentative smile curving her lips. Jake’s entire body
felt as tense as a bow. He knew what had to be said.

"We
need to talk."

"Yes,
we do, Jake."

Jake
retraced his steps and took up a position against the deck railing. Tye pulled
a chair close by and sat down.

"How
are things at the riding clinic?" Jake figured he might as well jump in.

Tye
grimaced and shook her head. "They’ve dropped the program. I was
warned but it’s hard to believe."

"I’m
sorry to hear that. I know how much you enjoyed working there."

"It
might not be all bad news."

Jack
sensed Tye’s excitement. Her eyes sparkled and she moved her hands
expressively, as if she couldn’t keep still.

"I’ve
got an idea to start up a new program. I’ve been talking with Lynn and
Denny about planning a rodeo."

"You’re
going to plan a rodeo?" Dread began to pool in Jake. He’d known the
day would arrive, he just hadn’t thought it would be so soon that Tye
would leave.

"I
want to plan and sponsor a rodeo."