A Wild Ride (15 page)

Ryan swallowed and stood up, then walked around to the front of the desk. “I have to do something.”

“I know, but maybe you should talk to Dante and find out what he wants,” Jacky said. Ryan nodded. It seemed he’d been doing the same thing Dante’s grandfather had done: trying to solve Dante’s problems and figure out his future for him. “Maybe he already has a plan or another sponsor lined up, and you’re worrying for nothing. When are you going to see him again?”

“Tonight. He said he was going to be checking out some bulls for one of the breeders in the area and he asked if I’d stop by to watch,” Ryan said.

“Then ask him afterwards and see what he thinks.” Jacky stood up. “I gotta get back to the office. I’ll talk to you later.” Ryan nodded, not much further ahead than he’d been.

Ryan tried to keep his mind on his tasks for the rest of the day, and for the most part he succeeded. A new client came in that afternoon. From their initial conversations, Ryan had expected them to open a small- to medium-sized account, but by the time the meeting was over, they’d written him a huge check and he’d landed one of his largest accounts ever. You never knew when you were going to click with someone, and he certainly had with this couple. The meeting had started off with the two men walking into his office and the larger of the two glaring at Ryan.

“We want you to know that we’re a gay couple and if you have a problem with that, we’ll go now,” the man said.

Ryan had smiled. “If that’s a problem, my boyfriend is going to be upset,” he said, silently hoping Dante wouldn’t mind being referred to as his boyfriend, although after the last few days he wouldn’t have blamed Dante if he balked. The expressions on his new clients’ faces had lit up like it was Christmas and then they’d all gotten down to business.

“Are you heading out?” Marie asked as she poked her head in his doorway.

“Yeah. I’m supposed to watch Dante ride.” He checked his watch and hurriedly shut down his computer.

“It looks like you had a good day,” Marie said as Ryan grabbed his bag and turned out the light on his way out.

“The team had a good day,” Ryan said as he and Marie headed toward the elevators. “What is it?” Ryan asked her as they waited. She’d gotten unusually quiet.

“I was about to ask you the same thing. You’ve been more… pensive… than usual these last few days. Are things going okay outside this place?”

“You’re invoking Mona’s rule?” Ryan asked as the doors slid open. Both he and Marie had read Armistead Maupin’s
Tales of the City
series of books. Mona’s rule was that you could have a hot job, a hot apartment, and a hot lover, but not all three at the same time.

“It fits,” she said as she stepped into the elevator with Ryan behind her. “You have the hot job—after all, you work with me. That condo of yours will stand in for a hot apartment, so there has to be trouble in the hot-lover department.” They rode down, and Ryan sighed softly.

“I’m not sure there’s trouble between us, but Dante seems to have come up against a mountain of hurt lately, and I know some of that is because of me. His sponsor is threatening to pull out because of rumors that he’s gay, and while his grandfather is home, this whole sponsor thing is hurting his potential to help care for him in the long run. It’s nuts, and I want to help, but….”

“I know,” she said. “I don’t get how this sponsorship thing works. Can’t he just get another one?”

“He could try. But Dante has had Dunbar’s as his sponsor for a while. Hell, he doesn’t wear a helmet when he rides because then he can wear one of their hats.” He’d seen Dante ride during the rodeo a few weeks ago, but that notion hadn’t hit home until Dante had actually explained it to him. “Besides, he’s afraid that no other sponsor is going to want to touch him because he’s gay. This is still Texas, and while things are changing here, he still has to be realistic.”

Marie sighed as the elevator door opened. “Tell Dante I wish him luck and I’ll keep my ears open for him.”

“Thanks,” Ryan said before they parted in the garage, each of them heading for their own car. Ryan popped his trunk and made sure he had a bag of clothes he could change into before setting his case inside. He also took off his coat and tie, laid them on top, and then closed the trunk. As he walked to the driver’s door, he loosened his collar and then climbed inside, turning on the engine and sighing as the first hint of cooler air reached him. Then he headed out of town.

Ryan followed Dante’s directions to the ranch where he was riding and pulled in. He parked next to Dante’s truck and got out. Hurrying so he wouldn’t miss anything, Ryan opened the trunk and took off his shirt, pulling on a black T-shirt from his bag before changing his shoes and then heading toward the group of men gathered around the paddock fence.

As he approached, some of the guys looked him over suspiciously and then made room for him. A chute had been built at one end of the enclosure, and men were loading in one of the bulls. “It seems so quiet,” Ryan observed.

“That’s Widowmaker’s Revenge. He’ll let you do anything to him, but as soon as you sit on his back, he turns from quiet to hell on wheels,” the young kid next to Ryan said. He couldn’t have been more than sixteen. “You Mr. Abbott?” Ryan nodded. “Dante said you was stopping by to see him ride.” The kid turned away, and Ryan could almost feel the tension building up around him.

“I don’t have three eyes and horns,” Ryan said, and the kid turned toward him, looking surprised for a few seconds and then breaking into a laugh.

“Cody,” a deep voice called, and the teenager backed away from the rail.

“That’s my pa,” he said and hurried away. Ryan didn’t watch him go, concentrating instead on the snorting bull in the chute. The men appeared to be putting on the bull rope, and then Dante climbed the fence. The men cheered, Dante sat on the bull, and the chute opened.

The bull took off with Dante on top, spinning and bucking at the same time. Ryan barely saw the bull, narrowing his gaze on Dante as he rode the damned thing for all it was worth. Widowmaker’s Revenge certainly seemed to have earned his name, because he threw Dante off and into the air. Ryan gasped as Dante just missed the horns and somersaulted onto the ground.

“Jesus,” Ryan mumbled, holding his breath until Dante got to his feet and raced to the fencing before bounding over just ahead of the damned bull. Ryan found himself shaking like a leaf, and he refused to look to either side for fear the men would see the shock and terror on his face.

“That was nothing,” one of the guys next to him said. “Last time someone tried to ride the Widowmaker, he got stomped.” The bastard actually seemed to be rooting for the bull.

“All right, men, time to get back to work,” Cody’s father called. With some low grumbling, the men largely filtered away, and a towering man walked toward Ryan.

“Ansen Marquette,” he said, extending his hand.

“Ryan Abbott,” he said as they shook hands. Ansen had a firm handshake.

“Cody, you can watch Dante ride the next bull, and then you need to get your chores done,” Ansen said with a slight turn of his head after releasing Ryan’s hand. Cody raced up and leaned against the fence, nearly bouncing with excitement. “He wants to ride bulls,” Ansen explained, “but he’s already too tall, and he’ll be more like me than Dante.”

“Why do I get the feeling you aren’t disappointed,” Ryan said softly, and Ansen nodded slowly.

“Cody’s a smart kid,” Ansen said as he settled against the rail while a second bull was brought into the chute. He glanced a bit warily at his son. “So is Dante. His mother and mine were good friends. They’re both gone now, but I remember Dante when he’d sneeze and fall over.” Ryan nodded but said nothing, wondering where this conversation was headed. “I heard the rumors.”

“I see,” Ryan said. “Won’t apologize for him or me, if that’s what you’re expecting.”

“I’m not. Worried, though. Dante’s got one, maybe two years, and then he’s done. He told me about his sponsor troubles. Don’t rightly know what I think about all that, or about you and him. Doesn’t sit right with me, but I knew him when he was in diapers and….”

Ryan watched and they got the bull ready, apprehension settling deep in his gut. “Harder to judge someone you know.”

“Yeah,” Ansen admitted.

“And it says a lot about a man who’s willing to think things over before he acts,” Ryan said, and when he glanced over, he saw Ansen nod ever so slightly. There was nothing wrong with a subtle preemptive strike, and sometimes well-disguised flattery could work wonders.

“I know it shouldn’t make no never mind. We ain’t country hicks like city folks think,” Ansen said.

“Never thought you were,” Ryan said, and Ansen turned toward him with raised eyebrows. “It’s hard to turn your back on all the things you heard all your life about how a man should behave.” Ansen nodded. “Think how hard it is when you’ve heard that same stuff and you realize it’s you that folks are railing against,” Ryan added as Dante climbed up the chute and settled on the bull. He could hear the beast snorting and raring to go.

The chute opened and the bull bounded out. It put on a bit of a show, but even Ryan could tell he really didn’t have it in him. After a while, Dante bailed and hurried across the ring to where Ansen was standing. He jumped the fence while the men rounded up the beast.

“As you expected, he isn’t going to cut it,” Dante said to Ansen, and then he gave Ryan a quick smile. “Widowmaker’s Revenge is world-class caliber, though, and I would think any of the organizations would be itching to add him to their roster. That is one rank bull,” Dante said with overflowing energy.

“Can you ride one more?” Ansen asked.

“Sure,” Dante said a bit apprehensively.

“If you can’t, say so. You can always come by later and ride him,” Ansen said amicably.

“I’ll stop by next week then and have a look,” Dante said, and Ryan breathed a sigh of relief.

“Cody, go on and finish your chores. I need to have a talk with Dante,” Ansen said, and he flashed Ryan a wary look.

“I’ll head to your place and see Gramps,” Ryan said, and after Dante gave him directions, he headed for his car. Ryan wasn’t about to try to butt in, even if he had a suspicion he was the topic of conversation.

Ryan got in his car and followed Dante’s directions back to the ranch. He knocked on the door and heard Hy call so he went inside, carrying his bag.

“What are you doing here?” Hy asked from his chair in the living room. Dante had told him that just in the last few weeks, Hy’s mobility had greatly diminished.

“Dante was meeting with Mr. Marquette, so I headed here to let them talk. I figured I could change, if you don’t mind, and then maybe I could keep you company,” Ryan said, and Hy slowly reached to the table. Ryan figured he was trying to reach the television remote, and while he could pick it up, Hy seemed to be having trouble getting it to work. Ryan reached over and turned off the television for him. “I need to get out of these pants, but I’ll be right back.” Ryan walked down the hall to the bathroom.

Ryan was relieved to get out of his dress wool pants and pull on a pair of light shorts rather than jeans. He used the facilities and packed up his dress pants before rejoining Hy in the living room. “Are you feeling okay?” Ryan asked as he set down his bag near the end of the sofa.

“Yes. Can’t do shit, though. My hands don’t want to work very well,” Hy groused, turning to look out the window. “Last night Dante had to feed me my dinner because I couldn’t close my fingers around a damned fork. I just sit here most of the day and I’m becoming a waste of space and air.”

“You know you’re neither,” Ryan said, and Hy slowly turned back toward him. “Let me ask you something. How many years did you take care of Dante? I bet you bought him his first horse, and when he was a kid, even before his parents died, you were the one who taught him how to ride a horse.”

“Yeah, so?” Hy said grumpily.

“I bet you were also the person who took him fishing and let him ride his first bull.” An idea occurred to Ryan. “I bet you rode bulls like he did when you were his age.”

“Not many secrets safe with you around, are there? Yeah, I rode bulls just like Dante, except I wasn’t as good at it and my daddy thought I was a plumb fool. The old goat didn’t talk to me for nearly six months until I won a contest at the county fair. Then he was proud as punch.” Hy quieted for a while. “What’s your point, young man? Spit it out—I ain’t getting any younger.”

“Don’t you think after all you did for him Dante might not mind taking care of you for a while?” Ryan asked. “It’s what we do for the people we love.” Ryan quieted, and Hy sat in his chair, not saying a word.

“I don’t want Dante to think he has to put his life on hold for me. He needs to live, not stay here for me,” Hy told Ryan softly.

“What if he’s staying here because it’s where he wants to be?” Ryan asked.

“You got an answer for everything. No wonder you can sell water to a drowning man,” Hy said, and Ryan smiled.

“Would you like something to drink? I can get something for you,” Ryan said, already getting up. He knew what Hy wanted, and since Dante wasn’t here, he figured it was a good time for them both to have a beer. “You haven’t taken any of your pills lately, have you?”

“No,” Hy said. “This is about the only time of day I can have a damned beer.”

Ryan grabbed two bottles from the refrigerator and opened them both. He carried them back to the living room and handed one to Hy, but his hand didn’t seem to be cooperating, and Ryan saw his frustration. Ryan set one of the bottles on the table and gently placed the other to Hy’s lips, tilting it slightly. Hy drank, and Ryan patiently held the bottle until he was done. Then he set it on the table and picked up his own. Ryan settled back on the sofa and then gulped from his own bottle. He needed a beer desperately. Seeing Dante up close on top of an actual bull, horns and all, had really unsettled him. Sure, he’d seen Dante perform in the rodeo, but he hadn’t known him then. Ryan hadn’t yet come to care for him and about him. Seeing him riding Widowmaker’s Revenge, Ryan had barely been able to watch. If Dante had actually ridden the third bull, Ryan wasn’t sure he’d even have been able to stay.