Capturing the Cowboy's Heart

RODEO  REVENGE                            
XXX
             
             
             
             
             
             
             

CHAPTER
ONE

What else could go wrong?

Cade Tyler stared out the kitchen window at the billowy black clouds rolling in on what was supposed to be a clear, sunny day in Deep Creek, Colorado. 

The wind kicked up outside and thunder rumbled overhead, rattling the dusty windowpanes.  The unexpected storm
only served as a reminder
that life was just as unpredictable as the bulls he used to ride.

“I should be out working on that fence,” he grumbled as he returned to the table
to finish
spreading mayo over the slices of bread Burk
, his best friend and ranch foreman,
had tossed onto his plate.

“Sure and get yourself struck by lightning in the process,” Burk replied as he stabbed at another slice of tomato and dropped it onto the towering stack of lunch meat
piled up on the
plate in front of him.

It wasn’t even raining yet
, b
ut Burk was right.  By the time he’d ride out to the northern pasture where the fence was down, chances
were
the storm would have already let loose. 

He
shook his head in amazement as the
thickness of the sandwich on
Burk’s plate grew. 
The man had a
bottomless pit for a stomach. 
Always had. 
“
A little on the hungry side today?” he teased with a grin.

“
Starved.”  His friend
dug into the near empty bread bag and grabbed one of the two remaining heels.  Placing it atop the mountain of meat and cheese, he brought the towering mass to his mouth
with a satisfied groan
.

It was a wonder Burk’s jaw didn’t come unhinged when he bit into the thing.  Amazingly enough it hadn’t
,
and his friend was already going in for another bite.  Cade supposed there was a time when he used to eat like that, too, digging into his meals like a starving man after a hard day’s work.  But
eating no longer held the same pleasure for him.  Truth was, nothing he did held pleasure for him anymore.

His gaze shifted to the
kitchen window, remembering how much
Karen
used to love looking out over the green pastures and rolling hills that made up the Flying T. 
He’d never forget h
ow excited
his wife had
been the day she replaced his plain old
‘manly’
curtains with the frilly lemon yellow ones that hung there now.  While it was hard to look at them every
day without thinking about what he’d lost,
he
didn’t have the heart to take them down.

His forced his thoughts away from the past and turned back to Burk. 
“
I hope to hell that storm blows over, so I can
get that fence repaired
today
.”

“Will you stop worrying about that damn fence,” Burk grumbled.  “It’ll get done.”  He took another bite of his sandwich.  “You need to eat.”

“What are you?” Cade snapped in irritation.  “My mother?”
  If he wasn’t hungry, he wasn’t hungry!  He hated it when Burk nagged at him.

Burk returned his sandwich to his plate and
reached for his drink, shaking his head
in frustration.  “Fine.  Don’t eat.  You wanna end up looking like you just left a refugee camp, that’s your problem.”

Cade arched a brow.  “
A r
efugee camp?”  

“You know damn well you can’t put in the hours you do around this ranch and not eat.”

“I eat.”

“Not enough.  Look, I know you’ve been through hell and back, but life’s not going anywhere.  Like it or not, we’re stuck
living
it.”

That was another thing he hated.  Anything
that stirred up his emotions the way Burk was doing right now.  But
, pain in the ass or not, he
wouldn’t trade his best friend for the world.
  He just wished he’d stop speaking his mind so often.
  Then again, if he didn’t it wouldn’t be Burk.
 

The
two
had met
during a rodeo in Cheyenne seven years before
.  Ca
de was twenty-five and making a name for himself on the rodeo circuit.  That
particular
day he drew the meanest bull in the lot and ended up getting his hand hung up on the rope.  It wasn’t pretty.
  Hurt like hell would be putting it mildly.  He found himself looking death in the eye in the form of an eighteen hundred pound bull.
 

Burk, a professional rodeo clown by trade, was working that day. 
He
not only helped free his hand from the taut, biting rope, he’d also kept the angry bull distracted while Cade was
carried
out of the arena
, busted hip and all
.  Unfortunately,
Burk
himself
got tripped up long enough to be at the receiving end of one of the bull’s
hop-skips, breaking his shoulder.  Both men retired from the circuit after that night and had delved into the business venture of raising and leasing bulls for the rodeo circuit
.   

Burk
began tapping t
he toe of his boot on the linoleum floor while he stuffed his face with the three-inch thick turkey, ham and cheese sandwich.  The impatient tapping
continued
.

Cade muttered a curse. 
“You’re like a dog with a bone!” 
Snatching up his
own
sandwich,
he
bit into it.  “There,” he muttered between chews, “I’m eating. 
H
appy now?”

“Nope.”

Best friend or not, Burk Lowry could
really
irritate the hell out of him sometimes.  “You got something
else
that needs saying?”

“Now that you mention it, I do.”  Burk crossed his arms and leaned forward, propping his elbows on the edge of the table.  “When are you gonna start living again?”

Cade reached for his coffee.  “Don’t start.”  He wasn’t in the mood.   

“Hell, Cade, it’s been almost two years since the accident.  She’s not coming back.”

He
slammed his cup down on the table, sending coffee sloshing out over
the
side.  His jaw tightened.  “Don’t you think I know that?”
he asked through clenched teeth.

“Sometimes I wonder.” 

A knocked sounded at the door, bringing their conversation to a halt. 
Domino
, Burk’s huge, scruffy, black and white mutt barked and jumped up from his place under the kitchen table.

“Company,” Cade muttered as the dog skittered across the faded linoleum and down the hall toward the front door. 

“I’ll get it.” 
His friend
crammed the last of his sandwich into his mouth as he pushed away from the table and got to his feet.

“Probably another bill collector,” Cade grumbled as he
too
started to rise.

“
I can see to the door
,” his friend said
, pointing
to the
barely eaten sandwich on Cade’s plate.  “
You just keep working on that sandwich.” 

Cade watched Burk
go until he’d disappeared from view.  Then he sat back in h
is chair,
shoving
his plate away a
s he
waited to see who wanted his money now.

*
             
*
             
*

Despite the eight-hour drive from Denver to tiny town of Deep Creek, Lacy Dalton was ready to get started on her interview with ex-rodeo star Cade Tyler.  Admittedly, she’d been a little surprised when she’d pulled up to his ranch house and saw the condition of it and several of the outer buildings.  They were all in dire need of a fresh coat of paint.  Several of the windowpanes in the barn were cracked and needed to be replaced.  Even the flower garden along the front porch of the main house needed work.  The weeds had long since overtaken it. 

If she hadn’t seen the Flying T sign hanging over the entrance to the ranch, she would have sworn she’d driven up to the wrong house.  Cade Tyler had made good money riding the circuit.  So why then was his ranch in such disrepair?

Lightning flashed in the distance.  A few seconds later thunder rumbled across the sky.  At least, she’d gotten there before the rain.  She hurried to knock as the wind picked up around her.

A
large
, hairy, snarling dog appeared suddenly, bouncing off the screen door.  Heart racing, Lacy jumped back, thankful the old door
latch
held firm.  The dog
stood looking at her
through the screen like she was a huge platter of London broil. 

She glanced back at her car, contemplating just how long it would take her in high heels to get from the front porch of Cade Tyler’s house to the dust-laden convertible if ‘Killer’ the watchdog managed to get out.

Just then, the screen door creaked open behind her. 
She
jumped with a shriek of terror and spun around, prepared to be taken down by what had looked to be about sixty pounds of angry mutt.

But the attack never came. 

In fact, the snarling dog now sat quietly beside a tall, lanky man with a lopsided grin.  The man eyed her up and down and then gave a low whistle.  “Well, well, it ain't every day we get a pretty visitor out here.”

It took Lacy a moment to collect herself after coming that close to becoming a five-foot-three-inch dog biscuit.  “Um, yes...hello.  I’m looking for Mr. Tyler.”

At the sound of her voice, the dog jumped up and started barking again.  But for the first time since it had charged the door, she noticed its tail was wagging.  A good thing she supposed.  Dogs didn’t normally kill if their tails were wagging.  At least, she didn’t think so.  But then she had never owned a dog before. 

“Shit,” the man muttered and then said firmly to the dog,
“No more
.
”
T
he dog ceased its barking, settling down once again next to the man’s booted feet.  He glanced back over his shoulder and then
back to her
with a frown
. 
"You’re that reporter lady, right?”

She pushed her windblown hair from her face and nodded.  It had only taken one look to know this man wasn’t the subject of her story.  She’d done some research on Cade Tyler before starting the long drive across
Colorado
.  The ex-rodeo star had coal black hair and blue eyes.  The man standing in front of her had dusty blonde hair and brown eyes.  He was also tall and lanky where the pictures of Cade Tyler had shown him to be
lean, but
more
muscularly
built.

“Yes, I am.”  She held out her hand
with a smile
.  “Lacy Dalton,
Bustin’ Loose Magazine
.” 

“T
his
ain't a good time.
”

Her
smile faded
as her hand fell away
.  “What?”

He
let out a low sigh. 
“
Cade’s not in a real good mood today.”

“
Not in a good mood?”
she repeated, unable to keep the irritation from her voice. 
This
was the time Cade Tyler had agreed to over the phone when she’d finally convinced him to let her do the interview. 
S
he needed this story.  If she landed it, Mac Cooper, head editor
at
Bustin’ Loose Magazine
,
promised her a job writing the monthly column –
Rodeo Romance
.

While she didn’t know much about the rodeo, she’d had experience writing Kiss & Tell articles for other magazines.  The only difference was that
Rodeo Romanc
e
would only focus on rodeo cowboys and the women they share
d
their bed
s
with.  Not exactly her dream job, but it would mean a steady paycheck.  Something she needed to help pay for her grandmother’s medical care. 

“
Afraid not
,”
the cowboy
replied matter-of-factly. 

“
I can overlook his mood,” she said
in irritation as she lifted her foot to shake a piece of gravel fr
ee of h
er favorite sling back sandal.
  “
He promised me an interview
and
I’m not leaving until I get it.
”