A Cowboy's Claim. Marin Thomas

Tanya had already worked her way beneath his skin, and it wouldn’t take a whole lot of effort on her part to blaze a trail straight to his heart. Thank God he had a lot of rodeos and a lot of miles ahead of him to shake off her memory.

      He slipped from the bed, covered Tanya with the sheet, then took a shower and threw on a clean pair of jeans and a T-shirt. After tugging on his socks and boots, he stepped outside to check his phone messages—three voice mails from Maria Fitzgerald. An uneasy feeling crawled up his spine. This couldn’t be good news.

      “It’s Maria, Victor. Call me as soon as you get this message. And I don’t care what time it is.”

      “It’s Maria again. Please call me. It’s important.”

      “Victor, if you don’t call me soon, I’ll send Riley looking for you.”

      Damn it, he should have checked his messages before they left the Muggy Rim. He pressed the number 6 on his speed dial. Maria answered on the first ring.

      “Are you driving?” she asked.

      “I’m standing next to my truck. What’s going on, Maria?”

      “I have bad news.”

      Vic’s mind raced through the people employed at the boys’ ranch and wondered who had been hurt or who was ill.

      “Judge Hamel contacted me yesterday. Evidently I’m the only one who has your cell number.”

      “What’s the bad news?”

      “It concerns your nephew, Alex.”

      Vic had never met his twenty-one-year-old sister Natalia’s son. He hadn’t set foot in Albuquerque in over six years. The last time he’d spoken to his mother—maybe seven months ago—she had custody of Alex because Natalia was sitting in prison convicted of prostitution. “What happened?”

      “A neighbor found Alex wandering around the parking lot at night in the apartment complex where he and your mother live. Vic, your mother’s gone. Vanished. The police have no idea what happened to her. They think she might have been abducted.”

      Abducted? Yeah, right. Vic’s legs grew weak and he locked his knees. He knew what had happened to his mother. She’d left Alex to go buy drugs and had probably gotten high and never returned to the apartment. Or maybe she’d overdosed and was lying on a dirty mattress in some abandoned house in the barrio.

      Vic’s head spun and he slid down the side of the truck until his butt hit the asphalt. His gut twisted with anger and resentment as he envisioned his mother shooting up heroin or smoking crystal meth until she passed out. “Where’s Alex now?” The nephew he’d yet to meet must be terrified.

      “The New Mexico Children, Youth and Families Department placed him in a state-run facility while they search for your mother. But, Vic?”

      “What?”

      “Judge Hamel said even if they find her, Alex won’t be allowed to live with her anymore.”

      “Where will he go?” Natalia had had over a year left on her sentence.

      “Judge Hamel isn’t sure, but she suggested it would be best if you returned to Albuquerque and took temporary custody of Alex. He’s too young to be in a group home with older kids, but they have no other option right now.”

      “Custody?” Exactly what did that word entail?

      “I know rodeo is important, but Alex needs you.”

      “Alex doesn’t even know me, Maria.” As for rodeo, hell yes, it was important. No one but him knew the real reason he’d committed himself to the sport all these years. He’d come too far now to walk away.

      “You’re all the family Alex has left.”

      “What am I supposed to do with a four-year-old?”

      “He’s almost five.”

      Hell, he couldn’t even remember his nephew’s birthday. “There’s no way they’ll grant me custody of a kid that age. I’m on the road every day and I live out of motel rooms and my pickup.”

      “Temporary custody, Vic. Only until they find a better place for Alex.” After a short pause Maria said, “Judge Hamel has already vouched for you. CYFD is waiting for you to pick up Alex.”

      Vic glanced longingly at the motel door, wishing he could crawl into bed with Tanya and forget all the ugliness that existed in the world—his world. He closed his eyes, and his mother’s face flashed through his mind. She’d brought him into the world and she’d made him pay for it every day. He believed he’d finally put her and the barrio behind him for good, but her drug addiction was a stark reminder that he could never outrun who he was.

      “Come to the ranch,” Maria said. “Riley surprised me with a trip to Hawaii and we leave tomorrow, but you and Alex are welcome to stay in the main house. Alex will enjoy playing with the twins and Cruz’s daughter, Dani.”

      Vic had a string of rodeos he needed to compete in to pad his earnings and secure a spot in this year’s NFR. As for bunking down at Maria and Riley’s place—no way.

      “Judge Hamel’s working with CYFD to find Alex a home by the end of August at the latest.”

      “Alex will have to come on the road with me.” Vic’s mother had made his life miserable for so long, and he refused to let her latest drug relapse rob him of his goal.

      “If you’re determined to keep rodeoing, then drop Alex off here. I’m sure Cruz’s wife, Sara, will be happy to look after him until Riley and I return.”

      Sara might be fine with the arrangement, but he doubted Cruz would approve—not after Vic’s family had brought him nothing but trouble. “I can swing it if it’s only for a few weeks,” he said.

      “I’m glad to hear you say that. I knew you’d do the right thing.”

      Doing the right thing should help Vic feel better, but all it did was make him detest his mother more. “Where do I find Alex?”

      “When you arrive in Albuquerque, call Judge Hamel and she’ll give you the address of the group home where Alex is staying. I’ll text you Judge Hamel’s number in case you don’t have it.”

      “Sure.”

      “Victor?”

      “What?”

      “Judge Hamel said she’d let me know when and where they find your mother.”

      Right now he couldn’t care less if they ever found his mother. “Thanks.”

      “I’m sorry, Vic.”

      He disconnected the call. A few seconds later his phone beeped with a text message—Judge Hamel’s phone number.

      He glanced between the room door and his phone. He wanted so badly to stay with Tanya. Maybe it was a good thing he’d gotten the call now about Alex. At least he could walk away from her, before all his problems caused her grief. He climbed to his feet and went to the motel office, where he paid for another day—in case Tanya didn’t wake up before the checkout time.

      Then he returned to the room and fumbled his way in the dark to the nightstand, where he scribbled a note on the pad of paper and left it along with fifty dollars in cash to catch a cab to the fairgrounds. This wasn’t how he wanted to part ways with Tanya, but maybe it was best she learn now that she was better off without him.

      He set the key card next to the note, turned the lock on the door and left.

      * * *

      TANYA GOT OUT of the cab behind the fairgrounds near the livestock pens. Most of the animals had been loaded and hauled off except for a handful of horses used by the rodeo workers. She paid the driver, then shut the door and went over to the corral where Slingshot munched on hay. He didn’t look her way when she called his name. Go figure—he hadn’t