A Bull Rider To Depend On. Jeannie Watt

Skye was not a good asker—not after having self-sufficiency hammered into her for her entire life.

      “That’s why I came to you,” Skye said. “You get it.” Unlike his brother. Why couldn’t he have understood Mason’s problem? Played ball? If he had...well, she couldn’t say Mason would be alive today, because he’d been on his way to the casino resort to check into a room when he got hit, but she’d be a lot better off.

      “And now that I know how Ty’s doing with his bull riding, how are you doing with yours?”

      “Stalled out at the moment. I’m living lean, still doing contract construction and trying to save enough money to follow Ty onto the circuit. You know, while I’m still young enough to get beat into the ground and bounce back.”

      “You’re good, Jess. You should give it a shot.”

      He lowered his gaze to study the table, as if this wasn’t a topic he was comfortable with. When he looked up at her, his expression was serious. “If I had the money, you know I’d give it to you.”

      “Loan it to me.”

      “That’s what I meant. Right now, living in the camp trailer, sharing it with Ty when he’s back in town...the prospect of hitting the road next year is one of the only things keeping me sane.”

      * * *

      SKYE DROVE HOME telling herself not to worry. She still had options, and she’d worked extra shifts to catch up on the ranch loan. She just needed to do the same with the truck. And the cow loan...she’d figure something out.

      The porch squeaked under her feet as she mounted the stairs—a noise she’d long equated with her husband coming home from a bull-riding event, or back from the barn after chores. A good noise still, even though it made her feel lonely. She and Mason had had good times.

      She pulled out her keys and unlocked the door, holding it open so that Jinx could shoot out as usual. The big gray cat disappeared into the lilac bushes without so much as a backward glance, but come morning, after he’d done his best to decimate the mouse population in the sheds and barns, he’d be back, wanting attention and lots of it.

      Skye walked inside and hung her purse on the coat rack near the door. Her house was spotless. When she couldn’t sleep, she cleaned. And cleaned and cleaned. It cost very little money to clean a house, and it wore her out and thus made it possible to get at least a few hours of rest before heading to work in the morning.

      But tonight she hoped she could simply fall asleep the way she used to be able to. Mason had once teased her that when ten o’clock came around, her eyes automatically shut regardless of where she was. It was for the most part true. Skye was a morning person, which was why the morning shift at the café had seemed so perfect—right up until sleep started to escape her, around the same time that the bills started stacking up.

      Partial payment was now the name of the game. She hadn’t been turned over to collection, but if she missed one more truck payment...

      Her stomach tightened, and she hugged her arms around herself. Looked like another night of heavy cleaning and organizing.

       Chapter Two

      “Good thing I’m a minimalist,” Tyler Hayward muttered as he edged past his brother as he made his way down the hall of the camp trailer.

      “You’re welcome for the roof over your head,” Jess muttered back as he headed into the cramped living room.

      “I appreciate it,” Ty said. Cramped or not, he did.

      Not that long ago, when he came home, Tyler crashed in his own room in the house he grew up in, but after his parents had sold the ranch and moved to Texas to be closer to his grandparents, he started staying with his twin. Practically on top of him, actually since his “room” was a built-in bunk in a niche in the hallway leading to Jess’s small bedroom at the rear of the trailer. His gear was stacked in a pile in the living room. He had to admit that Jess was being a good sport about him invading his space. At this point in his life, he had no idea where he would eventually land, or even what state he would call home. Texas, to be close to the folks? Or Montana to be close to his twin and the people he’d grown up with? Since his parents seemed to visit Gavin every couple of months, he was leaning toward Montana, which meant getting his own place. And for the first time ever, he was in a position to do it. His previous season had been good. No. Make that great, and he wanted to get something nailed down, pay cash and then only have to worry about maintenance and upkeep. A small place with ten acres or so. Enough to keep a few horses, a few cows. Nothing fancy.

      After stowing his duffel under the bunk—at least there was room for that—he came back out into the living room/kitchen, where his brother was now settled in the living room, beer in one hand, remote in the other.

      “You know...if you wanted to invest in a bigger trailer, I’d go halves with you.” He’d offer more, but his brother was proud. A little too proud sometimes.

      “This’ll do for now.”

      Jess had always been the careful twin—except in the arena. Once atop a bull, he rode with the best of them. The only problem was that he was never able to commit himself to a season. To take that risk.

      “One of us has to have a job,” he’d say whenever Tyler badgered him to go pro. Ironically, Tyler was now the one with the money. No house, but money. Thankfully one was rather easily parlayed into the other.

      “How long are you going to save?” Tyler asked as he got a beer out of the tiny fridge and joined his brother on the beat-up sofa their mom had left behind during the big move. He propped his foot up on the wooden chest that served as a coffee table.

      “Before...?”

      “You make some kind of a move?”

      Jess changed the channel. A couple of times. “Until I feel ready. Okay?”

      Tyler put up a hand. “Just checking.” Again.

      Jess changed channels Again. Ty figured it would be another night of watching five minutes of a show then moving on as his brother became restless, but instead he muted the television and put the remote on his lap. “Skye came to see me today.”

      Ty had years of practice not reacting to Skye’s name when it came up. He’d had a raging crush on her for as long as he could remember. She’d hated him for as long as he could remember. No matter what he did to impress her, it didn’t work, and eventually he’d given up and decided he really didn’t like her all that much anyway.

      But he did. When they’d gone to high school, he’d even asked her out once. She’d thought he was poking fun at her and never gave him a chance to explain. Off to college she went, and when she came back, she was engaged to Mason. Ty’s friend. A guy he liked just fine, but sometimes had a hard time respecting. Being around the newly engaged couple had been Ty’s own private hell.

      He knew for a fact that Mason never would have asked Skye out in the first place if he hadn’t known that Tyler had a thing for her. Mason and Tyler had competed in all venues of life, and in this case, Mason had won. Skye had refused to give Tyler a chance, and that had always stung a little.

      Tyler put his feet up on the trunk in front of him. “Why did Skye come to see you?”

      “She needed a loan. She’s behind on some payments and can’t nail down a cow loan.”

      “How much behind?”

      “I didn’t get a dollar amount. She needs the cow loan.” Jess raised his eyes to meet his brother’s.

      “I can lend her the money.” He spoke flatly, as if he had no emotional stake in the matter.

      “Yeah,” Jess said. “I mentioned the possibility and...” He gave his head a small shake. “She wasn’t in favor.”

      “But