Laredo's Sassy Sweetheart. Tina Leonard

Tex into the stall across the aisle. For the moment he was quite a bit calmer.

      “He does have a spring-loaded midair jump, though,” Tex said. “Either this bull’s changed his mind about how he tries to kill people or you were getting set up, Laredo.”

      Ranger shook his head. “Cissy’s a nice girl. She wouldn’t deliberately tell someone wrong.”

      “And bulls don’t change their mind,” Tex said stubbornly. “If they start out kicking left, that’s usually the way they always go. Bloodthirsty didn’t hesitate. Then he bunched himself up in the air and tossed me over the pen.”

      Laredo wasn’t certain what to think. “Why would Cissy give me a bad tip?”

      “So you’d lose, dummy,” Tex told him. “She’s a woman, and she’s a rival, and she’s sucking Ranger’s face to make certain all her bases are covered.”

      “She didn’t suck my face!” Ranger protested.

      “Your lips are pink,” Laredo pointed out. “Did you borrow some tinted chapstick, maybe? Drink a strawberry pop? Borrow a sun lamp and use it on your lips?”

      “It was just a friendly peck,” Ranger said. “Nothing more.” But his face and neck turned as pink as the lipstick, and Laredo frowned.

      “Why are you lying?”

      “I’m not.” Ranger shrugged and gently helped Tex to his feet. “I think your shoulder’s fine. Just don’t test him again anytime soon.”

      “Why? So we won’t interrupt your friendly pecking with Cissy?” Tex asked. “What’s gotten into you?”

      “What’s gotten into you?” Ranger shot back. “Since when have you cared who I talked to?”

      “Since we’re supposed to be here helping out a woman who rescued us last month, Ranger,” Laredo stated. “Have you forgotten whose girls helped us and Union Junction through the big storm? Who helped with sandbagging, and cooking, and mopping up a creek’s worth of water? Who hung curtains in our house and cleaned and generally kept the town from getting washed under?”

      Ranger stared at his brothers, speechless. He shook his head as if his ears were buzzing. Then his shoulders drooped. “I don’t know what came over me,” he said, his tone apologetic. “It was like…it was like the call of the wild, and I couldn’t shut it off. Like being in a dream I didn’t want to wake up from.” He looked at them sheepishly. “For a minute there, I was almost totally hypnotized by a woman. Whew!”

      “Oh, boy.” Tex shook his head. “Listen, we’ve got to keep our heads on straight. Our brother has signed on to ride one of the worst bulls I’ve ever come in contact with, and he has no idea what he’s doing. We’ve gotta have a plan.”

      “My plan is to get on and stay on,” Laredo said. “I’m going to be more stubborn than this bull.”

      Bloodthirsty Black cared little for Laredo’s announcement. He gave a round-nostriled snort, reminding everyone he was in the business of tossing cowboys as if they were hay.

      “Maybe you should just give money to Miss Delilah’s charity,” Ranger said doubtfully.

      “It’s a man thing.” Laredo glanced toward the barn exit. “In Spain, they run from bulls. Malfunction Junction Ranch cowboys laugh in the face of danger.”