The Cowboy Who Got Away. Nancy Thompson Robards

      “If you do end up staying for a while, would you be willing to come and talk to the high school’s rodeo club? I’m the sponsor and I know they’d all love to hear from a champion. You’re kind of a big deal around here. But don’t get a big head or anything.”

      “Sure, I’d love to come and talk to them. Let me see what I have going and I’ll give you a call.”

      They exchanged numbers, and by that time Dottie delivered the blueberry pie and coffee and Tony’s to-go order, which he’d phoned in earlier. Tony paid and was out the door, but not before promising that if he didn’t hear from Jude he’d come looking for him.

      “Remember that bonfire party we had out by the lake on your property?” Juliette said, her eyes sparkling with humor. “Oh, my gosh, remember when Tony and Isaac Oppenheimer were being jackasses and decided to go skinny-dipping to embarrass all the girls?”

      Jude laughed. “And someone went to hide their clothes and ended up dropping them in the fire by mistake.”

      Juliette was laughing so hard she had tears in her eyes. “And we had to make sandwich boards out of the beer boxes and bungee cords so that they didn’t get arrested for indecent exposure. It would’ve served them right if they’d spent the night in jail. That makes me sound old, doesn’t it?” She shook her head. “We had some good times out there, didn’t we?” A faraway smile softened her features as she picked up her coffee cup.

      Jude swallowed a bite of pie. “Remember that time my dad was drunk when he was keeping watch out by the barn looking for those coyotes that kept trying to get after the horses? He almost shot me thinking I was an animal when really I was just sneaking in late for curfew.”

      “You were an animal.” She laughed again and the sound washed over him like balm. “That’s when I started calling you Wylie,” she said. “Oh, and remember that tree we planted by the cabin? I wonder if it’s still there.”

      “I don’t know. Why don’t you come out there with me and we’ll find out?”

       Chapter Two

      Juliette should’ve said no when Jude asked her to come with him to the lake cabin. Reminiscing over coffee was one thing, but returning to the scene where they’d made most of their memories was entirely another.

      Yet here she sat in his truck, right next to him in the very place that had been her spot. Of course, it was a different truck. It was newer and more expensive than the old beater Ford he’d driven in high school, but if she closed her eyes, she could see the two of them just as they were.

      That’s why she needed to keep her eyes wide-open and her head firmly in the here and now.

      She knew better than this. If she was tempted to forget why letting down her defenses with Jude was a bad idea, all she had to do was remind herself what happened with Shari at the Redbird Diner. Witnessing that girl fawning all over him had conjured the same feelings someone throwing a bucket of ice water in her face would have. It had been enough to shock some sense into her. Of course, it wasn’t Jude’s fault that women found him irresistible. She had to give him credit for handling Shari as well as he did. The girl seemed to offer herself to him the same way that Dottie had offered free pie—it was his for the taking. That was the life of an unmarried bull riding champion. Jude and his groupies were a package deal. She needed to keep that in mind when she found herself getting swept up in the current of his charisma.

      She stole a glance at his profile as he steered his truck off the gravel drive and down the dirt path that led to the lake. The problem was, all she had to do was spend a little time with him and all of yesteryear’s feelings threatened to flood back, making her feel like she was a teenager again and so in love that she couldn’t tell her own wants from his. She couldn’t distinguish the boundaries between his life and hers.

      Because back then, there had been no boundaries.

      She wasn’t in love with him anymore, but that chemistry, that electricity that had been the hallmark of their relationship, was still there, stronger than ever. She was pretty sure if she reached out and touched him that the air would sizzle.

      And that’s why she needed to watch herself.

      The truck bumped along the grooves that had worn into the carpet of green grass. They passed groups of skinny pine trees and the occasional cluster of rocks and boulders. Finally, Jude stopped between the big live oak where the two of them had carved their initials on one of those endless summer nights and the old cabin that had served as their lakeside cabana.

      They used to sneak off down here and disappear into their own little world. Everything else would fade away, except for them. God, they’d been two crazy teenagers who had been so hot for each other they couldn’t keep their hands to themselves. But even before that—when they were younger and more innocent—they’d always been drawn to each other. They’d rode horses together on his family’s ranch. He’d taught her how to barrel race and she’d taught him the difference between a salad fork and a dinner fork. He’d held her and let her cry on his shoulder when her dad died. She’d given him advice about how to make his relationship with his own dad better. She was his girl. He was her guy. She couldn’t even remember when exactly they’d made their relationship official. They just always were.

      Jude and Juliette.

      Juliette and Jude.

      Juju.

      Juju was interchangeable for them collectively or for each of them separately—one of the sickeningly sweet pet names they’d had for each other.

      It had all been great. Until it wasn’t anymore and ten years of silence had stretched between them like an endless ocean cloaked by night.

      “The place looks good,” Jude said, leaning forward to look out the windshield and glance around. “Ethan has been looking after it for me.”

      Juliette took off her seat belt and shifted so that she was facing him. It would’ve felt so natural to slide over next to him and tuck herself into that nook under his arm where she’d always fit so perfectly.

      But no. That was the danger zone.

      “Did you not make arrangements to have someone else take care of the place?”

      Jude nodded. “Of course I did. I paid the upkeep bills. He just offered to help. You know Ethan.”

      She hadn’t meant to sound judgmental. Even though she felt proprietary, the place wasn’t hers and whatever arrangement Jude and Ethan had agreed to wasn’t her business. As an only child, she didn’t know the luxury of leaning on a sibling. She certainly hadn’t been out here to look after the place. Not since...that night.

      That fateful night. It had all unfolded in the cabin. She hadn’t realized when she’d come out here searching for Jude that her whole world would change. Or maybe she had. Maybe having a big blowup was the only way she could’ve left.

      No, she wasn’t going there. The best way to get herself back on track was to make a joke. “I mean, think of all the hooligans who might come out here and party and skinny-dip and get into all kinds of trouble.”

      Jude nodded. “Exactly. I’m sure they’ll thank me later.”

      Playing along, Juliette rolled her eyes. “I’m sure they will.”

      They got out of the truck and started walking down toward the lake.

      “Oh, my gosh,” Juliette said, pointing to a tall tree near the lake bank. “Is that the sapling?”

      “It has to be,” Jude said. It was the only tree between the lake and the cabin that wasn’t ancient. “Looks like it not only survived, but it’s thriving.”

      “I’m so glad it’s still here,” she said. “We planted that, Jude. You and me. Look at it. It’s beautiful.”

      He