Mistletoe Rodeo. Laura Marie Altom

Chase swore he could still hear the man’s laughter. This would be their fourth Christmas without Joe Langtry. People said it would get better with time, but it hadn’t. You learned to deal with the pain and move on, but it never seems to get any better.

      The Bridle Dance offices were on the second level of the arts-and-crafts style building. Halfway up the open staircase, Chase stopped and looked around. The building had four quadrants, and from his vantage point he could survey each corridor of his father’s masterpiece. The ranch, originally only a handful of acres, had been a wedding gift from his great-grandfather to his great-grandmother. Chase’s eldest brother, Cole, and his wife, Tess, lived in the original cottage. Over the decades, the Langtrys had expanded the property into a quarter-of-a-million-acre estate. Today, Bridle Dance was one of the state’s largest paint and quarter cutting horse ranches.

      His father had retired from the rodeo the day before Cole was born. Now the time had come for Chase to make that decision—the hardest of his life. He felt he owed it to his family to devote more time to the business. Hopefully everything else would fall into place soon after.

      Chase climbed the remainder of the stairs and was relieved to find Cole alone. He cleared his throat.

      “Hey.”

      Cole spun around in his chair. “I didn’t expect to see you until much later. I’m surprised you’re still awake.” He rose and gave Chase a manly, back-patting hug.

      “So am I.” Chase walked over to one of the windows overlooking the ranch. “Do you have a minute?”

      “Sure.” Cole fixed two cups of coffee in the office’s minikitchen and handed one to his younger brother. Chase appreciated not being drilled about Las Vegas. A former rodeo rider himself, Cole was familiar with the disappointment of not winning.

      Being the eldest of the four Langtry brothers, Cole had become the patriarch of the family since their father’s death, and Chase wanted to discuss his decision with him before he told anyone else. He took a seat across from Cole.

      “That was my last competitive ride.” The relief of actually saying the words was greater than he had anticipated. “The doctors warned me a few weeks ago that I wouldn’t be able to recover from too many more injuries. I’d rather walk away than be told I can’t compete anymore. I already know there’s a good chance I’ll need surgery on my shoulder if the physical therapy doesn’t help this time.”

      “I can’t say I blame you for wanting to make the decision yourself,” Cole said. “Do you know what you want to do next?”

      “I’m going to continue with the school, of course. Shane could use a break after carrying my weight all this time. But I also want to put in more time here at the ranch. I haven’t been able to do it before and it’s important to me to be a part of Dad’s legacy.”

      “There’s certainly plenty of work to go around.” Cole sipped his coffee. “Have you spoken to your agent or your sponsors about this yet?”

      “No. I wanted to talk to you first. I don’t even know where to begin.”

      Chase wasn’t just walking away from the rodeo—he was walking away from multiple paychecks from the various companies sponsoring him. Luckily, his agent was firm on only signing year-to-year contracts. This being the end of the rodeo season, Chase was free and clear to walk away.

      “Financially you’re okay since the balance of your trust comes due on your thirtieth birthday. Call your agent and tell him your decision, but give yourself a couple days before you do. You may even want to wait until after the holidays. Once you tell him, he’ll talk to your publicist and they’ll handle it from there. Be prepared for an onslaught of phone calls. Walking away isn’t easy.”

      “Neither is telling Shane.” Chase still wasn’t sure how he was going to break it to him. “He’s been living vicariously through me for the past two years.”

      “Shane walked away from the rodeo, too. Granted he didn’t have an injury hanging over his head, but he did it midseason and there were quite a few repercussions surrounding his decision. You have my support, but I mean it when I say take the holidays to come to terms with this and be a hundred percent positive this is what you want before you announce it publicly. Enjoy some downtime for a change.”

      Downtime was a foreign concept to Chase. Between the rodeo and the school, he found himself run ragged most of the time. With a handful of days left to this year’s final session, Chase looked forward to a lighter workload. When his mom had asked him to cochair the Mistletoe Rodeo, Chase had hesitated at first and then decided it wouldn’t be so bad working alongside his mother. Over the past few months, he’d helped organize many of the events leading up to the charity auction at the end of the evening. To his surprise, he had enjoyed every minute of it.

      “Nola West is coming to the ranch later this afternoon to interview Mom and me about the Mistletoe Rodeo. Do you want to be a part of it?”

      “Tess mentioned she saw you two together at The Magpie. I have to tell you, when Shane came home from Vegas he said watching you and Nola was like watching Wile E. Coyote chase the Road Runner.”

      “I bet it was.” Chase laughed. “She was a bit relentless and even wrangled a seat next to me on the plane. Did you know she served three tours in the Middle East?”

      “No, I didn’t, but I guess it means she’s capable of taking on a Langtry man.”

      Chase almost dropped his mug. “What’s that supposed to mean?”

      Cole eyed him skeptically. “It’s obvious the woman has a thing for you, and the way you pant over her when she’s not looking leads me to believe the feeling’s mutual.”

      “I do not.” Chase stood and dumped the remainder of his coffee in the sink, not daring to look at his brother.

      “Yeah, okay. Whatever you say. I don’t have time for an interview, though. Do me a favor and run these to the lab for me. Lexi should be down there somewhere. Just don’t take the coward’s way out and have her tell Shane your decision. He deserves to hear this from you.”

      Cole knew Chase too well. For a split second, he had contemplated just that—asking Lexi to break the news to her husband. Chase was a rodeo cowboy, and he wasn’t sure if he knew how to be anything else. How would the school fare having two “retired has-beens” who’d never won the World All-Around as owners? That win spoke volumes in the industry and, once again, Chase felt like he’d let everyone down.

      * * *

      “WHERE’S THE STORY?” Pete Devereaux, KWTT’s news director, boomed through the phone.

      “I don’t have it yet.” Nola tried to think of a way to tell Pete he wasn’t going to get the type of story he had expected. “I’m meeting Chase at Bridle Dance this afternoon.”

      “We sent you all the way to Las Vegas and back—first class, I might add—and you still don’t have anything. If we wanted you to get the story at the ranch, we could’ve saved ourselves a lot of money.”

      “I know.” Nola’s voice went dry. “He refused to give me an interview in the airport. I wasn’t going to hound him like a tabloid reporter. It’s not my style. Besides, the interview at the ranch was his idea.”

      “Of course it was. You’ll be on his home turf,” Pete grunted. “You’ve got to bring me something good if you want this co-anchor job. Dirk just locked down an exclusive tell-all interview with Senator Waegle about the alleged prostitute he was caught with. I’m sorry, but you need to top it or he will get the co-anchor position. I’d hate to do that when I know you are more than capable.”

      Sometimes Nola hated the news and wished they could call a cease-fire for the holidays. Life went on, wars continued, people died tragically and politicians cheated. She’d witnessed every sin imaginable and had even committed the ultimate one herself.

      Shaking her head to erase the memory, Nola ended her call with Pete. She