Cheyenne tapped out a quick reply.
Thank you, thank you, thank you. Let me know how much I will owe your friend, and I will double it. As for you, I will owe you forever. I love you for this, Buck.
She reread the message. No, the love part was too much. That might make him uncomfortable. She deleted the final sentence before sending the reply. It was done. She’d saved herself from looking like a fool. But a stab at her heart told her that if ever there was a man she could love, it was Buck Tolson.
As she tucked the phone into her purse, she could see her brother coming through the revolving door into the crowded lobby. Stetson was tall for a bull rider and beanpole skinny, but everywhere he went, his lanky charm was a magnet for girls.
Rachel, their mother, walked a half step ahead of him, ramrod straight in a white blouse and gray slacks, with the light blue blazer she wore to church. Her head, crowned with graying hair pulled into a neat bun, came even with her tall son’s ear.
She wore no makeup and no jewelry except for a practical Timex watch and her thin gold wedding band. But even in her mid-fifties, she was striking, with classic features she’d passed on to her four handsome sons and a daughter who’d turned down movie offers. Her work-worn hands testified to decades of hard toil, scrubbing, gardening, childbearing, tending cows, chickens, and children, making nutritious meals out of whatever was at hand, and nursing a bitter, disabled husband night and day.
Rachel was the embodiment of a favorite piece of Scripture—Who can find a virtuous woman, for her price is above rubies.
As their gazes met across the crowded lobby, Cheyenne stifled a groan. Her mother possessed the attitude of a saint walking through the gates of hell, ready to overturn the gaming tables and drive out the money changers.
“Hang in there, Little Sis. It’s only for a couple of days.”
Roper stood behind her. Cheyenne’s heart warmed as she turned to meet his understanding smile. What would she do without him? Her other brothers were self-absorbed louts. Her father ignored her, and her mother controlled her with an iron hand. Only Roper gave her unconditional love and support.
It was too bad they didn’t have time to talk. She wantedto tell him what she’d learned about Hayden. But at least she’d told Sam.
Rachel and Stetson made their way across the lobby toward them. Stetson shoved the small suitcase he was carrying into Roper’s hands. “Mom’s all yours,” he said. “I’ll see you tomorrow night at the big show. Good luck, man.” He rushed off as if he couldn’t wait to make his escape.
“I need to go, too,” Roper said. “I just wanted to be here when you arrived, Mother.” He brushed a kiss on her cheek. “I’ll see you later. Maybe tonight we can go out for a nice dinner.”
“You can join us in our room, if you like. I don’t plan to eat out. It’s too expensive—what with all the noise and the people.” Rachel sniffed the air, an expression of distaste on her face. “It smells like cigarettes in here,” she said. “And how does anybody stand that hellish noise from the casino? Get me up to the room, Cheyenne. We drove all night to get here. What I need now is a nice, long nap.”
Cheyenne took the suitcase from Roper and escorted her mother to the elevators. Since most people were coming down at this hour, they had a car going up to themselves. No sooner had the doors closed than Rachel impaled Cheyenne with her laser-like gaze.
“Have you been all right here? Has Roper been looking out for you?”
“I’ve been fine,” Cheyenne said. “And Roper’s been keeping a sharp eye on me. His room is right across the hall. You’ll see when we get there.”
“What about that young man? The one who owns the red horse? Is he behaving like a gentleman—and are you making sure he does?”
“Hayden? We’re just friends—barely that. Please, Mother, I’m not fifteen anymore. Can’t you please stop hovering over me?”
“If I’d done more hovering when you were eighteen, you wouldn’t have been allowed to go to that big horse show in Scottsdale with that … that devil. You told me he could be trusted.”
Cheyenne shook her head. “Please, let’s not do this. It was in the past. I’ve moved on. I should never have told you what happened.”
“You shouldn’t have kept it from me for so long. Almost two years, and then you tell me.”
Cheyenne would never forget the fight they’d had earlier that summer. It had started in the kitchen, after supper, when Rachel had been giving her yet another sermon on the importance of remaining a virgin until her wedding night. “Your purity is the most precious gift you can give your husband—anything less is second-rate, like settling for a used car instead of a new one. A worthy man, one who respects you, will want the best. And when he sees you walk down the aisle in that perfect white dress, he’ll know that you’ve kept yourself just for—”
Cheyenne’s self-control had exploded. “Stop it, Mother! You’re too late! I’m not a virgin! I’ll never be a virgin again!”
While Rachel had gazed at her in shocked disbelief, Cheyenne had poured out the whole story in brutal detail, sparing her nothing. By the end of it, Rachel’s pale face had been streaked with tears.
“You poor, poor girl,” she’d said. “This was my fault. I should never have let you go with him.”
“You couldn’t have stopped me. I wanted to learn about reining, and he’d offered to teach me. Then I found out what he really wanted.”
Cheyenne had left with her brothers on the rodeo circuit the next day. When she came home days later, Rachel had treated her as always, except that the wordsvirginandpurehad disappeared from her lectures.
The elevator had stopped on the fourteenth floor. Cheyenne ushered her mother out through the doors and down the long hallway. As they passed the door to Buck’s room, she couldn’t help wondering if he was still in town. She wanted to see him one more time, to thank him and wish him good luck with Fire Dance. At least with her horse on his ranch, they’d have a reason to keep in touch.
She unlocked the door, carried Rachel’s suitcase inside, and set it on the luggage rack. Housekeeping had cleaned the room in her absence. Everything was in order. Rachel made a beeline for the bathroom. While she was inside, Cheyenne took a moment to check her phone. In the short time since she’d last checked, there were three new texts. The first one was from Hayden.