New Year, New Man: A Kiss on Crimson Ranch / The Dance Off / The Right Mr. Wrong

Sara turned Claire to face her. “Listen to me. You are perfect the way you are. Plastic surgery isn’t going to change your relationship with your mother.”

“You don’t know—”

“I do know. I spent years jumping through hoops to win my mother’s approval. Guess what? Never happened. Maybe it never will. I hope it does for you, Claire. I hope your mom gets healthy and realizes how precious you are to her. Until then, I know your dad loves you. Even if he isn’t great at showing you how much.”

“I just want to fit in here,” Claire said miserably, her green eyes, so like Josh’s, welling again.

“I know, sweetie.”

“Would you take me shopping sometime?” Claire asked. “None of my clothes are right for Colorado, you know?”

Sara thought about the women in Feathers and Floss. “Are you looking for Wranglers and studded belt buckles?”

“No.” Claire laughed. “Just clothes to hang out in. If you don’t have time, I understand.”

Sara gave her a quick hug. “I have time. How about before the weekend? I’ll drive us down to Denver. We can make it a girls’ day out. Go to lunch. Get our nails done.”

“Really?”

“Of course, I may only be able to afford one sock, but we’ll do our best.”

“Dad has money. I could ask if we can use his credit card.”

Sara almost choked from laughing so hard. “I bet he’d love that.” She pushed the hair off Claire’s innocent face. “I pay my own way. But, heck, yeah, we’ll get his card for you. A shopping trip is one thing dads are always good for.”

“Was your dad good for that kind of stuff?”

Sara’s father had been a nameless stuntman on one of her mother’s B movies. An on-set fling for Rose, who hadn’t even told him she was pregnant and had never shared his identity with Sara.

“I don’t know my father.”

“Oh. I guess it’s good that Josh wants me to live with him anyway.”

“He doesn’t like it when you call him Josh.”

Claire grinned. “I know.”

“How much did you see him before this summer?”

“A couple of times a year when he had time off from the tour. He’d come to my school and take me out to dinner. He sent me presents from the road. Lots of stuffed animals and things like that. I’d never been to the rodeo until...” Claire wrapped her arms tight around her chest. “The accident was my fault. Did you know that?”

Sara had read a half-dozen articles about the horrific accident that had ended Josh’s career. It still made her sick to her stomach to think about the images she’d seen on YouTube. But none of the reports had mentioned Claire. “Why do you say that?”

“I was there.” Claire scrunched up her face. “Mom was having a bad time. It was winter break and she was stuck with me. She found out there was an event a few days before Christmas and flew us both down there. I think she wanted to dump me with him for the holidays. She didn’t tell him we were coming. Right before he came out of the gate, he looked up and saw me. It broke his concentration.” Claire drew in a shaky breath. “They let the bull go right at that moment and...” Her voice broke off as she shook her head. “The whole arena was silent when it happened. I thought he was dead. The bull was so big and it landed right on him.”

“Claire.” Sara drew the girl into another tight hug. Sara had been through some bad stuff as a kid, but this poor girl gave her a run for her money in the bad-childhood department.

“They took him to the hospital straight from the event. I didn’t see him again until he showed up on the last day of spring semester.” Claire wiped her cheek against Sara’s sleeve. “If I hadn’t been there, he’d still be riding.”

“It wasn’t your fault,” Sara whispered against the girl’s head. “It was a terrible accident. But not your fault. Not your fault.”

“But I—”

“Have you and your dad talked about what happened?”

Claire didn’t answer.

“I’m sure he doesn’t blame you.”

“He should.”

“You need to talk to him.”

“No,” Claire whispered. “I don’t want to hear him tell me I ruined his life.”

* * *

Josh sagged onto the wall outside his daughter’s bedroom and swallowed against the bile that rose in his throat. He’d come to find her minutes ago but stopped short when he’d heard her conversation with Sara.

He didn’t blame Claire for the accident. His break in concentration was his own fault. He’d been riding bulls long enough to know his focus should be zeroed in on the thousand pounds of angry animal between his legs. But when he’d seen Claire, he’d been thrown. Literally and figuratively.

Apparently, they’d both paid a price for his lapse in focus.

In his mind, he’d hoped she hadn’t seen much or understood how bad it had been. Hoped her mother would whisk her away before she realized how serious it was. Jennifer had probably been too tipsy to understand the extent of the damage. But not Claire.

He had a hazy memory of trying to smile even as he felt his leg shatter, thinking that if his daughter could see him he didn’t want to frighten her. He hadn’t wanted her to know how scared he had been. Even now, that thought kept him rooted to his spot in the hall when his heart knew he should be the one with his arms around her, comforting and soothing her.

He’d waited until he could hide his injury before he’d come to see her, thinking that would be easier for both of them. Since he’d brought her to the ranch, sometimes he’d catch her staring at his right knee, especially toward the end of the day when exhaustion and overuse made it more difficult to hide his slight limp.

He wanted to be strong for her, not weak and half-broken. Bending forward, he rubbed at his leg, willing the pain to go away. He straightened and thumped on the wall as he walked to the end of the hall. “Claire,” he called, coming back toward her room. “Are you up here?”

He made some more noise before poking his head in her room. She sat on the edge of the bed with Sara next to her. While she smiled at him, her eyes were red and puffy from her tears. “Hey, Dad,” she said cheerfully, a sure sign that things were very wrong.

Sara watched him as if his face gave away the fact that he’d been eavesdropping. Impossible, he thought, but kept his gaze on Claire. “It’s a gorgeous day,” he said to his daughter. “I thought we could take an ATV up to Bitter Creek Pass, check on the trails and maybe have lunch.”

Her smile faded. “I don’t think so.”

He took a breath and made his tone light. “Come on. It’ll be fun. Just you and me and a ton of horsepower.”

She scrunched up her nose. “Those things are so loud and they go really fast.”

“That’s supposed to be the fun part,” he said, trying not to sound frustrated.

He let his eyes drift to Sara, who looked at him with a hint of sympathetic smile. “Can I come, too?” she asked.

As much as his body ached to be near Sara, part of him was angry his daughter had confided her pain to someone besides him. And he wanted her to know it. “There’s only room for two on the ATVs, Hollywood.”

“Einstein in a Stetson, aren’t you? Thanks for pointing that out. I was thinking I’d have my own four-wheeler.”