Rodeo Father

He pointed to a sign dotted brown and green with rust and verdigris, which arched above the entrance to the park: Rodeo, Montana, Fairgrounds and Amusement Park, Home of Our World-Famous Rodeo.

“Heard a rumor the town’s planning on resurrecting that rodeo. Next summer?” Maybe he could earn a few extra bucks. He used to be good.

Damned if she didn’t perk right up.

“You rodeo?”

“Been known to ride a bull or two.”

The aurora borealis he’d once seen in northern Alberta had nothing on this woman’s smile.

Rachel brushed a lock of thick hair from her face. He thought the color might be called tawny. It glowed like liquid honey and looked as soft as a calf’s ear.

Her smile dazzled him and sent him off-kilter. She had some powerful mojo that had him falling like a load of bricks. Images tempted him, of cozy nights in his new home with a wood fire burning and a thick blanket on the floor beside the hearth, firelight dancing over golden skin, the two of them naked and indulging in the sweetest exercise known to man—

“Care for a ride?” she asked, eyes wide.

A ride? Was his face that transparent? His cheeks heated like coals in a grill.

His shock must have shown because she frowned and tapped the ornamental saddle. “I won’t make it go too fast if that’s what you’re worried about.”

Ohhhh, that kind of ride.

Well, hell, that was obvious, wasn’t it? She was standing on a carousel in a fairground.

Cripes, Travis, get your mind out of the gutter.

Where the heck had that daydream come from? His dreams had been beaten out of him early on in life.

Even so... A ride on a carousel... He yearned, an ache in his chest for a boyhood that had never existed.

Dusty stirred in the trailer. Travis shouldn’t leave him so long, but temptation swayed him.

He’d never been on an amusement park ride in his life. They’d never had money as kids. Later, he’d been busy keeping himself and Sammy fed and clothed, body and soul patched together with spit and determination.

With the likelihood of him still being here next summer paper-thin, this could be his one chance for a carousel ride.

Take it, that inner little boy who’d missed all of this in childhood urged.

Why not? How long would it take? Five minutes? He could spare that.

A laugh burst out of him. “You bet! I sure would like a ride, and you can make it go as fast as you want.”

As frisky as a young boy, he put a hand on the top rail and hopped over. The structure creaked under his weight.

“You need to shore up that fence.”

A waterfall of feminine laughter cascaded over him. “Ya think?” she asked. “Everything in this park needs work. It’s a never-ending job.”

Travis stepped up onto the carousel.

Up close, Rachel looked even better. His breath backed up in his throat, his world rocked by this one short woman.

She still stood behind the white pony. What he could see of her above its body sure looked fine.

Freckles dotted a pert nose and strong cheekbones. Flecks of gold flashed in eyes lit with an inner glow.

That her hazel eyes and some of the streaks in her hair matched was about the most striking feature he’d ever seen on a woman.

One small freckle dotted her bottom lip.

The tiniest pair of silver cowboy boots hung from stars in her earlobes.

He wondered what the rest of her looked like. With her arms crossed on top of the pony, the too-long sleeves of a plaid flannel jacket covered most of her hands. Her right hand still gripped the wrench.

Inside the collar of her jacket was a prettier shirt collar, Western, pink with white piping and small white flowers embroidered on the tips.

She caught him studying the flowers. “Bitterroot,” she said. “Montana’s state flower.”

A straw cowboy hat with a pink band embroidered with more bitterroot flowers hung behind her on the center column of the ride.

She flung an arm wide to encompass the characters on the old ride. The pungent scent of fresh paint and turpentine wafted from the structure. “Take your pick. I’ve been fine-tuning the engine and oiling her parts to put her to bed for the winter. I need to test her. Might as well have a passenger on board while I do.”

She smiled again. “Waste of energy otherwise, running her with no one on her. This lovely old lady was made to be enjoyed.” In her voice, he heard a world of affection.

“Choose your animal and climb on,” she said.

Travis walked around the carousel and rubbed his hand across the backs of the odd animals—odd for an amusement park ride, that was. Along with the usual horses were a pair of bighorn sheep, a bison, a cow, a white-tailed deer and an elk, all wearing ornate saddles. Strangest darned ride he’d ever seen.

He chose a big black bull.

“Predictable,” Rachel muttered, tempering it with a humorous tone.

“Sorry to disappoint, ma’am, but I’ve never seen a bull on a carousel ride before. It’s big and sturdy.”

In her quick glance down his big body, he saw admiration, but her eyes shifted away too quickly. So was she attracted to him? Or not?

“The bull should hold your weight,” was all she said.

He mounted. It did. He held on to a pair of long hard horns.

“Ready when you are,” he called back over his shoulder when he heard her walk away behind him.

From somewhere near the center column of the big old thing, she called, “Here you go.”

He heard a lever being moved. The ride took a few arthritic strides. Then the engine kicked in and picked up speed.

His breath caught. There was something to be said for taking your first ride as an adult.