Home To Copper Mountain

The mention of Audra prompted him to ask, “Was she engaged to the man who died?”

“No. From what Pam told me, Audra finally accepted a date with Pete when she didn’t really want to.”

“Why would she do that?”

“Perhaps to forget someone else.”

There was no perhaps about it, or his father wouldn’t have said it. For some strange reason, Rick wished he hadn’t asked the question.

“Since the accident, she blames herself for relenting. Audra’s convinced he wouldn’t be dead if she’d just said no to him.”

“Maybe that’s why she’s still having nightmares.” Without preamble, Rick told his father about the encounter with Audra at the bungalow. “Her screams were bloodcurdling. They left me shaken.”

His father nodded. “Both David and Pam are worried about her. She’s pretty fragile.”

“I’ve had buddies at the track who’ve been through the same trauma. It takes a long time to get over. Don’t tell Pam or she’ll tell Audra. I don’t want to make an enemy out of her.”

“I won’t, but I am going to have a talk with Audra about moving back to the main ranch house tonight. She shouldn’t be living out at the bungalow alone no matter how much she craves her independence.”

“Agreed.” When Rick thought about how easy it had been to climb in that back-bedroom window…

“I’ll think of a good excuse to approach her. In the meantime, let’s go in the tack room and get what we need.”

Rick smiled as he helped his father bridle and saddle the animals like a pro. He could tell Clint was loving this new lifestyle. Wait until Rick got his brother on the phone and told him what was going on.

There had been so much that neither he nor Nate had understood when their father had first announced his engagement to Pam. That felt like a hundred years ago.

Once the stirrups were adjusted, Rick swung himself up and followed his father’s lead along a well-worn path. They rode beyond the paddock to a field where the occasional line of trees appearing and disappearing among gently rolling hills denoted a winding creek.

His dad waited for Rick to join him. “It’s the perfect time of evening to show you something I know you’ll appreciate. Have you got your sea legs yet?”

Rick grinned. “I think so.”

“Then let’s go.”

They set off through the wild grass, beneath bits of darkening blue sky and clouds. Though the temperature bordered on hot, Rick felt comfortable because the air was surprisingly arid.

“When I called you yesterday morning to touch base, it concerned me to learn you hadn’t decided to sign those new racing contracts yet.”

That makes two of us.

Obviously his dad had set their slow pace for a reason.

“What’s holding you up? Between Trans T & T and Mayada, you’ve been offered an unprecedented amount of money. You’ll have the same crew chief as before.”

Rick’s hand tightened on the reins. “I have no complaints.”

His dad squinted at him. “I know you broke it off with Natalie when you left Arizona. Is she the reason you’re hesitant to return?”

“Who’s Natalie?” he teased to cover his anxiety.

“All right. I have the answer to that question at least.” A troubled expression broke out on his father’s face. “When your mother died, the fire went out of you. It’s never come back, has it?”

Rick expelled a breath he didn’t realize he’d been holding. “I can’t deny that her death took its toll. But in all honesty, the thrill of competition hasn’t been there for the last year.”

“That must be a terrifying feeling.”

“How did you know?”

“I’ve been putting myself in your place. You’re at the top of your game with enough money invested right now to retire in luxury for the rest of your life, yet the excitement is gone and you’re only coming up on thirty years of age.”

His dad had nailed part of the problem, but not all. Rick didn’t have a place to call his own anymore. Though Clint had told him and Nate they would always have a home with him, it wasn’t the same thing. Rick needed a place where he belonged. It haunted him there was no longer a center of his universe.

“After you and mom met you did it right by making marriage and family your first priority.”

Clint shook his head. “If she hadn’t come along, I might have been where you are now, with several gold medals and the promise of more. Except that I’d be a single man of thirty who was in debt for the rest of his life.”

“You were lucky.”

His dad flashed him a shrewd look. “Have you thought of trying to find the right woman?”

“No. I don’t believe in it.” He frowned. “Either she shows up in the scheme of things like Mom did and like Laurel did for Nate, or she doesn’t. If I have to work on meeting my intended, then I might as well stick to racing.”

“Well—I’m glad we had this little talk.”

“So am I. After breakfast tomorrow I’ll head out for Phoenix and sign those contracts Neal’s holding for me. I’m fortunate to have a job waiting for me I know how to do, right?” That’s what Rick had to keep telling himself.

“A man needs work. If he knows how to be successful at it, that’s a plus. Tell you what—I’ll race you to that clump of blackjack oak in the distance.”

Blackjack? Already he was an expert on Texas flora?

To Rick’s surprise, his father took off at a gallop. He couldn’t believe what a natural he was in the saddle. Just as if he was on a pair of skis. It was a pleasure to watch man and horse race toward the sunset.

After a moment Rick realized this was supposed to be a race. Already behind, he found that splashing through the creek not far ahead of him slowed him down even more. He had a devil of a time catching up to his father.

It wasn’t long before he saw a sea of blue in the distance. “Is that a lake?” He’d reined in next to his dad. “I didn’t see it on the map.”

“I asked Pam the same question when she first brought me out here. Those are Texas bluebonnets. They grow wild here in the spring. You’ll never see the likes of them in Colorado.

“If you’d come a few weeks later, you would have missed them. Though there’s no fragrance, the sight is unmatched.”

“It’s spectacular!”

But Rick’s thoughts were elsewhere. The word bluebonnet brought to mind the haunting lyrics of the country music sung by the fabulous female vocalist he’d heard on the radio last night.

I’m an uprooted bluebonnet,

I no longer have a home,