Jesse: Merry Christmas, Cowboy Read online

  “I’m not hungry.” She pushed the plate toward him. “Have some.”

  He didn’t wait for a second invitation, but picked up the salad fork she hadn’t used and dug in. From the way he ate, she might have concluded he hadn’t had a decent meal in months. Judging by the loose fit of his jeans, she might be right.

  The waitress stopped by to see if they needed anything, and Jesse ordered another double.

  “Don’t worry,” he said when Janie frowned. “I won’t have anything to drink after midnight. Eight hours is the FAA rule for private pilots, same as the airlines.”

  “What about the drive home?” A glance through the window showed the sleet had turned to snow which already coated the roads.

  “I can drive from Cody to Markton in my sleep.” He drained the dregs of one glass just as the server set down the new one. “And probably have, about a hundred times. If not more.”

  “I believe you. That doesn’t make it safe to drive drunk.”

  “It’s okay.” His words slurred a little. “I’m just another one of those intre…interchangeable younger Cody brothers. Mark’s got the hard job now. To Mark.” He raised his glass. “The old man’s pride ’n’ joy. His new pride ’n’ joy, that is.” Half the whiskey vanished with his first gulp. Jesse swallowed and then emptied the drink.

  “That’s a stupid thing to say.” Janie gripped the edge of the table with her fingertips. “Walker and Dusty and Dex have never been jealous of you. You don’t deserve a pity party any more than they do.”

  “You know so much.” He slid out of the booth, swaying a little as he straightened up. “S’hard to miss what you never had.”

  “Mark isn’t taking anything away from you. He just wants—”

  “To know his dad, right?” Stepping carefully, he retrieved his jacket and hat from the other table, then came back to stand beside her again. “He’ll find out soon enough that being J. W. Cody’s oldest son comes with a price. I hope your brother’s man enough to pay it.”

  The implied insult stung. “Why wouldn’t he be? He’s as much a Cody as you are.”

  In the process of thumbing through his wallet for cash, Jesse stilled. After a moment, he lifted his gaze to her face.

  “That’s the truth, isn’t it? I’ve got no more claim on J.W. than your brother does, except for a marriage license that didn’t seem to mean too much at the time.” He tossed a couple of bills on the table, an amount that would cover his drinks plus the dinner she hadn’t eaten twice over. “So maybe it’s my turn to get out from under the Cody yoke. Your brother—”

  “Your brother,” Janie interrupted.

  “Mark,” he growled, “can have all the honors. Hell, maybe he’ll just go on and take the championship while he’s at it.” He jammed his white hat on his head and shrugged into his heavy sheepskin coat. “I don’t really give a damn about anything or anybody. Not anymore.”

  And with that declaration, Jesse Cody turned on his heel and stalked out into the snowy night.

  Chapter Two

  The frigid wind hit Jesse like a brick in the face. He staggered, eyes narrowed against the prick of icy snow pellets.

  “Hell of a night for a drive,” he muttered, heading for his truck.

  Once inside the cab, he wiped snowflakes off his face, fired up the engine and flipped the heater fan to high speed, then took off his hat and let his head rest back against the seat. Maybe if he closed his eyes, he’d fall asleep. This wouldn’t be the first parking lot where he’d stopped to grab a few winks before a long drive.

  Might be one of the last, though. He was getting too old for bull riding, too old for the whole damn rodeo lifestyle. Even with a plane to get him to shows across the country, the endless competitions wore him out. The fact that Mark Hansen had hit enough shows and earned enough money to reach the Finals by driving from one venue to the next made him a damn good cowboy. He probably deserved to win the championship based on endurance alone.

  Nobody could deny the man’s talent, either. Hansen made sitting astride a two-thousand pound package of bovine dynamite look like a pony ride at the county fair.

  Yawning, eyelids drooping, Jesse dragged his brain away from the possibility that anyone but a Cody—all right, this Cody—would win the championship. He visualized the scene on the final night at the Thomas & Mack Center, pictured himself on stage accepting the winner’s saddle, the belt buckle…his dad would have to be proud of him then…

  In his dream, the indoor arena stage in Vegas became a simple outdoor platform under the hot Texas sun. “Ladies and gentlemen,” blasted a voice out of the loudspeaker. “This afternoon’s winner in the junior bull-riding division is…Mr. Mark Hansen!”

  Jesse watched, gut churning, as a whip-thin teenaged Mark stepped up to claim the belt buckle and a check.

  Standing at Jesse’s shoulder, his dad muttered, “Hansen’s got the talent, no doubt about it. You should have that kind of split-second timing. God knows you’re as much a Cody—” The words stopped abruptly.

  Jesse didn’t look around when, after a couple of seconds, his dad finished the thought. “As your brothers, and they all got it. You need to work harder, is all. Practice more.”

  Applause and cheers chased Jesse as he broke away and fought through the crowd, looking for an exit…

  The sharp rap of knuckles on the window right beside his head woke him up. Jesse snorted and jumped, then swore as he fumbled for the window button. The glass slid down and a thick layer of snow fell onto his lap.

  “Dammit.” He brushed the snow away, glaring at the woman peering in at him. She’d pulled the hood of her parka over her hair, leaving only her dark eyes and rosy mouth and smooth cheeks vulnerable to the wind and cold. “What the hell do you want, Janie?”

  His temper didn’t faze her. “I thought you might have passed out here in the parking lot.”

  “After three drinks?” Jesse snorted. “Come on.”

  “You’ve been sitting there for two hours. I went shopping and came back and you’re still here.”

  “Nah.” He glanced at the clock on the dash. Two hours had, in fact, passed since he got into the truck. “Oh. Well, I dozed off. It’s been a long day. I was in the saddle at 6:00 a.m.”

  “So you should be at home asleep.”

  “Great. Let me roll up the window and I’ll go do that.”

  Janie shook her head. “Why don’t you move to the passenger side and let me drive you home?”

  “I don’t think so.” Hearing his own surliness, Jesse shook his head and tried for some good manners. “I appreciate the concern, really, but I’m fine. Take yourself back to Markton and I’ll see you tomorrow.”

  The woman appeared to be deaf. She reached through the open window, pulled up the handle and opened the door. “Come on, Jesse. Better safe than sorry.”

  He didn’t intend to budge. “You’re talking to a bull rider, here. I don’t do safe.”

  “Yeah, a bull rider who is supposed to compete at the world championships starting on Thursday night. Wouldn’t you like to be alive for the event?”

  He groaned in frustration. “I am not drunk.”

  “You’re tired. That’s enough of an excuse.”

  “What about your truck?”

  “Roberto and Lila said they’d bring it home for me tonight when they close. Come on, Jesse.” She rubbed her gloved hands over her arms. “It’s freezing out here.”

  They could argue all night, or he could give in just to get some peace. “I don’t know why I’m letting you do this.” He dropped to the pavement, keeping his balance by gripping the door, since the ground seemed a little unsteady under his feet. “It’s absurd. I’m stone-cold sober.”

  “Sure you are.” Janie turned to the small, beat-up truck parked next to his and opened the door. “Put these in the backseat.” A dozen or so shopping bags came at him with the order. Once the goods were stowed, she climbed up behind the steering wheel without looking at him until she’d shut the door
between them. “Coming?”

  If only to get out of the snow, Jesse rounded the truck bed to the passenger side and swung himself onto the seat, remembering just in time to move his hat. With his safety belt buckled, he sat staring out the window as Janie Hansen, his designated driver, took him home.

  Snow powdered the windshield as the streetlights of Cody dimmed behind them on the dark road to Markton. Several inches of the white stuff covered the road pavement, while twice that much had already piled up on the frozen grass.

  The storm intensified, and Janie slowed down as visibility decreased. “Are we going to be able to take off tomorrow?” she asked. “If the sky clears, I mean.”

  “We can plow the runway.” Jesse rubbed his sleepy eyes with his fingers. “And the plane’s in the hangar, so there won’t be ice on the wings. Don’t worry,” he said, noticing how her teeth bit at her full lower lip. “I’ll keep you and your mom safe.”

  She answered with a sigh, which hinted at trouble.

  He decided he’d better know what lay ahead. “Is your mom looking forward to the trip?” When Janie didn’t answer, he pushed. “Does she know what’s going on?”

  “Sometimes,” Janie said at last. “She wants to watch Mark in the Finals. When she remembers.”

  “You’ve told her about the flight?”

  She sent him a worried glance. “I tried to.”

  “How do you think she’ll react?”

  He heard the gulp as she swallowed hard. “I have no idea.”

  “Great.” He couldn’t repress the comment and wouldn’t apologize. “If you didn’t think this was going to work, why did you agree to come?”

  She stared straight ahead, lips pressed together, for a long time. Her whitened knuckles revealed a tense grip on the steering wheel. “Mark and Nicki wanted Mom to come. Anyway, how many times have you refused to do what your parents wanted?”

  Good point. “You’ve got an advantage over the rest of us, though.”

  “Oh?”

  “You’re not part of the family.”

  “No kidding?”

  The sarcasm stung. “You don’t have to get mad. I just meant—”

  She held up a hand to stop him. “Believe me, I know exactly how far outside the Cody constellation my family’s orbit lies.”

  Jesse let the comment slide. “I only meant that my parents don’t have any power over you. You were free to refuse.”

  “And miss maybe the only time I’ll ever get to see my brother at the National Finals? Maybe the only time I ever get to go to the Finals, period?” She shook her head. “I couldn’t say no.”

  “I guess you couldn’t.” He would just have to hope things turned out better than he expected.

  Several miles passed in a silence broken only by the sound of the wipers brushing back and forth. Finally, Jesse came up with a less confrontational topic. “So you’ve never been to the Finals?”

  “Nope.”

  “It’s the wildest rodeo you can imagine. Picture any show you’ve ever been to times a thousand, held in the craziest place on the planet.”

  Janie chuckled. “That’s quite a description. But this is your first time competing, too. Right?”

  “Yeah. We go every year since Dad usually has a bull competing, but I was tired of hearing him complain that I wasn’t there riding, so I put in the extra effort and got myself on the list.” He winced when he recognized the bitterness in his own voice. “Of course, I’m looking forward to competing. The best bulls and the best riders—it’s gonna be a blast.”

  He felt Janie’s sideways appraisal. “Are you ready for all the attention that comes with the title? I’m pretty sure Mark hasn’t thought about it at all.”

  “Endorsements, you mean? And publicity?” She nodded. “I don’t think any of the guys thinks about that ahead of time. We all just want to get out there and win. That’s the real point—being the best.”

  “Till next year. Or maybe just the next ride.”

  “Whoa. Don’t be so supportive.”

  She shrugged, then made a careful turn onto the road leading between stone pillars into the Cottonwood Ranch. “I like winning as much as anybody. If Mark gets the championship, I know he’ll spend some of the money to help take care of Mom, which will be a blessing. But you don’t need the cash, or the fame. I get the feeling that even if you win, you won’t be satisfied.”

  Jesse turned in his seat to look across the cab at her. “What else could I want? Besides being world champion?”

  As he asked the question, Janie braked gently at the foot of the porch steps leading to his front door. “I think you want respect.” She didn’t look at him as she answered but watched as a layer of snow quickly obscured her view through the windshield.

  The woman knew too damn much about what went on inside his head. “Who doesn’t?”

  Then her eyes met his. “The man who already respects himself.”

  Stunned by the implication, Jesse couldn’t have come up with a quick, casual answer if his life depended on it. At last he simply opened the door and jumped down into the snow, sinking halfway to his knees. “Maybe this worked out okay, after all,” he told Janie, grateful to have something practical to think about. “This way, you can just drive the truck back here tomorrow when you come with your mom.”

  “Sure.” Janie looked past him at the dark windows of the old homestead the Cody siblings used to share. “I guess you’re living all by yourself these days, since Dex is with Josie and Elly’s with Will.”

  He nodded. “Most of the time.”

  “Do you get lonely?”

  She’d already divined more secrets tonight than he was comfortable with. “After growing up with the pack of them following me around? I’m enjoying the peace and quiet.” He patted the roof of the truck. “I’ll see you tomorrow afternoon, about one-thirty. Drive carefully.”

  “Right. And you be sure to get lots of sleep, so I won’t be nervous while we fly tomorrow.” Her smile was rueful. “More nervous than I already am, anyway.”

  His tired brain picked up the hint. “Is this your first time flying?”

  Janie nodded. “I’m an aeronautical virgin, so to speak.”

  He laughed. “I’ll be gentle.” Stepping back, he shut the door and then called through the glass, “Thanks for the ride home.”

  “You’re welcome.” She waved, shifted the truck into four-wheel drive and drove away, leaving Jesse standing outside in the false twilight of a snowy night.

  He stood there for quite some time, watching the snow fall while he wondered what else Janie Hansen might know about him that he wished she didn’t.

  THE FLIGHT TURNED OUT to be easier—and yet more difficult—than Janie could have imagined.

  Her mother’s doctor had provided a sedative for the trip, and even half a dose kept Abby Hansen too sleepy to get upset about leaving the house in a truck she didn’t recognize for a place she didn’t know. Janie hated the dull, lifeless expression on her mother’s face as they drove the snowy roads toward the Codys’ property, but if the alternative was hysteria, she’d take dull.

  Once she reached the Cottonwood Ranch, she saw that Jesse had seen to it that the ranch roads were cleared, as well as the runway. That would be the advantage of having a crew of cowboys ready to take whatever orders came into the boss’s head. She reached the runway without a problem, having ridden the land on horseback for years with Elly, Jesse’s sister. The storm had passed to the east, leaving a cloudless blue sky above the snow-blanketed prairie. Jesse’s plane sat there gleaming in the sunlight—ready, Janie gathered, to take off.

  She wished she could say the same. Not knowing what to expect and anticipating looking down from this small craft to the earth thousands of feet below only made her feel sick to her stomach. Maybe she should have taken one of her mom’s pills.

  Getting her mother onto the plane took her mind off her own anxiety. Abigail had fallen asleep on the ride from town and was startled to be woken up. Sh
e didn’t recognize Jesse, and his attempts at friendliness didn’t reassure her.

  “Where is he taking us?” Abby whispered to Janie as they crossed the tarmac toward the plane. “Is he some kind of new doctor?”

  “No, Mom. Just a friend. We’re going to see Mark at the rodeo, remember?”

  “Mark’s a good boy. And he’s the best bull rider in the world. He’s going to win, isn’t he?”

  They reached the bottom of the steps that led up into the plane. “Yes, he is.” Janie glanced back at Jesse and saw his rueful smile. “Let me help you up the steps, okay?”

  The passenger cabin reminded Janie of a luxurious motor home she’d seen once at a big rodeo, with reclining armchair seats that swiveled in all directions and an up-to-date TV and music system. The walls were paneled with beautiful wood, thick carpet covered the floor and a small kitchen offered snacks and drinks of all kinds.

  The thought that Mark was now part of a family that could afford such luxury made Janie shake her head. What sane person wouldn’t choose this lifestyle, given the option?

  Abigail didn’t like the smallness of the plane, but the sedative made her too tired to do more than talk about her feelings.

  “There’s not enough room,” she said, her voice fretful. “Only a few seats. Where will everyone else sit, Janie?”

  “Don’t worry, they’ll find a place, Mom. Why don’t you lean back and let me fasten your seat belt?” By the time she got Abby settled and interested in a travel magazine with lots of photographs, Jesse had climbed aboard, shutting the door behind him.

  “Ready?” Underneath the sheepskin coat, he wore the standard rodeo “uniform”—good jeans with one of his trophy belt buckles, dressy boots and a Western shirt in a soft blue chambray that made his eyes an even brighter blue by comparison. Weak-kneed with nerves and longing, Janie sank into the seat beside her mother. “Um…sure.” Her hands shook as she buckled her own belt.

  Jesse grinned. “You don’t sound too sure. I promise, everything will be fine. The weather is great, the plane’s in perfect condition, and I am a terrific pilot.”