that after tonight Filmore wouldn’t want her anyway. She wouldn’t be a virgin. She might spend the rest of her life a very proper old maid, but tonight she’d make a memory. One night with the man she loved was worth more than a lifetime of nights with one she could never give her heart to.
The second rider stayed on, but his horse looked half asleep. The mounts didn’t seem as wild and fresh as they had the first night. No one had come close to Rowdy’s saddle bronc ride the first night, but the scores for bareback riding were high.
She turned and watched as Rowdy came out of the shoot riding the one horse she’d thought no one would attempt. The animal bucked wildly as if in a death fight. Now Rowdy had no saddle to hang on to. She counted the seconds in her mind. One, two, three.
As she watched him being jerked back and forth she realized he was doing this for her. If she’d stayed out of it, he would have won one event and gone home a winner like Dan had. He wouldn’t have put his body through four nights of torture. Her father’s men wouldn’t have beaten him.
He couldn’t say he loved her, but he’d done this for her. He’d risked dying for her.
The crowd began to scream and she realized she’d lost count of the seconds. A moment after she heard a man yell time, Rowdy flew through the air and hit the ground hard. His whole body crumbled as if every bone and muscle liquefied.
Laurel thought of nothing but him. She jumped over the barrier and ran across the field. A rodeo clown and one of the stock cowboys tried to stop her, but she shoved them aside. By the time they had the horse pulled away, she was kneeling at Rowdy’s head, tears streaming down her face.
“Rowdy. Dear God, don’t let him die! Rowdy.” Her hand trembled as she brushed his dark hair aside. “Please don’t die on me,” she whispered. “Please.”
He twisted slightly and rolled to one knee. “You praying over me again, Laurel?”
He’d scared her so badly, anger flashed along with relief. She swung at him, hitting him on the arm.
He stood slowly as if testing bones. Once standing, he offered her a hand. “How about waiting until I find out if I won before you kill me.”
She realized everyone in town was watching them. Cheering as he stood. Seeing her cry.
Dan, near the judges’ table, gave Rowdy a thumbs-up.
“We won,” he whispered. “We won.” The joy she’d expected was missing from his tone. “You’ll get your money.”
She couldn’t look up to see what was wrong with him. She’d never made a public scene in her life and she just made one in front of everyone.
When he turned to wave at the crowd, she bolted toward the side of the arena, wishing she could just disappear into the crowd. Trying to think of some way to explain away what she’d done, she moved toward the surrey. Her father looked furious and Filmore, beside him, had turned purple with anger.
“What in the hell were you doing!” Half the crowd heard her father yell when he spotted her coming toward him.
“I thought he was hurt,” Laurel yelled. No one seemed to hear her.
He waited until she was five feet away before saying in his low, demeaning tone. “That was not proper behavior, Laurel. I’ll be having a few words with you when we get home. I’ll not tolerate such a show.”
She could hear her sisters laughing and joking.
Laurel realized there would be no controlling the damage she’d done. But, for one moment, Rowdy was all she thought about, not the crowds or her father or the consequences of her action. She could bare her father’s anger. She could ignore Filmore. But Rowdy’s hard words echoed in her brain.
The crowd was still cheering. Laurel glanced toward the arena, hoping to catch sight of Rowdy. It wasn’t hard. He was riding straight toward her at full gallop.
Everyone took a step back when Cinnamon pushed the barrier trying to stop. Laurel stood her ground, letting the horse’s powerful shoulder brush against her.
Rowdy didn’t look like he saw another person around but her. “I have to know,” he said quick and angry. “Are you still my partner or was this all a game?”
She couldn’t breathe. She saw hurt and confusion in his dark eyes.
Her father moved toward her, shoving people out of his way.