community south of here, halfway between Phoenix and Tucson. He thought it couldn’t miss. And, of course, it did. They took the money and ran. ”
“How far and how fast?”
She shrugged. “Who knows? They’re just gone, and so’s all the money. He’s not alone, of course, but that doesn’t help him. Or Smoketree.”
I phrased my next question carefully. “If he lost the ranch, what would you do?”
She shook her head thoughtfully. “Me, I’m bound for the circuit. And school, eventually. Smoketree is home, and I’d hate to leave it, but I can’t live my whole life here.”
“What would Harper do?”
“Oh, him. He’d find something. He could get another wrangling job somewhere, even if it isn’t what he wants to do with his life. Or he could turn trainer. He’s a darn good roper as well as a roughstock rider. I imagine he’d find something to do. But I feel sorry for him.”
“Sorry for him? Why?”
“Because rodeo is a disease,” she said flatly. “Once it’s in your blood, it’s there forever. When you’re as good as he was—God, was he good!—everything else is in black and white. Nothing will ever be the same for him.”
“Smoketree earns him a living,” I said neutrally.
She frowned, annoyed, as if she couldn’t comprehend my attitude. “No, no, you don’t understand.” She sat upright in the chair. “Smoketree is special to him, yes—he practically grew up here—but all he ever wanted was to go on the circuit. Now me, I know I can’t do it forever. I would like to be a vet someday. So, after a few years on the circuit, I’ll go on to school. But for him, you see, things are a whole lot different.” She hesitated. “If you knew what happened—”
“You mean the injuries and the ex-wife?”
I saw the change in her at once. She drew back a little, staring at me as if she couldn’t believe what she had heard, and her color came and went. Her mouth tightened. I was looking, again, into the face of jealousy.
“Cass—” I began.
“If he talked about her to you—”
“We were talking about losses,” I said firmly, because I chose not to dismiss her feelings and friendship so easily. “My loss, and then he told me his. That’s why.” I shook my head. “Don’t imagine there’s anything between us. There isn’t.”
But there was, and I knew it. The man had taken a shot at me, and then he had kissed me.
Cass put her face in her hands. “Oh God, I’m just so tired of it all. I lived through it when Harper and Abby broke up… talk about hard.” She sighed and met my eyes. “I’ve known him all my life, and ever since I can remember, I’ve had a crush on him. When he met Abby, I hated her.” She shrugged, smiling ruefully. “I was so jealous, even as a little kid. Heck, I was only six when he married her. So my whole life I competed with her, even if Harper didn’t see it.” Cass sighed and kicked one boot heel against the wooden porch. “Abby saw it. But she said there was no competition.” She faded into pensive silence for a moment. “And then he came back to Smoketree to heal up after the broken back, and there was no more rodeo for him. And no more Harper Young, All-Around World Champion Cowboy, for her.”
I looked at her young, impressionable face, full of promise and heartache and frustration—knowing she would face even more of it. “They were married a while. I doubt the only reason for the breakup was his leaving rodeo.”
“Ten years,” she said reflectively. “Well, I expect you’re right. But the rodeo circuit’s hard on any marriage, especially if only one of you competes.” She shook her head. “Abby wasn’t into horses. She was into cowboys. Winning cowboys.” Cass sighed. “I thought, maybe, I’d have a chance after they broke up. I mean, I’m not a kid anymore. Even if Harper doesn’t see it.” She sighed. “But I guess not.”
“No kids?” I asked quietly.
“Abby and Harper? Yeah, they had a little girl. Kerry. But Abby got custody. And since she’s on the circuit with her new husband, Harper doesn’t get to see much of the kid.” Cass shook her head. “It eats him alive, too.”
I sat very still in the swing. “This new husband of Abby’s—does he make a good living?”
Cass smiled, but there was nothing friendly about it. “She traded the former World Champion in for the new one.”
“And