Taming a Texas Rascal (Bad Boy Ranch #6) - Katie Lane Page 0,65
story,” she said. “And I’m not here to talk you into choosing a different career. Tad loved bull riding and I don’t think anyone could’ve talked him out of doing it—I know I sure couldn’t. But I do think he would’ve quit much sooner if he had known the horrific outcome. It’s not just a few headaches, Mr. Dawson. Or a few lost memories. Or a little depression and mood swings. It’s whole lot of those things. The doctors couldn’t diagnose Tad when he was living, but after he died—at the age of forty-nine—they were able to look at his brain and see the damage he’d done to it over the years. Damage that might’ve been avoided by wearing safety equipment or just knowing when to quit. Since it sounds like you’re past the safety equipment stage, I guess you’re at the knowing when to quit stage.”
He didn’t say anything and she continued. “The specialists I spent years talking to never could give me a number of how many concussions the brain can take before CTE sets in. So pretty much you’re just rolling the dice. And here’s the thing. You’re not just rolling dice for you. You’re rolling it for every single person who loves you.” She glanced around. “Which seems to be a lot of people. As a person who lost someone I didn’t just love, I adored, I’m asking you to consider your loved ones—to understand that when you straddle that horse and wait for the gate to swing open, it’s not just you riding. It’s everyone who cares about you. Including the young woman who called me and paid for my plane ticket here. If Maisy hadn’t pleaded so adamantly, I would be back in Cheyenne celebrating my best friend’s birthday.”
Sawyer lowered his hands. “Maisy called you?”
Darlene nodded. “She read Tad’s story in a rodeo magazine and thought it might save your life. A life that’s extremely important to her.” She paused. “I wish I had fought harder for the man I love.” She stood, and all the men stood with her. Sawyer was too stunned to do more than just sit there. “Now, if you’ll excuse me, I think I’ll take a walk around this beautiful ranch and let you have a chance to talk with your friends.””
“Me and Lucas would be honored to show you around, Ms. Miller,” Chester said. The two old cowboys led Darlene out of the barn.
When they were gone, Mattie and the boys all sat back down. They didn’t say anything and Sawyer was happy about that. He was still trying to absorb what Tad’s widow had said. Not just about the disease, but about Maisy.
Mattie must’ve been thinking the same thing because he tapped him on the arm and signed. I knew Maisy loved you.
Sawyer signed back. She doesn’t love me. If she loved me, she wouldn’t have lied to me.
Mattie looked at him with sad eyes as he signed. Maybe she lied to you because she does love you. I love you and I lied to you because I didn’t want the brother I loved so dearly to hate me.
Sawyer stared at his brother. That’s exactly what Maisy had said when he’d asked her why she lied. She hadn’t wanted him to hate her for taking him away from rodeo.
“Okay, if you’re gonna talk with your hands, you need to talk with your mouth too,” Cru said. “The only sign language I know is the letter d you taught us for the Double Diamond Boy’s oath. And I think we should take an oath right now to kick Sawyer’s ass if he doesn’t pull his head out and quit rodeoing. Talking doesn’t seem to be working.”
“He doesn’t have to quit rodeo,” Logan said. “He just has to quit saddle bronc riding. He could go back to roping.”
“Or he could just take up ranching,” Holden said. “He already has the land.”
“There’s a lot of things you can do, Sawyer,” Val said.
Mattie must have read their lips because he signed. You can become a veterinarian like we planned as kids. I need a good partner.
They had planned to become vets as kids, but Sawyer had backed out in college. Partly because he hadn’t wanted to compete with Mattie, but also because he’d wanted to ride wild horses. He’d gotten to ride those horses and done quite a bit of damage to his brain in the process. Now maybe it was time to go back to school and strengthen it.