nasty surprises.”
Tess pushed back her chair and stood. “Thank you,” she said. “It helps to know what I could be dealing with. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I’ve got office work to do.”
Shane stood also. “I need to be going, too. Thanks for breakfast. Walk me to the truck, Lexie?”
“Sure.” Lexie was already out of her chair. “Oh, wait. Callie made some oatmeal cookies yesterday. I’ll get you a few to take along.” She dashed into the kitchen, the door swinging shut behind her.
Tess was on her way out of the room, but she paused and turned back to Shane with a stern look. “One more thing,” she said. “If you hurt my sister, I’ll be coming for you, and there’ll be hell to pay. Understand?”
Shane had expected something like this from her. “I do,” he said. “And believe me, I wouldn’t hurt Lexie for the world.”
“Here you are.” Lexie came out of the kitchen with a half-dozen cookies sealed in a zip lock bag. They walked out onto the front porch before speaking. “I like your family,” he said. “You’re lucky to have them.”
“I’ll remind myself of that when Tess is driving me crazy,” she said. “I’ll tell her about Corey tonight, when she’s not so distracted. Do you know when the funeral will be? I want to be there for Rianne. She’s still my friend. With the guilt she must be feeling, she’s going to need some support.”
Shane wasn’t sure he could be that nonjudgmental. But that kind of compassion made Lexie who she was. It was part of why he was falling in love with her. “The date hasn’t been set. But I imagine it’ll be in Ajo, sometime next week, after the body’s released. If you want, we could go together.”
“I’d like that. Let me know when you hear,” she said. “Are you still going to be in Pueblo this weekend?”
“I’m planning on it. I’ll be competing both Saturday and Sunday, if I don’t get bucked off the first night.” They’d reached his truck, which was parked with the driver’s side door away from the house. Opening it, he pulled her close for a quick kiss. “I’m hoping for more than that ‘howdy’ we talked about.”
She kissed him back. “I’ll keep that in mind.”
* * *
Lexie watched him drive away. His words and his kiss had made it clear that he wanted them to spend more nights together. The thought of being with Shane again, his hardness filling the need inside her, sent a shimmer of heat through her body. A tiny moan quivered in her throat.
Her gaze followed the truck as it zigzagged up the road and vanished over the pass. Keep him safe. The silent prayer came unbidden to her mind. What if something were to happen to him—like Jack? Like Corey, or other rodeo cowboys she’d known about?
Bull riders faced danger every time they climbed on a bucker. But the leading cause of death in the rodeo profession wasn’t the arena. It was highway accidents, driving from event to event—driving long, late, and tired.
Keep him safe. There were so many dangers, so many things that could go wrong. But she already knew that; and if fate willed it, she still wanted to share a life with Shane Tully.
But Shane would never give up the arena, not even if she begged him—not even if she made threats and demands. Pulling him away from the sport he loved would only drive a wedge between them. Did she have the courage to accept that? Days ago, she might have said no. Now she had no alternative except to try. She loved him too much to walk away.
Hopefully, she would be with Shane in Pueblo this weekend. But right now she had other concerns. She had yet to approach Tess with her idea of buying bull semen for their cows. She’d hoped to get Ruben on her side first, but she’d had no chance to talk to the foreman alone. With time growing short, and Tess in the office this morning, now could be her best chance.
In her bedroom, she gathered up the printed copies of her research and took them back up the hall. The office door was closed, which meant Tess didn’t want to be disturbed. But Lexie couldn’t let that stop her. It was now or never, she told herself as she rapped on the door and, without waiting for an answer, opened it and walked in.
“Tess, we need to talk,” she said.
Tess looked