“That’s the best I can do,” he said grumpily. “You go out so fast, man.”
The game continued, with Ryder playing for Tuck, who ate mint chocolate chip ice cream right out of the container, andpeople playing as many cards as they could. Finally, Jane added up the scores.
“Tarr’s the winner, of course,” she said, and she grinned at him before turning to find her husband. “I think we’re gonna head out, Molly. We’ve got to get Clint home and in bed.”
“We’re gonna go too,” Tarr said, seizing onto Jane’s words. “I’ve got to get myself to bed.”
Molly stayed on the couch, but Hunter rose to come say goodbye to them as Deacon and Ryder started cleaning up the card game.
Tarr and Briar stayed at the table and helped too, and once he wouldn’t be leaving a mess for Hunter and Molly, Tarr got up from the table too.
“Leftovers, Tarr?” Jane picked up a ready-made container. “Briar? It’s turkey, mashed potatoes and gravy, and green beans.” She nodded to a series of brown paper bags. “Bread in there.”
“Yeah, I’ll take one,” Tarr said, keeping the fact that he couldn’t reheat it in the RV to himself. He could go over to the barn and use the microwave and break room there. He and Tuck weren’t working again outside of keeping the animals fed until Monday, when Rosie Young would actually arrive in town.
Tarr had met her a few times, but Tuck had mostly been training with her down in Texas. But with the National Professional Rodeo finals in only another week and a half, they’d train at the Deerfield facility before heading to Vegas.
Tuck had gone over everything with Tarr at least five thousand times. Where Rosie would stay. Which horses she could practice with before they brought out her professional horse. They’d been cleaning up the barns and stables, revamping the facilities, and making sure everything was set for when Rosie walked through the door.
Tarr, followed by Briar, moved into the living room and leaned over to hug Molly, who remained on the couch. “Thanks so much for having us.”
She lifted up her eye mask at the sound of his voice. “I’m sorry I’m not the best hostess,” she said, and she looked utterly exhausted. “Thank you so much for coming.”
“You’re fine,” Tarr said, a slip of guilt for making her work so hard today. She’d suffered a concussion over the summer, and big events, loud noises, and go-go-going all the time caught up to her quickly. “We had a great time.”
He moved back, and Briar took his place, leaning down to hug Molly. “Thank you,” she said. “You’re a great cook, and I had an amazing time.”
“It’s so good to see you again, Briar,” Molly said, her voice filled with warmth. “You two drive safe now. It’s a long way across the city.”
It sure was, and Tarr got reminded that winter had definitely arrived in Colorado the moment he stepped outside. Full darkness consumed the sky, and one breath in told him not to do that too deeply, lest his lung walls might freeze together.
“Come on, honey.” He reached for Briar’s hand then, the movement natural, and hurried her along to the truck. The way his blood foamed in his veins had become his new normal whenever he got close to Briar, and with her slender fingers enveloped in his, Tarr definitely needed to hold her hand again.
Soon.
Once he’d helped her up into his big beast of a vehicle, and he’d catapulted himself behind the wheel, he glanced over to her. “I should’ve come out and started the truck. We’re gonna freeze for ten minutes.”
Briar gave him a half-smile and simply tucked her hands between her legs to keep them warm. “I doubt that,” she said.“This truck is so nice. I bet the heater doesn’t take long to get hot at all.”
“Yeah.” Tarr got them off the Hammond Family Farm and onto the two-lane highway that led away from Ivory Peaks and into the city. He’d skirt north up toward Boulder and go around the top edge of Denver, a route he and Tuck had mapped as the shortest and quickest way back to their rodeo training facilities, which sat just northwest of the city.
“You seemed like you had a good time,” he said, hoping Briar would pick up the conversation from there.
“Yeah,” she said. “It was nice.”
He swallowed, pure fantasy running through his mind. Making a quick decision, he reached over and took Briar’s hand in his. He pulled it over to his chest as he leaned down, and he placed a tender kiss just on the inside of her wrist. “Thank you for coming with me.”
He dropped their hands to his thigh, and to his great surprise, she didn’t immediately pull away. In fact, she didn’t pull away at all.
Maybe Tarr didn’t need a huge elaborate plan in order to hold Briar’s hand and have her in his life. Maybe he just needed a little more courage to do what he wanted to do and take control of the situation.
He’d felt so out of control in his life since his injury, but as the radio warbled at a low volume, and Briar kept her hand in his, Tarr finally felt like he was back on top of the world.
Coming home with Tucker after the pause in his rodeo career had saved Tarr. Literally. He still had the fondest memories of living in a simple cowboy cabin on Tuck’s family farm, and he’d fallen in love with the Rocky Mountains, the way the trees turned shades of fire in the autumn, went blank in the winter, and revived every spring.
He hadn’t wanted to go back on the rodeo circuit, but Tuck wasn’t one to sit still and do nothing. He still had plenty of spunk and spark left inside him, and he loved the rodeo with his whole heart. Fine, Bobbie Jo had taken all of that, and she cared for the goats and lambs Tuck had bought for her.
They’d only been on the farm for one season, and Bobbie Jo had met with Keith Whettstein and Deacon to get a plan ready for next year’s planting season. Tarr was sure she’d be able to get the farm right back to its former glory, and he glanced over to Briar.
