He moved on to mention the pressure he’d been under with the rodeo calendar tightening and the way everything felt like it was coming to a head.His voice was low and steady, like he was thinking out loud more than explaining.
"I found another ledger entry," he said after a while."Same names.Different dates.If it’s real, if it’s legitimate…"
"It changes things," I finished.
He exhaled."Yeah."
I didn’t push.Didn’t ask what that meant for him, for the rodeo, for the feud that had been simmering beneath the surface of this town for decades.I just listened.
Then I told him about my past.How my parents split when I was in middle school and I ended up raising myself while they tried to numb their own pain.I finally packed a bag and set off on my own, lying about my age and taking any job I could find that would let me work with horses and eventually learn how to ride.
Eventually, one of the ranch hands came looking for Dawson.He called down that he’d be there in a minute, and we got up to get dressed.
The spell had been broken.As we descended the ladder, the closeness and warmth of the loft gave way to the cooler air of the barn below.Dawson laced his fingers with mine as we walked toward the barn doors, like it was the most natural thing in the world.
Then his phone rang.
He pulled it from his pocket, glanced at the screen, and his jaw tightened."It’s Ruby."
I squeezed his hand before letting go, stepping back to give him space.He answered, his voice shifting into something more distant.I busied myself with straightening the tack room, giving him privacy, but I could still hear the tension in his responses.
"Yeah, I’ve got the paperwork."
"No, nothing’s changed."
"I’ll handle it."
When he hung up, he found me in the tack room.He gave me a tight smile, but I could see the tension he was holding in his shoulders.
"Everything okay?"I asked.
He nodded, but it was automatic and distracted."Just rodeo shit."
I didn’t push.
Later, when Dawson was pulled away by another call—this time Slade, judging by the tightness in his voice—I found a quiet corner of the barn and pulled out my phone.
The message from Jenna was still there.
Jenna: Clinic offer stands.Spot’s yours if you want it.Just say the word.
I stared at it, my thumb hovering over the screen.
The timeline was tight, but it was a good opportunity…a solid next step…a way to rebuild what I’d walked away from.
Leaving would be safe, but staying would be making a choice.Because I wanted this…training on my own terms, building something honest, and standing next to a man who didn’t flinch when things got hard.
I didn’t answer the message, but I didn’t delete it either.
I found Dawson outside, leaning against the corral fence, his hat pulled low as he watched a group of yearlings move through their paces.He looked entirely at home and relaxed in a way he never was when he was thinking about paperwork or feuds or the rodeo.
I leaned against the fence next him, close enough that our arms brushed.He didn’t pull away.For a long moment, we just stood there, watching the horses, the quiet between us easy in a way it hadn’t been before.
I wanted to stay.Not because I didn’t know how to leave.And not because I was afraid of what came next.Because I wanted this.I wanted him.Even knowing the cost.
And if I chose it, it would be because it was mine to choose.
CHAPTER9
