Free After the Sunset by Mary Calmes Page B

Everett with me to register.
    The trailer for participants was clearly marked, and when we reached the front of the line, I gave the man sitting at the table the name of the ranch.
    “Red Diamond,” I said.
    There were three people there, two women and the one man, and his head snapped up to look at me.
    “We were told that the Red Diamond was not participating this year.”
    “Then you were misinformed, sir,” I told him.
    “Well, I’m so pleased.” He smiled and fished through a stack of manila envelopes in front of him. “Oh, I see it here now. You spoke to Katie.”
    “Yessir.”
    “Are you….” He squinted at the printout he had pulled from the envelope. “Steven Joss?”
    “It’s Stefan, but yes.”
    “Wonderful.” He smiled up at me and seemed genuinely pleased. “We were worried that the Red Diamond was going to give us a miss this year just like the two years prior.”
    “And we’re sorry about that,” Everett chimed in. “And I assure you, sir, that we will never miss another.”
    The man extended his hand to me. “I’m Hud Lawrence, and may I say that this is just about the best piece of news I’ve had all week,” he told me as we shook. He grasped Everett’s hand after mine and then Dusty’s. “Lots of folks come out just to see you all. This rodeo is mostly a small community one ’cept for you folks, and it’s a treat to see your stock. I’ve got to give Gil Landry a call and tell him that you all showed up. I know he was lookin’ forward to competing if you were fixin’ to be here.”
    I nodded, accepted the registration packet from Hud, wrote the man a check for seven hundred dollars, a hundred per event, and stepped back so Everett could give him the names of who was participating and in what. Dusty chatted with the two women at the table, had them laughing with him in minutes, so charming with his big blue eyes and dimples, and was getting the gossip as Hud typed information into his laptop. Once everything was signed—release of liability forms, insurance forms—our numbers given to us, and directions to our trailer, stable and corral to work our horses, we thanked him and the two women and headed back to the others.
    “Who is Gil whoever?” I asked Everett.
    “He’s a rancher here,” he answered, irritable suddenly. “He and Rand have a kind of—I dunno, strange sort of rivalry goin’ on. I don’t really get it. They’re friends, but they ain’t. I’m not sure how to describe it.”
    “He hates Rand,” Dusty told me. “That’s how you describe it.”
    “But not all the time. He only hates Rand sometimes.”
    “Well, I’m sure he’s gonna be disappointed that Rand’s not here.”
    “Most likely,” Everett agreed, but the look on his face was odd.
    Everett Hartline was a strange man. He was absolutely dangerous and unpredictable, and his temper was horrible. He was also extremely loyal and very protective of his home, which was Rand’s ranch. I liked it best when he wasn’t armed. When he and Chris took their rifles at night to check on the borders of the ranch, I got nervous.
    “Something you’re not telling me?”
    He shook his shaggy head, the light brown hair, streaked gold from the sun, falling into his dark blue eyes. No one would ever say that Everett was handsome, but once you saw his face, you never forgot it. He reminded me of the pictures of the cowboys from the Old West—rugged, hard, and tanned from living their lives outdoors. There was no trace of gentleness in the man, no softness, just mean edges that I never wanted to be on the wrong side of. He scared me just a little.
    “So do you guys all know what events you’re gonna do?” I asked him.
    He smiled barely. “It’s nice to hear you ask. Rand don’t ever ask.”
    “’Cause he knows what all your strengths are,” I sighed deeply, passing him the packet with all the numbers in it. “I’m just along for the ride.”
    “You’re more than that,” he said as we reached