“I was thinkin’ on goin’ for a ride, ma’am.”
She motioned him over. “You want some company out on the trail?”
Did she want to go for a ride? Bill sure hoped not. He doubted she could even mount up without a block. And what horse would she ride? The woman had to weigh more than any of the ranch’s horses.
“My nieces are visiting this week. I’m sure they’d like to go with you.”
Oh, jeez. Nieces? That meant there was more than one of them. This was turning into work. “They know how to ride, ma’am?”
“Sure do. In fact, they can both outride you.”
Bill doubted it, but if they thought they could outride him, they could certainly saddle up their own horses.
“This is Misty,” Sadie told him, waving at the two girls who had just walked in.
He recognized her from the day before. She’d been sitting on the fence, trying to get the cowboys’ attention. She looked like trouble to him.
“And this here is Dorothea,” Sadie continued.
“Aunt Sadie, I told you nobody calls me Dorothea.” The little girl turned and looked at Bill. “Hi,” she said, holding out her hand. “I’m Dottie.” She had blonde, curly hair that looked almost white, big blue eyes, and a smile that lit up her face.
He’d introduce himself to her if he could remember his name. The prettiest girl he’d ever seen in his life was waiting for him to answer, and he couldn’t speak.
6
“Signed and sealed,” Billy smiled and shook Tristan’s hand. “Welcome aboard.”
“I could say the same to you, but your outfit is quite a bit bigger than ours.”
“There ain’t nothin’ stoppin’ you from growin’. Soon, instead of Wrangler National Finals Rodeo, we’ll all be goin’ to Vegas for the Lost Cowboy NFR.”
“Right,” she grinned. “Well, since our deal has been made, it’s time for me to head home.” She’d miss being at the Flying R. She’d gotten used to the noisy, fun-loving cowboys and the chaos of toddlers under foot all the time.
Liv put her arm around Tristan’s shoulders. “I hope not for long. Billy, can’t you figure out a reason for Tristan to work out of Flying R headquarters, at least part-time?”
“As a matter of fact…”
Wait. What? Was Billy serious? Was there a reason she’d have to work from here instead of home? If he could come up with one legitimate enough, she’d take him up on it in a heartbeat.
“We’re havin’ a team meeting here in three weeks. Tristan, I understand you and Lyric have your heads together on potential sponsorships. Let’s see who you’ve got, and then get ’em here. We’ll call it a meet and greet, and see who fits.”
Instead of feeling sad about leaving, she could look forward to coming back in less than a month. “Sounds good to me.” A couple of days ago, she would’ve felt as though coming back so soon would be imposing, but not now. She’d gotten used to Liv and Ben’s open door policy. Everyone was welcome, at any time. Had she even suggested she stay anywhere else, Liv would’ve been insulted.
Plus, Crested Butte was quickly growing on her. She’d love to spend more time in the quaint town. In their agreement, they’d given Lost Cowboy access to Flying R’s plane—if it wasn’t already in use by one of the rough stock partners, or by Ben’s band or father. Even if she didn’t make use of it and flew commercial, flying in and out of Gunnison was easier than going through Denver. There was a direct flight to and from LaGuardia a couple of times a day. It was the closest airport to her family’s place on Long Island.
When Liv overheard Tristan talking about booking a flight, she called Ben. “Can you please check the log book, sweetheart?” Liv winked at Tristan and put her hand over the phone. “I love this man so much.”
Tristan couldn’t help but smile. Being around them, and Billy and Renie, and Jace and Bree, and…all of them basically, made her yearn for a relationship of her own. It might be a long time coming, though. It wasn’t like she was in a position to meet anyone, other than cowboys. She looked around her. The very relationships she was envying were with cowboys. It couldn’t be that all of the good ones were taken.
“Okay, great. See you later, sweetie.” Liv turned to Tristan. “The plane is yours tomorrow. Ben said he needs to go to New York anyway. He’ll stay a couple of nights, and then fly home. If tomorrow works for you, of course. I’m in no hurry for you to leave.”
“Tomorrow is perfect. And, uh, we have plenty of room at our place for Ben to stay with us if he doesn’t mind driving into the city. There’s an airport in Ronkonkoma, which is only a few minutes from our place in Holbrook. The drive into Manhattan is a little over an hour.”
Liv hugged her. “I’m sure he’d love it.”
Tristan probably should’ve checked with her father before she invited Ben to stay at their place, but they had plenty of room, and she was certain her father would agree to it.
“What are you thinking about?” Liv asked.