The glare I throw tells him not to ask me any questions.
I mount Pegasus and ride up to the ranch in a frantic state which only increases when I discover it's too late. Dallyce left with the other girls right after lunch and god only knows what she thinks of me now. Probably that I ran out on her like a low life skunk afraid to face up to the truth. When the reality is I'm falling hard for her and didn't find the right time to tell her.
“Where'd they go?” I storm up and down asking the other cowboys who'd seen them leave. “Where was their next visit?”
“I dunno, Shea, I think they said Louisiana but that could have been the last ranch on the tour. I wasn’t paying too close attention.”
“You courting now, Shea?” Abel comes out on the porch and watches me raging with a wry grin.
“Yeah, you could say that,” I gruff.
How the fuck am I ever gonna go about finding Dallyce and bringing her back here?
“Well I'll be. Never thought we'd live to see the day Shea Butler was snared.”
“Least I ain't afraid to make my move,” I growl back at him.
He may be the head man but we've worked together years and know each other better than most anyone. In that moment Chloe, the daughter of the house, comes out to stand beside him.
“What's going on?” she asks, looking at me pacing up and down like I've gone deranged.
“Shea lost his girl,” Abe looks down at her with a soft grin.
“Where'd he leave her?” she quips.
“One of those princesses here for the rodeo.”
“Oh, I didn't get to chat with them much while they were here but one of them was really nice,” she says, her gaze not leaving his.
I clear my throat. Loudly. And Chloe continues.
“Dallyce and I got to talking at lunch when I asked her why she was so nervous.”
“What'd she say?” I demand.
“Just about her future. They're heading to Arkansas, then Louisiana for the last two rodeos, then home.”
“She didn't tell you where she lives?” I groan, the sudden uplift of hope draining out of me.
“She did actually.” Chloe looks up at Abel with a knowing smile.
“What are you waiting for? Go after her,” Abel tells me.
“I have every intention of doing exactly that,” I grit out.
Epilogue
A Week Goes By
Dallyce
I arrived back at my parents house in a Nashville suburb and went straight to bed. I couldn’t talk, I didn't want them asking any questions. My mom appeared frequently at my door bearing meals and hot drinks as a way to get me to tell her what was up. I couldn't share even with her.
Then after a couple of days, I got a grip on my indulgent pining. It had been more than a week since I'd seen Shea. The loneliest week of my life. He wasn't a guy I could look up on FaceBook. He had a cell phone but he left it sitting in a drawer, dead.
A black gaping emptiness lived inside my core where he'd once been. I was also horny as hell and no other man could take the place of Shea Butler. Life was passing me by and nothing was going to change with me lying in bed moping. It was time to take action.
“Here's my girl. Finally come back to join the land of the living.” My Dad tugged me into a big bear hug when I came into the family room.
“That's just it Daddy. I haven’t been living,” I said, striking the whimper out of my voice.
“What does that mean?” he frowned
“What's in the bag?” Mom joined us from the kitchen and immediately picked up on the stuffed full holdall Dad had missed.
“I'm taking a trip,” I announced.
“Where to now, Baby. You only just got back.”
“It's nothing to do with the rodeo -”
Dad's frown deepened and for a moment I faltered. Okay, here goes.
“I met someone on the tour and I'm going to go be with him.”
“Excuse me,” my father says, his voice becoming stern.
Both parents look back and forth with that significant eyeball they think is invisible to their kids.
“I'm going to go live with him. Well, not with him, but close by him.”
“You are not,” Dad barks.
“Dallyce, you can't go chasing after some man,” Mom tags on.
“I'm not chasing him. I've decided to go see if something can work out between us. I won't know unless I try.”
“Where is this man? If he wanted you he'd come to claim you. Only a weak and selfish snake expects the woman to do the running.”
“He does want to claim me. I had to leave before, oh hall, it's complicated to explain.”
“No,” My father announced. “I won't allow it.”
“I'm sorry but I've made my decision. I'm taking a chance on my life and my love.”
“Love? You don’t know this person. And more to the point neither do we.”