Chapter Fourteen

Reba

Fort Worth, TX

Monday before the Odessa Weekend Rodeo

Reba wasn't in the mood for the family meeting that Dolly had called tonight. She was left to pack up the veterinary trailer for the five-hour drive to Odessa. As it was, she was pulling double duty, still sitting in for Dr. Victor's on-call hours because she owed him one for when she went to Montana.

But Dolly had sounded almost hysterical on the phone and Reba owed her, too, for all the times she smoothed things over with free tickets or VIP passes. When she finally got to the Fort Worth Steak Emporium, she was the last to arrive. She was surprised to see that not only were LeAnn and Dylan there, but Shane was seated as well. That was a nice surprise, even if he looked as confused as she was that he was there.

"Hey, cowboy," she said, giving him a quick kiss on the lips.

LeAnn snickered and elbowed Dylan. "Kissy face."

"I thought you were heading out to Brady today," Reba said, ignoring her sister.

"I got pulled into a bunch of meetings about Sverre and I didn't want to do it while driving."

"Sounds like the opposite of fun." She sat down next to him. "Sorry I'm late. Why are we all here?"

Dolly tapped a few buttons on her phone and all of their phones buzzed. "You need to see this before I send it out to the world. And before you start, this comes straight from Jackson Blevins himself."

"Killer on a killer?" LeAnn made a face. "That's awful. Vanessa doesn't need to deal with this shit now."

Reba couldn't believe that they were going to put LeAnn on Sverre. She couldn't even look at Shane. "You can't ride that bull."

"Okay, first of all, you're not my mama or my husband. You can't tell me what to do," LeAnn said.

"I can get your mama on the line," Reba said, waggling her phone at her sister. She didn't want to pull that card if she didn't have to, but for Pete's sake, a man just died from riding that bull.

"You can't ride Sverre," Dylan said.

"Fuck you. I can do what I want," LeAnn told him, and he was her husband.

"Let's not go there right now," Dolly said. She pinned Shane with a glare. "What's up with your bull? I watched his last ten rides over and over again today. He's tough and a ball buster, but he has never acted like that."

"I know," Shane said.

"His test results were clear," Dolly said.

Reba tried not to let her relief show on her face. She knew that Shane would never drug his bulls. But she hadn't been sure someone else wouldn't have sabotaged Sverre because they were jealous of the contract.

"I know that, too. We don't do any of that shit with our bulls."

"Doesn't mean someone else wouldn't," Dylan said. "Dolly's right. Something got into your bull. He shouldn't be in the lottery until we can figure out what."

"I can give him a full exam," Reba said. "It's not like I'm doing anything else right now. I'm free until I have to report in at Odessa on Thursday."

Shane nodded. "I'd appreciate that. I told Blevins that I'd send Sverre home and give him another bull, but he didn't want that. I didn't expect him to do something as distasteful as this, though. Are you sure you have to go through with this?" he asked Dolly.

"I've got a call in to Shelby Miller. She's the only one who could override him and stop this. And even she might only be able to delay it for a while. I'm going to break the news to Vanessa after dinner. It's the least I could do."

"I'd like the chance to ride Sverre," LeAnn said.

"He's too much bull for you," Shane said. "And I'm not saying that because you're a woman. I'm saying that because he's kicked off more experienced bull riders."

"Not to mention he killed someone two days ago," Dolly said, and Reba heard the hysteria in her voice.

"If it comes to it, I'll wear the best protective equipment we can get," LeAnn said.

"I'll make sure the bullfighters are ready and prepared," Dylan said.

"I can't believe you're on board for this," Dolly said, scowling at him.

"Oh, I hate it," Dylan replied. "It's the stuff of nightmares. Ronnie's death has brought everything back for me when we lost Johnny Montana. I thought I was over the guilt."

"I'm sorry," LeAnn said, linking her fingers through his. "I didn't think. I'm being selfish. Maybe I won't ride this bull."

Dylan nodded tightly and looked down at the table.

"Finally, some sense." Reba slumped in her seat.

"But my contract with the UPRC says I have to do exhibitions like this when asked," LeAnn said.

"Let me work on that," Dolly said.

"If it needs to be another one of my bulls, Vidar and Torkel are good choices," Shane said.

Dolly made a few notes in her phone. "I'll see what I can do."

Dinner wasn't the relaxing or festive affair that it could have been, but Shane ordered a few expensive bottles of wine, and it took the edge off of things.

"I had wanted to celebrate tonight because the Viking Ranch has been chosen as one of the exclusive suppliers of bulls for the UPRC, but Blevins asked me to keep it on the down-low. I had thought it was because of the tragedy with Ronnie. But he doesn't give a shit about that if he's going to promo Killer on a killer."

"Why the secrecy?" Reba asked.

"Maybe they're waiting until the end of the season," LeAnn said.

"It's going to piss off a lot of people," Shane said.

Like Shane was fond of saying, cowboys like to gossip so it was probable that a few people already knew about it. Maybe they were even unhappy enough to try and hurt the Viking Ranch because of it.

Reba clinked glasses with him. "Good luck with the contract."

"We'll need it," he said.

After dinner, Dylan and LeAnn said they were going back home for a few days, but they would see them all in Odessa.

"I'll travel with Reba in the Winnebago to Brady tomorrow to take some pictures of Sverre."

Reba tried not to grimace. She had been hoping for a night with Shane since he was still in town, but that didn't look like it was in the cards for tonight either.

"I just need to grab some stuff," Reba said. It was a good thing the veterinarian trailer wasn't going to be picked up until the next morning. And that she was in charge of packing it up. She'd be able to grab the supplies she needed to run all the tests she wanted and to give Sverre a full exam.

"I'll go with you," Shane said.

At least they could spend a little time together alone tonight.

"Do you think it could be a virus or an allergic reaction?" Shane asked as he drove her back to the veterinarian's trailer.

"I don't know." Reba leaned her head on his arm. "If LeAnn does have to ride him, will you be there in the stall with her? I know Dylan will be, but it will ease my mind if you can be there, too."

"I will. I won't leave Sverre's side until the chute gate opens with her on it. Hopefully, it won't come to that."

"Thank you," she said.

"I'm sorry this whole situation has come back to bite you on the ass," Shane said. "I never thought you'd lose your job over being with me, and now your sister has to put her life on the line."

"You heard her back there. She wants the chance to go on Sverre. Like I said before, none of this your fault. And I didn't lose my job. Not yet anyway." They wouldn't look too kindly on what she was going to do with their supplies, though. With any luck, no one would ever find out. But she didn't care. It made her feel better to be proactive in this. "I still can't shake the feeling that this is somehow related to Vidar being hurt. I keep going over in my mind all the little things that don't add up. I'd like to pin it on Dr. Kilgore trying to muscle in on your exclusive contract, but I'm not sure how much of that is me wanting him to be the villain."

"His nephew is a prick, and I'm not just saying that because he's banging my ex-wife."

"She seemed awfully cozy with you before. Could Keith be taking out his jealousy on your bull?"

Shane parked by the trailer. "He's mean enough, but I think he's a chickenshit. He's afraid of the bulls. He doesn't go near them unless he can help it."

Reba thought about that as she waited to let Shane open the truck door for her. Now, she was kicking herself that she didn't find out what the job offer Keith had for her was. She had assumed it was on behalf of his uncle not having the guts to ask her to come back to work for him. Maybe she'd call Dr. Kilgore tomorrow and see what it was all about. She might be able to find some clues if he was a part of all of this. She slid out of the truck, grabbed her keys, and unlocked the trailer.

Shane slumped into a chair while Reba gathered what she needed. She grabbed a microscope, centrifuge, blood chemistry analyzer, urinalysis equipment, and other tools she would need for onsite testing. "I did catch Taylor Keating in the bullpens where he didn't belong. He said he was trying to get familiar with the bulls. I don't see him as the type to hurt them, though."

Reba took a deep breath as she remembered there was someone else to consider. "I caught Nash Weaver back there, too. He didn't have too good of a reason to be back there. And while he seems like a nice guy, there's something off about him. Dolly is suspicious of him because he has a hidden past."

Shane nodded. "He did come out of nowhere. It could be he's the one hurting the bulls, but for what purpose?"

"Maybe he's working for a rival bull breeder?" Reba double-checked her gear to make sure that she could do everything on the road. She'd put it all back before it was missed in Odessa. Shane helped her carry the duffel bags out of the trailer.

"I should have a talk with him in Odessa," Shane said grimly.

Reba got that same shiver of fear from the menace in his voice. "We don't have any proof he's behind this."

"He's as good of a lead as any."

"Don't do anything rash."

"I will be the soul of discretion," Shane said, helping her stow her gear. He drove her back to her Winnebago where she made him a thermos of coffee.

"Help yourself to any road trip snacks," she said.

"I'm still full from dinner." He stepped in closer. "But I was hoping for a few kisses."

"Me, too." Reba sighed. She wrapped her arms around his neck and gave herself up to the sweet way his mouth moved on hers.

"When's Dolly coming back?" he muttered as she dragged him toward the bedroom.

"Who cares?" Reba said, unbuttoning his shirt.

"I don't mind, if you don't mind."

Right now, all she wanted was to feel his body sliding all over hers. She would have liked to have fallen asleep in his arms afterward, but she knew they didn't have that kind of time. This was going to have to be down and dirty and quick as hell, unfortunately. Stepping out of her jeans, she made quick work of undressing as they went into the bedroom. Shane tossed off his clothes and turned back to her.

Fortunately, he was as ready for her as she was for him. They didn't even make it to the bed. He put on a condom and then pressed her against the closed door. Reba wrapped her legs around his waist and he slid deep inside of her.

"Hello, beautiful." He sighed.

His hard length was satisfying and exactly what she had been missing since they came back from Montana.

"Yes." She moaned, her toes curling as he slowly eased in and out of her.

The tips of her nipples brushed against the wiry hairs of his chest. He buried his face in her neck and teased the sensitive skin there. She tightened around his driving shaft as he picked up the pace.

"Just what I needed," he said.

"Me, too." She gasped.

Digging her fingernails into his shoulders, she came when he thrust faster. Kissing him desperately, she hung on as sweet pleasure released over her in sensuous waves. She wanted to hold on to him, hold on to this for the rest of the night. But she knew they only had a few more precious minutes before Dolly interrupted them. It made the moment sweeter and a little bit naughtier.

She enjoyed every last stroke as he finished with a satisfied groan that was muffled against her mouth. Reba loved kissing him, could kiss him forever. They stumbled back to the bed and kept kissing until Reba heard the Winnebago's door opening.

"Where the hell are you two?" Dolly asked. And then after a few beats: "Are you two having sex?"

"Not anymore," Reba said.

"Oh shit. Sorry. Hang a scarf on the doorknob or something. I'll be back in an hour."

"Make it two," Shane called out.

Reba put her hand over her mouth to keep from giggling.

When the door slammed shut, Shane turned back to her. "Now, we can take our time."

Reba was all for that and went back to kissing him and rubbing her palms over the hard muscles of his back and shoulders. "Not enough time."

"There's always tomorrow," he murmured against her lips.

All the tomorrows, maybe.