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  Obviously his dad had set their slow pace for a reason.

  “What’s holding you up? Between Trans T & T and Mayada, you’ve been offered an unprecedented amount of money. You’ll have the same crew chief as before.”

  Rick’s hand tightened on the reins. “I have no complaints.”

  His dad squinted at him. “I know you broke it off with Natalie when you left Arizona. Is she the reason you’re hesitant to return?”

  “Who’s Natalie?” he teased to cover his anxiety.

  “All right. I have the answer to that question at least.” A troubled expression broke out on his father’s face. “When your mother died, the fire went out of you. It’s never come back, has it?”

  Rick expelled a breath he didn’t realize he’d been holding. “I can’t deny that her death took its toll. But in all honesty, the thrill of competition hasn’t been there for the last year.”

  “That must be a terrifying feeling.”

  “How did you know?”

  “I’ve been putting myself in your place. You’re at the top of your game with enough money invested right now to retire in luxury for the rest of your life, yet the excitement is gone and you’re only coming up on thirty years of age.”

  His dad had nailed part of the problem, but not all. Rick didn’t have a place to call his own anymore. Though Clint had told him and Nate they would always have a home with him, it wasn’t the same thing. Rick needed a place where he belonged. It haunted him there was no longer a center of his universe.

  “After you and mom met you did it right by making marriage and family your first priority.”

  Clint shook his head. “If she hadn’t come along, I might have been where you are now, with several gold medals and the promise of more. Except that I’d be a single man of thirty who was in debt for the rest of his life.”

  “You were lucky.”

  His dad flashed him a shrewd look. “Have you thought of trying to find the right woman?”

  “No. I don’t believe in it.” He frowned. “Either she shows up in the scheme of things like Mom did and like Laurel did for Nate, or she doesn’t. If I have to work on meeting my intended, then I might as well stick to racing.”

  “Well—I’m glad we had this little talk.”

  “So am I. After breakfast tomorrow I’ll head out for Phoenix and sign those contracts Neal’s holding for me. I’m fortunate to have a job waiting for me I know how to do, right?” That’s what Rick had to keep telling himself.

  “A man needs work. If he knows how to be successful at it, that’s a plus. Tell you what—I’ll race you to that clump of blackjack oak in the distance.”

  Blackjack? Already he was an expert on Texas flora?

  To Rick’s surprise, his father took off at a gallop. He couldn’t believe what a natural he was in the saddle. Just as if he was on a pair of skis. It was a pleasure to watch man and horse race toward the sunset.

  After a moment Rick realized this was supposed to be a race. Already behind, he found that splashing through the creek not far ahead of him slowed him down even more. He had a devil of a time catching up to his father.

  It wasn’t long before he saw a sea of blue in the distance. “Is that a lake?” He’d reined in next to his dad. “I didn’t see it on the map.”

  “I asked Pam the same question when she first brought me out here. Those are Texas bluebonnets. They grow wild here in the spring. You’ll never see the likes of them in Colorado.

  “If you’d come a few weeks later, you would have missed them. Though there’s no fragrance, the sight is unmatched.”

  “It’s spectacular!”

  But Rick’s thoughts were elsewhere. The word bluebonnet brought to mind the haunting lyrics of the country music sung by the fabulous female vocalist he’d heard on the radio last night.

  I’m an uprooted bluebonnet,

  I no longer have a home,

  Do you hear me, windshield rancher?

  Thanks to you I’m alone.

  The light has now gone out,

  I can’t see in front of me,

  There’s no home to go back to,

  Fear is my destiny.

  The past is gone forever,

  It walked out the door.

  What once excited, excites no more.

  In light of David Jarrett’s announcement at lunch about the sale of his ranch, combined with certain tragic revelations from the lips of Audra Jarrett in the kitchen, those lyrics had just taken on even deeper personal meaning for Rick.

  By tacit agreement he and his father rode to the edge of where the giant carpet of lavender blue began. Rick dismounted, then hunkered down to examine a bluebonnet. It was about a foot high with a tiny white top.

  “The flowers on the stock are supposed to resemble a woman’s bonnet.”

  He nodded at his dad’s explanation, but for some odd reason the shape of the individual blossoms reminded Rick of Audra’s curls. When she moved to Austin with her uncle, she’d be a displaced bluebonnet…

  “Pam’s from a great heritage. Her great-great-grandfather Thomas Jarrett came out here in 1897 from Middlesex, England. He built his holdings to six hundred thousand acres and erected the main ranch house. But in time there were problems, droughts, other tornadoes, wars.

  “The land got carved up into smaller homesteads and sold off to extended family and nonfamily. Some of the ground was maintained for deer and wildlife to flourish, but even that had to go whenever there were hard times. Slowly but surely the land began to fall into other hands.

  “Everything dwindled until there was only a thousand acres left, plus the bungalow and the ranch house. I’m sure that by giving Audra and her cousins those hundred and twenty acres of land in common, Pam’s uncle is down to the bare bones, financially speaking.”

  “Audra’s indebted to you for helping Pam keep the ranch house,” Rick said.

  “Audra’s a sweetheart.”

  A wealth of emotion accompanied his father’s words.

  Resisting the urge to pick the bluebonnet he’d been studying, Rick mounted the mare once more and looked around. The sun had fallen below the horizon. It would be dark soon. He wondered if Audra dreaded the coming of night.

  “We’d better get back.” Clint’s words broke into Rick’s thoughts.

  The horses knew they were going home and made a beeline in the direction of the ranch house. When they eventually came to the creek, Prince forded it first.

  To Rick’s surprise, Marshmallow balked. He didn’t understand and urged her forward with a clicking sound. The next thing he knew, she neighed violently and reared back on her hind legs.

  He glimpsed a snake wrapped around the mare’s right foreleg, silhouetted against the sky. It had to be at least five feet long. The horse came down hard on the snake, screaming and stomping.

  “Get Marshmallow out of here, son. Prince will finish it off!”

  “I’m doing my best, but she’s fighting me!”

  He pulled on the reins, encouraging the horse to turn left. But she was just as determined to kill the viper as Prince was. Snorting hot air, she reared back and struck at the snake again and again.

  Suddenly Rick felt the mare’s hooves slip in the shallows. He jerked his feet from the stirrups to jump off, but he wasn’t fast enough. They went down together with a huge splash.

  The horse landed on her side on top of him. Pain ripped through his left arm and shot to his jaw. Bile rose in his throat.

  Damn—he couldn’t tell if he’d broken something or been bitten. Some venom was so potent it worked immediately. All he knew was that the slightest move he made was excruciating.

  He grabbed for the reins with his right hand. It was a struggle to get up and help the mare to her feet. The poor thing finally stood on all fours, shivering and snorting while water dripped off both of them. She seemed to be all right. It was a miracle.

  On rubber legs Rick led her to dry ground where his father stood next to the bay, gentling him. The
muscular snake lay inert in the grass. Prince pawed at it.

  “Thank God that water moccasin didn’t get a chance to sink its fangs into you.”

  “You may have spoken too soon, Dad.” Rick was weaving on his feet. “I’m in pain from my arm to my cheek.”

  “Then you’ve broken something, because Prince pounded that snake to death before you fell in the water.”

  At this juncture Rick was weaving. His dad had to support him.

  “Marshmallow has settled down. Let’s get you up on her and we’ll head back to the house. I’ll call Pam for help.”

  Rick closed his eyes tightly. He would love to tell his father it wasn’t necessary. However, this injury wasn’t like any of the ones he’d received at the track over the years. He didn’t know if he could climb onto the mare. Yet the thought of walking sounded equally untenable.

  If the doctor were to ask what level of pain he was in right now, he’d have to tell him there wasn’t a number high enough.

  AUDRA SAT in one of the living-room chairs with her cast propped on a footstool while her uncle David took charge of the family conference. The kids were in the small parlor off the kitchen watching TV. Greg and Jim and their wives had found places on the couch and love seat.

  Pam kept looking at the grandfather clock.

  Clint and his son had been gone longer than Audra would have expected, but she wanted to tell her cousin Pam not to worry. They were grown men who’d been taking care of themselves for years. Clint was probably giving it one last try to steer his son away from a profession that could wipe him out in seconds.

  Too bad Tom, the angry mastermind of the three, had stormed off after dinner with his family, not waiting to find out what possessions their uncle was going to give him.

  Uncle David might be one who was slow to make up his mind about something, but once he did, he moved like wildfire racing across a Texas prairie.

  “To begin with, each of you will receive your own Jarrett-family memorabilia in the way of books, pictures and mementos. I’ve got them sorted in boxes with your names on them. They’re in the study.

  “Two of the five bedrooms upstairs contain furniture from the turn of the century. I’m giving those things, the baby grand piano in the living room and the dining-room table and chairs, which had been made expressly for the dining room, to Pam, to help get her bed-and-breakfast started.

  “You boys can take everything from your old bedrooms, including the beds, tables, lamps and one piece of period furniture from the living room.

  “I’m giving Tom the grandfather clock, Greg the rosewood writing desk and Jim the teacart, all of which were precious items your great-great-grandfather had shipped over from England.

  “After the tornado changed our lives, I had the front parlor on the main floor converted into my bedroom. It has a couch and chairs. I plan to take everything from that room to furnish my new condo.

  “As I said earlier, Audra can live with me as long as she wants. I’m giving her the old upright piano in the parlor and my wife’s quilts. They include some she made and some her grandmother gave her. Audra has always admired them.

  “When I die, my attorney will arrange for the condo to be sold and the proceeds divided among the four of you.”

  Audra loved him for giving her that security. She’d leave the piano with Pam until she had a place of her own one day. As for the quilts, she couldn’t be more thrilled. They were exquisite. Priceless. She would have them mounted in special glass frames so Pam could display them throughout the ranch house.

  Her uncle didn’t know it yet, but she planned to live in Austin with him on a permanent basis. Pam had been waiting on him all these years. Now it was Audra’s turn. She didn’t want him to be alone.

  Greg darted their uncle an angry glance. “You haven’t said anything about the barn.”

  “It goes with the main house. If you boys want a barn, you can erect one behind the bungalow and keep horses there. Until that time you can board your horses at the Circle T. I’ve already spoken to Mervin, so he knows you’re coming.

  “You might want to think about dividing the property four ways and using it for collateral to build your own ranch houses and barns.

  “While you’ve got your families here to help, you’re welcome to start clearing things out tonight. Don’t forget your saddles and camping gear in the barn. When Clint and Rick get back, I’m sure they’ll be glad to lend you a hand with the heavy furniture.”

  Greg’s gaze swerved to Jim’s. “No thanks. We’ll do it ourselves.”

  “My trailer’s available when you want to load the horses.”

  “I’ll stay in the bungalow until my cast comes off,” Audra interjected. “Then I’ll move to Austin with Uncle David. In the meantime, why don’t you three get together and decide how you want to divide up your vacation times out there.

  “My manager at the radio station will let me broadcast from the bungalow, so I’ll be happy with whatever time period during the year you allot to me.”

  “We have to talk to Tom.” Greg’s voice was wooden.

  “Of course. Just let me know.”

  Her uncle had done everything possible to be fair to the family he’d inherited, and this was how they repaid him. Audra reached for her crutches and got up from the chair, anxious to give him a hug and tell him how grateful she was.

  While a subdued Diane and Sherry went over to examine the writing desk and teacart, Pam’s cell phone went off. The next thing Audra heard caused her to come to a standstill in the center of the room.

  “He sounds bad, Clint. I’ll phone the hospital right now and send for a helicopter to meet you here.”

  Audra’s heart gave a thud. “What’s wrong with Rick?”

  Pam had already started to call 9-1-1. “Marshmallow tangled with a water moccasin in the creek. She lost her footing and fell on top of him. My mare’s all right, but Rick’s in pain from his arm to his jaw.”

  A snicker from one of the boys coincided with Audra’s quiet gasp. Her wrist went to her mouth in reaction to the news, causing a crutch to fall on the floor.

  Sherry noticed and picked it up for her. Audra thanked her before crying out, “He wasn’t bitten, was he, Pam? The venom’s lethal.”

  If Rick died, her worst nightmare for her cousin would come true.

  In the background she heard Jim whisper something to Greg about how stupid Clint was to be out there after dark.

  “Silence!” their uncle demanded as Pam spoke to the police dispatcher. Once she’d explained the nature of the emergency, Audra heard her give precise instructions for the location of the ranch.

  When their uncle rose to his feet, the boys left the room with their wives. He waited with Audra until Pam ended the call. She lifted her head.

  “The helicopter will be here as soon as it can. To ease your minds, Prince killed the snake before it could bite either of them, but Rick’s in so much pain he can hardly stay on the horse.”

  “I had the same kind of accident years ago,” their uncle said. “Sounds like a broken collarbone.” Audra shuddered at the thought of it. “From which direction are they coming?”

  “The bluebonnets.”

  “Let’s go, Pam. We’ll get in my truck and drive out to pick up Rick. Audra? You remain here and wait for the helicopter. Turn on the outside lights.” They both hurried into the hall.

  “I’ll do it right now,” Audra called after them. She found the boys in the foyer, huddled together. If she heard the slightest sound come out of their mouths, she was ready to knock them to kingdom come with her crutches.

  Maybe they saw the murderous glint in her eye because for once they didn’t bait her.

  She moved to the front door as fast as her crutches would take her. There was a light switch to the side of it. She turned on the floods so the ranch house would stand out in the darkness.

  When she moved to the roofed porch, the sound of the truck’s engine had already grown faint.

  Sh
e leaned against the post with her crutches and looked in the direction of Austin. Cirrus clouds obscured most of the sky. With barely a breeze to dishevel her curls, there was nothing threatening about the elements to prevent the helicopter from getting here without a problem.

  Though Clint wouldn’t have wished this painful accident on his son, Audra suspected there was a secret part of him that was glad Rick wouldn’t be able to get behind the wheel of a race car for a while. So was Audra…

  While she stood there, the sounds of the boys’ demands over their children’s protests jerked her from her contemplation. She turned her head in time to see Diane and both sets of kids march out the front door carrying various items from the upstairs bedrooms to their vehicles.

  Sherry followed with framed pictures in hand. She stopped in front of Audra. “Did you know your uncle was going to do all this today?”

  “I had no idea.”

  “Jim’s so upset, I’m never going to hear the end of it.”

  Audra had it in her heart to feel sorry for her cousins’ wives, who’d married young and more or less did what their chauvinistic husbands told them to do.

  Annette had it the worst.

  Tom’s resentment over their uncle’s control of the ranch was bad enough. But he was one of those men who didn’t believe a woman should have any say in business. His wife didn’t dare stand up to him for his rudeness to their uncle, or his cruelty to Pam.

  “I think Uncle David’s idea about dividing the property made a lot of sense,” Audra murmured. “You and Jim could borrow on your portion of the land and build a house.”

  “That’s not it. He can’t believe Pam got the ranch house.”

  “Her husband bought it for her.”

  Sherry looked around. “Walk to the other end of the porch with me where the kids won’t pick up on our conversation.”

  After Audra had complied, her cousin-in-law said, “I heard Jim and Greg talking in the hall. They think Uncle David’s lying about the sale of the house because he wanted Pam to have it.”

  Anger consumed Audra. “Is that what you think, too?”

  Sherry averted her eyes. “It does seem pretty amazing that she went to Josie Adams’s wedding in Colorado and came back a little over a month later married to a man who was willing to spend that kind of money on her.”