it was positively uncanny. They took after their mother he could see in the photographs, but got their height from their father. Every time Toly looked at him, he saw Nikki.
“I’ve been an ass for the last month. Sorry.”
“Forget it, Mills.”
“I wish I could.” He started pacing, then stopped. “I thought I knew Denise. Geez—how wrong could I have been! I could have taken it if she just plain didn’t like me anymore, but her timing after we’d made plans to celebrate when it was all over... I had big plans,” he murmured.
Toly had an idea what they were and was heartsick for his friend. “I know, dude. It surprised the heck out of me. I thought you two were tight.”
“Join the club. It makes me wonder something. I keep asking myself, did she shut me down right before Finals because she didn’t qualify and that’s why she dropped out?”
“Whoa. I don’t believe that, and neither should you.”
“I have a reason for saying what I did. As you know, I met her through Nikki. They’d been contestants at the same time for the Miss Rodeo Montana Pageant the year before and became friends. Five months ago she invited Denise to the ranch while I happened to be home that weekend.”
“I remember.”
“The chemistry between us was amazing. Though you and I were on the circuit part of the time, she and I talked on the phone for hours when we couldn’t be together. I thought she was the one.”
“Don’t I know it.”
Mills planted himself in a chair. “What you don’t know is how devastated she was when she didn’t place in that pageant. For the first two weeks into our relationship, it seemed like all she wanted to do was talk about her disappointment. Then the subject changed when she told me she’d decided to drop out of barrel racing. I’m afraid I didn’t immediately connect the dots.”
“So what are you saying?”
He took a deep breath. “I’m not sure, but I’m wondering if it’s because she’s been comparing herself to Nikki and doesn’t want to be around her anymore, which means shutting me out. I guess I never told you Nikki made a clean sweep of all the categories in the pageant, including personality, appearance and horsemanship, and she won the Queen Speech award. The folks would have been so proud.”
That didn’t surprise Toly, who shook his head. Deep inside he had to admit Nikki would be an almost impossible act to follow.
“Look, Mills—even if your supposition contains a kernel of truth and she has some envy issues, I can’t comprehend that she would deny herself the happiness you two have found since meeting each other. It doesn’t make sense.”
“Maybe it does because deep down Denise is more into herself than I’d realized. I found out from my friend José that he went to the same high school with Denise. She was big into barrel racing back then and ran for Miss Teen Rodeo three years in a row.”
“How did she do?”
He looked at him. “She never placed in the top three.”
“Neither did the majority of the other contestants.”
His friend let out a sound of frustration. “But I don’t think she ever got over it.”
Toly got to his feet. “If that’s really true, and you believe she’s too obsessed with past failures to see a bright future with you, then she did you a favor by breaking up with you. Let me give you a piece of advice my big brother once gave me. He fell in love with his high school girlfriend and planned to marry her after college.
“But she met an actor from Hollywood while she was in Europe who swept her off her feet. After she came home, she ended it with Wymon. He thought she’d wanted a ranching life with him. It shocked him to realize he could never have given her what she really wanted. But before he finally got over her, he nursed a broken heart for a long time and grew bitter.
“I’m telling you this because when I first got into tie-down roping on the circuit—before my brother Roce and I started team roping—Wymon sat me down because he was worried about me. He knew how much I liked the ladies and feared I might get dazzled too soon by a woman who could never love me. My brother feared that if I wasn’t careful, I’d be like he had been and wallow in pain instead of getting on with life.”
Mills stared at him. “What did he say to you?”
“To quote him, ‘The last thing you ever want to do is get hung up on one of those rodeo beauty queens. They’re in love with their own image and probably have been all their lives. The dude who’s hooked and can’t see through it is doomed to be an afterthought, if that.’
“Later on, I realized he’d said that while he was in a bad place, but after hearing what you’ve just told me, maybe there was some truth to his words.” Toly didn’t know what else to say. His friend needed to try to get over Denise or he was going to be miserable for a long time.
Mills stood up. “In the beginning I would never have thought of her like that. But the more I think about it, there has been a pattern of high expectations and bitter disappointments she can’t get over. Your brother might have had a point when he gave you that advice.”
“Mills? What’s important is that you move on for your own happiness.”
“You’re right. Thanks for the talk. I’m sure as hell not going to let her ruin what you and I have worked so hard for. I promise I won’t let you down.”
Toly patted his shoulder. “You couldn’t do that. See you in the morning. Try to get a good sleep.”
It was great advice to give Mills, but Toly knew he wouldn’t be falling off anytime soon. He went back to the kitchen, hoping Nikki would come home so they could talk. No doubt some guy was detaining her.
Starting tomorrow morning, Toly wouldn’t be seeing her for the next three days. He wished they were all driving down to Vegas together, but Mills had never suggested it. From the moment the two of them had starting riding the circuit together, Toly had sensed Nikki was off-limits to him. Naturally he was friendly with her when they were all together here on the ranch, but he kept things professional. That’s why they’d all gotten along so well.
But Toly wanted more than that. The only thing saving him was the knowledge that the three of them would be together in Las Vegas for ten whole days and nights. He had plans despite what Mills wanted.
After waiting another twenty minutes while he watched the news on the small TV in the kitchen, he decided Nikki might not be home for hours. Not if that dude at the dealership was holding her up.
She could sleep in tomorrow while he and Mills had to take off early. So much for a talk with her before he went to bed. That would have to wait. Hell.
At three o’clock on Tuesday afternoon, the airport shuttle pulled up to the magnificent new Cyclades Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas, Nevada. Four huge, white rounded windmills with their pointed brown roofs and blades—the famous trademark advertising the
