both got up from the table. Kellie jumped up to hug them. “I’ll call you all the time so you’re not worried.”
“We love you, honey.”
“We do,” her father said in a gruff voice and gave her a bear hug. “Do everything the Ranger says.”
“I promise.” She walked them to the front door. “I love you. Thank you for being the best parents on earth.”
“I won’t let anything happen to her,” the Ranger assured them before they left the condo. The conviction in his voice prevented Kellie from breaking down.
Kellie shut the door and hurried past him to clear the table. He helped put everything in the waste bin while she wiped down the top. “If you want to get started on the blog piece, we can do it here.”
“Sounds good, but let’s sit down for a minute and lay the groundwork.”
She nodded and followed his suggestion. He sat across from her. “First of all, I’d like you to call me Cy and I’ll call you Kellie. Next, we need to make this real.” He reached in his shirt pocket and set three rings on the table. After putting the larger gold band on the ring finger of his left hand, he said, “Go ahead and see if they fit.”
With trembling fingers, she picked up the engagement ring with a beautiful one-carat diamond. She slid it on and it was a surprisingly good fit. So was the gold wedding band. The moment was surreal.
“How do they feel, Mrs. Vance?”
Her head flew back. Their gazes fused for a moment. It feels too natural. “Fine.”
“Will they bother you when you ride?”
She blinked. “No. My right hand does most of the work.”
“Good. Let’s discuss the living arrangements. I plan to sleep downstairs and had the team bring over a hide-a-bed couch. If you don’t mind, I’ll use the half bath on this floor, but I’ll shower upstairs when you’re not here. For the time being I’ll use the guest room to store my clothes and equipment.”
In the next breath he pulled a pair of latex gloves from his back pocket and put them on.
“Why don’t you bring me the mail? I’ll go through it in case this stalker has sent you a message to frighten you further.”
At the thought, her body broke out in a cold sweat. Kellie went into the living room to get her purse and brought it to the table. After she opened it, he reached inside and took out the bills.
He went through the pile one piece at a time. “Let me know if you see something odd.”
She shook her head. “It’s the usual bills and ads.”
He kept going. When he came to a Cowboy Times magazine, he held it up by the spine. Two cards fell out along with a three-by-five white envelope. He picked up the letter. There was no return name or address. Her name and address had been typed on the front. “This was postmarked from Austin on the same day he approached you in Eagle Mountain.”
Kellie felt her stomach drop while she watched him open it. He spread out the eight-by-ten piece of folded paper. The word liar jumped out at them in big letters. She gasped. The stalker had cut them out of some magazine and had glued them on.
“This is going to the forensics lab. It’s my opinion that over the years this man has had a string of broken relationships, maybe a failed marriage, and feels betrayed. He has no friends or anyone he’s emotionally connected to. Every time he finds a new target, he convinces himself it’s love. When nothing works out, he goes into a rage because every woman turns out to be a liar.”
“I wonder how many other women he’s done this to.”
“Who knows, but it stops with you. I noticed you have a laptop upstairs. Why don’t you bring it down and we’ll get started on your announcement?”
“I’ll be right back.” When she brought it down a minute later, she noticed he’d put the letter in a plastic bag and had discarded the gloves. He’d also produced a laptop she’d seen lying on the hide-a-bed.
“I’d like to access more of your archives while you work on what you want to say.”
“I’ll send them to your computer.” He gave her his address.
They worked side by side. She wrote something, then deleted it and started again. After several attempts she got into the blog-writing mode and allowed herself to go with the flow.
“How’s it coming?” His deep voice broke the silence, but it continued to resonate inside her.
“It’s almost there. I’ll send you a copy in a minute to see what you think. After I’ve denied any involvement with a man, it’s going to have to be convincing.” She read over what she’d written so far.
Hi, all my faithful rodeo fans out there! I’m back from my last rodeo in Bandera, Texas, and won’t be competing until two weeks from now in Rapid City, South Dakota, where I’ll start out my Midwest circuit. My times have been up and down lately. But that’s because something thrilling has happened to me in my personal life.
So many times you’ve asked me if I have a boyfriend or if I plan to get married one day. I’ve always said that my love life was private. But I can’t keep quiet about this any longer. I did find the man of my dreams while I’ve been on the rodeo circuit. It was love at first sight for this gorgeous hunk of a cowboy. He’s bigger than life to me and my hero in more ways than one.
We decided we couldn’t stand to wait to get married until Finals in December. So we tied the knot in a private ceremony before my competition in Pendleton, Oregon. I’m so happy to be his wife, I go around in a daze. It’s little wonder I’ve been unable to concentrate. Trixie thinks I’m a little crazy, bless her heart. It’s a miracle she puts up with me and knows how to kill the cans in spite of me.
All of you know I always had a rule that I wouldn’t allow a man to throw me off my game while I was riding the circuit. No distractions for me. No siree. But I hadn’t met my husband when I said that. The second I looked into his eyes, my world changed in an instant. He’s the prince I dreamed about when I was a little girl. He’s the great man I’d hoped to meet while traveling the circuit around this great country of the USA.
We’ll have a wedding reception after Finals. I’ll post some pictures. You’ll all swoon when you see him!
PS: Of course I want to win the championship, but winning the love of my husband surpasses all else. I’m the luckiest cowgirl on the planet and grateful for all of you who constantly send me your support. Long live the rodeo!
Kellie saved the file and pushed the send button. In order to make her blog convincing, she’d had to put her heart into it. But while she waited for his opinion, heat crept into her cheeks. “I just sent you the announcement. While you check it for changes, I’ll get a cola. Would you like one?”
“Sure. Thanks.”
“Let me know what you think,” she said and left the room.
* * *
CY OPENED
