Newman.”
“And why does his showing up make you skittish as a new colt?”
She crossed her arms. “A few years ago he tried to kill me.”
Seth gaped at her. Then snapped his jaw shut. “Well, I guess that would do it.”
“Indeed.” His shock made her look away. This wasn’t something she liked to talk about.
“Why?”
She forced her eyes back to his. “Why what?”
“Why would he try to kill you? That’s insane.”
Tonya huffed a short laugh. “Yes. Quite. We met my senior year of college. We had a couple of classes together. He asked me to marry him after three dates and I told him no. I’d already decided I didn’t want to see him anymore and the marriage proposal sealed it. He asked me to reconsider. I wouldn’t.” She swallowed hard, then said, “This continued for the next several weeks. He’d show up at my apartment. If I refused to answer the door, he’d leave a gift.”
“What kind of gift?”
She shrugged. “Flowers, chocolates, whatever he thought I might like. I finally had a restraining order taken out on him, but it didn’t matter.”
“Why? What happened?”
“He showed up at my apartment one day and caught me carrying groceries inside. I barely had a chance to shut the door before he kicked it in, furious and raving at me. He threw the restraining order in my face. I screamed at him to get out. He shouted he loved me.” She’d shouted back that he didn’t know what love was. “He finally calmed down a bit and tried reasoning with me. I got my phone out of my purse to call for help. He snatched it and threw it through a window. I raced for the door. He grabbed me, wrapped his hands around my throat and tried to strangle me.”
She took a breath, let it out slowly. “I finally had the idea to just go limp right before I passed out. He must have let go immediately, thinking I was dead. One of my brothers, Grant, found me and got me to the hospital.”
“And this psychopath is walking around free?”
Seth’s outrage soothed some of her panic. “He went to jail but didn’t stay there long. I’ve been hiding from him ever since. I have minimal contact with my family. I don’t even want them knowing where I am.” As she said the words aloud, an ache formed in her throat and tears rose to the surface. How she missed her big wonderful family. “I don’t want them in danger. He threatened them once, almost killed Jacob, my youngest brother. I won’t give him a reason to go after them again.”
Seth held out a hand and she walked over to take it. His warm fingers wrapped around hers. “What are you going to do now that he’s found you?”
“Run.”
“You can’t do that,” Seth blurted out. His immediate desire to keep her close surprised him. Just like in the ambulance. He hadn’t wanted her to leave then, and he didn’t now. He frowned, wondering at the strangeness of his feelings. She lifted a brow and he waved a hand. “I mean, of course you can, but I don’t want you to.”
Tonya tilted her head and stared at him. “Well, what other choice do I have?”
“Fight him. Call the authorities. Tell them he’s stalking you—harassing you—and you want it stopped.”
She sighed, walked to the door to peer out one more time, then came back to sit on the edge of the bed. He drew in a deep breath, drinking in her scent. Vanilla, strawberries, something else. All mixed in with the smell of horses and leather. And possibly sweat and dirt. He loved it. She’d gotten most of the clown paint off her face, but she’d missed one spot on the side of her nose.
She looked down at her hands. “I wish it was that simple.”
“Why isn’t it?” He struggled back into a sitting position. His leg twinged, but the sharp tearing pain from earlier was gone.
She leaned over and helped adjust the pillow behind him. Her nearness nearly caused his heart to explode. Her tender care, her gentle touch, set his pulse to pounding.
He liked the way she did things almost without thinking. She’d noticed he could use a hand and offered one. He had to blink to focus on her words and resist the desire to pull her close.
“Because he’s clever,” she said. “No one ever sees him do anything wrong. In public he’s in control, the nicest man you’d ever hope to meet. He could charm a bird out of a tree.” She hesitated and he could see her fear escalating with whatever memories were going through her mind. “I’ve worked with the authorities before, to no avail. It took me almost dying to get him finally jailed.” She shook her head. “I can’t go through that again,” she whispered.
He couldn’t resist anymore. She’d offered him comfort just by being there with him. He grasped her upper arm and pulled her close. She tensed and he stopped, wondering if he was being too forward. Then something seemed to snap inside of her and she leaned into him, wrapped her arms around him and rested her head against his shoulder.
He held her and she let him. “I haven’t said thank you.”
She pulled away and he wished he’d kept his big mouth shut. She sniffed and grabbed a tissue from the box near his bed. “For what?”
“You saved my life today and I haven’t even thanked you.”
“Oh. You’re welcome.”
He laughed. “You say that like it’s no big deal.”
Tonya flushed. “Of course your life is a big deal.”
“I didn’t mean that. I meant you act like what you do, the risks you take, is not a big thing. It’s crazy and admirable and dangerous.”
She shrugged. “I don’t think about the danger so much. I mean, I know I could be seriously hurt one day, or even killed, but I’m good at what I do and I’m careful.” She paused and tilted her head. “And I pray a lot.”
“I know you’re careful. I’ve seen you work, Ms. Rodeo Clown of the Year.”
She flushed again. “Stop.”
“It’s impressive. You want to get to the NFR this year, too, as one of the barrelmen, don’t you?”
“Of course I do, but you know as well as I do that’s a long shot. I work in a man’s world where the good-ol’-boy system is alive and well.” He knew what she meant. Peers voted for whom they thought deserved to go to the NFR and work in the arena. Only three went. And the men tended to stick together when it came down to the voting.
The knock on the door startled them both. Tonya stood as the doctor walked in. “All right, Mr. Starke, you’re good to go. The nurse will be by with your papers shortly. Are you allergic to anything?”
Seth shot the orthopedist a sour look. “You mean besides the apparent newly acquired allergy of bull riding?”
Dr. Mobley smiled. “Yes.”
“Then
