“More than you know, Beth. But that’s why I’m here. You’ve always been the one to help me see things more clearly.” By the time Beth’s wedding was over and her month of vacation was up, Jules hoped to return home feeling renewed.
“I’ll do whatever I can,” Beth said.
The face of fourteen-year-old Joey Martin drifted into Jules’s mind. She blamed herself and the system for what had happened to Joey, and she wanted somehow to make up for it. She just wasn’t sure she could. Beth knew that. They had spent an endless amount of time on the phone talking about it.
“To be honest, working on cases in court every day and being a child advocate during my spare time is exhausting. If it wasn’t for your wedding and this vacation…I hate to be gone from my work. I know how much I’m needed, but I don’t want to burn out. At the rate I’ve been going, I’m afraid that’s what will happen.”
“And you insisted we go to a rodeo?” Beth asked. “That can’t be relaxing, considering.”
“It will be, I hope, if I can come to terms with my fear of riding. I can’t help others overcome their fears if I can’t get past my own, especially when theirs are so much worse.”
Beth didn’t comment, just shifted her gaze to Tanner O’Brien.
“Oh, no, Beth,” Jules warned, knowing exactly what her friend was thinking. “Don’t get any ideas.”
Beth turned back. “You’re right. I just want to see you happy, that’s all. You need to get out and have some fun, meet new…people.”
Jules had to laugh. “Now I know why you invited me to Oklahoma when I said I needed a break. Thanks, but I think I’ll pass.”
“I don’t know, Jules,” Beth said, looking completely unconvinced. “Like your parents, you’ve been giving to others for a long time. Maybe it’s time to think of yourself.”
A bone-weary tiredness swept over Jules. She knew she might be facing a major career decision. Because of Joey, she had become disillusioned. She wasn’t sure anymore if she could handle both her career and her volunteer work. She’d hoped that getting away from it would help with a decision and also give her time to work on facing her fear.
“Can we leave now?” she asked, pushing her half-finished drink aside. She hoped they wouldn’t run into the cowboy again. When that hat had landed at her feet, something strange had happened. She’d begun to feel things she’d never felt before. Whatever they were, she didn’t want to deal with them. She had enough to think about.
And a blue-eyed cowboy to forget.
Beth gathered her purse and stood. “It is late, and I don’t have the luxury of sleeping in tomorrow. I’m on emergency call until Friday for Doc Waters. With my luck, somebody’s dog will chew up a rope and swallow it.”
“Dr. Anders,” someone called out as they walked toward the door.
“Go on,” Beth told Jules. “I’ll meet you at the car.”
Jules nodded and continued on. Stepping outside into the balmy summer night, she worked her way through the jammed parking lot toward the car. Suddenly, she noticed a certain bronc rider arguing with a teenager who bore a striking resemblance to him. The boy, who looked about fourteen or fifteen, stood with his fists balled on his hips and his chin jutting out. Their voices rose in the darkness, but Jules couldn’t make out what they were saying. When Tanner O’Brien reached out, the teenager threw up his hands and backed away. Jules wondered if she should ignore them or see if she could help. Considering what had happened with Joey Martin, although one had nothing to do with the other, minding her own business might be the wisest course.
TANNER FACED Shawn under the bluish lighting in the parking lot. He hated being the bad guy, but the situation with his nephew was getting out of hand. If he didn’t find a way to deal with it soon, he’d lose Shawn the same way he’d lost Shawn’s daddy.
He drew in a breath of the humid, night air. “You were supposed to get a ride home, Shawn.”
The boy crossed his arms and glared at his uncle. “I don’t see you gettin’ in early.”
Shawn was right. But it didn’t excuse the fourteen-year-old standing in front of him, ready to do battle.
Tanner had promised himself he wouldn’t lose his temper, something hard to stick to lately. “I’m an adult, Shawn. That gives me the right to set my own hours. But that’s not the point. You told me you had a ride back home after the rodeo. Why are you still here?”
Even Shawn’s shrug was antagonistic. “Just hanging out with my friends.”
It wasn’t so much what Shawn said as it was his attitude that riled Tanner. “And all of them are at least three years older than you. Why don’t you hang out with someone your own age?”
With narrowed eyes, Shawn’s lip curled in contempt. “They’re kids.”
And so are you, Tanner wanted to say, but he mentally counted to five, instead. “I guess you can’t be trusted to get home when you’re supposed to. No more rodeos until I see some responsibility.” He stood watching the boy, expecting an explosion.
One young shoulder raised and lowered. “Whatever.” Shawn dropped his hands to his sides and walked in the opposite direction of Tanner’s pickup.
“Get in my truck,” Tanner called to him. When the boy didn’t slow his steps, Tanner went after him and took hold of his arm.
Shawn spun around. “I’d rather walk,” he growled, trying to pull away.
“Excuse me.”
Tanner turned at the sound of the soft voice behind him. Jules Vandeveer was standing a few feet away. “This isn’t your concern,” he replied as politely as he could, and turned back to his nephew.
Her voice, still quiet and calm, reached out in the darkness beyond the lights. “You’re right, it isn’t, but maybe I can help.”
Tanner reluctantly released his nephew, expecting him to take off. Instead, Shawn retreated a few steps and stopped, watching them. Tanner took a deep breath and faced Jules. “I don’t know why I should listen to a woman who thinks I’m a horse’s—”
“I apologize. Truly,” Jules said, cutting him off. “I was very rude, and I’m sorry.”
The anger drained from Tanner at the sincerity in her voice, the caring he saw in her eyes, until he reminded himself she was butting in where she didn’t belong. “I can handle this.”
She drew closer. “I’ve seen hundreds of kids go through the court system,” she said, “and I work with those who have slipped through the cracks. There are better ways to handle problems than arguing. And better places to do it than a tavern parking lot.”
“Now, hold on.” Tanner planted his feet in the gravel of the lot and stared down into her eyes. “I’m trying to get him into the truck so we can go home. If he’d done what he should have—”
“Try talking to him.”
Tanner opened his mouth to tell her he’d been trying to do exactly that. Instead, he shut it, his anger gone, replaced by something that was close to admiration. She was gutsy enough to stand up to him. But hadn’t he realized that earlier?
She laid a hand on his arm, and he felt a warmth go through him like a shot of whiskey before she jerked her hand away. Apparently she’d felt something, too.
“You’re upset,” she said in that same, smooth voice. “Let me talk to him.”
Too busy trying to figure