Lassoed into Marriage

“So, I’d like a change of scenery and want to get out of the house for a while,” Lisa said. “Here’s the deal. You can go to the bull riding on two conditions.” She sat back down.

He met her gaze. This was even worse than second grade at Mountain View Grammar School with Mrs. Moth. He slowly sat down.

“I’m listening,” he said, dreading her conditions already. She held up two fingers, just like Mrs. Moth. “One, I get two flights with you taking care of Rose.”

“Agreed.” That was easy.

“And two, Rose and I go with you to Fort Lauderdale.”

He pointed to his chest. “Didn’t I just rant about how I don’t fly?”

“We’d all go in your motor home. And we’ll make it a week-long trip. It would be the perfect opportunity for all of us to get to know one another—to bond, so to speak.”

He fished for the words, and with his mouth flapping, he probably looked like a freshly caught trout. Rose would love the trip, but he wondered how he and Lisa would get along in such cramped quarters.

“Us? Together for a week in my small motor home? Wouldn’t you and I kill each other?” he asked.

“Perhaps.” Lisa laughed, and he liked when she did that. As far as he was concerned, she didn’t laugh enough, but he wouldn’t count that against her just yet. She’d just lost her sister. Still, on the handful of occasions when they’d met in the past, she seemed to sit in judgment of him—and she appeared to find him lacking.

Granted, most of those occasions were party times—Rick’s bachelor’s party, the Super Bowl, Rick and Carol’s wedding, Rose’s christening—and he loved to party. Still, she didn’t have to seem so prim and proper all the time.

Did she ever have fun?

“Uncle Sully, Aunt Lisa, look at me!” Rose shouted.

They both looked as their niece jumped into the balls for the hundredth time. Lisa clapped and Sully whistled loudly and shrilly as if he were calling a bull for dinner.

“Sully.” Lisa inhaled deeply, and he braced himself for what she was going to say. “I think I’m going to put my name on the list for private charters for now instead of working a regular schedule with Cardinal Global. Private charters are on an as-needed basis, and JFW Aviation flies out of Albany, so that’s convenient to Salmon Falls and totally doable.”

He breathed a little easier. “Sounds like a good idea.”

“That’s what I was thinking. It’ll work out better for Rose.”

“I really appreciate that, Lisa. I do.” It was a totally nice and unexpected concession on her part. He’d do his best to reciprocate.

She nodded. “So, what about my idea of all of us traveling together to Fort Lauderdale?”

He paused, his hands itching for his rope and the cement statue so he could weigh the pros and cons more thoroughly. “Let’s do it,” he blurted.

Lisa held out her hand, and they shook. As his rough and calloused hand closed around hers, he decided that he liked her style. Keep everything businesslike, negotiable, but do the best they could do for Rose.

He looked over yet again at Rose jumping on the balls, her face red with laughter, her hair wet from the exertion. She was having a great time, and maybe for a while, she’d forget that she’d lost her mommy and daddy.

In their place were Aunt Lisa and Uncle Sully—pale substitutes for her parents.

He knew that he and Lisa would do their best to raise Rose. Yes, he made a slight blunder not asking Lisa if he could ride at the Fort Lauderdale event, but for heaven’s sake, he wasn’t a kid having to ask a parent for permission.

Well, okay, okay. Maybe he had to stop thinking of just himself. And, yeah, once in a while he could ask Lisa to go on his walk arounds with Rose. She’d dropped enough hints.

But sometimes he had to get away from her, too. Sometimes she could be just as demanding and rigid as his parents.

Especially when she looked at him with her green eyes flashing disappointment.

He’d never have a nine-to-five job. He’d always be ready for a party or to throw one of his own. He’d make sure that Rose would have a fun, happy life. Lisa could take care of the blah, boring stuff.

Sully knew he’d never measure up to Lisa’s expectations, nor did he want to even try.

So, he was going to hit the trail with his new family, and he’d try to get along with Mrs. Moth … er … Lisa Phillips.

Chapter Three

Three days later, Sully drove his rig back from downtown Salmon Falls. He loved the little town, loved the sidewalks, the flowers, the town square. He loved that there were no chain stores or chain eateries, and how the little shops were just that … little.

He’d just left Marv’s Garage. Marv was the town’s hangout for gearheads, gossip central for men and the home to a bottomless coffeepot.

Though Sully had gone over his motor home from top to bottom, he’d figured that Marv should check it anyway.

Marv had cleared the RV and everything was ready to rock.

When he pulled up in front of the Victorian, Lisa and Rose were ready to pack the RV. Over the next hour they made several trips to the vehicle, carrying loads of clothes, food, toys, shoes and more shoes. Heaven only knew what they’d put in the small bathroom cupboard. And there were plastic containers stacked all over containing bottles and tubes of stuff.

Lisa and Rose had gone shopping, so the closets and cabinets were overflowing with their purchases. That was okay with him. He traveled light. Mostly, whatever he needed—his wrap tape, rosin, bull rope and bell, jeans, shirts, underwear, socks and a couple of riding gloves—was in his gear bag.

Last night, he’d slipped out of his room in the Victorian and sat at the kitchen table with a map of the East Coast. He plotted the route he wanted to take and flagged some campgrounds along the way. Remembering how Rick had told him that Rose loved the water, he flagged the ones with swimming areas for her. He’d programmed them into his GPS.

Lisa and Rose were back with Molly and Snowball and yet more plastic containers. Sully looked on in amazement.

“Hey, we can’t fit the whole house into this motor home, ladies. We’re camping, not moving into a mansion in Beverly Hills.”

Lisa chuckled. “This is the last load—well, except for more food.”

“We bought hot dogs. And stuff for sloppy joe’s,” Rose announced to him. “And beans in a can … for you. Aunt Lisa said that cowboys like beans.”

Sully looked at Lisa. “Beans, huh?” He winked at Rose. “Well, your aunt was right. I do like beans … in a can.”

As a matter of fact, they’d already loaded in a supply of microwaveable foods—beans, hot dogs, chicken and TV dinners.

Since the burned meatloaf incident, Lisa had given the oven in the house a wide berth, like it was a Brahma ready to charge at her, but the microwave was her pet.

He had both in the motor home.

Rose looked up at him with brown eyes, the color of his brother Rick’s. “When are we going to see Mickey Mouse?”

Huh? There wouldn’t be any time for that! He raised an eyebrow at Lisa. “We’ll leave as soon as Aunt Lisa is ready.”

“I just need to lock up the house, and that’s it,” she said. Her face was flushed, maybe from slogging everything, but Sully liked to think that she was excited to go on the trip.

That would be a change for her—being excited about something.