That Burke Man

“That’s sweet,” she said with a sigh.

The tall man stood looking down at her with a frown. “Are you all right?”

“Sure,” she said. “I’m just dandy. Thanks for your help.”

She wasn’t forthcoming, and he had no right to expect it. He nodded and moved out of the trailer.

Tim came after him. “Thanks for your help, stranger,” he said. “I’d never have got her here by myself.”

They shook hands. “My pleasure.” He paused. “What happened to her?” he added abruptly.

“Her daddy wrecked the car,” he said simply. “He was killed instantly, but Jane was pinned in there with him for three hours or more. They thought she’d broken her back,” he concluded.

There was a harsh intake of breath.

“Oh, it was a herniated disk instead. It’s painful and slow to heal, and she’ll most always have some pain with it. But they can work miracles these days. She couldn’t walk right away, though, and we weren’t sure if she’d be paralyzed. But she got up out of that bed and started working on herself. Stayed in physical therapy until even the doctors grinned. Never knew a girl like her,” he mused. “This thing has taken some of the fight out of her, of course, but she’s no quitter. Her dad would have been proud. Sad about her career, though. She’ll never ride in competition again.”

“What in hell was she doing on that horse this morning?”

“Showing everybody that nothing short of death will ever keep her down,” Tim said simply. “Never did catch your name, stranger.”

“Burke. Todd Burke.”

“I’m Tim Harley. I’m proud to meet you.”

“Same here.” He hesitated for just a minute before he turned and went back along the aisles. He felt odd. He’d never felt so odd in his life before. Perhaps, he thought, it was that he wasn’t used to proud women. She’d surprised him with the extent of her grit and stubbornness. She wasn’t a quitter, in spite of impossible circumstances. He didn’t doubt that she’d ride again, either, even if she didn’t get back into competition. God, she was game! He was sorry he’d managed to get off on the wrong foot with her. He’d been irritated by the remarks she’d made about his daughter. Now he realized that she was trying to help, and he’d taken it the wrong way.

He was sensitive about Cherry. His daughter had taken more vicious criticism from her own mother than she was ever likely to get from a stranger. He’d over-reacted. Now he was left with a case of badly bruised pride and a wounded ego. He smiled a little bitterly at his own embarrassment. He deserved it, being so cruel to a woman in that condition. It had been a long time since he’d made a mistake of such magnitude.

He wandered back down the lane to join his daughter, who was excitedly talking to one of the rodeo clowns.

“Dad, did you see her, that blonde lady who accepted the plaque?” she asked when he was within earshot. “That was Jane Parker herself!”

“I saw her.” He glanced at the young cowboy, who flushed and grinned at Cherry, and then quickly made himself scarce.

“I wish you wouldn’t do that,” Cherry said on a sigh. “Honestly, Dad, I’m fourteen!”

“And I’m an old bear. I know.” He threw an affectionate arm around her. “You did fine, partner. I’m proud of you.”

“Thanks! Where did you disappear to?”

“I helped your idol into her motor home,” he said.

“My idol…Miss Parker?”

“The very same. She’s got a bad back, that’s why she doesn’t ride anymore. She’s game, though.”

“She’s the best barrel racer I ever saw,” Cherry said. “I have a video of last year’s rodeo and she’s on it. The reason I begged to come to this rodeo was so that I could meet her, but she isn’t riding this time. Gosh, I was disappointed when they said she’d retired. I didn’t know she had a bad back.”

“Neither did I,” he murmured. He put an arm around her and hugged her close. She was precious to him, but he tended to busy himself too deeply in his work, especially in the years since her mother had walked out on them. “We haven’t had much time together, have we? I’ll make it up to you while we’re on vacation.”

“How about right now?” She grinned at him. “You could introduce me to Miss Parker.”

He cleared his throat. How was he going to tell her that her idol thought he was about as low as a snake?

“She’s so pretty,” Cherry added without waiting for his answer. “Mother’s pretty, too, but not like that.” She grimaced. “Mother doesn’t want me to come up next week, did she tell you?”

“Yes.” He didn’t add that they’d argued about it. Marie didn’t spend any more time with Cherry than she had to. She’d walked out on the two of them for another man six years ago, declaring that Cherry was just too much for her to handle. It had devastated the young girl and left Todd Burke in the odd position of having to forego board meetings of his corporation to take care of his daughter. He hadn’t minded, though. He was proud of the girl, and he’d encouraged her in everything she wanted to do, including rodeo. Marie had a fit over that. She didn’t approve of her daughter riding rodeo, but Todd had put his foot down.

“What does she see in him?” Cherry asked, her gray eyes flashing and her blond pigtail swinging as she threw her hands up in a temper. “He’s so picky about everything, especially his clothes. He doesn’t like pets and he doesn’t like children.”

“He’s brilliant. He has a national bestseller. It’s number one on the New York Times list. It’s been there for weeks,” Todd replied.

“You’re smart, too. And you’re rich,” she argued.

“Yes, but I’m not in his class. I’m a self-made man. I don’t have a Harvard degree.”

“Neither does he,” Cherry said with a giggle. “He hasn’t graduated. I heard Mama say so—not so that he could hear her, though.”

He chuckled. “Never you mind. If she’s happy, that’s fine.”

“Don’t you love her anymore?” she asked.

His arm contracted. “Not the way I should to be married to her,” he said honestly. “Marriage takes two people working to make each other happy. Your mother got tired of the long hours I had to spend at work.”

“She got tired of me, too.”

“She loves you, in her way,” he replied. “Don’t ever doubt that. But she and I found less in common the longer we lived together. Eventually we didn’t have enough to sustain a marriage.”

“You need someone to look after you,” she told him. “I’ll get married one day, you know, and then where will you be?”

He chuckled. “Alone.”

“Sure,” she agreed, “except for those women you never bring home.”

He cleared his throat. “Cherry…”

“Never mind, I’m not stupid.” She looked around at the dwindling crowd. “But you need someone to come home to, besides me. You work late at the office and go on business trips all over the place, and you’re never home. So I can’t go home, either. I want to go to school in Victoria in the fall. I hate boarding school.”

“You never told me that,” he said, surprised.

“I didn’t want to,” she admitted reluctantly. “But it’s just awful lately. I’m glad I’m out for the summer.” She looked up at him with gray eyes so similar to his own. “I’m glad you took this vacation. We can do some things together, just you and me.”

“I’ve been thinking about it for a long time,” he confessed. “I’m looking forward to having a few weeks off,” he lied convincingly, and wondered how he was going to survive the lack of anything challenging to do.

She grinned. “Good! You can help me work on those turns in barrel racing. I don’t guess you noticed, but I’m having a real hard time with them.”

He recalled what Jane Parker had said about Cherry, and he allowed himself to wonder if it might not do both women good to spend a little time talking together.