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REID CALLAHAN STARED at the casket and still found it hard to believe that his best friend was inside it. Pain ripped through his heart at the thought of losing Zeke. They’d grown up together and had become the best bull riders on the circuit, both winning buckles and taking first place from each other. A small, sad smile lifted his lips as he remembered how they’d competed against each other, but always supporting one another. They were happy for each other’s success. For years, they rode the circuit together...until Zeke met Lucy and fell in love. Hard.
Reid lifted his gaze to see Lucy standing on the other side of the casket, tears streaming down her cheeks. She raised her eyes to his and all he saw there was pure hatred. She blamed him for this and he knew she’d never forgive him. He just wanted Zeke to go one more time and look where that had gotten him. His best friend was dead now and Lucy hated him for it.
He shifted his eyes away from her. It hurt too much to look at her. She was a stunning woman with long, dark brown hair and beautiful light blue eyes. She had a pert nose that sat over the most sensual pair of lips he’d ever seen. He’d fallen in love with her the day Zeke introduced him to her soon after they started dating. Reid blew out a breath and watched it form into a puff of cold air. Rain beat down on his Stetson and poured off the brim to land on his boots. The rain seemed perfect for the day, and the way he was feeling.
When the service was over, Reid couldn’t get his feet to move to walk away. Damn it. This should never have happened. Zeke was too good. Reid closed his eyes as the image replayed in his head yet again.
Zeke had given him the thumbs up as he straddled the bull, ready to ride. He’d drawn Firecracker...the meanest bull on the circuit. No cowboy had ever ridden him the full eight seconds but if anyone could, it was Zeke. Reid had watched as Zeke lowered himself onto the bull’s back, gave the nod, and then the chute door opened. Firecracker shot out into the open immediately bucking and roaring, trying his best to dislodge the rider from his back. The bull rocked him first to the left and then back to the right. The clock was nearly at six seconds. Reid was positive Zeke was going to do it...until Firecracker jumped high, and kicked out. Zeke flew off hitting the sawdust-covered ground. The crowd groaned along with Reid. He stood on the rails and yelled for Zeke to run. Zeke got to his feet to run, but Firecracker was on him with his head down aiming for him.
Zeke ran toward the rails but Firecracker caught him, and tossed him with his horns. Zeke hit the ground again, but got to his feet as quickly as he could. The rodeo clowns had done their best to distract the bull, but he was having none of it. He was only interested in getting to the rider who’d had the balls to get on his back. He caught Zeke right before he reached the rails. Reid put his hand out to his friend. He saw the pure terror on Zeke’s face as he reached his hand out to Reid, but Firecracker rammed him into the fence. Reid remembered the loud groan that emerged from his friend as he fell to the ground. Trapped with nowhere to go, Firecracker gored Zeke tossing him over his head.
Everything seemed to happen in slow motion to Reid as he jumped the rail to get to his friend. At that moment, he hadn’t given a shit about the bull or the danger. He needed to get to Zeke. Firecracker stood over Zeke as if he’d just won a trophy. He looked up as Reid ran toward him and back to Zeke, and then stomped on his chest with a hoofed foot. The rodeo clowns had finally gotten Firecracker away from him as Reid reached Zeke. He lifted his friend’s limp body and ran to the fence. The rodeo doctor had him lay Zeke on a stretcher, which someone quickly rolled to an ambulance in the back of the arena. Reid had stayed beside the stretcher holding Zeke’s hand.
Reid had climbed into the ambulance just as Lucy arrived. He helped her inside and they rode to the hospital together. Zeke was alive, but barely. Reid and Lucy both had tears rolling down their faces, neither wanting to believe any of this was actually happening.
Thirty minutes later, Zeke was gone. Reid had stood stoically beside Lucy as the doctor told them there was nothing he could do to save him. There had been internal bleeding that they couldn’t stop. Lucy nearly fell to her knees but Reid caught her, and held her while she sobbed. After a few minutes, she gazed up at him with tears glistening on her long lashes. Her face went from sorrow to hatred in seconds. She pushed away from him.
“Don’t touch me. This is your fault, Reid Callahan. You’re the one who will have to live with this. You killed your best friend, and my husband. I hope you rot in hell,” she’d told him, and then walked back to the room where Zeke lay on a gurney.
Reid had felt sucker punched. She blamed him, hated him, and swore she’d never forgive him. Thing was, she was probably right. He never should have talked Zeke into one more ride. Fuck!
He shook the memories away and looked around to see that everyone was gone from the gravesite, except Lucy. She stood there, staring at him. He watched as she took a deep breath and walked to stand in front of him. He gazed into her gorgeous face and swore he felt his heart stop. Just as it always seemed to do when she looked at him, or smiled at him. Something she wasn’t doing now.
“Reid, you have to leave now. I don’t want you here anymore.”
“I want to stay while they—”
“No! You will not see my husband lowered into the ground. You don’t deserve to be here. Not anymore.”
“Lucy, please. He was my best friend.”
“Get out of here before I have someone remove you,” she said through clenched teeth.
Reid took a deep breath and gave her a terse nod. “I understand.”
“Do you? I hope so, because you put him in there.” She pointed to the flower-covered casket.
He felt the blood drain from his face as he stared at her. He turned on his boot heel and stalked across the wet grass toward his truck. When he reached it, he wanted to look back but didn’t. He climbed into his truck, and with wheels spinning on gravel, he tore out of the cemetery as if the hounds of hell were chasing him, and perhaps they were.