The Bull Rider's Redemption. Heidi Hormel
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gotten the place from a former husband.
“Anyone any good?”
“Nah, but that don’t stop them.” She stared hard at Danny before going on. “Hear your high school sweetheart’s in Angel Crossing.”
The gossip nearly had it right. He didn’t even wonder about the speed of the stories that flew around town. “She and I dated over a summer when I was with the junior rodeo.”
“Makes sense. Couldn’t imagine how someone like her went to your high school. She was the rodeo queen or something?”
“Miss Steer Princess,” he corrected automatically.
“Huh,” Anita said before strolling off.
Danny wondered exactly what of that conversation would be shared. By the time he heard about him and Clover next week, they would have run away as teens to get married in Vegas only to be stopped by a gun-toting daddy. He smiled into his beer. Maybe the story wouldn’t be quite that clichéd.
“Mayor,” Irvin Miller said as he clapped Danny on the back and sat on the bar stool next to him.
“Mayor,” echoed his wife, Loretta. The two dressed alike and even the gray in their hair matched. If you saw one, you always saw the other. Anita served the couple without asking for their order. They always got the same drink: Coors Light draft in a mug that had not been stored in the freezer.
Irvin turned again to Danny after a sip of beer. “We heard that a big company out of New York City is buying up the town.”
“The old warehouse buildings by the depot. They were falling down and behind on taxes. It’ll be good to see it taken care of.”
“It’s not just that property. They’ve bought others and got plans.”
“I thought I remembered someone saying that a New York buyer had gotten a couple of places. And what’s wrong with having a plan? Angel Crossing could use a little revitalizing,” Danny said.
Loretta broke in. “I was at the town hall talking with Pru and she showed me what those Easterners want to do—turn our little metropolis into a resort called Rico Pueblo.”
“Resort?” Danny asked. “What the heck is Rico Pueblo?”
Irvin went on. “This VCW company owns a good third of the town already, according to Pru. The plans, though, came in with your lady friend.”
“Lady friend? Clover?”
“Yep,” Loretta said. “Her. She brought them in and told Pru that her daddy’s company wanted to improve Angel Crossing. Pru said your lady friend is asking the town council—” of which Loretta and Irvin were longtime members “—to rezone everything within two blocks of Miner’s Gulch into something she’s calling an entertainment zone. Everything will have to look a certain way, so they’ll tear down almost everything there and rebuild it. Businesses only, though, and that fit into ‘an integrated theme highlighting the Western ethos.’ We had to look it up and we still don’t understand what it means.”
“How are they going to get that many businesses? What about everyone already living here or the shops already there?”
Irvin took up the conversation. “Seems that they want to make something like Tombstone or Disneyland but fancier. No showdowns at noon and no saloon girls.”
“You’d mention the girls,” Loretta said.
Danny couldn’t imagine any company wanting to do that with Angel Crossing, but...the land was cheap, and it was within easy driving distance of Tucson and its airport. Was that really why Clover was here?
Irvin added after another sip of beer, “Pru said it’ll mean businesses and people will have to move. Not so sure about that.”
Maybe the Millers had it wrong about the company taking over the town and driving everyone out. It wouldn’t be the first time the couple had gotten only half of a story. “See you, folks,” Danny said as he quickly finished his beer and left. He’d just go and see Clover. Find out firsthand what she and VCW meant to do with Angel Crossing.
* * *
CLOVER SAT ON her front porch, looking out over the mountains as the sun made its finale. The streaks of purple tonight were a shade she should tell her mother about—not that her mother would care to hear from her. Still, it’d make a beautiful basis for a line of clothing. She sipped at her icy-cold glass of victory beer. She’d gotten another property they needed for this phase and submitted the concept plan to the clerk at the town hall. She’d wanted to wait, preferring not to tip the company’s hand for fear of driving up the other properties’ prices, but the timeline was tight. To get everything approved by the town, the county and the state in time, the process needed to start now. Actually, it should have started two months ago, but her brother had dropped the ball on that one.
The Rico Pueblo concept of “culturally appropriate” entertainment and retail mixed with residences would transform the town and its economy. There would be jobs and money coming in. It would change Angel Crossing, and for the better—obviously—because right now there wasn’t much to recommend the place. Faded facades, uneven sidewalks, potholes on the main street and homes with peeling paint and sagging roofs. She could see the revitalized “downtown” with meandering side streets radiating out to climb into the rugged terrain of the mountains. The residential area would be a combination of time-share rentals and housing managed by VCW. Then in additional phases there would be homes owned by individuals. This was the first project of its kind the company had tried. If they could iron out the kinks, this type of planned community could be used throughout the country. She already had ideas for at least six more venues. She just needed to make the numbers work here.
She nodded to a man walking a dog, which made her think of Mama and her own part in that sad story. Then Danny strolled up the road, stopping to talk with the dog walker. Of course. Because her evening had been going too well. She studied the changes between sixteen-year-old Danny and nearly thirty-year-old Danny—none of which were bad. He’d grown into his height, his shoulders filling out and his gait gaining confidence. Unlike many bull riders she’d seen over the years, he didn’t have any hitch in his step or even a visible scar. How had he ridden and won all of those years and come out unscathed? Because he was Danny Leigh.
He turned his head to her almost as if she’d called his name. He smiled. Her heart beat a little faster, just as it always had. Darn it. She was a grown woman, not a naive girl. More important, she had only one reason for being here and that was Rico Pueblo, not reliving a summer love affair.
Her eyes hadn’t left Danny, though. He lifted his hat in greeting and stumbled on an uneven bit of street. He righted himself easily, his smile never wavering. If she’d been her vain, beauty-queen self, she would have imagined that she’d made him stumble. Ha!
“Hello, Clover. I heard you were renting Dead Man’s Cottage.”
“That’s very funny.”
He came closer. “Really. That’s what it’s called. The first four owners were hung—one by mistake, the other three for stealing horses or silver.”
“Colorful,” Clover said, hoping alone at night she wouldn’t imagine feeling or seeing the ghosts of the men. “How’s Mama?”
“She’s settling in. I’ve got feelers out for a new home for her. It won’t be long until my landlord figures out that I’ve got a dog. But that’s not why I’m here.”
“Oh?” He was on the narrow porch now, standing over her. She was not intimidated nor interested. She was an MBA-toting businesswoman on her way to running an international corporation.
“I was speaking to Loretta and Irvin Miller. They’re on town council, and they told me something intriguing.”
“Did they?” She’d hoped her plans would be ignored a little longer, but she was prepared for this situation. She’d studied the town and her father’s venture,