Wyatt: Return of the Cowboy Read Online Free Page B

responsible for your shattered kneecap.”
    Everyone except Paige. Dinah Hart was also in the car. Only, like Jay, she’d been drinking heavily and didn’t remember what happened.
    For twelve years, Paige had kept the secret alongside Jay.
    “Who cares what everyone thinks?” Jay tossed the pen down.
    “I don’t like people believing the worst of me. Especially Dad. Not anymore.”
    “Why? It’s not like you live here.”
    “I might be moving back.”
    Wyatt was just as surprised as his brother at what came out of his mouth. Yet, the second it did, he realized returning to live in Roundup was what he’d wished for since those long months in rehab. Not just a reunion, or even a reconciliation, but a chance for a new life among the people he loved the most.
    They might not accept him, still think of him as the rebellious teen who’d caused a tragic car accident.
    “And do what exactly?” Jay asked. “Not much call for bronc riders.”
    “I was thinking more along the lines of teaching bronc riding.”
    Jay barked a laugh. “You can’t be serious.”
    “Dead serious. I’m going to open a rodeo school. Might as well be in Roundup.”
    What Wyatt didn’t tell his brother was that he’d already opened another school in Wyoming three months earlier. Helped open, to be more precise. He’d partnered with an old buddy. Although still in the startup phase, enrollment for the summer programs was steadily increasing.
    “Where are you going to get the financing?” Jay asked. “Not at this bank.”
    “I have financing already in place.”
    Wyatt didn’t need a loan. He’d spent the first half of his rodeo career living on a shoestring. As the years passed and he did better, he stockpiled his winnings and modest earnings from a few endorsement deals. Turns out, he possessed a knack for managing money. While not rich, he’d succeeded in accumulating a decent-sized nest egg.
    “Opening a rodeo school’s a risky venture.” A thin sheen of sweat had developed on Jay’s brow. “Take it from me. I handle a lot of loans, personal and business. You need a plan.”
    “Got one.” And a partner, if Wyatt wanted to bring in his buddy Emit Gridley.
    “A few world championships don’t qualify you to run a business. Do you even know the first thing?”
    Wyatt changed his tactics. “I can’t rodeo anymore. I want to make something of my life. Like you have. Is that so hard to understand?”
    “Why here?”
    “Because the life I want to build includes a relationship with my family. Please, Jay. Help me. If I’m to have any chance of succeeding, I need my reputation intact.”
    “You! What about me?” His brother’s complexion turned a dangerous shade of red, and his voice rose. “I have a job. A family depending on me. A position on the town council. If people learn I drove drunk, I’ll be ruined.”
    “You were twenty.”
    “It doesn’t matter.”
    “You’re not going to lose your job over a mistake you made twelve years ago.”
    “How do you know? You’re nothing but a washed-up cowboy. I’m not sacrificing my career, everything I’ve accomplished, just so you can feel better and make nice with Mom and Dad.”
    The harshness of Jay’s outburst galvanized Wyatt. He rose from the chair slowly and deliberately.
    “I understand where you’re coming from, Jay. But I’ve paid long enough for something that wasn’t my fault. I’m going to see to it the truth comes out.”
    Jay also stood. “No one will believe you over me. You made sure of that when you left.”
    “Then what are you so worried about, brother?”
    “I’m not.” But the look of panic in Jay’s eyes said differently.
    * * *
    Wyatt flung open the heavy glass door, not caring about the commotion his heated exit from his brother’s office must have caused. He stood for a moment in front of the bank, debating. To the left was his truck, parked in the lot. Beyond that, the Open Range Saloon.
    He wasn’t ready to face his parents, not