Broken Dreams: The Cowboys of Whisper Colorado, #5

By Melissa Keir

Sometimes life doesn't go as planned….

Trey Arking was on his way to becoming TBC Pro-Rider of the Year until a bull named Brickhouse derailed his life, paralyzing him.

 

Sara Corday wore Trey's engagement ring and dreamed of their life together. Her dreams altered when his life changed.

 

Trey is unable to see the wonderful future of his dreams from a wheelchair, but Sara is determined to help him see hers. Can these two stubborn people find a way to live again?

• Language: English
• Publisher: Melissa Keir
• Release date: Mar 20, 2021
• ISBN: 9781393599807

Book preview

Broken Dreams

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Melissa Keir

Broken Dreams

Sometimes life doesn’t go as planned....

Trey Arking was on his way to becoming TBC Pro-Rider of the Year until a bull named Brickhouse derailed his life, paralyzing him.

Sara Corday wore Trey’s engagement ring and dreamed of their life together. Her dreams altered when his life changed.

Trey is unable to see the wonderful future of his dreams from a wheelchair, but Sara is determined to help him see hers. Can these two stubborn people find a way to live again?

Other Books by Melissa Keir

Wilder Sisters Series:

Forever Love

Beach Desires

A Christmas Accident

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Charming Chances:

Charming Chances (print of combined ebooks)

Second Time’s a Charm

Three’s a Crowd

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Pigg Detective Agency:

Protecting His Wolfe

Protecting Her Pigg

**

Magical Matchmaker

Chalkboard Romance

One Night in Laguna

**

Crash and Burn

Love, Bake, Write (recipe book)

The Way to the Heart (recipe book)

We’d Rather Be Writing (recipe book)

Musings of a Madcap Mind (memoirs)

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Book Bundles

Cowboy, Mine

Cowboy, Yours

Cowboys Forever

Cowboy Time

Summer Heat

Lovin’ Christmas

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Broken Dreams

Copyright © 2016 Melissa Keir

All rights reserved.

Dedication

To my best friend-Anna Coy- who teaches me each day about being grateful and living with the hand you are dealt,

and

To my own stubborn man, my husband...

Chapter One

Trey pulled on his suede gloves, stretching his fingers into the fit. He grabbed ahold of the rope he’d rosined a few minutes ago and looped it around his right hand. The noise of the crowd was deafening, yet he still knew where in the stands to look. In the fourth row up, near the announcer’s booth, the most beautiful blonde smiled and waved. Trey wasn’t sure how he’d gotten lucky enough to win the heart of Sara Corday, but he wasn’t going to let her back out now. They’d be married in five short months. But first he needed to win this rodeo.

Eight seconds, Trey. Just hold on for eight seconds and you’ve won the check, Jimmy Jayson, his manager, trainer, and father figure hollered over the rails at him. Not wanting to stop watching Sara, but feeling the mantle of this possible award and the bunching muscles of the beast beneath him, Trey glanced over at Jimmy, giving him a big smile.

I’ve got this. He grinned as he tapped his hat with his left hand then tugged the dog tag toward his lips before kissing it. Those tags were his own good luck charm straight from his brother who fought and returned from Afghanistan in one piece. Kissing them, he knew luck was on his side before each ride and maybe his guardian angel watched over his shoulder.

The smell of the bulls, sweat, fear, excitement, and carnival food blew past his face. His stomach grumbled. No one could resist an elephant ear pastry with cherry topping, which was why Trey had been avoiding the food stands for the last six months. He’d even begun working out last September, to keep his legs and arms strong as well as to help him with the falls. Not that he’d had one. But it’d been fun learning from the rodeo bullfighters how to twist and dodge the horns and hooves of these huge monstrosities.

In the chutes... Now up, Trey Arking will ride Brickhouse. Brickhouse is from the Marching Clover Farms and has never been ridden for the full eight seconds in his career. Trey’s set to change that tonight, the announcer blared over the arena. Should Trey Arking remain seated for the full eight seconds, he will become the champion of the Whisper, Colorado Bull Riding Event and win this check for two hundred thousand dollars.

Trey touched his brother’s dog tags once again then looked over at Sara. Even at this distance, he could see her fingers in her mouth. Sure that the anxiety of watching him ride had her chewing her nails, Trey shook his head. He recalled his last event and how Sara had gnawed her nails down to stubs. She’d complained about the pain for a week. But he wouldn’t change a thing about her. Nor would she ever skip watching him ride. He’d have to kiss those little boo-boos later.

Excited for the ride, Trey knew that eight seconds could feel like hours, but reality was, the time was over before he could blink. All he had to do was to hang on, use his heels to get the bull to buck, and keep that left hand in the air. He’d done it a million times. Brickhouse’s record only excited him more. He knew he was the one to take him down.

The sounds of screaming fans, snorting bulls, and the announcers drifted away. Getting in the zone allowed Trey to focus on the animal beneath him and not the people watching. It was the final step in his before-the-ride ritual. Tightening the rope and tugging his gloves on one last time, Trey zeroed in on the magnificent animal beneath him. He took a deep breath. It was time.

Are you ready? his chute man asked. Trey nodded, and the gate swung wide.

Brickhouse left the chute like his tail was on fire. He jumped to the left, twisting his back end and sending his nose nearly down into the dirt. All Trey could concentrate on was holding on, anticipating the next move.

Trey could feel the muscles underneath his thighs bunching as Brickhouse swung around to the right. The bull flipped his head back and lifted his front legs off the ground in a move designed to remove the two hundred fifty pound man from its back. But