22. Conner
“Is that your mother in the stands?” Conner asked.
Beth looked up and sighed. “Yes. I could ask her to leave, but she would refuse.”
“Don’t worry about it,” Conner said. “We’ll just be extra careful tonight.”
“There’s not a whole lot you can do to protect yourself if she possesses a bull or something.”
“I’ll be fine,” Conner said. “You know I can’t pull out of tonight’s events because I’m not going to give her the satisfaction of thinking that she scares me.”
Beth put her hand on his arm and said, “I know. I wouldn’t ask you to do that.”
They double-checked Taryn’s blanket to make sure they got all the burrs off. Pegasus told her that he didn’t feel anything when she threw the blanket and saddle on him.
“Have fun,” Conner said, as she rode off.
He checked his own saddle blanket, just to be safe. It was clean.
Conner was relieved when the evening’s events went off without a hitch. At the end of the night, he laughed to himself. How many shows had he seen where one of the characters was expecting to be pranked by one or more of the other characters and ended up pranking themselves because they were so paranoid? The other characters did nothing to him.
Taryn and Conner took care of their horses and then everyone went back to Beth’s house.
“I guess I may as well check out of the hotel,” Conner said. “I’ve been spending all my time here. If that’s okay with you, that is?”
“Of course, it’s okay,” Beth said.
“I’m pretty tired. Do you mind if I go to bed early?” Conner asked.
“I’ll read you a bedtime story,” Taryn said.
“That sounds like a plan to me,” Conner said.
He really was a lot more tired than he thought. Conner fell into a deep sleep almost as soon as his head hit the pillow. He felt Beth coming to bed at some point. Conner smiled, pulled her into his arms, and went back to sleep.
She was still up and puttering around the kitchen before he made it out of bed.
After breakfast, Conner said, “I’m going to check out of the hotel and run some other errands. Beth, would you mind taking Taryn to check on Pegasus this morning?”
“Not at all,” Beth said.
Conner went to the rodeo grounds and made sure that Zephyr was okay. “What do you think about going into semi-retirement? You’ll end up like a pet, hanging out with Pegasus, getting spoiled instead of having to work hard for your supper.”
Zephyr neighed.
“You’re going to neigh at me instead of just telling me telepathically?” Conner teased.
The horse neighed again.
Conner went to the hotel and checked out. He heard the maids talking about how the blond woman had destroyed the room before she left. Apparently, Kelly had even broken the television.
It’s a good thing they keep her credit card on file.
He briefly wondered what she was going to do with herself now that she didn’t have the rodeo but then dismissed the thought. She was none of his concern, and he had a lot of other important things to think about, such as getting his life with Beth and Taryn started.
Conner called Micah.
“I’m going to ask her to marry me,” Conner said. “I’m telling you so that if I end up forgetting, you can remind me.”
Micah laughed. “Do you think that she would try the same trick twice?”
“Nope, but just in case.”
“So, you are going to give up the rodeo life for good, huh?”
“I’ll still compete in local events just to stay on my toes,” Conner said. “But, I’m not planning on traveling around anymore. I want to make a life with Beth and Taryn.”
“Are you going to stay in Wyoming?”
“I’m going to try to talk them into moving to New Mexico with me. However, if they really don’t want to move, then I’ll stay in Wyoming. Where we are isn’t important as long as we are together.”
“Congratulations,” Micah said. “Do you believe me now about fated mates? Not even a spell from a powerful witch could ultimately destroy your and Beth’s love.”
“Maybe,” Conner said. “I might even have caught Beth’s scent like you guys talked about.”
“Is this a good time to tell you that I told you so?”
“Nope.” Conner laughed.
“You know that if the wedding is up there, we will all expect to be invited,” Micah said. “You had better keep us in the loop.”
“Unless we just go to Vegas. I’ve always wanted to be married by an Elvis impersonator.”
Micah laughed and they ended the call because Conner was pulling into the parking space in front of the jewelry store.
He shook his head at himself as he looked around, half expecting to see Matilda lurking about in the background. Conner breathed a sigh of relief when the evil witch was nowhere in sight.
“Can I help you?” the woman behind the counter asked.
“I’m looking for some rings,” Conner said. “I’m going to propose to my girlfriend. I don’t want anything gaudy. Maybe something small and delicate. I think she would like something with color, besides just the typical diamond.”
“I have just the thing,” she said.
The woman showed him a gold ring that had an emerald heart-shaped center with two small heart-shaped diamonds on either side.
“Perfect. I will need the wedding rings to go with it.”
He scanned the rings and found a small ring, with a garnet setting, for Taryn. Her birthday was in January and her favorite color was deep red.
“I’ll take that one, too.”
Conner paid for the rings and pocketed the rings. He planned on asking Beth to marry him that night.
The stands were packed that night. Taryn and Jenna excelled in their events, each of them taking home first and second place in events. Kelly was right about one thing. If the girls decided to make a career out of the rodeo, they would dominate the field. Their times were every bit as good as the adult riders. They would only continue to get better.
He was paired with the same hazer as usual for the steer wrestling event. They worked well together and could almost read each other’s thoughts. Zephyr performed perfectly, and the team won first place. Conner took second in the saddle bronc event and first in the unsaddled bronc.
Conner’s heart thundered as he prepared for the bull riding event. Adrenaline coursed through his veins and he almost felt high from the rush he got from the anticipation. He caught his breath when he heard the name of the bull he drew – Thanatos. He was the meanest bull in the circuit and very few riders had ever been able to stay on him for more than five seconds, let alone the full eight.
Grinning, Conner climbed on Thanatos’ back. He was one of the few riders who had ridden the bull for the full eight seconds and he could do it again.
Maybe he’ll remember me and we’ll have a nice ride.
Conner laughed at his own joke. If the bull did remember him, Thanatos would be even meaner, offended that the cowboy had hung on for the full eight seconds.
He slipped his hand under the braided leather handle that was centered on the bull’s back. Conner pulled the rope tight and wrapped the tail of the rope around his left hand. He moved forward so that the handle was positioned between his upper thighs. He tightened his legs around the bull, making sure that his feet were in front of the rope. Conner took a deep breath and nodded at the man who opened the chute.
Conner lifted on the rope and made sure that he didn’t lean too far forward or back. He held on to the bull with his legs and pushed his butt down when Thanatos lowered his legs and lifted up his hind legs in a buck.
The bull twisted around, jerked, and bucked. The time ticked by slowly as Conner concentrated on staying seated. Conner held on for seven and a half seconds. Thanatos bucked and Conner flew over the bull’s head. Gideon and the other clown rushed toward them, trying to keep Thanatos away from Conner long enough so that he could get up and run out of danger.
All of a sudden, all of the gates of the chutes opened and five bulls rushed out into the arena charged toward Conner.
The crowd stood and screamed. Conner’s heart stopped and he scrambled to his feet, running toward the fence. One of the bulls head-butted Conner in the middle of his back, sending him flying toward the center of the arena. He hit the ground with a thud. The other cowboys jumped into the arena to try to chase the bulls back into the chutes. Men and bulls were running everywhere. One of the bulls, however, was intensely focused on Conner. He groaned and tried to get out of the way, but Conner couldn’t move. He was completely paralyzed.
The bull bellowed loudly and pawed at the ground. Conner once again tried to get to his feet, but he couldn’t move his legs. He could only watch in horror as the bull reared up and stomped his gut and chest. Conner felt his bones snapping. The bull raised his hoof and slammed it down on Conner’s head. The world went dark.