The Chances We Take (The Road and The Rodeo #2)

1. Isabelle

CHAPTER ONE

isabelle

W edding planning was kicking my best friend’s ass. With only two months until her big day, Ellison Wilson was stressed. Binders and folders filled with information about catering, flowers, and a full day-of itinerary littered her mom’s dining room table, because, let’s face it, Ellison hated feeling like she didn’t have control over every last detail.

I’d watched all of my friends fall into happy relationships or get engaged and married while I was stuck in an endless cycle of hookups with boys who didn’t want anything more than a few weeks of fun with the cute, bubbly blonde. They always wanted to keep their options open, so it was easy to feel like I was just a pit stop on the way to something— someone —better.

Despite it all, I firmly believed in true love, that everyone deserves their own happy ending, even with the fear that maybe I was unlovable. But I could be patient, because I knew one day I would find someone to share life with, through all the ups and downs and bumps in the road .

Seeing Ellison go from having an aversion to love to finding her person gave me hope that my own soulmate was out there. If I was being honest, for a while I was starting to think she would never get married. But even she found love—ironically with the guy she wanted absolutely nothing to do with.

And despite the challenges of planning a wedding, I knew she was looking forward to it.

“What can I do? How can I help?” I asked her.

She groaned, placing her head in her hands in frustration. “I don’t know! Colter is off at a rodeo—shocker—and I’ve been the only one out of the two of us doing any sort of planning and we’re two months out.” She shot me a somewhat guilty look.

I had a feeling Colter wasn’t helping because he wasn’t allowed to help, but I wasn’t going to bring that up. Ellison could be intense sometimes, especially when she was overwhelmed.

“I’m your maid of honor for a reason, Ells. Let me help you. What are you trying to do right now?” I asked as I attempted to peek over her shoulder at her to-do list.

“I’m trying not to lose my damn mind.” She forced out a laugh as she threw her hands in the air.

Okay, not helpful, but let’s see what we’re working with. I gently nudged her aside so I could get a clearer view of what could only be described as Hurricane Ellison.

Her checklist was a bit of a disaster.

“Um…” This was not the time for words to fail me.

Panic overtook her features, and I gave her a reassuring glance as I continued to look over her checklist.

She still had to finalize the guest list, send out invitations, and choose a wedding cake. There were also hair and makeup trials, writing vows, and finalizing the reception menu, but those things could wait for a moment, especially since some of it would have to be done back in Montana. We had already picked out bridesmaid dresses, and I had planned the bachelorette party with her old college roommate, so we really weren’t that behind. Just enough to, understandably, make Ellison panic a little.

“Let’s start with the guest list and invitations,” I decided. Best not to stress her out even more with making the big decisions. Besides, the guest list was practically done; she just had to make the final touches.

Ellison was only in Houston for a couple weeks before she had to go back to Montana. She worked in Miles City—a short drive from the ranch in Silver Creek—and had also started teaching local kids how to ride. But she still tried to come back to Texas as often as her busy schedule would let her. Thankfully, her boss was understanding and flexible with the wedding coming up, but this meant we needed to do as much as we could while we were in the same place. Planning a wedding over FaceTime really wasn’t the same.

She nodded in agreement as I quickly sent a text to Reid, Colter’s best friend and the best man, who had become a close friend over the past year and half of knowing him.

SOS drowning in wedding planning over here

Reid

If Ellie would let us help we would

yeah i know

I couldn’t help but be amused by the situation.

“How do you want to do this? You tackle one half of the guest list, I tackle the other?” I looked up from my phone, doing my best to hide my smile.

“Yeah, that sounds good!” she agreed.

We got to work stuffing invitations into envelopes, addressing them with some of the labels we had printed out prior, then sealing them with a wax stamp. My playlist of Phoebe Bridgers, LANY, and Taylor Swift played in the background as we worked, a stark contrast to the ’90s country she usually had on. For a while, we let the music surround us, and occasionally I’d catch Ellison humming along to a song she would normally protest.

“So, have you talked to Reid much lately?” Ellison asked, knowing full-well who I was texting.

“Yeah, we talk a bit.” I pulled my bottom lip between my teeth.

The truth was, Reid and I talked almost every day. We were close friends, although part of me wished it was something more. He understood me—listened to me—better than a lot of my girlfriends did, sometimes even Ellison. I knew most of my friends expected me to be the bubbly sunshine of the group, because that was the side of me they always saw. Other than my younger sister Amelia, he was one of few people who didn’t expect me to act a certain way.

I didn’t have to pretend with Reid.

I understood why Colter and Ellison felt comfortable with him. He’d been described several times as the “therapist” friend of the group, and it made a lot more sense as I got to know him. He always knew the right things to say to make someone feel better.

“A bit?” She eyed me as she stuck a wax seal on an envelope. “Care to elaborate?”

“I don’t know. We just talk. Kind of like how you and Colter used to talk all the time,” I teased, immediately regretting bringing up her relationship with Colter.

“Oh, I see.” She smirked. “I seem to recall you giving me a lot of shit for texting Colter all day every day and saying we weren’t officially dating but may as well have been.”

I frowned. “This is different, though, Ells. Reid doesn’t see me like that. We’re just friends, that’s it.”

“If you say so.”

I vaguely remembered saying, “If you say so,” back when she met Colter for the first time, but I wasn’t going to read into it.

I couldn’t.

As much as I adored Reid, I knew friends were all we would ever be. It wasn’t that I didn’t think I was good enough for him or had self-worth issues—I knew any guy would be lucky to have me—but there was too much risk of ruining what Reid and I had.

“Besides him not helping with wedding stuff, how is Colter?” I changed the subject before we spiraled down a Reid rabbit hole.

“He’s good! After the Bucking Horse Sale, he’ll probably go on the road again for a little while with the boys until June when the Montana circuit starts, and then he’ll be around during the week and gone on the weekends,” she replied. “They’ve always designated Montana as their home circuit, but they didn’t always compete in the smaller rodeos. They don’t really need to, given the number of bigger rodeos later in the circuit.”

“That makes sense.”

“Yeah, they’re all obviously trying to make it to the NFR again, so they’re marking bigger rodeos as official to get the most money. Colter wants a World Championship this year, since he and Reid barely lost out a few months ago. And Jake and Mikey were so close to making the NFR the last two years.”

I loved watching Ellison fall in love with rodeo again. The Ellison I knew two years ago would have never talked about it with so much enthusiasm like the Ellison now did. She and Colter had found the best type of love, in my opinion. It was one that allowed them to individually find healing, but also find it in each other.

I also liked to think I had a hand in it. After all, I’d been the one to set up their second date and the grand gesture that ultimately won Ellison over.

When it came to rodeo, I didn’t understand a lot of the technicalities she was talking about. She tried to explain it to me, but I may have zoned out a little and had to nod along. It’s not that the sport wasn’t interesting, it was just a bit out of my wheelhouse. Even though Ellison alienated herself from the rodeo community for most of her life, she still knew more than I did. Before Ellison started dating Colter, I’d only been to a couple rodeos as a kid. And I didn’t have a reason to avoid them.

I was so glad she was happy, though. Ellison deserved that after all she had been through with her dad’s passing. I never had the chance to meet Levi Merritt, but I knew how much he meant to Ellison. And I could only imagine what losing a parent was like.

“It’ll also be nice that Colter will be home in June, because there’s so much work to do on the ranch and I can’t always help with my job and coordinating lessons. He has ranch hands to keep everything running while they’re on the road, but the responsibilities were really thrown on Colter once he got older, you know? Once he bought land, he took on the responsibility of the cattle,” she continued .

“His mom and dad don’t do much?” I hadn’t really heard much about Colter’s parents, other than them not being together anymore.

“After their divorce, I think it was tough on Colter, so he needed something to take his mind off everything. His mom is from Silver Creek, you know, so she ended up keeping the house. But the situation is kind of like my mom’s. It’s hard to do everything alone, so I’m sure she was glad for the help.

“His dad does whatever he wants, I guess. He’s been in Miles City for a while now. I think they’re at least amicable now, though. And Clay comes over from Bozeman from time to time to help, but it’s a four-hour drive, so it’s not always feasible.” She paused, sucking in a breath. “I’m sorry, I don’t know why I’m telling you all of this. I feel like I’m just rambling.”

“No, it’s okay, really! I asked how Colter is, and you’re telling me how he is. The ranch is a huge part of his life, and his family is too. You know I’m always here to listen,” I reassured her.

“I know. And I love you for that.” She briefly squeezed my hand and then went back to work on invitations. “How’s your sister been?”

I smiled. “She’s been great. She just got her provisional license, so she’s super excited to be able to drive without my parents.”

“How exciting! I feel like the last time I saw Amelia she was in middle school.”

“I know. Makes me feel kind of old.” I laughed. She was starting her junior year of high school in the fall, which also meant she was going to start looking at colleges soon. I couldn’t believe it .

“Imagine how old the guys feel.” She chuckled. “It’s been almost ten years since Colter graduated high school.”

“Wow, okay. That’s not something I want to think about. Speaking of the guys, what do you think they’re doing this week?”

She widened her eyes and puffed out a breath. “Hopefully staying out of trouble and not doing anything stupid.”