21. Reid
CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE
reid
C olter, Ellison, and Isabelle pulled up to the house about thirty minutes after I got home. While Colter had a simple double-wide—he always said he never needed anything fancy—I had a house.
The ranch-style home was small, but the family who’d owned it prior to me had offered a great deal on it. It was the first thing I bought once I’d had a large enough savings from rodeo winnings and all of the work I did in college. Up until that point, I’d lived with Colter, crashing on his couch. I’d have done anything if it meant I didn’t have to go back home.
I was lucky enough to have received a rodeo scholarship to pay for nearly all of my college expenses. Otherwise, I wasn’t sure where I’d be today.
The property came with an arena and stables, which was convenient for practicing. I also occasionally let some of the younger local rodeo kids practice here, and Ellison and I came up with an agreement for her to use it for riding lessons. Everything always came back to the man who gave me my first rope and the impact he had on my life. If I could be that for a younger cowboy or cowgirl, I would.
“Where are Mikey and the others?” Ellison called to me as she stepped out of the pickup.
I shrugged. “Not sure. They were going to meet me back here, but they must have made a stop somewhere.”
“What exactly is going to go on?” Isa asked.
“Colter, Ellison, and I will probably rope. Hayden too.”
“You can help Mikey open the chute,” Ellison offered. “Or watch.”
“I think I’d rather watch,” she muttered.
“What, you don’t think you’re ready to get on the back of a horse and rope?” Colter teased, knowing Isa could hardly rope a dummy on the ground.
“Ha ha, you’re so funny, Colter. Just you wait. One day, I’ll be so good you’ll be trying to keep up with me .” She put her hands on her hips and gave him that classic Isabelle look, lips pouted in a way that made them even fuller than normal and a dazzling sparkle in her eyes.
Mikey, Jake, and Hayden pulled up a few moments later, hopping out of the cab with a few cases of beer.
“Had to make a pit stop and grab the goods,” Mikey announced as he held up a case of his favorite beer.
“Did you get any good stuff this time?” Colter asked, walking over to see what they specifically got. “Nope. What did I tell you, Michael?”
“Aye, this is what I like!” Mikey protested. “If you don’t like it, go buy your own damn beer.”
“It’s all right, we got the good kind.” Jake patted Colter on the shoulder as he lifted the box to show him.
Colter dipped his chin in approval and followed after Mikey .
“I knew you cowboys drank a lot of beer, but fuck.” I wasn’t sure if Isa’s face was more of shock or awe.
“Nah, this isn’t all for today.” Jake waved her off. “But for some of the guys we meet, drinking beer is like drinking water.”
He wasn’t wrong. Colter and I, though, didn’t overdo it with the alcohol. We stuck to our limits, because we both knew the negative effects it could have on a person’s life.
“Go throw some of them in the fridge,” I told them, pointing to the garage. I wasn’t usually too picky, but lukewarm beer wasn’t the way to go.
Once they’d taken off toward the house, I threw an arm around Isa’s shoulders, pulling her close enough that our hips brushed.
“What are you doing?” She looked up at me then at the hand resting over her shoulder.
“I figure if you’re not gonna rope, you can at least ride around on a horse if you want.”
“I can’t rope. I’m not going to embarrass myself like that. I can hardly ride a horse.” She snorted before slipping out from under my arm to catch up with Ellison, who walked ahead of us to get Bullet and Trigger.
Colter’s chuckle came from behind me, but I ignored it as I rounded the corner in the opposite direction to go catch my horse.
A million thoughts were running through my mind. I wanted Isa in the arena with us, whether that was roping or not. I knew she wasn’t quite like Ellison, but she’d fit in with our rowdy bunch just fine at the branding. Maybe I’d come on too strong with the Landon shit. I mentally cursed myself as I walked into the pasture to catch Phantom with the lead rope and take him over to the trailer to tack up.
Ellison and Colter were already working on Bullet and Trigger, so I went to the opposite side of the trailer to tie up my horse. Isa was leaning against it, playing with her hair.
“Surprised you’re not on the other side talking to Ellison and Colter,” I said.
She shrugged and turned to me. “They told me to help you.” She put air quotes around help .
“No better time than now to learn how to tack up a horse,” I suggested.
“I guess so,” she agreed. “So, what do you want me to do?”
“There’s a blue spray bottle in the back door of the trailer, go grab that and a brush.” I pointed at the open door.
She disappeared for a few moments then came back with the fly spray and brush in hand. “What exactly is this?” She held up the bottle.
“Fly spray. Make sure you get him real good then you can brush him,” I explained.
“Just like this?” She started spraying Phantom, and I gave her an encouraging nod.
After she sprayed and brushed him, I grabbed a saddle pad and showed Isa where to position it then grabbed the saddle.
“When you adjust the saddle, you want to make sure that the cinch is tight enough that it won’t slip but not too tight.” I demonstrated how to tighten the straps and secure them, ensuring that she was able to see what I was doing throughout the process and talking her through the whole thing.
A few times, she got distracted petting Phantom or pressing her forehead to his nose, but I didn’t scold her for not watching me. Most of the time I just continued what I was doing, but other times, I paused, my attention drawn to her like a moth to a flame.
It took a bit longer to tack up than it normally would, but, in my opinion, any time spent with Isa was well spent.
“I mean, it doesn’t seem that hard.” She shrugged once the horse had all the equipment on.
“Oh, so if I took all this off, you’d be able to do it yourself?” I teased.
“Probably,” she muttered.
“Next time.” I winked. “Colter and Ellie are probably waiting. You sure you don’t want to ride today?”
“Maybe later.”
“Let me know if you change your mind.” I untied Phantom’s halter and lead rope, replaced it with his bridle, and started walking him toward the arena.
Colter and Ellison followed with their horses, and Isa walked over to the arena fence where Jake and Hayden were hanging out. Mikey was supposed to be over by the chute, but in his classic fashion, he wasn’t.
“Someone gonna come open the gate for us?” Colter yelled, loud enough that Mikey could probably hear from wherever he was.
Crickets.
“All right, well, Jake, you wanna teach Short Stack what to do?” I called her out, and the expression on her face was priceless. She looked like she wanted to murder me.
“You got it, boss.” Jake smirked and gave me a salute before practically dragging Isa over.
“Listen, the branding shit was enough for me,” she started to protest.
“This is ten times better. Very unlikely you’ll get shit on over there!” Hayden chuckled as he reassured her .
“Who’s up first?” I asked Colter and Ellison.
“Go ahead.” She gestured to the boxes.
Colter and I mounted our horses and walked them over to the roping boxes. I’d exit the right side of the chute and Colter would exit on the left, so we entered the boxes like we always did, with me going first.
I can’t remember when our routine started, but we practiced how we’d compete—call it a superstition if you will—and it always seemed to work out for us. Muscle memory.
After a few runs, both with Colter and Ellison, I let Hayden ride a bit. Mikey had shown up to open the chute for us, relieving Jake and Isa. I noticed after the first couple runs, Isa had disappeared, and I wanted to go look for her.
Jake was leaning on the fence, but Isa was still nowhere to be found.
“Aye, where did Isabelle go?” I called out to Jake, but he shrugged.
Fuck. What if she’s hurt or something?
I picked up my pace and walked to the house. Maybe she had gone inside.
I opened the front door, calling out her name, but there was no answer. After checking every single room but coming up short, I went back outside. Putting my hands on my waist, I squinted in the sunlight to see if I could spot her anywhere.
A flash of honey-blonde hair caught my eye from behind a tree. I released a breath as I walked over to find her leaning up against the trunk with a book in her hand.
“Whatcha reading, Short Stack?”