Epilogue
The sun is so warm on my skin, I feel like a baked potato after only about an hour outside, but the lawn chairs that Bode crafted are comfier than sin.
“You okay?” Logan whispers from beside me and hands me a glass of lemonade as she sinks into her own chair. Her long hair is braided off her face, and her baseball hat keeps her eyes from the sun.
“Yeah, just a little warm,” I admit, rolling my hand over my barely swollen stomach in the sundress. The fabric is thin enough to pull away festering late spring heat from my body, but it gives the tiniest show to the growing bump beneath.
“Do you want to move?” Logan asks.
“Nope,” I pop my P and look up over the edge of the tall glass to the roof of the house.
Bode is currently making good on his promises.
His jeans hang low on his hips, showing off the hard ridges of what trails down beneath them.
His dirty Stetson is low on his eyebrows, and his hair sticks to the back of his neck as he hauls a pack of roofing tiles across.
The sun has turned his tan skin slick. It runs down his body too quickly for him to wick it away with the shirt shoved in his back pocket, and he’s not alone.
Somehow, Bode convinced Ford, Crew, Peter, and the newest addition to Whiskey River, Dylan, to help. They’ve been up on the roof for a few hours, stripping away the old shingles and patching the few holes in the original framing. They have only just started to lay the tiles in straight lines.
“Careful,” Ford tells Bode as he drops the new package.
“Slower, Walker,” Logan teases, cupping her hands around her mouth to make sure he hears her. He straightens out and pushes his hat up with a finger to give her a dirty look.
“Are you two enjoying yourselves?” Bode asks, crossing his arms, and a tiny, uncontrollable moan leaves me as his biceps round out.
“Yep.” Logan snorts and tries to hide the smile on her face. “You could be working harder though,” she waves her finger around. “Crew’s barely breaking a sweat.”
“Are you serious?” Crew’s hands meet his hips, and Logan cocks her head to the side with a big smile spreading across her face.
Crew just shakes his head and ignores her jab.
Watching their dynamics is interesting. He’s so quiet and careful with his words, which is the complete opposite of Logan.
Who’s essentially the human form of Firestarter.
Dylan flips her own baseball cap backwards to wipe the sweat from her brow and frowns at Bode and Crew. “You two keep feedin’ the wolves meat, and we won’t ever get this done.”
“You sound jealous,” Peter quips with a grin, pinning two wood nails between his lips and lining up the third between his fingers for his hammer swing. Dylan tosses a rag at him and climbs to sit on the edge of the roofline, looking down at the two of us.
“I ain’t jealous, but I know I’d give a better show to these two more than they will.” She smirks crookedly, the sun catching the amber in her eyes, and full of playful flirtation.
Logan giggles at the look Crew flashes Dylan, and shakes her head. “Bring it on, brown eyes!”
Bode gives me a small wink when I meet his eyes again and checks his phone. “We’ll have to save it for tomorrow anyway, we've got somewhere we need to be.”
I pout, not wanting the afternoon to end so abruptly, but knowing that he was right. We promised Levi that we would make his heat this evening, and if Bode wants to keep his second promise, he needs to shower.
They slowly make their way down from the roof and go back and forth for a little while about what their plans are for tomorrow.
Everyone but Bode climbs into the truck.
“You sure you wanna go this afternoon? The rodeo isn’t exactly the most humane place, and I don’t need you trying to let animals loose.
” He turns back to me, placing a kiss on my cheek.
“I’ll behave,” I laugh. He smells like hard work and suntan lotion. His hat ends up crooked on his forehead as he finds space for another couple of kisses.
“You aren’t too tired?” he asks as he moves to hold open the back door for me.
“A little sleepy, but I’ll take a nap later and then we can meet Dot for supper,” I tell him, tugging on the brim of his hat as I pass. “Go shower.”
The fairgrounds are packed, and it’s nothing I could have imagined.
There are bodies everywhere, and even though I’m tucked close to Bode, it still feels like at any step I could lose him in the crowd.
I changed into a pair of jeans and a t-shirt with a plaid that he never wears, hung over my shoulders to keep me warm as the sun sets in the distance.
Bode came out of the shower, choosing violence.
He slipped into a tight, long-sleeved blue Henley and a pair of jeans that had me second-guessing leaving the house for any reason.
He looks back over his shoulder, completely and utterly aware of my thoughts, with a goofy smile on his face as we reach the stands surrounding the grounds.
Crew is standing at the other end, off to the left, of one of the massive chutes, with Ash on his shoulders. Logan is cradling a bag of popcorn, and sporadically she holds out a piece for Crew to take between his teeth.
“There you are,” Crew says as we approach.
“He’s back there.” He angles his body, and Bode steps up onto the bleacher above to leave over the railing.
I sneak in close and see that Levi is shaking out his leather chaps to fix the red tassels that hang from the side of the black.
I don’t know why I’m surprised that his outfit is flashy, but it’s impressive how he goes from plain cowboy to whatever this is.
Bode whistles, and Levi tilts his head up as he removes his hat. “You’re late.”
“I’m right on time,” he argues back. “You ready?” Bode’s body tenses. I know that bronco riding is a massive part of Levi’s life, but it’s pretty clear he hates it. He’s terrified that one day he’s going to end up taking care of Levi the same way he did his dad.
“Gonna break some records tonight.” Levi flashes a cheesy grin.
Bode opens his mouth to tell him to be safe, but Levi is already being hauled in the opposite direction by some little redhead with a phone pointed at him. He stares into the distance where his brother disappeared, his hands white-knuckling the bar as he does.
“Hey.” I run my hand up his spine, and he turns his head to look at me. “He’s good, isn’t he?” I ask him.
“Really good.” Bode nods gently, and I can feel his body starting to relax under my touch.
“So let him prove it,” I smile. “He can do it.”
Bode leans in and captures my mouth in a soft kiss that feels like a thank you before he finds a spot to sit, sandwiched between Crew and me.
He wraps his hand around my thigh and squeezes tightly as he talks about all the other riders in the competition.
It sounds like Levi has some heavy competition, but if he can keep his focus, then he can break those records he’s so determined to shatter.
The announcer booms over the area, and Logan covers Ash’s ears with her hands when they start hollering names and numbers. As they read out the order of riders, Bode grows tense, waiting to hear his brother's name. Levi is last.
“What are they doing?” I ask as the riders take to the dirt.
“They pick broncos, so it’s all chance,” Bode explains to me. He’s clearly talking himself through waiting for all twelve riders before his brother. His body is rigid beside me as they line up in the arena, and one by one they pick their broncos from a velvet bag.
“Shit,” Crew swears.
“What?” I ask, and Bode sighs quietly along with the rest of the crowd’s whispered concerns.
“Levi pulled Patton.” Crew interrupts. “That horse is a mean old ass.”
“He’s got time to prepare for it.” Bode’s eyes are locked on his brother, and Levi is staring down at the chip in his hand.
Once they start, I realize why Bode tried to talk me out of coming with him. I’m not exactly a massive fan of agitated animals, but it goes quicker than I expect, most of them barely hang on as the clock counts down from eight on the lit-up board above the crowd.
It’s almost disturbing how their bodies bend and fold to the vicious wave of the bronco trying to buck them off. The reset takes the longest, and the rider before Levi is clearly a fan favorite because the second his face flashes across the screen, the arena erupts.
“Who’s that?” I ask.
“Rooster.” Bode sighs, and I look up to take him in.
He tips his wide-brimmed cowboy hat off his head and looks up at the crowd, waving it around as the wind catches in his shaggy dark hair.
Tattoos peek out from beneath his rolled-up black riding shirt, and he’s got the kind of smile that screams trouble.
“He’s the only rider in the circuit that gives Levi a hard time.
He’s good.” Bode’s jaw clenches tightly.
“Too good.” Crew leans forward on his thighs, and both of them lock in to what's about to happen. The clap happens, and Rooster is thrown from the chute on a massive, mean-looking bronco that whips backward the second it’s free.
The crowd counts as the clock reaches his mandatory time, cheering out each number louder and louder.
He holds on longer than he needs to, and his time creeps close to the record, which they have permanently displayed on the clock near the bottom.
“He’s going to do it,” Crew swears under his breath as both of them stand to watch in anticipation.
But the bronco kicks out and Rooster’s grip slips, causing him to lose his balance.
He bails off the horse to the left and lands on his feet with style as the clowns wrangle the animal, and Rooster takes his second to be a showboat.
“This is more intense than I thought it would be,” I confess. I look up at the clock, and he came up short by two seconds. I exhale finally, and Bode is nodding his head beside me as he mumbles to himself. Levi is up next, and I’m not sure either of us can handle the stress it’s about to bring.
We’re all standing as Levi drops down onto Patton. He leans in and says something to the horse that pisses it off, and the entire chute rattles as the animal tries to kick its way out. I tangle my hands together and bring them up to my lips as the announcer fires the cap gun to start Levi’s time.
If I thought Rooster’s bronco was mean, it had nothing on Patton.
The oversized stallion bucks out the moment it can, and Levi’s hat goes flying through the air.
It spins in a rough circle, causing the dirt to create a dust cloud around the base of the horse, making it hard to see anything as Levi is tossed around.
Six: the crowd cheers out, and the closer he gets to the record, the rougher Patton gets with him.
Eight: the number erupts as a chorus from the arena, and Levi hangs tight.
“He’s off balance,” Bode swears. “He’s gotta-”
The noise coming off the bleachers is suffocating as Levi creeps over the record, but it triggers the bronco, and without warning, the horse loses its footing. Both Patton and Levi, who was in the motion of getting free, fly forward.
Levi’s frame hurls toward a large metal gate as Patton reclaims his balance and starts running in circles. The metal clangs out loudly, and the crowd drops into horrified silence. I hold my breath waiting for Levi to get up, but he hits the ground with too much force.
He’s not moving.
“Bode…” His name leaves my lips, Bode is already moving down through the bleachers, taking them in massive, hurried steps.