Chapter 36 Thirty-Five
Thirty-Five
Quinn
Montana was beautiful. I’d almost forgotten how beautiful it really was. I hadn’t been back since I moved in January, since I packed up my entire life and started over in Alpine Ridge, but nothing compared to these mountains.
The past months since my birthday, Wyatt and I had been all over the country, hitting any circuit we could, keeping my rank solid.
Tennessee, Alabama, Oklahoma, Texas…we’d been almost everywhere.
I even joked it was a new goal to hit rodeos outside of the United States.
Australia had some pretty amazing rodeos, and the Calgary rodeo had always been a bucket list item of mine—even if I was just attending.
Wyatt’s response to my new goal: “We’ll make it happen, baby. ” He sealed his promise with a kiss.
And now back in Montana—one of the last stops before we slowed down for the fall and trained harder for the National Finals Rodeo coming up in December—seeing everything that we had done, that I had done, that goal didn’t seem so far off.
We could do it.
I could do it.
I took a deep breath, taking in the crisp autumn air, and grinned.
“I do love it here.” I sighed.
I heard the trailer door squeak open right before I felt Wyatt's lips on my cheek.
“It is gorgeous,” he agreed. “And I think Hook knows where we are. He’s bouncing.”
Leaning back and craning my neck into the trailer, I finally registered the clanging on the trailer floor. Hook was indeed dancing.
“My family home isn’t too far away. He can sense it, probably. Home.”
Wyatt stepped into the trailer, opening the separator and unlatching Hook. “We should stop and say hi to your”—he caught my gaze—“old stable. You know the one you used to work at.”
I shook my head. “Nice catch.”
I swallowed. I’ve heard from my dad on a constant basis—we texted and called weekly—but my mom…
I hadn’t heard or seen her since I told her off.
Even Dad kept her out of the conversation.
She had to be here somewhere; this was one of the biggest rodeos in Montana.
But I kept my focus and wouldn’t seek her out.
There wasn’t any point. I was here to win and get closer to the NFR—not for a family reunion.
“We won’t have time anyway. After tonight, we’re back on the road. Three more rides after this and then back home.” I slipped my arms around his waist as he tried to step out of the trailer, making it physically impossible for him and Hook to move forward.
“Do your parents know you’re here?” he asked gracefully, most likely not wanting to strike a nerve.
Wyatt was that person—my person—that I could talk about anything with, but the topic of my parents never seemed to stick.
He respected that aspect, and I loved that he did.
My life had been a lot easier since I stopped worrying about what my mother was thinking, doing, or where she would be.
Hell—when I booked this rodeo, I knew very well that she was going to be here.
But it didn’t stop me. I wanted to ride in this arena again, and nothing was going to take the feeling away.
I nodded. “My dad does, yeah. If he told my mom, that’s a separate story.” I rested my chin on his chest. “She has to be here, though. Miss Rodeo Montana is, and she comes with Kelly.”
He raised a brow.
“It doesn’t matter. I’m still taking home the biggest check.”
He grinned, leaning in to kiss me. I’d lost count of how many kisses we shared, how many times he’s made my knees weak with just his lips, but each one was still just as perfect.
“I’ll go get checked in,” I said softly.
“And I’ll saddle Hook. I’m going turquoise. Please tell me you brought the shirt Abi got you.”
“The satin one?” I begrudgingly let him go. “I did. It’s in the garment bag for tonight, steamed and ready—unless your hat box crushed it.” I gave him a wink and before he could respond, I jumped from the trailer and jogged with a skip in my step—literally—to the check-in booth.
Once I had my number and was ready to go, I spun on my heel.
We had a few hours before the event actually began, and I planned to spend those hours with Wyatt.
One of the reasons why I picked this rodeo was for the fair that accompanied it.
I wanted to get an overpriced churro. I wanted to buy him another hat from a local vendor.
I wanted to play stupid carnival games and win an oversized stuffed animal.
I wanted to walk hand in hand with him, showing him one of my favorite things about my home state before we both got busy with the chaos of the rodeo.
I couldn’t wait to whisk him away, kiss him against a tree, tell him I loved him, do all the things a couple would do.
We’d been together for four months and still had yet to go on an official first date. I wanted tonight to be that.
But the moment I rounded the corner, that vision vanished.
I took a deep breath and reminded myself of what I told Wyatt just a few minutes before. ‘It doesn’t matter’—and here she was, her arm linked with my dad’s, talking to Wyatt as if they were old friends.
Wyatt met my gaze, and his smile widened. I closed the gap between us, forcing that hurt down and focusing on the baby blues I was headed towards.
“There she is!” My dad called, slipping his arms from my mother’s grasp to wrap me in an all-consuming hug. “Good to see you, pumpkin.”
“Hi, Dad.” I leaned into him. “I didn’t think you would be here.”
“Both of my girls here; how could I not come? And I finally got to meet the famous Wyatt we’ve heard so much about.” He let me go, taking a step back to slap Wyatt on the shoulder, forcing him forward with how hard my dad hit him. “You got yourself a good one, Quinn.”
“I didn’t think you were dating,” my mother finally said, her tone blank.
“Since June? Right, Quinn?” Wyatt looked at me, his brow furrowed.
I nodded. “Yeah. You knew, Mom. It was at Reno.”
She raised her chin and gave a slight hmm. “Oh yes, glad to see you’re still together then. He must be a bigger help than you thought.”
“No, ma’am,” Wyatt answered for me, sticking his fingers in his Wrangler pockets. “I just saddle the horse.”
She gave him a tight-lipped smile. “I’m sure you do more than that.”
“Helen, leave him be. He was saddling up her horse when we got here. Which one is this? Charming?” Dad turned to Hook, who gave him a side eye as his ears tilted back.
“This asshole is Hook.” Wyatt reached up to scratch behind his ears, automatically easing the tension in him.
“Excuse me?” Mom snapped, her eyes flaring wide as she looked at Wyatt.
“He may be an asshole”—I gave Hook a pat on his nose—“but he’s great. He pulls in amazing times.” I added, ignoring Mom’s comment.
“The horse is only as good as the rider. They’re a team.” Wyatt met my gaze. “And Quinn—barrel racing’s princess, right? She’s worked hard to get here. So have her boys.”
“It’s really been wonderful watching you, pumpkin. I can’t wait to see you in action tonight.” Dad gave me a smile.
“Yes, well.” Mom took a step forward. “I’ll be with Kelly and the girls. Chelsea won Montana this year, did you hear that, Quinn? So, she’s following Kelly closely to America, learning everything to get there herself. Kelly is a shoo-in this NFR to take America.”
“That’s great.” I faked excitement.
“Well.” She sighed, keeping her eyes on me as her hand gripped my dad’s forearm. “We'd better go help her get ready and everything. Lance.”
“Good luck out there, pumpkin. We’ll be cheering for you.” Dad gave me another hug, kissing my temple before Mom swept him away from us. I watched until they turned the corner and vanished, and then the breath left my lungs.
“What were they talking to you about before I came up?” I turned to Wyatt.
“Me, mainly. Your dad knew who I was. He was asking about Rhett and Lachlan, too.” He looked out over the crowd. “They just asked a bunch of questions. I’m kinda surprised they didn’t stick around longer once you got here. They just…left.” He raised his arm towards them.
“That’s normal.” I shrugged a shoulder. “I’m glad they didn’t stay longer, honestly. Now…” I leaned into him, placing my hands on his chest. “There’s a carnival, and I would very much like to take you—”
“Hartwell!” A loud call broke me off, and I turned, seeing Hawkins run up. “Oh, hey, Quinn…” He stopped once he got to us, completely out of breath, placing his hands on his knees. “Sorry,”—he raised a finger—“gimme a minute.”
I held back a chuckle and looked up at Wyatt, who also seemed like he was trying hard not to laugh at his friend.
“You good, man?” Wyatt chuckled, watching his friend heave breath after breath like he just ran a triathlon he didn’t train for.
“Yep. Just ran around the entire arena looking for you. If I didn’t run into Lance, I wouldn’t have found you so fast.” Hawkins stood. “Sam’s sick—like dying sick.”
“What?” Wyatt asked, his voice raising higher than even he probably intended. “Is he okay? What’s wrong?”
“Yeah, he’ll be fine, but he caught the flu somehow—he can’t announce.”
“You got the show right? You’ve done it.” Wyatt wrapped his arm around my shoulder.
“Fuck no,” Hawkins croaked. “This is a two…three…man job, and without Sam, we would be drowning. I’m just glad you’re here. Archie agreed to let you fill in.”
Wyatt furrowed his brow. “Wait. What?”
Hawkins formed a tight smile and nodded.
My jaw dropped, quickly spreading into a wide smile.
On one hand, I wanted to spend all the time I could with him.
On the other hand, I knew how badly he wanted to be back in that announcer box.
I saw him on the Fourth; I saw the passion he carried in his entire body.
He had to jump on this. He had to get his ass in that box with Hawkins and prepare—yet he was a statue.
“Wyatt…” I said softly, reining in my own excitement for him, pulling on his arm.
“You’re serious?” Wyatt asked, his fingers pressing into my shoulder. “He’s the guy—”
“Yeah, I know.” Hawkins laughed. “But seriously, man. He’s agreed to it, and we need you. Come on.”
He turned to me, letting out a shaky exhale. “Quinn…”
“Go.” I pushed his shoulder.
“Just…hold on a minute,” He turned back to Hawkins. “Give me a sec.”
Hawkins nodded. “Just a sec. We got a lot to go over.”
Wyatt pulled me to the other side of the trailer and held onto my shoulders, dropping his head between his arms.
“Why are you stressing?” I asked him, leaning down to try to look at his face.
“Archie is the guy I sent to the hospital a year ago. To have him say it's okay for me to be in there—this could get me back in the box.” He hushed, his voice almost breaking.
“Then why”—I took his face in my palms and raised him up to look at me—“are you stressing? Go. This is huge. Imagine you announcing my ride again, imagine the excitement you’ll bring to the entire crowd. Wyatt…” I held his gaze. “I want to hear your voice over the speaker. Go.”
He smiled, and I felt his body begin to hum with energy. Almost like a switch flipped, he was ready to give me what I wanted. “I fucking love you.”
“I love you, but go.” I kissed him, deeper than I planned, before pushing him away. “He’s coming, Hawk,” I shouted, not once taking my eyes off Wyatt.
His smile grew, then he moved, opening the back door of the truck. He plopped his hat on his head, gave me one last kiss, then ran off with Hawkins to the announcer booth.
I folded my arms and watched him, biting my lip. We had more than tonight for a date. We had so much time.
All the time in the world.