Chapter Twenty-Three – Bradly
brADLY
Mackenzie stepped out of the bathroom dressed in a beautiful sweater dress that hugged her curvy body in all the right ways. Her light brown hair was pulled back in a low ponytail, and her makeup was minimal and added to her beauty.
“Ready?” she asked, reaching for her small purse that held her license and her phone.
“You look beautiful as always.”
Her cheeks turned a soft shade of pink as she let her eyes roam down my body. I was dressed in a button-down dress shirt and jeans. I had on my cowboy boots and had decided to leave the cowboy hat off since we were going to a restaurant here in the hotel.
“You look handsome…as usual.”
Winking at her, I held my arm out for her to take. “I already texted my parents. They’re at the restaurant with Avery. Emily and Doug just arrived.”
Her brows went up. “Are we late? I’m so sorry, I thought I was good on the time.”
“You are. It just so happens everyone else was early.”
We headed to the elevator and were met by another bull rider and his wife.
“Hey, Bradly! Great job out there today,” Jessie Adams said as he reached for my hand to shake it.
“Thanks, Jessie,” I replied as I turned to Mackenzie. “Mackenzie, this is Jessie Adams and his wife, Lynn. Jessie, Lynn, this is my girlfriend, Mackenzie Reeves.”
Jessie and Lynn both shook Mackenzie’s hand as they exchanged hellos.
“It’s so nice to meet you, Mackenzie. Have you and Bradly been dating long?”
Mackenzie and I exchanged smiles before she replied. “We haven’t, but it feels like I’ve known him forever.”
Lynn’s eyes sparkled. “I felt the same way about Jessie. All of our family and friends said we would never last as a couple because we got married so fast.”
“Really?” I said as I looked at Jessie. “How long did you date before you got married?”
He grinned. “A month.”
Mackenzie’s mouth dropped open. “That’s pretty fast!”
With a shrug, Lynn said, “I was in town visiting Jessie’s sister. We went to college together and I had a month off between changing jobs. I’m pretty sure we spent every moment together those two weeks. Jessie took me to the airport, and right before I started for the security line, he grabbed my hand and pulled me to him. He looked at me and said he knew it was crazy insane, but he was in love with me and wanted to marry me.”
The elevator doors opened, and the four of us stepped inside.
“What did you say?” Mackenzie asked.
Lynn laughed. “I said yes! I didn’t even need to think about it.”
“And we were married three days later by a justice of the peace, and Lynn headed out on the road with me and it’s been a whirlwind ever since.”
Jessie leaned down and kissed his wife’s lips.
“And it keeps spinning out of control,” Lynn said as she rested her hand on the slight swell of her stomach. “We’re expecting our first baby.”
I reached for Lynn’s hand as I said, “Congratulations.”
Mackenzie let out a small squeal. “How exciting for you! Congratulations to you both!”
“Thank you so much,” they both said at the same time.
“It’s going to be a challenge, no doubt about it, but I want to travel as much as I can with Jessie, even after the baby is born,” Lynn said before she turned to Mackenzie. “Lots of wives travel with their husbands. Don’t let anyone fill your head that they’re all out partying and hooking up with buckle bunnies.”
Mackenzie pressed her mouth together and nodded. Little did Lynn know, we wouldn’t have to deal with any of that.
The elevator doors opened, and the four of us walked out. Jessie and I fell into a conversation about tomorrow’s championship, while Lynn was telling Mackenzie something about her morning sickness that lasted all day.
Right before we entered the restaurant, I heard someone yell out Mackenzie’s name, and she suddenly stopped, jerking me back.
I turned to see her frozen in place, her face white as a ghost. I reached for her hands and leaned down to look into her eyes. “Hey, what’s wrong?”
She swallowed hard before she whispered, “It’s him.”
“Who?” I asked as I glanced up and looked around the lobby.
Her entire body started to shake. “My stepfather.”
My blood instantly boiled as I searched the busy area. Seeing a couple striding toward us, I frowned. The man was maybe in his late forties, built, with slightly graying hair. The woman next to him caused my breath to catch in my chest. She was an older version of Mackenzie. The first thing I noticed was the expression on her face.
Where the man wore a look of anger…she wore a look of absolute fear.
“Mackenzie,” the man said again as he drew closer. When he tried to reach for her arm to pull her toward him, I stepped between them.
“May I help you with something?” I asked. I felt Jessie move in next to me.
“This has nothing to do with you, cowboy. This has to do with me and my daughter.”
Mackenzie glared at the man. “I am not your daughter,” she said, her voice low. “What are you even doing here? How did you know I was here?”
The man shot daggers at Mackenzie as he spoke. “You poisoned your sister against us, and she wasn’t taking your mother’s calls. We flew up to New York earlier this morning because we had a feeling something sneaky was going on. We followed Emily to this fancy hotel. I see you’re spending your money foolishly, just like I said you would.”
Mackenzie took a step toward him, and I wanted to pull her back, but I kept my feet firmly in place. “You have no right to tell me what I can and cannot do with the money my father left for me.”
“It belongs to your mother!” he shouted.
People started to look our way.
“Maybe now isn’t the time, George,” the woman, Mackenzie’s mother Anna, said quietly. She placed her hand on his arm, and he jerked it away, causing her to flinch back. Mackenzie made a small move forward, then stopped.
Clearing her throat, she spoke in a calm voice. “George, Mom, I need you both to leave now before you cause a scene. Have you forgotten about the restraining order?”
“You don’t talk to me that way!” George lunged forward so fast, no one saw him coming. He grabbed Mackenzie and pushed her hard, making her stumble to the floor. A voice from somewhere behind screamed out for someone to call the police.
Rage instantly filled my entire body. I grabbed George and quickly had him up against the wall, my arm over his neck. How would he like being choked?
“You don’t ever touch or talk to her again, motherfucker.”
“Get your fucking hands off of me, you little punk!”
“Bradly, don’t do this. Let him go. Trust me, let him go,” Mackenzie said.
“Dude, don’t do this.”
That came from Jessie, who was on the other side of me. I let go of Mackenzie’s stepfather with a warning shove and took a step back.
“What’s going on?” It was my father’s voice.
“This little asshole assaulted me!” George said, pointing at me.
A male voice from behind us said, “That isn’t true. This guy physically attacked this woman and knocked her down. My husband’s called the police.”
Glancing over my shoulder, I saw the stranger pointing to Mackenzie.
“He said he followed her to the hotel,” the stranger added.
Jessie added his two cents. “He’s right. Bradly was protecting Mackenzie from this nutcase.”
At that moment, two police officers showed up. My hands were balled in fists as I stared down the asshole who liked to hit women.
Mackenzie approached the police, showed them something on her phone, then pointed to George and her mother. Anna was now standing beside her lowlife husband, when she should have been with her daughter.
“Kenzie!” Emily called out as she rushed over to her sister. “Did he hurt you?”
“No, everything is okay, Em.”
“Son-of-a-bitch!” Doug cursed as he approached, making his way toward George. I reached out as he passed to stop him.
“Don’t do it,” I said, as he turned to look at me. “Let the girls handle it.”
He pushed his hands through his hair, turned back to George, and glared at him. The dickhead smirked at both of us.
His smile vanished as the officers approached him. “Sir, I’m going to need you to turn around and put your hands behind your back.”
The other officer said the same thing to Mackenzie’s mom. Surprised, I glanced at Mackenzie and her sister.
She gave me a sad smile as she and Emily made their way over to us. Emily launched herself into Doug’s arms as Mackenzie took my hand and pulled me back to stand with my father and Uncle Ty. My mother and Avery walked out of the restaurant, both looking worried and confused.
“What’s happening?” Mom asked as she made her way to my dad.
He shook his head. “I’m not sure.”
“What right do you have to arrest us?” George yelled.
“You both violated a restraining rorder,” one of the police officers answered.
Mackenzie let out a deep breath as my mother wrapped her arms around her. When Anna glanced over at Mackenzie, tears filled her eyes. For a quick moment, I felt sorry for her. I wrapped my arms around both women as Doug ushered Emily back into the restaurant, along with Avery, my father, and Uncle Ty.
“Are you okay?” I asked her as she slipped her hand into mine.
“I am. I’m just glad you didn’t hit him or anything. He would have tried to sue you for as much as he could get.”
“Mackenzie, sweetheart? You have a restraining order against your parents?” My mom didn’t know the whole story, so I wasn’t surprised she seemed a bit confused.
“He’s my stepfather. And my mother…well, she hasn’t been herself in years, not since she married that monster, so I can’t really call her my mother any longer.”
“Mom, maybe now isn’t the time. Let’s just head into the restaurant.”
Mom worried the necklace she had on and nodded.
“You two go on in, I need to talk to the police.”
I looked at Mackenzie and was about to argue with her when I felt my mother’s hand on my elbow.
“Bradly, why don’t you let Mackenzie handle this.”
“But…I want…”
Mackenzie placed her hand on my arm. “Will you please make sure my sister is okay? She’s going to blame herself because they followed her here.”
I exhaled. “Of course. If you need me…”
“I know,” she whispered as she reached up and gently kissed me on the cheek. “I’m okay. I promise.”
It took every ounce of strength I had to turn and walk away from her.
Once we got to the table, Emily stood. “Is she okay?”
I nodded. “She’s fine. She asked us to come in and make sure you were okay.”
Emily wiped a tear away as she sank down onto the chair. She said quietly, “She’s always done that. Since I can remember. Our stepfather used to beat our mother, and when that wasn’t good enough, he’d take his anger out on Kenzie. He never hit me, and that’s mostly because…because… Kenzie always kept him away from me.”
She buried her face in her hands, and Doug wrapped his arm around her.
“George and Anna have maintained a rather rocky relationship with Emily,” Doug continued for her. “She’s tried to keep them at bay, but her mother has a way of making her feel guilty.”
My mom reached for Emily and pulled her hands down from her face. “It’s over now. You’re going to get a restraining order against your parents just like Mackenzie did. Okay?”
Emily nodded and sniffled as she attempted to keep herself from crying more. “She’s had restraining orders against them since I was still in high school. They both threatened to kill her.”
My mother gasped, and my father cursed, as did Uncle Ty.
“Why?” Mom asked, clearly shocked.
Emily wiped a tear away. “My father left us each a sizeable inheritance. We both got it when we turned eighteen. Mackenzie used hers to move out of the house, go to college, and she used what was left to move to Montana, trying to get as far away from Mom and George as she could. He’s always wanted her money. I don’t know why he hasn’t figured out that of course she spent it on her education. I just know that he’s wanted to make her pay since the day they woke up on her eighteenth birthday and found her gone.
“I did the same thing when I turned eighteen. I moved to New York City and went to college there. I mean, I didn’t have to leave in the middle of the night, like Kenzie. My mother always treated me a bit differently, and I think…I think it’s because I look more like my father than Kenzie does, and Mom loved our dad deeply. I’ve tried to keep my contact with them to a minimum, for my own mental health, but she asks about Kenzie all the time. I always ignored her questions, because I didn’t want George to find my sister. I never thought they’d come here and follow me.”
My mother cleared her throat. “Emily, sweetheart, if your mother is allowing your stepfather to do these kinds of things to your sister, she is no better than him. Like I said, you need to file a restraining order against her as well.”
“That’s what I’ve been telling her,” Doug said gently as he kissed the side of Emily’s head. “She’s been slowly pulling away from them more and more. So I’m not surprised they came to New York, given how little Em has been communicating with them.”
“And I led them right to Kenzie.”
“No, you didn’t,” I stated. “You had no way of knowing they were in New York, Emily. Your sister isn’t going to want you to blame yourself.”
She sniffled and leaned her head on Doug’s shoulder.
Mackenzie finally approached the table, pulled out her chair, and sat down. All eyes went to her. She smiled, picked up her napkin, placed it over her lap, and calmly said, “I pressed charges against them both. I’ll need to call my lawyer tomorrow.” Her attention went to her sister. “I’d like for you to speak with him as well. You’ll need to file a restraining order against them both. I have a feeling they’ll be spending some time in jail in New York City, so that’s a good thing.”
Picking up the menu, she began to read it as we all stared at her.
Dropping the menu after a couple of minutes, she looked around the table. “I refuse to let them have any more of our time. So, let’s put it all behind us, enjoy our evening and the celebration of Bradly’s score today, and let the legal system take it from here.”
Avery let out a disbelieving laugh. “Oh my God. I want to be you when I grow up. Bad. Ass.”
“Avery!” my mother chastised.
“What? She is! She completely handled that like a boss and doesn’t even have a single hair out of place. She came back to the table and she’s as cool as a cucumber. Her hand isn’t even shaking. Like I said. Bad. Ass.”
Mackenzie’s cheeks turned bright red.
Uncle Ty cleared his throat, held up his glass of water, and said, “Here’s to new beginnings.”
Everyone followed his lead. Glasses gently clinked as everyone said, “To new beginnings.”
I watched as bull rider after bull rider got thrown before the buzzer. It seemed like today was in the bulls’ favor.
My father stood next to me as the scenes played out. I drew in a deep breath, and we both looked at each other. When he smiled, all I could do was return one of my own.
“You know what you have to do, so there won’t be any pep talk from me.”
I nodded.
“You drew a beast again. He’s going to come out with all his might, so the best advice I can give you is to hold on for dear life.”
Laughing, I shook my head. “That’s the ‘best advice’ you’re gonna give me, Dad?”
He faced me. “You ride better than me, Brock, Blayze, Ty, all put together. You don’t need no damn advice.”
“Have I ever told you how proud I am to be your son?”
My father’s eyes widened a bit and he looked away, tipping his cowboy hat some before he looked down at the ground. When he finally lifted his head, I saw the tears in his eyes.
“There isn’t a day that’s gone by that I haven’t loved being your father. You were a blessing I never knew I needed, Bradly. And whether you’re riding a bull or riding a horse next to me checking fence lines, I know for a fact I have the best son a father could ever ask for. I wish your grandfather could have been here to see the man you’ve become. I know I’ve said this to you kids a thousand times, but he truly would have loved you and Avery so damn much.”
I put my hand on his shoulder and gave it a squeeze. “I feel him in here, Dad,” I said as I placed my other hand over my heart. “I’ve always felt him.”
He pulled me in for a quick hug, then pushed me back to arm’s length. “Whatever happens with this ride, just know I’m so damn proud of you, Bradly Michael Littlewood.”
With my uncle and father right there with me, I climbed over the fence and onto the back of Viper. He was twelve and zero. The way he stood so calmly in the chute nearly made me laugh. It was like he wasn’t the least bit worried because he knew he was going to win, and I was going to lose.
I ran my hand over the rosin, got my rope and hand in position. Stood, moved down to the position I wanted, then sat back down. One last deep breath, and I gave the head nod.
The gate flew open, and the ride of my life began.
Viper bucked, twisted, jumped, and did everything he could to get me off his back. Everything my father and uncles had ever taught me about bull riding came back to me in a flash. I would never be able to explain the next eight seconds of my life, but it felt like the bull and I became one. I could anticipate every move he was going to make, and he was the same.
When the buzzer hit, he gave one hell of a buck. My hand got caught for a moment, and a sharp pain ripped through my shoulder, but I got my hand free and felt one of the bullfighters helping me to get out of Viper’s way. I’d hit the ground pretty hard and was stunned for a few seconds.
I could hear the crowd going wild. I ripped off my helmet, faced my father and Uncle Ty, and yelled out. They were both cheering along with the crowd. Then I turned and searched for her. Mackenzie was cupping her mouth, screaming something. I pointed to her, and she pointed back.
Micky, one of the bullfighters, handed me my bull rope, and I made my way out of the arena. Dad met me and handed me the black cowboy hat I always wore. No one else knew it except for Mom, but it used to be his hat. I wore it every time I had an event.
Then the score came, and the entire place erupted again. Dad pulled me in and hugged me so hard, I thought I was going to pass out.
“It’s a score of 92 for your winner, ladies and gentlemen!”
Viper scored forty-four and a quarter, and I scored forty-seven point seventy-five.
“I did it, Dad! I won,” I said with a laugh.
He pulled me in for another hug, with Uncle Ty doing the same the moment my father let me go. I could see the reporter standing to my left, waiting patiently to get a word with me. Other bull riders came up to shake my hand, as well as stock contractors. It was a whirlwind.
“Bradly Littlewood, we talked yesterday about what a great weekend you were having, and here we are again! You’re starting out this season on top. How does that make you feel?”
I exhaled and nodded. “It feels great, and I’m blessed to say I get to go out on top.”
She frowned. “Go out on top?”
Nodding, I said, “Yeah…I’ve talked it over with my family, and decided that this will be my last event as a professional bull rider. I’ve had one hell of a wild, and some may say a short career—although it doesn’t feel short to me. But after taking some time, I realized my heart is back in Hamilton, Montana, on my father’s ranch.”
Staring at me blankly for a few moments, she cleared her throat. “Am I hearing this right? You’re officially announcing that you’re stepping away from professional bull riding?”
Laughing, I replied, “Yes, ma’am, I am. It’s been a great journey, and I’ve been bull riding for as long as I can remember, but this isn’t the road I’m meant to travel any longer, so there was no better way to end this journey than with my name at the top of the leaderboard.”
The rest of the interview seemed like a blur. She asked a few more questions about what was next, and I shrugged. “We’ll see. Right now, the only thing I’m thinking about is this win.”
“Congratulations, Bradly, we all wish you the best of luck.”
The crowd erupted, and I took off my hat and gave it a wave.
I was soon ushered to the middle of the arena, where the other winners of the event were waiting. I held up the trophy, and for the last time, thanked all of my fans for supporting me.
Now life was really about to begin.