Chapter 29 #2
The stands before us were filled with plaids and cowboy hats.
There were men with tractors in the arena smoothing out the dirt and kicking up dust and bringing back a lot of good memories of the sport.
There was a part of me I’d left behind in this place, and it was good to be back.
I’d felt myself slowly coming back to life the past few months, thanks to a certain redhead, and being here again was the cherry on top.
However, this was nothing like riding a bike.
Ten years ago, I would have happily sat my butt on an angry, spinning bronc and not thought a thing about it.
I hadn’t feared much back in those days.
But now, my heart pounded with trepidation.
The longer a guy spent away from rodeo, the more he realized just how deranged the sport actually was.
“Did we really do this for fun?” I asked, wiping the sweat from my forehead.
“You did this for fun. I was one of the smart ones who just stuck to roping.”
He’d been good too. We team-roped together in high school and even a few years after, but Dusty had also excelled at calf tying. I never got into that one—instead always chasing the big events. The bigger the ride, the better chance one particular seat at the rodeo might be filled.
It never was.
Tonight, however, it wasn’t the hope of seeing my dad that had me scanning the packed arena. I spotted Cade and Kelsey and their family. Layne and Peggy Marten sat nearby, each attempting to corral and distract a squirming twin.
My gaze first settled on Sophie, sitting one row down from them, her pink cowboy hat on her head, and nestled next to a long-legged redhead still wearing the dress that nearly caused me a heart attack tonight.
They were laughing at something. Sophie pointed toward something in the arena while Shelby leaned forward to hear what she had to say.
I could well imagine the little imp talking her ear off.
Sophie hadn’t had a nightmare in a month. That was thirty-one days of Sophie not waking up, crying out for her mom. Thirty-one days of cautious peace. I had no doubt this was, in no small part, due to Shelby’s presence in our lives.
I’d been searching for a sign from Sophie, to let me know that if I did end up pursuing Shelby, she’d be fine with that. Watching her now, practically in her lap, talking animatedly, pointing toward something below, was everything I needed.
“Shelby looks pretty tonight,” Dusty said.
I kicked at the dirt, forcing my gaze to move elsewhere, even if that meant meeting Dusty’s knowing look as he glanced over to where I had been looking.
“How’d you ever man up enough to snag a girl like Lucy?” I asked, if only to avert any questions he’d throw my way.
His eyes scanned the arena until he found his pixie-haired brunette wife and two little girls seated next to her, just a few benches down from Shelby.
“When it’s the right girl, it can happen easy.” He gave me a pointed look. “Once you get out of your own way.”
I scowled at him.
He smiled cheerfully.
“Why isn’t your dad riding?” he asked.
“He said he just wanted to watch me.”
We stared at each other for a bit before a grin spread across Dusty’s face. “Well, let’s go give him a show.”
I snorted as we fell in line, walking toward the chutes.
Dusty held out a helmet. “You wearing your hat or a helmet?”
“Hat,” I said. Though most people in the sport wore helmets now, I couldn’t bring myself to do it.
It wasn’t completely a vanity thing; my black hat was more comfortable.
And it was the same old black hat I’d won many rides while wearing.
Most riders were a little superstitious, and I wasn’t riding for the first time in five years without a few things in place.
“They're almost ready to start. You’d better get over there,” Dusty said, eyes on the cowboys milling around the chutes in front of us.
We made our way toward the chute, and without consulting me, my gaze once again found Shelby in the crowd. My pace slowed. Sophie had moved over to sit by Kelsey, her twins not too far away, which should have left Shelby alone, but a couple of guys, maybe mid-twenties, had crowded around her.
I squinted. Was that Easton?
She was talking and laughing with them, gesturing with her hands while talking, and they all seemed to be enjoying themselves.
That was definitely Easton. Why was he here?
She wasn’t that comfortable. I could see it now. There was a stiffness in her posture that gave her away. It was just polite laughs and conversations coming from her, nothing else.
I was almost fifty percent sure.
“You coming?” Dusty asked, scanning the crowd.
I blinked, not realizing I had completely stopped walking. “Yeah.”
“Who’s that guy talking to Shelby?”
I grunted something as I moved past him. He hurried to catch up.
“Who is it?”
“I don’t know,” I lied, suddenly annoyed at the whole night.
At me. At her. At Easton. At Dusty for that stupid look on his face.
Shelby could talk to Easton if she wanted.
I wasn’t sure what he was doing back in Eugene.
Maybe I was too late. Easton lived in Boise.
I hated his guts, but he was probably a nice enough guy.
It would be so easy for her to be with him.
It had to be less complicated to date a guy without a past like mine.
I kicked the dirt with my foot. I needed to focus on my ride coming up.
Shelby’s dress had altered some part of my brain.
“What are you going to do about it?”
“What?” I turned to Dusty.
“What are you going to do about it?”
“If she wants to talk to him, she can do that.” I concentrated on putting on my vest instead of Dusty’s smug face.
“Do you love her?”
I gave him a look that only made his grin grow wider.
“I knew it.”
I ignored him.
“Then what are you doing?” Dusty threw his arms out, motioning toward Shelby. “Go get her.”
“She’s moving.” The more I said it, the more pathetic it sounded even to my ears.
“Yeah. She is. Because you’re an idiot.”
My being an idiot seemed to be an overall theme these days.
We were at the chutes now. The announcer was joking with the clown. The first two cowboys were getting ready for their ride. I found my bronc in the last chute. I would be riding last, and I wasn’t sure if that was better or worse for my growing nerves.
But my nerves were no longer about the horse.
They were about a guy named Easton sitting in my seat and making his move on Shelby Tucker.
A move I should have made a long time ago.
I hated when everyone else was right.
I’d been trying to show my hand without putting too much skin in the game. Even when I knew what I wanted, I was still scared to take it. Scared to fully take that risk. If we never put words to it, then we still had deniability. Without words, my heart wasn’t at risk.
But that was bull crap.
I was already in deep.
I could feel Dusty watching me.
“Maybe you should go get her before someone else does,” he prodded, a knowing look on his face.
“I’m really glad you live in Wyoming,” I said, though at this point, I was already smiling. Resigned.
“Obviously I need to come visit more often and save all my friends.”
“Go grab me a helmet, would ya? I’ve got to do something real quick.”
I adjusted the black hat on my head to give my hands something to do as I tried to give myself the courage to jump on this horse one more time.
I’d been coaching a game all summer long.
I taught some great offensive moves. A little defense.
All the while being safely tucked away on the bench.
To my own demise. I never stood a chance against Shelby.
I understood that now. But she had a whole new life ready to start. My timing couldn’t have been worse.
Which made what I was about to do absolutely terrifying.
But the play was already in motion. Though the outcome was uncertain, my direction was clear.
It was time for me to get in the game.