Chapter Twenty-One
Cash
The Next Afternoon, Late August
Hailey didn’t get up early enough to join me for my breakfast cup of coffee and matching pieces of buttered toast first thing in the morning before I headed out to the ranch to take care of the animals, but she was up and dressed by 9:45, even if she didn’t look particularly happy about it. I could appreciate that. There were plenty of times I found myself wanting to go back to bed, even after all these years of keeping the exact same schedule—early to bed and early to rise. Whether it was making me healthy and wise was another matter. I knew for damned sure it wasn’t making me wealthy.
“You doing alright?” I asked on our way out to the truck. She looked like she was sleepwalking as she climbed into the passenger side, her eyes unfocused and squinting, her face creased on one side with marks from her pillow.
She yawned as I started the truck, covering her mouth with one hand. “Sorry. I got on a roll last night and didn’t want to go to sleep until I’d had the chance to get all my ideas out on paper. I was up until almost 4.”
I stared over at her, my mouth nearly hanging open. I’d been getting up around 4 for decades, but I went to bed at 9. Staying up late for me meant waiting until 10 to hit the hay.
“Are you sure you want to go today? It’ll still be in town tomorrow.”
Her light eyebrows lifted at the offer. “Will we still be able to see the races?”
I shook my head. “They have both rounds today. Tomorrow will be something else.”
She yawned again as she shook her head. “No, let’s go today. I really want to see the barrel racing. I just need some coffee. As soon as we pass a place where I can get some, I want a monster cup.” She indicated how big around she wanted the cup, and it was the shape of a large tree trunk.
I laughed at that and pulled out of the dirt driveway, hooking a tight U-turn and going out to the main road. By the time we got there, Hailey was asleep, her head lolling against the window. I didn’t want to disturb her—she looked so peaceful, like she was having sweet dreams—so I just kept my eyes on the road and didn’t even cut on the radio. The scenery was enough to keep me occupied. It wasn’t a long drive out to the fairgrounds. Only about an hour or so. I drove it in silence, going around Jackson to get to the other side.
We arrived at the fairgrounds and parked before Hailey woke up. It saved me the trouble of shaking her shoulder. I regretted not getting to do that, as it occurred to me that I hadn’t touched her at all past our first handshake on the day she arrived. I’d been so pissed at Eric that day, that I barely thought about it while I was doing it.
“We’re here,” I said when she looked over at me with fuzzy eyes.
She stretched her back and twisted in her seat, her back popping once. “How long was I asleep?” she asked, her voice husky with the last of her sleep.
“Only about an hour. But now you should be well-rested for the rodeo.” I climbed out of the car before she could answer, going around the front of the truck to wait for her to get out. We had plenty of time to get to the arena for the barrel racing. I’d planned to show her around a little before we sat down, but I amended that to include swinging by a vendor for a few cups of coffee before we did anything else, as the poor woman was in dire need. I led her to the first one we saw after entering the fairgrounds proper and watched with amusement as she dumped cream in the extra large cup and knocked it back.
“That’s better,” she said, smiling with relief. It didn’t quite work like magic, but between that and the nap, she didn’t look like she was still walking in her sleep anymore. By the time we reached the arena, she was back to her old self again, chattering away about how she was going to include a few scenes in her book about a rodeo. She hadn’t quite gotten that part worked out yet, but it was interesting to hear her talk about it.
“That must be a nice talent to have,” I said after we’d gotten in the slowly moving line into the arena.
“What do you mean?” she asked, looking up at me, the sunlight glinting off her wire-rimmed glasses so I couldn’t see her eyes.
“I love to read, but I couldn’t put my own story together to save my life.”
She smiled at that, her cheeks turning red like they always did when I paid her a compliment. I liked to make her smile, but I really loved that flush of color.
“It’s something I’ve always been able to do, even when I was a kid. Like you and riding horses.”
I had to laugh at that. “There’s nothing I can do on a horse that you wouldn’t be able to do if you stuck with it for a little longer.”
She gave me a sly, knowing grin that reminded me a bit of Eric, who I hadn’t heard much from since our skirmish out in front of his house. I had to remember to run by there tomorrow when I was in town picking up supplies from the feed store. We’d agreed there were no hard feelings, and maybe he was just keeping away while I figured out what was going on between me and Hailey, but it wouldn’t hurt to stop by. He wasn’t just my oldest friend, but the only person I spoke to most weeks outside of the girl at the bookstore and the staff at the supply store. That had changed since Hailey arrived, of course. Now I told her most everything besides how I felt about her, which I understood was the definition of irony.
Hailey bought some fried and sugared dough balls from a traveling vendor on our way into the arena.
“Want one?” she asked on our climb up the steps, offering the paper cup of doughnut holes.
I shook my head and waved them off as she tried again to get me to take one. “I had breakfast a few hours ago.” I couldn’t keep my lips from cracking into a grin at the disappointed way she looked at me before grinning herself.
“Party pooper.”
We found some good seats near the top and middle of the arena. I wanted her to be able to see everything, and this position would give us a bird’s eye view. We sat down next to each other, her shoulder brushing my arm, her curly blonde hair tickling my bare skin. She didn’t wear it loose very often that I’d seen, but today it was a mane of crazy curls poking out from under her hat and stretching all the way to the middle of her back, even more golden than Eric’s hair. That together with her blue eyes and gorgeous smile made her a knockout in my estimation. Not to mention how much I was liking the look of her in more country attire—her plaid shirt, jeans, and cowgirl hat. All she needed was a broken-in pair of boots. I had to remind myself not to stare. I put my eyes on the middle of the arena, where the barrels had been arranged in a large triangle.
I pointed out the open gate on the far side of the arena, and Hailey turned to look.
“That’s where the riders will come in. This rodeo’s one of the bigger ones that comes through the state, so they’ll be using the sensor. That’ll give a more accurate time.” I pointed out the barrels next, going over the way things would go for a second time, just show she’d know what to expect.
She seemed enthralled by what she was seeing, her blue eyes wide behind the lenses of her glasses as she took everything in with an author’s focus. She took a small notebook from her purse that I’d gotten used to seeing stuck to her hand over the last month. She opened to a fresh page and began to scribble some notes as I talked.
The announcer’s voice thundered through the arena, drawing everyone’s attention away from their private conversations, including ours. He welcomed us to the qualifying round of the barrel racing competition, telling us the finals would be the following day.
Hailey had set aside the last few fried dough balls and scooted to the edge of her seat. “I thought you said all the races would be today,” she said, not looking away from the arena.
“That’s what I thought,” I said. “But I didn’t look at the schedule.”
“There’s where the internet would come in handy. I bet it’s on the event page.” She shot a smile my way that I couldn’t help but return. I pointed to the arena again, and she turned to look down that way.
“It goes fast,” I warned her, leaning in so she’d hear my voice over the announcer introducing the first rider, a woman named Andy Stark from Texas who I’d seen ride a few times before. She was good, but not great.
Hailey nodded, not taking her eyes away from the arena below us.
All of a sudden, Andy came shooting out of the gate, leaned down low over her thoroughbred’s neck. She broke right first, slowing just a little to bring her horse around the first barrel before crossing the distance to the barrel in front of it and going around it as well, hooves kicking up dust. Andy leaned so far down, she was almost hugging the horse’s neck. They went around the final barrel at the rear, and Andy straightened up, encouraging her horse into a dead run for the finish line. As soon as they passed it, Andy rubbed her horse’s neck, grimacing at the announcement of her time. Nineteen seconds.
Hailey looked over at me, eyes wide. “Is that a good time?”
I shrugged. “It ain’t bad. She was riding too low in the saddle.”
Hailey frowned, not understanding, but turned back to the arena instead of questioning me further, not wanting to miss a thing.
The next woman was announced, a newcomer I’d never heard of before, Darcy Lopez, who was only 19. She came shooting out of the gate, sitting up straighter in the saddle than Andy had, her horse moving smoothly to the left barrel first, moving around it quickly, dirt flying. They raced to the second barrel, coming around it tightly, the precision impressive, especially for such a young rider. She led her horse around the final barrel, leaning so far to the side, I expected her to go toppling out of the saddle with the horse falling on top of her. But she kept her balance, kicking the horse into full speed across the finish line, the announcer declaring her time at just over 18 seconds just after she raced out of sight.
“Wow!” Hailey cried, grinning over at me, her blue eyes blazing. “This is amazing!”
I watched her for the next few rounds instead of the riders. I’d seen all of it before, more times than I could count, and it was much more entertaining to see the effect of the competition through her eyes and expression. We sat in the stands through the rest of the qualifying round, letting Hailey get her fill. After it ended, she bent over her notebook, which she’d completely neglected during the racing itself, and starting furiously scribbling down her notes. It took about five minutes before she was finished, and she had an entire page of filled with her slanting, messy handwriting.
“That was awesome!” she exclaimed. “I can’t believe I’ve never seen something like this.”
“Do you think it’ll help your story?” I asked, smiling at her obvious excitement. Rodeos were old news for me, but I could feel her enthusiasm for it, and it got me more into the activities than usual. Eric would laugh to find out I’d come to the rodeo again, which I’d sworn not to do after breaking things off with Tina.
“Oh, yeah,” she said as we rose from our seats and joined the stream of spectators leaving the arena to check out the midway. There were games, food, and bands performing out there from morning until night. I could use something to eat right about now, and then we could poke around the rest of the carnival if Hailey wanted.
On our way out, Hailey snagged a traveling vendor who just happened to be walking by and bought a huge salted pretzel. This time when she offered me some, I accepted. She pulled a hunk off and handed it to me before taking an enormous bite of what was left in her hands, her eyes rolling to the sky for a moment at how great it tasted.
“I don’t know what I expected coming here,” she started, her eyes still moving ever everything, as though she’d never quite seen such a spectacle. “But it wasn’t this. The barrel racing was so thrilling. I can see why people are attracted to this sort of thing. And the food is amazing!” She took another large bite of her pretzel.
“Well, isn’t that the point of your research?” I asked in a teasing tone I’d taken to using whenever I wanted to poke fun at her, which was often. “To understand us country folks a little better?”
She laughed at that, her blue eyes sparkling as she bumped her shoulder into my arm. “That’s exactly right. Thanks for showing this city mouse around.”
I smiled too. “Well, let’s have ourselves a good look around at the rest of the carnival. There’s lots more food where this came from. Rides too.”
Her eyes grew wider. The girl did love to eat, which was something else to like about her. “Lead the way!”
Laughing, I popped the rest of the pretzel into my mouth and began to move through the crush of people. Hailey took hold of my arm to keep from losing me, and I smiled again at the sensation of her warm hands on my arm. At just that moment, I counted the day a perfect one.