CHAPTER FIVE
The heat under the bright lights inside the Ford Truck Center Arena caused a sheen of sweat to coat Austin’s body. He wiped his arm across his forehead, then dropped his hat onto his head.
“You’re sweatin’ like a whore in church.” Nolan checked the cinch on Bourbon’s saddle, then ran his hand across the gelding’s shoulder. “What’s up, bro?”
“Nothing. Just ready to get this over with.” He blew out a breath, willed himself to settle down before Jacko picked up on his nervousness.
“Nothing to do with your new lady friend watching in the stands?” Nolan grinned. “Don’t want to mess up in front of her?”
Natalie had offered to sit with Casey. He’d jumped at her offer because normally unless Nolan’s girlfriend was along, Casey had to sit alone. In this increasingly scary world, he hated to leave her.
“It doesn’t have anything to do with Natalie.”
“Then the fact that the Wicked Bitch of the West is out here somewhere too?”
Alaina wouldn’t have to be ready to barrel race for a couple of hours yet. No doubt he could avoid seeing her altogether, but he didn’t want a surprise run-in. And she was damn good at them.
“I don’t care about her.”
“Since when?”
He met his brother’s dubious gaze. “I just care that Casey gets what’s coming to her from Alaina. That’s the only reason I still talk to her. She told me to call her mom. I don’t care if I ever cross paths with Alaina again.”
Nolan nodded in approval. “Good for you. ‘Bout time you gave up on that train wreck.”
“Moving on to greener pastures.”
“Would that particular pasture have a name that starts with ‘N’ and ends with ‘atalie’?” Nolan grinned. “The two of you were getting awfully close this afternoon.”
“Shut up.” He hated Nolan’s teasing. He removed his rope from the saddle, then let it drop. Coiling it gave him something to do with his nervous hands.
“Two to go.” Nolan squinted in the direction of the gates, but there wasn’t much to see from back here. “Is your head in the right place? Not gonna get all distracted by Miss Breakaway, are you?”
“I’m fine.” He gritted his teeth. “Wait and see.”
“You never let me down.”
“You better not let me down. Heading’s easy.”
“Everything’s easy with enough practice.” Nolan stretched his arms overhead, then in front of him. “We’re gonna score big. National Finals, here we come.”
“From your lips to God’s ears.”
One of the teams headed back through the gates. One more in front of them, and then they’d be out on the sandy arena.
“Let’s mount up.” Nolan swung into Bourbon’s saddle.
Austin’s heart thundered in his chest. Go time.
In less than five minutes, they were lined up on either side of the chute where their steer waited.
It broke from the gate. Jacko didn’t need the tap from Austin’s heels to set off after the steer. The horse, born for every moment in the arena, took off.
Austin set his rope into motion, flying in a loop over and in front of his head. The loop fell over the steer’s horns.
Just behind him, a second rope shot out and captured the steer’s right rear hoof. The animal staggered as the ropes pulled taut.
The crowd roared with applause. With a flick, Austin released the horns and headed back for the gates. Nolan followed a moment later.
“Good job, buddy.” Nolan slapped him on the shoulder as their horses walked side by side.
The announcer’s voice came over the PA. “Austin and Nolan Locke. Time of four seconds.”
“Sweet.” Nolan grinned. “I’d swear it took you ten minutes to let that rope fly.”
Austin laughed. “Yeah, right back at you. Now if I can glue myself to that bronc’s back for eight seconds, I’ll call it a good day.”
“You got this.”
Getting in a good ride was a complete gamble, but he’d had more than a fair few, or he wouldn’t be where he was. “Thanks, Nolan.”
“Let’s take the horses for a rest, then go find those pretty girls waiting for you in the stands.”
* * * *
“Your dad was fantastic, Casey. You must be so proud.” Natalie drew the girl close in a one-armed hug. “He makes a good team with Nolan.”
“They get on one another’s nerves sometimes, but they’re really good at roping.” Casey pushed her glasses up her nose. “We can wait here till they come find us. Daddy doesn’t like me wandering around the rodeo grounds by myself.”
“Who can blame him? You’re adorable. I’m really glad you let me sit with you tonight.”
“You’re welcome.” Casey gave her a shy smile.
“What do we have here?” On the edge of the aisle, right next to Natalie, Alaina tapped her fancy pink boot against the concrete step. “Hello, Casey.”
Casey squirmed in her seat. “Hi.”
“Hello, Alaina.” Natalie sat up a little straighter. “How are you?”
“Just wondering why you’re hanging out with Austin’s daughter.” Alaina reached into her pocket. She drew out a few dollar bills. “Casey, you want to go get a hot dog?”
Casey shook her head. “I already had dinner. Daddy said I don’t need any junk food.”
“I’m sure he thinks he knows best, but it’s not really fair that all these other people around here have a snack. I’ll tell him I said it was okay. Give me and this lady a minute to talk, will you?” She gave Casey a sickly-sweet smile.
“Um, I’m not supposed to wander off from Natalie.” Casey wrang her hands together. “I can’t go to the concession stand.”
“Look, I need a minute with your friend. So go.” She thrust the money toward Casey. “Get yourself a drink or something.”
Natalie rose. “I don’t really think that’s appropriate. You’re obviously not her guardian.”
“Oh, like you are?” Alaina rolled her eyes.
“Since Austin asked me to watch her, right now, I’m close enough.”
“Fine. Then I guess we can talk about her daddy right in front of her.” Alaina glanced at Casey, then met Natalie’s gaze again. Her eyes were steely. “He’s not what you think.”
“Oh, really? And what is it I think about him?” She folded her arms. “Do tell.”
“That’s he’s this super-sweet, modest cowboy with Casey’s best interests at heart. Well, let me tell you, that’s all he thinks about. He’ll forget you even exist so long as Casey is happy. Whatever you want or think will get put on the back burner. He’s never around because he likes his roping and his broncs so much. Every other time, it’s Casey needs this or Casey needs that. He’s probably conned my mom and dad out of thousands trying to ‘take care of Casey’.” She made air quotes with her fingers. “Believe me, you’re better off getting out of whatever you’re calling a relationship right now.”
Casey stared at the sticky floor, her face ghostly white except for two bright red splotches on her cheeks. She looked like she was about to choke on a bone. Her eyes were damp, but she held back her tears.
“Alaina, I think you’ve said more than enough.” Not at all intimidated by the other woman’s abrasive manner, Natalie reclaimed her seat. “I’d say it was nice chatting with you, but that would make me a liar too.”
“Whatever. You’ll see. Don’t say I didn’t warn you.” Alaina tossed her hair over her shoulder, then bounded down the steps.
“You okay?” Natalie leaned close to Casey. It might be too bold to put her arms around the little girl. She dug in her purse and pulled out a tissue. “Here, blow your nose.”
Casey’s breath came out ragged. “She hates me.”
“She doesn’t hate you. She just…” Probably hated that any female had stood between her and Austin. He took parenthood a whole lot more seriously than Alaina did. “She’s self-centered. Some people are.”
“She’s my mom,” Casey whispered. She squeezed her eyes shut. “I never knew anybody whose mom hated them so much. I don’t know why it had to be me.”
“Aww, please don’t cry.”
A sniffle turned into a sob and the dam broke. She leaned over and put her arms around Natalie’s waist.
Natalie hugged her back. Stupid. I should have taken the conversation away from Casey. That won’t happen again. “I’m so sorry you had to hear all that. You know your dad loves you. He’d do anything for you.”
“Yeah, but Uncle Nolan’s right. Daddy is always with me. He’s never going to find a girlfriend like that. He’ll always be sad because he can’t get married.”
“Oh, honey. I don’t think he seems unhappy. He wants what’s best for you. Right now that’s your schooling and taking care of you. You shouldn’t worry about things like this.”
“I don’t want him to be mad at me because Alaina is. I don’t want to ruin his life.”
“In no way did you ruin his life. That’s nonsense. I don’t want to hear it come from your mouth again.” She hugged Casey tightly. “He loves you so much. Enough that he got you away from Alaina and her bad attitude. That’s a pretty deep love.”
Casey sniffed, then blew her nose. “I guess.”
“Trust me, I can tell. Now dry your eyes. Your dad and uncle will be here any minute and I don’t want them thinking we had an argument.”
“Are you going to tell him what Alaina said?” Casey frowned. “I don’t think you should. He’s gonna be so mad.”
“He’d be madder if I didn’t tell and he found out some other way. It’s not right to keep this secret from him.”
Casey wiped her eyes, then replaced her glasses. “Then don’t tell him till after he rides, because it’ll make him lose. I don’t want to be the reason he loses. He needs to win.”
“Yeah, I can understand your logic there.” No matter when she told him, Austin was going to flip. And he had every right to. But no sense upsetting him before his second event of the night. “Okay, let’s make a quick trip to the restroom and wash your face. If he’s going to believe we’re having fun, we’d better find a way to put the smiles back on our faces.”