drive from Lost Creek, so he hadn’t been able to work in seeing Silvia since last weekend.
Thanks, darlin’. Did I tell you that you’re my favorite everything?
Haha. You’re a sap.
I won’t deny it. And good luck with your meeting tonight.
I think I’m going to lock myself in my bedroom.
Don’t you dare.
Kidding. Sort of.
You’ll be fine. Just listen to your gut. You’ll know how to manage things.
Silvia’s barbeque sauce had been a success at Mariah’s Bakery this past week, attracting attention from surrounding towns. A grocery store distributor had talked to Mariah, who’d directed them to Silvia. And tonight, the distributor was going to meet with Silvia and talk about a possible contract.
It was all going so fast, but Westin was proud of her. She refused to let her brother know, and Westin didn’t have the best knowledge of this type of business, but one of the women at the ranch had once owned a mom-and-pop shop. Glory someone. She’d be in the meeting, too.
Silvia’s text chimed. I wish I had as much confidence in myself as you seem to have in me.
Westin really wanted to call her, to hear her voice, to tell her just how amazing she truly was. But he also knew their next phone call needed to be about his communication with Axel. How could he skirt around that when he was talking to her? As much as he wanted the weight of his upcoming confession off his chest, it would have to wait until he wasn’t about to go ride in an event, and she was about to attend a major meeting.
Then just borrow my belief in you tonight, darlin’, he wrote. I’ll call you when I’m done with my event and see how it went.
She merely marked his text with a thumbs-up, so he took that as she was now focusing on her meeting. Which was good.
He climbed out of his truck and gathered up his gear, then he headed into the arena. Tonight wasn’t a big competition night, not as far as the other bull riders who’d entered the event. But he also couldn’t let his guard down. He thought of how Silvia was doing something hard tonight, and so he could do something hard as well. Stay focused, ride well, and not get injured.
Well, that last bit might be hard to control, because his shoulder had never really recovered from being thrown that day in Lost Creek a few weeks ago. Yeah, he was able to manage the pain with some ibuprofen, but he couldn’t really baby it during competitions. His only solution was to skip a few workouts here and there, so he didn’t aggravate it.
Besides, it would heal. Eventually. It had to. He knew he should get it looked at by a doctor, but frankly, Westin didn’t want to hear bad news. Surgery for a bull rider usually meant his career was over. And he wasn’t ready for that to happen.
“West, I didn’t know you were coming.”
Westin turned at the sound of the familiar voice. Lars was standing with a few other cowboys, none of whom he recognized.
West walked over to greet everyone, and Lars introduced them to each other.
“Oh, so you’re Bud Farr’s kid?” said one of the younger cowboys, who’d been introduced as Mike. “That guy could ride.”
Westin smiled. He heard this a lot, and it was true, so he never contradicted it. But he could hold his own as well.
Lars clapped him on the back. “Well, you boys are in for a real treat tonight. Westin here is even better.”
“Hold up, man,” Westin said. “I wouldn’t go that far.”
“I’m up for a bet,” Mike cut in.
The other guys laughed, and before Westin could say one more thing, they were all placing bets on his ride.
With a laugh, Westin said, “You guys can do what you want. I’m not having any part of this. Good luck to y’all.” He tipped his hat and headed toward the bullpens to check out the livestock.
Lars caught up with him. “Hey, man, how’s it going?”
“Good.” Westin looked over at him. “You riding saddle bronc?”
“Yep.”
Westin never knew with Lars, since the guy could do several events. Westin had tried them all, but like his dad, he kept coming back to bull riding.
They reached the livestock pen, and Westin draped his arms over the fence to watch the bulls. He’d find out who he drew soon enough, but for now, he wanted to check all of them out.
Lars joined him at the fence, leaning against