Have Mercy - Christina Lee Page 0,54
wouldn’t soon forget.
“So tell me what I’m about to experience,” I said as I sipped the foamy beer. It actually felt good to be away from the farm for a couple of hours—not that I’d ever choose a rodeo to attend on my own, but I had a feeling I just might enjoy myself with the company alone.
“A rodeo is divided into two categories of events—the ones that are timed, like bull and bronc riding, and the rough stock events, like steer wrestling and roping.”
“Roping, huh?” I said, and his amused eyes turned in my direction before he became too aware of himself and his surroundings. “Sorry, just messing around.”
There was a brief moment when I felt the pressure of his shoulder against mine before it was gone, and the effect was like a pile of feathers had been let loose in my belly.
I cleared my throat and sipped more of the cool amber liquid, hoping it would calm my racing pulse. “Have you ever done any of the stuff you mentioned?”
“I tried out for the roping team once for all the wrong reasons—probably to prove somethin’—but I wasn’t very good compared to the professionals you’ll see today.”
I squinted toward a group of cowboys standing near the bull enclosure. “So they make money doing this? It isn’t just for the thrill of it?”
“Definitely both,” he replied. “Especially if you’re on the circuit year-round. Hunter went semi-pro in barrel racing for a couple of years after high school. But it can be a hard life. You live on the road and do around thirty shows a year, sometimes more, and my parents weren’t exactly going for it.”
“Because of the ranch?”
He nodded. “My dad always said he needed him too much.”
I couldn’t help wondering if Hunter held a grudge about Kerry leaving the ranch, and if it had anything to do with his rodeo days being over.
“Do you think he misses it?”
Just as I had the thought, Hunter showed up with a bunch of other cowboys. As they scanned the stands for empty seats, his eyes locked on Kerry’s. He tipped his chin before following his friends to another row of seats a distance away.
“He probably does, though he never discusses it with me,” Kerry replied with a tight jaw. “Shows up to every rodeo in town, so he definitely still enjoys it.”
“Was there ever a time you and Hunter actually got along and hung out together?”
“Not really. We don’t see eye to eye on much. And those friends of his would never accept someone like me.” My fist clenched as he made a frustrated sound. “They might not say anything to my face, but I know what they’re thinkin’.”
“Damn, I’m sorry.” When I pressed my shoulder against his, he pressed back.
“It is what it is.” He sighed. “But Travis and I have always been close, even more so with both of us having kids, and he keeps me in the loop on family stuff. Honest truth is, being the oldest, my dad expected me to take over the family business.”
“And that wasn’t something you wanted?” I asked even though I’d heard Sienna’s version of the story about them opening the farm.
“No, but hell if I wasn’t afraid to say it out loud. I think my mom always knew, though.” He looked off into the distance as if recalling some memory. “Some days I’d disappear down a trail to one of the ponds, wanting a quiet moment to think. She’d always find me, try to encourage me when my father was giving me a hard time.”
“You, quietly thinking?” I said in a shocked voice, and he cracked a smile. “Yeah, moms always seem to have a way of knowing.”
“They certainly do.”
I thought about my walks around the farm, realizing I’d never made it as far as the fence that divided their properties. “Where are the ponds?”
“We have one on our property—hell, it just occurred to me that you haven’t really seen all of the farm. We should go for a ride on—”
My hand sprang up as my stomach dropped, that same anxiety creeping back in. “Pretty sure I’m not ready for a horse ride.”
He sobered. “No, it’s cool. I meant on the four-wheelers. I’ll even race you, soldier boy.”
“You’ve got a deal, cowboy.”
There was more pressing of shoulders together, and right then, I didn’t think I’d want to be anywhere else except talking to Kerry in the middle of a rodeo.
“Anyway,” he said. “What we have at the farm is pretty much