Home on the Ranch: Rodeo Legend

by Pamela Britton

  “Whoa.” Ava laughed. “Slow down there, partner. Things will happen when they happen.”

  “But do you think we could go over there more?”

  So Ava could spend time with Carson. Where? she wondered. In the bunkhouse he shared with his brothers and cousin? That would be romantic.

  She shoved the thought away. “We’ll talk to Carson about it later.”

  That seemed to satisfy her daughter. Ava bit back a smile, one that faded as they pulled in to the equestrian facility a short time later. Her nerves had returned in full force.

  “One day, I want a place just like this.”

  Ava smiled. “That’s a nice dream.”

  Bella pinned her with a stare. “You watch. I’ll have a place just like this one day.”

  She stared at the determination in her daughter’s eyes and suddenly didn’t doubt it. “You have good taste. This place is beautiful.”

  “It is,” Bella said. “Mr. Gillian told me the owners are big-time cutting people. They travel all over the country. So does Flynn, Carson’s brother. He couldn’t come to this show, which is why Carson is here. That’s pretty much all Carson’s dad does these days, cutting horse competitions. That’s what Carson told me yesterday.”

  They entered the facility and though it’d dawned a chilly desert morning, inside almost felt warm.

  “I forgot to tell you, Mommy, that yesterday, when I was riding in the arena, people were asking who I was. It was so cool. I felt like a celebrity. Everyone knew who Snazzy was. I guess she’s won a ton of stuff and I get to ride her.”

  Because of Carson. Because of the whole Gillian family, actually. Ava couldn’t begin to put into words how much that meant to her. Sure, she was terrified of her daughter competing, but it was outweighed by the joy on Bella’s face. She’d never seen her so animated. And the bad dreams she’d been having? Gone. She supposed she had Carson to thank for that.

  “Good morning,” Reese Gillian said when he realized they’d arrived. He looked at Bella. “You excited?”

  “I think I’m going to puke,” she said again.

  “That’s only normal.”

  Carson came out of the tack room then, a bridle over his arm, and their gazes connected with the force of a lightning rod. She felt herself blush. He’d left so suddenly yesterday, but she’d been grateful when, not ten minutes after he was gone, Bella had knocked on their hotel room door.

  “Is there anything she should be doing?”

  Carson shook his head. “I’ve already got Snazzy all tacked up. All you need to do is get on and practice a little. Class starts in a half hour.”

  “Mom,” Bella said. “I forgot my hat in the car.”

  “I’ll go get it.”

  It was one thing after another after that. Bella needed a brush next. She needed Ava to pick up her competition number from the show office. Could she help do her hair? Was her shirt buttoned right?

  Ava was okay with playing fetch-and-carry because, truth be told, she was probably more nervous than her daughter. Horses still scared her—something about their size still freaked her out—so she kept her distance. She preferred to hang back and watch as Carson reviewed with Bella what she’d be doing in the arena. Bella had told her they’d already gone over it at least a dozen times. From what Ava understood, all Bella had to do was pick a cow out of a herd and stop it from returning to its friends. Simple.

  “You want to go watch from the grandstands?” Carson’s dad asked her. “I think Carson’s going to stay with Bella to help steady her nerves.”

  “Sure,” Ava said. Then to Bella she asked, “Are you okay if I leave?”

  “Mom, I’ll be fine. Me and Carson have got this.”

  Reese smiled at Ava. “I’ll meet you up there, then. Going to grab us a couple waters real quick. You go on ahead and find a seat before it gets too crowded.”

  Easier said than done. The place was a maze with all the stalls. She headed toward the center, figuring that was the most likely place for an arena. She turned out to be wrong. The whole left side of the building was where horses and riders competed, stalls taking up the right side.

  “All right, everyone,” said a man over a loudspeaker. “Fifteen-minute call to the first class. Order of go is posted. Make sure you’re at the back gate and ready. First rider out, remember to stay in the arena and help settle the herd after your go.”

  Fifteen minutes. By the time she found a seat in the grandstands along the short side of the building, she understood why Reese had asked her to find somewhere to sit. The place was packed. In the arena a herd of young cows stood huddled together, some of them calling out, others moving around. Two mounted cowboys kept them at the end opposite where she sat. A scoreboard hung above them. Bella would go fifth in the class. Carson said that was good. For some reason you didn’t want to go first, although no one had told her why.

  “How do you think Hannah’s going to do?” she heard a woman ask another woman sitting behind her. “That new horse of hers working out?”

  “He’s great,” the woman said, “but there’s no way in hell it’ll beat that Gillian horse. Oh, well. Not much you can do about it.”

  “You never know,” said the friend. “I hear the little girl who’s riding it is new to cutting. She could easily make a mistake or two.”

  “I heard the same thing. And that Carson Gillian is screwing the mom, which is how the little girl scored such a nice ride.”

  Ava couldn’t help herself. She turned, but the two women were in their own little world. One was a bleached blonde who had more sparkles on her shirt than a disco ball. The other was a brunette who wasn’t dressed as flashy as her friend but wore enough silver jewelry to drown herself if she happened upon a flood.

  “I wouldn’t mind doing Carson if it meant a better ride for my kid.”

  “No kidding, right?” said the blonde. “But you know how it is with Carson. It never lasts very long.”

  “I don’t know. This time he might hang around. Heard the mom’s a doctor. Makes a lot of money. Carson likes them wealthy. Remember Katarina? Means he doesn’t have to work as hard. Or so I’ve heard.”

  That did it. Ava stood. She wanted—oh, how she wanted—to turn around and give the women a piece of her mind. Instead she scanned the bleachers for a different place to sit, somewhere far away from the two sniping women, but she made eye contact with the blonde as she turned away. She might have held the woman’s gaze a bit longer than what was polite, too, but she just didn’t care.

  Screwing Carson so Bella had a good horse to ride. Her heart was beating so fast from a surge of anger-driven adrenaline that her hands shook. And Carson screwing her for her money. He wasn’t doing that.

  Was he?

  No, she quickly told herself, finding a place to sit all the way on the other side of the grandstand. That wasn’t the case at all. Carson wasn’t that way. Plus, he’d told her himself that he had plenty of his own money. Those women were just repeating gossip and, like most rumors, it wasn’t true.

  She hoped.

  Chapter 18

  He’d spotted her sitting in the bleachers with his dad. Carson absently patted Snazzy’s neck as Bella awaited her turn. Ava looked pale sitting up there and he knew it had to be hard for her to watch Bella when she was so afraid of horses.

  “That black steer looks pretty good,” Bella said.

  Carson looked up at her and for a moment he forgot about his troubles and what he was going to do about Ava. Bella wore a black cowboy hat and a turquoise button-down, a paisley scarf around her neck with purples and greens and blues. It all combined to make her look like a seasoned pro. Her observation about the black steer was spot-on, too. He’d noticed the same steer during the first run.

  “That one and the brindle look pretty good, I’m thinking.”

  She nodded, eyes intently stud
ying the herd of steers. Amazing that she’d just started to ride a few weeks ago. And that she so quickly understood the intricacies of a cutting horse competition.

  “I see my mom,” Bella said, waving.

  Ava waved back and, for some reason, he suddenly felt tense, and he had no idea why. He’d been to dozen of these things. Nobody expected Bella to win. That’d be a huge surprise. But he wanted Bella to win, he admitted, wanted to impress the heck out of Ava with his training skills.

  “Okay,” he said, looking up at Bella. “Let’s trot her around a moment. Your turn is coming up.”

  Bella nodded, turning Snazzy around and then kicking her into a trot. He watched her ride, marveling at how well she sat in the saddle already. He’d thought about putting her in a beginner class, but Snazzy was no beginner cutting horse and so he didn’t think that’d be fair to the other riders. So Bella was riding in the youth cutting against seasoned competitors and he hoped like hell she didn’t fall off. Ava would probably have a heart attack.

  “Is she ready?” asked the ring steward.

  “As she’ll ever be,” Carson quipped, waving Bella over.

  “Good luck,” he said, winking at her.

  She seemed petrified. For a moment he wondered if she’d chicken out. He should have known better. The kid was a chip off the old block, squaring her shoulders and lifting her chin. Snazzy’s head came up when the gate opened. The old cow horse knew how the game was played. She’d take good care of his girl.

  His.

  He smiled. She did feel sort of like his kid. He’d gotten close to her in the preceding weeks. He just hoped she remembered everything he’d taught her.

  He shouldn’t have worried. She took her sweet time assessing the cattle, finding the black steer they’d been talking about earlier, which had retreated deep into the herd—a stroke of luck on their part. She had to cut at least one steer that wasn’t along the edges or in front. Snazzy seemed to read her young rider’s mind, heading straight for the animal in question, and Bella sat so quietly in the saddle it seemed as if she used mind control.

  “Atta girl,” he said softly. “Ease it away.”

  He glanced at the clock. Over a minute still left to work. Plenty of time to put on a show. And show off she did, because once Bella had the steer off on its own, it tried like the dickens to return to its friends. But Snazzy and Bella kept it back, the horse ducking left then right and then left again, and Bella hanging on like she’d been born into the sport.

  “Atta girl,” he said more loudly, whistling his approval.

  He saw Bella glance at the clock, knew she’d remembered she had to cut at least one more steer from the herd, maybe even two, time permitting. She went after the brindle next and, if anything, the damn thing was better than the first, the crowd erupting into applause when Snazzy did a quick duck left and then right, like a prize fighter avoiding a blow. The steer ran. Snazzy did, too, and Carson’s heart was in his throat when Bella slid back in the saddle.

  Too fast.

  If Snazzy hit the brakes, Bella might fall off. His hands gripped the railing, but the darn kid hung on. She regained her seat and the crowd roared its approval when Snazzy swung back in the other direction at a million miles per hour. Well, not that fast, but it seemed like it to Carson, who felt like he might have a heart attack. Was this how his dad felt when one of his kids competed? If so, he had a whole new respect for the old man.

  With thirty seconds left on the clock, Bella pulled Snazzy up. He thought she might call it, but no, the kid picked a third steer, a little brown-and-white that quickly took off. Snazzy was right on her tail. Carson had no idea how she managed to hold the thing back, but Bella did, and when the buzzer sounded Carson found himself jumping up on the fence, clapping so hard his palms stung, and yelling, “Good job, Bella!” as loud as he could.

  She must have heard him, because Bella turned toward him, her smile so wide it nearly matched the brim of her hat. She looked as excited as a kid who’d discovered a pony on Christmas morning. And as he stared into Bella’s brilliant eyes, an ache began to build in his chest. It was the strangest sensation, and it only grew the closer Bella got to him.

  “I did it!” she squealed.

  “Yes, you did.”

  The ache turned into a softness and the softness into an emotion so pure, he instantly knew what it was. Love.

  It was the same thing he’d felt last night as he’d stared into Ava’s eyes.

  * * *

  Ava made her way down to Bella as quickly as she could, but not before making eye contact with the two women in the grandstand. They stared at her curiously as she passed by and she knew it wasn’t nice of her, but she hoped they watched her walk up to Carson and that they’d realize she’d been sitting in front of them.

  “I am so proud of you,” Carson was saying as she walked up.

  “Did you see my score? Seventy five. I was just hoping to break into the sixties.”

  Ava hung back for a moment. Carson stared into Bella’s eyes and the pride on his face—and also the joy—made her watch him for a second, transfixed. If ever she wondered if a man could love Bella as much as she did, the answer was right there in Carson’s face.

  “Mom!”

  She hadn’t even noticed Bella turning toward her. She was off Snazzy and tossing Carson the reins before she could blink, nearly knocking her hat off her head when she threw herself into Ava’s arms.

  “Wasn’t that great!”

  “It was amazing,” Ava said, hugging her and closing her eyes and wondering why she felt so completely out of sorts. “You were perfect.”

  “Well, not perfect. I could have held on to that second steer a little longer. It started to get away from me and I chickened out so I took a third. Carson said I should have stuck with the two.”

  And listen to her sounding so professional. Even more surprising, Ava understood what she was saying.

  “You did great.”

  “Do you think I’ll win?” Bella asked, turning back to Carson.

  “I think it’s too early to tell. There’s quite a few more kids to go.”

  “It doesn’t matter,” Bella said, heading back to Snazzy. “You’re such a good horse.” She leaned in and hugged the horse’s head and Ava marveled at how Bella could be so completely horse crazy when she hadn’t been raised around them.

  Carson’s gaze met her own.

  She forgot all about Bella and horses and the people around them. Why did it always feel this way when she looked at him? Like she was about to zip-line across a canyon.

  “I’m proud of her,” he said.

  Her heart flipped over for a whole other reason. “Me, too.”

  Bella had one of the highest scores of the class, right up until the end when a girl who had to be at least five years older than Bella came in and blew the crowd away. Ava and Reese watched from the grandstand while Bella and Carson put Snazzy away.

  “Oh, well,” Reese said as they made their way to the barn. “She still got second. That’s pretty remarkable for her first show in that deep a competition.”

  “She’s ecstatic.” Someone waved at Reese. It seemed as if everyone knew who Reese was. They hadn’t been in the grandstand thirty seconds before someone had sat next to him and started talking. It hadn’t stopped since.

  “Thank you so much for this, Reese.” Ava motioned around them. “I feel so blessed to have met you and the family. Bella is in heaven.”

  “She’s a good kid,” Reese said. “You should start thinking about getting her a horse.”

  She nodded. “I’ve had the same thought.”

  “You know, Snazzy’s for sale.”

  Ava nodded. “I’m almost afraid to ask the price.”

  “I’ll make you a deal.”

  She had a feeling even a “deal” would be way out of her price range
. “Let me know how much of a deal and we’ll talk.”

  “Fair enough.” Reese waved to someone else. “You two going to the wine and cheese thing tonight?”

  She had no idea. She’d overheard someone talking about it, but she and Bella hadn’t discussed the matter.

  “I don’t know. I’ll have to ask Bella.”

  “I might have her get up on some of our other horses tonight, after the show’s over. You mind if she’s a little late?”

  “She’d love that.”

  “Good for her, too. Helps to ride more than one horse. Build her legs.” Someone waved Reese over and he smiled. “Got to go. If you want, leave Bella here. She’ll learn a lot by hanging out and watching other runs today.”

  He left her then and Ava wondered if the old rancher was trying to give her some alone time with his son, and if so, why? Carson had been pretty quiet this morning—well, other than when Bella had come out of the ring—but he hadn’t seemed anxious to get her alone again. Not that she wanted that, not with Bella around. They would need to think about how to tell her daughter about the two of them.

  “Mom, look at this!” Bella ran to her, a ribbon with red streamers in her hand. “Second place.”

  She looked as excited as if she’d gotten first. Her hair was creased where her hat had sat and one of her cheeks had a streak of dirt on it, but Ava had never seen her child so happy. It warmed her heart, made her think she was just overthinking things where Carson was concerned.

  “That’s great, honey.”

  “Carson said he’s going to take me out to dinner to celebrate, but not tonight because tonight you have the wine and cheese thing.”

  “I don’t have to go to that,” Ava said.

  “No, Mom. Go. I want you to go. And Kylie said I could hang with her tonight.”

  “Kylie? Who’s Kylie?”

  “She was in the class before mine. The novice class. We met while I was waiting at the back gate. She’s really nice. They’re staying at the same hotel.”

  “I don’t know—”