Rodeo Hero

by Vannatter, Shannon Taylor;

  “Let me.” He gently dabbed her nose with his napkin then pinched off a bite of funnel cake and held it near her mouth.

  “You want to feed it to me?” One skeptical eyebrow rose.

  “I’m just trying to keep you from getting so messy.”

  Reluctantly she opened her mouth.

  He carefully set the delectable treat on her tongue. “See? No mess.”

  The mess was the jumble that used to be his heart.

  ❧

  Stetson did a head count as the kids loaded on the bus. He waited until all were seated then called each teen’s name from his clipboard, marking them off as they answered. Checked and double-checked, they were all there. Along with Rayna, Clay, and Kendra.

  “I appreciate everyone being at the gate on time. Did y’all have fun today?”

  Shouts and cheers filled the bus.

  Joe raised his hand. “I saw a PDA.”

  “Get with me later on that.”

  “It was you and Kendra.”

  Stetson’s ears burned. He couldn’t risk a look at Kendra. Instead, he focused on the clipboard.

  Cheers and whistles echoed.

  “Kendra and Stetson are adults.” Rayna laughed. “PDAs don’t apply to them.”

  “I can assure you, there weren’t any.” Stetson cleared his throat.

  “You held her hand.” Joe accused, obviously enjoying Stetson’s torment.

  The girls giggled.

  “We were going to get food. It was crowded, and I was afraid we’d get separated.”

  “What about when you touched her face? Twice.”

  Whispers swept through the bus.

  “He was brushing the wet hair out of my eyes after the log flume.” Kendra’s voice quivered.

  “And then I helped her get powdered sugar off her nose.”

  “What about when you fed her the funnel cake?”

  “I think you’ve had enough fun at my expense, Joe.” Stetson managed a halfway natural sounding laugh. “Unless I hear bad reports, we’ll do this again. Except for eagle-eye Joe.”

  Laughter swept through the bus, and Stetson glanced Kendra’s way.

  Red-faced, she stared out the window, not a hint of a smile.

  ❧

  Kendra stood at the back door of the church as Stetson, underneath a canopy with his back to her, worked the huge grill. She should have known something was up when Rayna insisted she take lemonade out to the Labor Day chef. Rayna would pay later.

  She straightened, sucked in a deep breath, and walked up to him. “Rayna thought you could use a drink.”

  “Bless her.” Stetson drained the glass then pressed it against his cheek.

  Great! Make me feel bad. Bad enough to bring another glass. “Are you almost finished?”

  “This should be the last batch.” He set the glass on the table with his utensils and crumpled wads of blackened foil. “We’re planning to start work on our float on Friday, after the kids get out of school. Will that work for you?”

  “I’m not sure.”

  “You have other plans?”

  “No. But I never said I’d help with the float. I don’t even know when the parade is.”

  “We could use your artistic eye. The Peanut Festival is always the first Saturday in October.” He pulled off an innocent shrug. “And I thought you were in, so I kind of already told the kids you were helping. The girls are excited.”

  Roped her right into it. “They want their hair braided again.”

  “Why don’t you want to help out? You were great at Six Flags.”

  Yeah, right. When he’d talked about a wife to help him with the youth. But she could never be that wife, no matter how much she wanted to be. She’d have to come clean with him about her past—and there was nothing clean about her past.

  She cleared her throat. “I was so uncomfortable with Joe’s teasing. If I show up again, will they think we’re dating?”

  “Maybe. But so what? We’re unmarried adults. We can date if we want to.”

  Just hearing him say it made her heart dizzy. “But we’re not.” And they couldn’t. “I don’t want anyone to get the wrong impression.”

  “What would be so bad about people thinking we’re dating?”

  “Look Stetson, I haven’t been the stellar Christian saint like you. I could hurt your reputation.”

  “We all have to start somewhere in our walk. And from where I sit—your walk since I’ve known you is pretty impressive.” He flipped a few burgers on the grill. Sizzles grew louder as grease dripped onto the hot coals. “Come on, the girls are counting on you.”

  He just didn’t understand how very late she’d started in her walk. Way too late for him.“I don’t get off work until five, so it will probably be six before I can make it.” She rubbed both hands up and down her arms. “Maybe even six thirty, depends on traffic.”

  “That’s fine. We’ll probably be working on it Fridays and Saturdays all month. Except for next Saturday. I made tentative plans to visit the soup kitchen then. Will that work for you?”

  “I’m not sure how my photography will add to the visit to the soup kitchen.”

  “With pictures, they won’t forget. And the kids interested in photography are really excited. Especially Lynn.”

  She shrugged. “I guess I can make it.”

  “Great.”

  “I think your burgers are burning.”

  Stetson turned back to the grill, and Kendra vaulted back to the church.

  ❧

  It didn’t look much like a Bible to Kendra.

  Underneath the large oak beside the church, four sawhorses held two four-by-eight sheets of plywood, left to dry. The teens had painted one side black and the other white.

  Maybe after it was hinged together she’d see Stetson’s vision.

  Kendra and several girls secured a long roll of black plastic sheeting down the side of the flatbed trailer. Careful to let it hang low enough to cover the tires but not touch the ground, Stetson and three boys stapled the covering in place.

  “I need something with wording on it.” Stetson crawled along the edge of the trailer, stapling as he went. “Got any ideas, Kendra?”

  “What kind of wording?”

  “Doesn’t matter long as there’s words in black on a white background.”

  “Paper? We could type words.”

  “That would take forever, loads of paper and tons of typing. Once we hinge the plywood together, I want words on the inside, so it looks like a Bible.”

  Ohhh, that would make it look like a Bible. She tapped a fingertip against her chin. “Maybe fabric. We might find something at Jo-Ann Fabric and Crafts. They have one in Denton.”

  “Perfect.” He stopped stapling to check his watch. “What time do they close tonight?”

  “I have no clue, but I can check. Lynn, can you hold my spot, too?”

  Kendra dug her iPhone out of her jeans pocket and googled Jo-Anns. “Looks like they stay open till nine.”

  “Great. I’ll drive. Can you help me shop?”

  ten

  She swallowed hard. “Shouldn’t someone stay here with the kids?”

  “As soon as we finish this, we can’t do anything else until the plywood dries.”

  “We could all go,” Joe said. “Most of us don’t have to be home early since tomorrow’s Saturday, and we’ve got the bus.”

  “Call your parents and get permission. Tell ’em we’ll probably eat at Whataburger and be home by ten. Kendra and I will finish up here.”

  The kids scattered.

  “Sounds like a plan.” Thank you, Joe. She’d much rather shop with Stetson and the teens, than be stuck with Stetson alone.

  ❧

  Rows and rows of fabric lined the store, blurring together as Stetson searched the various prints. He found yellow, pink, and brown fabric with wording, but nothing in black and white.

  “I found something,” Missy called from the middle of a long aisle. “I have no idea what
it says, but it’s black and white.”

  The teens and Kendra got to her before Stetson did. Kendra chuckled, and a few of the teens giggled.

  “What’s so funny?” Stetson joined the circle.

  “It’s The Three Stooges.” Kendra pointed to the black-and-white fabric.

  Nyuk Nyuk Nyuk Woop Woop Woop was printed all over the fabric in neat rows. Just what he needed. “Perfect.”

  “Are you sure?” Kendra frowned. “It seems almost sacrilegious to use for a Bible. What if people read what it says?”

  “They shouldn’t be able to.” Stetson shrugged. “The wording is small and the crowd will be standing on the sidewalk, several feet away. It will look like the inside of a Bible. And I doubt anyone will be trying to read it anyway.”

  Lynn giggled. “I think an eight-foot Bible will be a powerful enough witnessing tool that God will overlook what it says.”

  “Who are The Three Stooges anyway?” Joe asked.

  “And what is Nyuk, Nyuk, Nyuk and Woop, Woop, Woop?”

  “They were a comedy team. Way before your time. Way before mine and Kendra’s time. One of them was named Curly, and when he laughed, it sounded like Nyuk, Nyuk, Nyuk. I think he was the one that said ‘Woop, Woop, Woop,’ too, but I can’t remember why.”

  “I think God has a sense of humor.” Joe pulled the fabric from the rack and propped it on his shoulder, he-man style. “We’ll call it the Nyuk-Nyuk Bible.”

  “Or the Woop-Woop Bible.” Lynn giggled.

  “Um, Joe, you don’t just buy the whole bolt.” Kendra pointed to the cutting table. “You take it over there and have them cut off what you want.”

  “How much do we want?” Stetson frowned. “I don’t know anything about fabric.”

  “My aunt used to sew. I can handle it.” Kendra led the way.

  He tried not to notice her self-confident stride, perfect posture, and caramel waves bouncing around her shoulders.

  Maybe it hadn’t been such a good idea to ask her to help with the float. Working with her on so many projects certainly wouldn’t help him forget about her.

  ❧

  The long line circled the perimeter of the soup kitchen. The teens lined the wall near the serving table.

  Amazed by how many hungry people there were so close to where she lived, Kendra fought the swirl of emotions churning her stomach.

  Ladles scraped against huge dutch ovens as volunteers served the hungry—men, women, and children. Some clean, some not. Some wore clothes that barely looked worn, some wore rags.

  Stetson opened his Bible. “ ‘But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance: against such there is no law.’ ” He looked up. “Let’s focus on love first. Can anyone give me an example of love shown here today?”

  Joe raised his hand. “Because God loves us, we’re to love others. The servers are showing love by serving hungry people.”

  Kendra focused her lens on a volunteer who was patting a painfully skinny woman on the back.

  “Very good. How about joy?”

  “Because God loves us, we experience joy.” Lynn’s eyes were too shiny. “The hungry people are experiencing joy as they sit down and eat.”

  Scanning the room, Kendra saw a woman—her wrinkled, tired face radiated joy with her first spoonful of soup. In how long?

  “Good. Peace.”

  “As a result of God’s love and joy, we discover peace,” Missy said. “Some of the people who haven’t gotten their plates yet feel peace knowing that they will get food soon.”

  The faces in the line reflected curiosity, distrust, suspiciousness as their gazes darted to Stetson, Kendra, and the teens. One man smiled and joked with others around him. Kendra focused her lens.

  “Great. Longsuffering.”

  “God is longsuffering with us. He’s patient with us when we stumble and fall.” Joe scrunched his nose. “I don’t mean to be ugly, but the volunteers are longsuffering. Some of the people who come here are rude, and they don’t smell very good. But they can’t help it. They’ve been hurt and many of them are homeless, which makes it hard to get a bath.”

  Not one teen laughed. Amazing.

  Kendra zoomed in on a volunteer talking and laughing with a man she could almost smell just by looking at him.

  “Gentleness.”

  “Putting God’s love for us into practice by treating others with gentleness.” Lynn pointed to a woman in tears.

  As one of the volunteers hugged the woman, Kendra captured the image.

  “Y’all are doing great. Goodness?”

  “God’s goodness to us helps us in the way we treat others, showing compassion and kindness.”

  Her gaze went from the line to the tables, searching for something unique. With shaky, arthritic hands, a woman took a hot-pink bow from her hair and fastened it in a little girl’s ponytail.

  “Faith?”

  “Our faith in God makes us want to share His love and peace with others. The volunteers are showing their faith in God by showing these people love.”

  Kendra missed which teen gave the example as she searched for a picture. A volunteer handed a barefoot man a new pair of shoes.

  “Meekness.”

  “It takes a meek heart to submit ourselves to God. The people here show meekness by accepting that they won’t eat unless they receive help from the volunteers.”

  “Good. Temperance?”

  A loud man threw several barbed comments at the man ladling his soup into a bowl. The volunteer smiled and handed the scowling man his soup.

  “God gives us the strength and knowledge for self-control.” Jenny spoke up. “We may want to do one thing, but through God’s love we know it’s wrong, and through Him, we control our desires. The volunteers put up with rude remarks and rough talk from bitter, hurting, hungry people. God gives them temperance, and they still show love to that man, instead of telling him to shut up or something.”

  “Brother Stetson.” Lynn’s voice quivered. “Since we’ve finished our study, do you think we could help serve?”

  Stetson smiled. “I was hoping someone would suggest that.”

  ❧

  The late September sun blazed as Stetson bolted the hinged-together pieces of plywood upright on the trailer while Kendra, along with several teen girls and boys, held them in a V shape. It looked like a four-by-eight open Bible—right down to the stenciled words on the back—Holy Bible King James Version.

  “I think that should do it. See if it wiggles.”

  The boys shook the plywood. It barely moved.

  “It’s good.” Ron laughed. “So good we may never get it off Brother Timothy’s trailer.”

  “You sure? I don’t want it falling over and killing somebody during the parade.”

  “What a horrible thought.” Kendra jumped down from the trailer.

  “Even more horrible if it happened.” Stetson stood and gave the Bible a good shake just to make sure. Satisfied, he jumped down beside Kendra.

  “I can’t believe how good it looks. When you described it to me, I pictured two big ole pieces of black plywood. I really didn’t get excited until you mentioned the writing on the inside.”

  Stetson squinted, trying to make out the words. “I can’t read it and my vision is twenty-twenty. Can you?”

  “No. It really looks great.”

  He held up his hand and she gave him a high five. “We make a great team.”

  Her gaze held his for a moment.

  She’d caught him staring at her a dozen times today.

  Hmm, she caught him staring, which meant she’d been looking at him, too. Hadn’t thought about that.

  “We do make a great team.” Jenny climbed down from the trailer. “I love how the banner turned out.”

  “When’s the Last Time You Read the Word?” Stetson read aloud. “That should convict a few people.”

  “Let’s pray it does.” Kendra’s voice quivered, and she dabbed the
corner of her eye with a knuckle.

  Stetson frowned. “You okay?”

  “Fine.” Her voice shook. “Just thinking about when I finally got convicted. I’m so excited. I can’t wait until the parade.”

  “Want to ride with us in it?”

  “I didn’t think anyone was riding on the float.”

  “We’re not.” Joe helped one of the girls down from the trailer. “But several of us are riding horses behind it.”

  “Oh. But I don’t have a horse.”

  “I’ve got a few spares.” Stetson picked up the leftover screws, screwdriver, and staple gun and put them back in his toolbox.

  “Come on, Kendra, it’ll be fun.” Jenny grabbed her hand. “Please.”

  Surely she couldn’t turn that down. She nodded.

  Stetson grinned.

  ❧

  Kendra rode Cloud, a lovely dapple-gray, in the parade. Dark-gray rings with lighter hair inside each circle splashed over the mare’s coat. Her platinum mane, tail, and feet contrasted with black legs.

  Beside her, Stetson rode what he called a flaxen—a reddish-brown horse with creamy mane, tail, and socks.

  Teens surrounded them on horses in various colors, most of them, their own. Aubrey was truly horse country, USA, where everyone seemed to own at least one horse and usually more.

  The float putted along in front of them, the back of the constructed Bible facing them. The name of their church graced a banner across the bottom.

  October’s cloudless sky kept it in the mideighties, but tolerable.

  People pointed and waved.

  Lord, let us touch hearts. The way mine was touched. She’d been reading faithfully at least a Bible chapter a day since they’d begun work on the float.

  Her horse stumbled slightly then limped. “Stetson, I think something’s wrong. She’s limping.”

  “Can you ease her out of line?”

  Thankfully she was at the edge of the formation. She pulled the reins to her right, and the horse stepped out of the parade.

  Stetson followed, and the kids continued on. He dis-mounted. “Let’s get you down, and I’ll take a look.”

  Kendra grabbed the saddle horn and swung her right leg over the horse. Stetson’s hands gripped her waist as she slid down, sending her nerve endings into overdrive.