by Sarah Price
“You mean you’re not mad?” I can’t believe this. She knew all along?
“Well, I was disappointed when I found out,” she admitted. “But I was impressed with how you and Marcus worked together.”
Holy Hannah! I’m speechless.
“Now, we can discuss this in more detail later, but for now, let’s focus on the Rodeo Rant tour.”
“Rage, Mom.” I roll my eyes. “It’s Rodeo Rage.”
She shakes her head. I doubt she’ll ever remember the name properly.
“Well, that Gary Green really spelled it out for me this morning. And I think that, if you want to finish the tour with the group, you should.”
Did I just hear her correctly? I almost drop the brush as I spin around. “Are you serious?”
She nods. “I am.”
“Even though I stole from you?”
A smile sneaks onto her face. “Yes, Cat. I’d be a poor excuse of a mother if I couldn’t forgive you for one wrong, especially one that is corrected, and let that ruin such a wonderful opportunity for my very talented daughter.”
“Wow.” I’m numb with disbelief. How did this day turn out to be so amazingly fantabulous? Forgiveness and permission to go on the Rodeo Rage Tour? “I didn’t think you’d let me go with those boys.”
“You won’t be alone,” she says quickly. “I’d have to ask Brooke to travel with you, though. I can’t be away from Marcus and Alex or my responsibilities at home. But it’s only for a few weeks.” She pauses and levels her gaze at me. “And you’d earn quite a bit of money to help take care of your own horse when you finally get it.”
Now I’m stunned. No one mentioned that I’d be earning money. “You mean they’re gonna pay me?”
“Of course!” She’s laughing at me. “Did you think you were going to work for free?”
I guess I hadn’t thought about it. I mean, in all honesty, I work for Marcus for free when I’m vull-enn-tiering, so what’s the difference? But now, getting paid? This is really starting to get good. Better than good! It’s like a dream come true. “Pay me for riding someone else’s horse? Holy guacamole!”
“Don’t let it go to your head though,” she warns. “Losing one’s humility can be the catalyst for a lot of disappointment. For you and for others.”
Her words strike a chord with me. I wonder if that’s what happened with Chloe. After all, she’s totally into herself, and it shows. I can tell that the other guys on the tour aren’t very fond of her ... or her weirdo mother, for that matter. In fact, I saw that Bobbie Baylor posted a video while Chloe was performing, and he was mimicking her in a not-very-nice way. I bet Aiden would never do that, even if Chloe is a pain.
“So what happens next?” I ask.
Mom shrugs. “Let’s see how the rest of the weekend goes. And then we can decide for certain. I’m not too keen on you traveling with a bunch of boys, but if Brooke chaperones, at least I can count on her to keep an eye on you.”
I almost laugh. She’s worried about me? I might have to keep an eye on Brooke! But still, I get to travel with the Rodeo Rage Tour? Epic cool!
And then I realize that traveling with the tour means that I might have to leave something behind.
“Oh, no!”
Mom looks at me, probably wondering why I sound so panicky.
“Pica!” I know my eyes are wide open. “I can’t leave Pica at home! Can she come with me?”
Mom frowns and tilts her head. “Now Cat …”
I grab her arm, pleading with her. There’s no way I can leave Pica behind. Not for weeks on end! “You’ll ask right? I mean, it’s Pica. I can’t just leave her at home. I can’t even imagine what Alex would do to her. Him and that goofy dog of his …”
Mom rolls her eyes. “Tuffer is not goofy!”
She’s always defending all of the animals. But I can’t let Pica just sit there at home, wondering where I went. She’ll think I deserted her. “Please, Mom. Just ask Gary. Okay?”
When she sighs, I know that I won. “Fine, I can ask. But no promises.”
She leaves me to finish grooming Dexter, and my head swims with all of this news.
Wow. Not only do I get to travel for the rest of the summer, but with the Rodeo Rage guys! If Cassie was jealous before, her head will explode now. Serves her right for having backstabbed me by giving Brooke that letter Nora wrote to Aiden. And Leslie will be hard-pressed to bully me at school in September. Sure, I’ll miss Jamie but I just think of all the cool stories I’ll can tell when I get back! My life is definitely changing for the better!
I give Dexter some more hay and then, after latching his stall door, I search for Brooke. I bet she’s got some great insight into this turn of events.
I find her sitting with Randy, eating a sandwich. When she sees me, she waves me over.
“Did Mom tell you the good news?”
I nod. “Yup. Looks like you and I are going to be travel buddies.”
Randy smiles at her and a look of complete adoration crosses his face. It’s so obvious, I almost feel sorry for him. I mean, everyone knows that a guy should play it cool and not seem too eager, and it makes me wonder what she sees in him. I know he’s nice and kinda cute in an older boy way, but he’s way too into her and definitely not Mexican.
With the show almost over and my act completed, I look around for something to do. I spy the skateboard so I walk toward it, leaving the two lovebirds alone. I pop in my earbuds and turn on iTunes, then jump on the board. The back of the arena is empty, so I’m free to skate to my little heart’s content.
With the new Niall Horan song playing, I lose myself in both the music and my speed. I try a few kick turns, landing most of them. But when I round a corner, I collide into a pole and land hard on my butt. When I hit the ground, my phone falls out of my back pocket and my earbuds go flying. At least no one is around to see my crash.
“Hey! You okay?”
Out of nowhere, a hand reaches for mine. When I reach for it and look up, my heart stops.
Aiden helps me to my feet then dusts off the back of my shirt. “That was some wipeout, girl!”
I look into his dark eyes and my knees feel weak. But I can’t talk. My mouth is open but nothing comes out.
He gives me a sideways look and raises an eyebrow, but he’s still smiling. “That’s my board, you know.”
I swallow.
He stares at me and something triggers in his face. Recognition. “You aren’t that Jersey girl, are you? The one everyone’s been talkin’ about?”
I try to say something, but once again, the only sound that comes out is a little squeak. So I nod instead.
“Awesome riding, girl! Clayton told me all about it and even sent me a video.”
He holds up his hand to give me a high five. It takes me a minute to register that I’m supposed to actually do something. But I’m frozen in place. Aiden reaches for my hand and lifts it to hit his. There’s no doubt in my mind that my cheeks are bright red. Out of all the bazillion ways I dreamed of meeting him, this scenario never once entered my mind.
I sense that someone is standing next to me. But I’m too afraid to take my eyes off of Aiden to look. When I catch a whiff of perfume, I know it’s my sister. If anyone has to witness my inability to communicate, I can only be thankful that it’s her.
“Brooke!” He leans over and plants a peck on her cheek.
“Hey, Aiden. I see you met my sister.”
He looks at her, then me, then back at her again, seemingly surprised that we’re related. “This is your sister?”
Brooke nudges me, but I’m still frozen in place, incapable of moving.
“Your sister is the one that wanted to meet me?” Aiden asks, an incredulous expression on his face. “Number three thousand, one hundred thirty-four?”
Oh, dear Lord above! He knows? If there ever was a time for the earth to open up and swallow someone whole, this is that moment.
“The same one who’s been blowing up social media?”
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No, no, no! If only I could just disappear! I’m behaving like a buffoon, and I have zero control over my ability to do anything about it.
“Why don’t you two take a photo?” Brooke says in a strained voice, nudging me toward him one more time. That does the trick and my feet finally move. She holds my phone and waits until Aiden wraps his arm around me. Only then does she snap the photo. “Why not give her a little kiss on the cheek?” Brooke suggests.
I can’t. This simply is not happening. I cannot speak. I cannot move. I can do nothing more but hope that my face hasn’t turned blotchy from a mixture of excitement and humiliation.
And then Aiden leans down, planting a soft kiss on my cheek.
He laughs when he pulls away and ruffles my head as if I’m his younger sister. “Stay cool, Cat!”
He starts to walk away, and that’s when I realize that this is my chance, my one opportunity. Oh, dear mama! I may have blown impressing him by acting like a mute monkey. But I must ... simply must ... redeem myself.
“Wait!”
He stops and turns around.
“Could you ... uh ... you know ... um ... follow me?”
He grins and reaches into his back pocket for his phone. “Sure thing, Buttercup. What’s your Twitter?”
Twitter? Oh, no! Not Twitter. I like Instagram ten times more. But I’m not about to be picky. If he prefers Twitter, then that will have to do. “CowgirlCat,” I say. I see him typing into his smart phone and then I hear the ding on my own. I look down and see those words that I’ve waited to see for what seems like years:
AIDEN QUINN FOLLOWED YOU.
He turns and I watch him walk away. Only then do I look toward Brooke, but just as she is starting to say something, everything around me turns wobbly looking and tears start to stream down my cheeks.
Dear Lord, I pray to myself, thank you for giving me such an amazing life.
And then my world goes black and I collapse into Brooke’s arms.
And to think it all started with an iPhone for my birthday.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Coming in Spring 2017: Rodeo Rage
Book Two of the Cowgirl Cat series
Find out what happens when Cowgirl Cat travels
with the Rodeo Rage Tour in the next book in the series.
ABOUT SARAH PRICE & THE REAL CAT
Sarah Price is a bestselling author of over thirty novels, including the Plain Fame series (Waterfall Press) and the Amish Classic series (Realms). Cowgirl Cat is the first in a YA series based loosely on her own daughter, Cat, who began riding horses when she turned four and began training wild mustangs for the Youth Mustang Challenge at twelve years old. Today, Cat is homeschooled so that she can continue working with mustangs as well as travel around the United States to perform at horse expos, county fairs, and other equine events.
Follow Sarah Price on social media:
URL: http://www.sarahpriceauthor.com.
FB: http://facebook.com/fansofsarahprice
IG: @SarahPriceAuthor
Follow Cat on social media:
URL: http://czmustangs.com
FB: http://facebook.com/czmustangs
IG: @czmustangs
Cat and her mustang, Bella Flora,
before the 2016 Youth Mustang Challenge