Change of Hart (Wells Ranch, #3)(10)
I inhaled the dusty air, letting the animal odors settle in my lungs, and exhaled. Three times. Grandpa’s hand left my shoulder, he nodded, I nodded.
The gate swung open and the steer flew out into the open air, jarring my body with every stomp. Swinging me in every direction. My grip tightened and I relaxed into the motion, letting my movements roll like an ocean swell. A train horn sounded in perfect harmony with the buzzer, and the pickup men couldn’t get to me fast enough. The moment my boots hit the dusty earth, I was sprinting.
Over the fence rails, already tearing off my gear, I tossed my chaps in a heap next to where Mom had been watching, and breathlessly exclaimed, “Gotta go find Blair for a second. Be right back.”
If she questioned me, I didn’t hear it. Blood pounding behind my ears, I jogged down the alley to find Blair. She was sitting on a metal bench, watching the pickup men try to herd the steer out of the arena, when I plunked down next to her with a loud exhale.
“Oh,” she said with a startled tone. “Hey. Wow, Denny. That was a great ride. Like…you were amazing.”
She smiled at me, brown eyes taking on a gold hue in the sun, and I wasn’t about to tell her it was merely an okay ride. Definitely not my best, and I didn’t need to stick around for the score to be announced to know I wasn’t winning.
“I heard the train. Let’s go check our coins.” I grabbed her hand to tug her to her feet.
“Denny, it’s really not that exciting,” she said as she followed me to the clay banks. “Like, they’re just flattened coins. They aren’t going anywhere. We could’ve stayed to hear your score.”
“Meh, I’ll find out what it is later.” My feet sank into the fine, powdery clay and instantly slipped out from under me. I fell backward into Blair, who was smart enough to not even bother trying to get down the hill in any way but by sliding on her butt.
With a shriek, she threw a hand up to block me right before our skulls clunked together, and her laughter filled the air. “You can stay on a steer no problem, but can’t manage to keep your own two feet underneath you?”
“I was just trying to beat you to the bottom.”
Her tongue darted out to lick her lip, then she shoved my shoulder hard as she stood. As she launched her body forward, her feet barely stayed under her as she ran. But, shit, she made it. With a triumphant fist pump, she turned to face me.
“Beat you,” she taunted.
I ran down after her, skidding through the soft earth to stop before my chest crashed into hers. “Didn’t know I was dealing with a cheater.”
Ignoring me, she beelined for the tracks and held one of the flattened coins between her finger and thumb, letting the setting sun reflect off the smooth surface. Her doe eyes sparkled with a similar shade of worn copper, a kaleidoscope of browns and greens and golds.
She was right, the flattened penny wasn’t that impressive. And I could tell she knew that.
“This is so cool,” I lied with a smile, holding up my own to inspect it. “Dang, now I wish we’d done this with a toonie to see what the two colors all squished together would look like. Next weekend?”
She nodded thoughtfully. “Good idea. I’m going to see if I can figure out the train schedule this week so we can make sure we’re down here to watch it go by.”
God, she was weird. And I guess I was, too, because I enjoyed every second of hanging out with her. When we started back up toward the rodeo ground, I was already counting down the time until we’d be back here.
I smiled over at her, extending a hand to climb the embankment together. “I’ll bring the butterscotch pudding.”
Blair
(thirteen years old)
I spent nearly every summer weekend with the Wells family. Sometimes, it was only Denny, his mom, and me heading out on the road with her old ranch pickup and a bumper-pull horse trailer. We’d get a crappy motel room or camp out under the inky sky—giggling late at night about silly pictures we found in the stars or the motel ceiling stains. Living off nothing but processed sugar and laughter.
Other times, the entire Wells clan tagged along with massive gooseneck stock trailers, complete with live-in quarters. Then it was full meals, sleeping alone in the same trailer as the parents while Denny bunked with his brothers, and boisterous family hangouts around a fire every evening.
Regardless, it was Denny and I all summer long—attached at the hip, as Lucy loved to say. I learned Denny could say the words “chubby bunny” with six marshmallows in his mouth, his favorite color was blue, and he was deathly afraid of June beetles. We toilet-papered Austin’s truck, ate our weight in ketchup chips, and stayed up way too late every night laughing. He was my best friend. I was also pretty sure I was in love with him—though anytime my bestie, Cassidy, asked me if I loved him, I’d lie.
The first day back at school was damp and dreary and daunting. Elbows linked with Cass, we walked into the eighth grade together. Wearing my favorite pair of jeans, a belt buckle I’d won a few weeks prior, and the pink, pearl-snap shirt Lucy Wells gifted me for my first rodeo, I was on top of the world.
“I wish we had more choices for electives. I don’t even want to take cooking class.” Cassidy stared down at her class schedule, checking once again that it hadn’t magically changed on her. We both knew she’d had the schedule memorized since they sent it out weeks ago.