Fall With Me (Sugarland Creek, #3) (39)

“I had no idea they did this,” I say to Brynn and Gabby. “I guess I never ventured downtown when I came here before.”

“It’s somethin’ the mayor only started last year. She wanted to drive more people to the local businesses so they didn’t feel the financial hit with everyone at the rodeo for four nights,” Brynn explains.

“Love that idea.”

And now I want to go into every shop and stop at each food truck for the full experience.

I check the clock on my phone, deciding how long I can stay before I have to get back to bring my trailer to the rodeo. I’ll have to do press thirty minutes before the race starts, but I should still have enough time to stay here for a bit.





I shouldn’t have had that churro dog, but it looked too good to pass up.

And the fried Oreos.

And the pulled pork nachos.

And I really shouldn’t have swallowed them down with a large fresh squeezed lemonade.

My stomach is battling for its life as I stand next to Ranger in one of the waiting pens. After sweating through my interviews, I found some water and chugged it, but it doesn’t seem to be helping.

I’ve been looking forward to this race for weeks, and now I’m going to get out there and throw up all over the barrels.

It doesn’t help that the arena is packed, and I’m already overstimulated.

“You alright, Ellie?” Sarah asks, coming over with her horse. Or maybe it’s Samantha.

“Yeah, I’m great.” I force myself to smile so she doesn’t know I’m lying. She doesn’t need to know I stress ate all afternoon after Noah texted and mentioned Landen’s new girlfriend randomly showed up at their campsite last night.

Well, she didn’t say it exactly like that, but it was implied her arrival was unexpected.

I shouldn’t care. I don’t, but it makes me anxious enough as it is when Landen’s around. I don’t need some chick he’s hooking up with to watch me, too.

“Are you sure? You look sick,” she says but then quickly adds, “No offense!”

“I’m one hundred percent perfect.” And somewhat offended.

The other twin walks up carrying a bag and thermos in her hand and then offers it to me. “I drink this when I’m nervous before races. It’ll settle your stomach and nerves.”

“What is it?” I eye her suspiciously, curious as to why they’d want to help me when I’m their biggest competition, but she looks genuine, as does her sister.

“It’s licorice root tea. It’s good for digestive distress,” she explains.

I cautiously take it from her. “It’s not gonna give me diarrhea or anything, is it?”

“No, of course not. It has a lot of great health benefits. We drink it every day and look at us!” the other one says.

Okay, well, not sure that’s a selling point, but if it’ll keep me from upchucking in front of a thousand people, I’ll try it.

After the first cautious sip, I decide it’s not as bad as it sounds and drink more.

“Do you take a daily probiotic?”

“Um…no.”

Is that something I should be taking? I thought I had another five to ten years before I had to worry about pumping my body with extra vitamins. But considering they’re in their thirties, maybe that’s why they know more about it than I do.

“Hold on…” She kneels, digging into her backpack before she reveals a Ziploc bag with a few pills. “Take these.”

I eye them suspiciously. “For what?”

“They’re for digestive health,” she explains.

The other twin adds, “They also boost immunity.”

“And regulate your bowels.”

I scratch my cheek, contemplating turning around and walking away.

“And not that you need it for this, but it’s known to support mental health,” one of them continues.

Blinking a few times at the way she says those words, I decide to hold out my hand for the pills to get them to stop talking.

Once I’ve swallowed them down with the licorice root tea, I thank them for their help and excuse myself to find a bathroom.

I ask one of the other girls if she’ll watch Ranger and once she agrees, I head out to the closest restroom.

When I look in the mirror, my face is paler than usual, but not on my deathbed sick. I smack my cheeks a little, not wanting to smudge my makeup, but hoping that brings out a little color.

By the time I return to the waiting pen to grab Ranger, they inform us there’s been a delay due to the previous event running over and them still needing to drag the arena to level out the ground before the junior division can start.

Though I’m excited to race, I appreciate the time for my stomach to settle, especially since I’m the second runner.

Noah





You holding up okay?





When I read her text, I give it a thumbs-up reaction.

Ellie





Just fine.





No need to worry her or give her a reason to come out here. My stomach and head are battling for which one’s going to take me out first, but as long as they wait until after the race, I won’t complain too much.