Page 57 of The Cowboy's Country Charm

“Hardly. But I don’t know how he’ll take the fact she’s coming back. I don’t think she’s been back here since she left for New York. And I don’t think they’ve been in touch either.”

“Well, he’ll have a chance to bid for a dance with her at least.” That should be interesting.

“I bet he’ll take out a loan if he has to, in order to win that bid.”

“That will be good for the charity, but maybe not so good for Stetson. He’s really got it that bad for her?”

“He hasn’t seriously dated anyone for over five years, so that should tell you something.”

“Long time to carry a torch for someone you never really had a relationship with.”

“If you know Stetson, it’s not all that surprising.”

“Guess he’s definitely going to renege on being a bachelor.”

“I think he’d want to be sure he was free to dance with her. Hope the bid won’t bankrupt him.”

“Surely not that. It’s a local auction. Bids aren’t going that high.”

“You have some rich suits from the energy industry coming to this thing. They’re the reason this fundraiser raises decent money. So no telling what will happen.”

“I hope it works out for Stetson, because it sounds like a sweet love story in the making.”

Rusty leaned over and kissed her cheek. “Love to see that romantic side of you.”

She felt her cheeks heat. Sadly, it had been a very long time since she’d been in touch with her romantic side.

***

“So you’ve never been to a ranch rodeo, and you say you’re from Wyoming?” Rusty tapped her nose as they stood by the entrance to the small arena that was part of the convention center complex. He had come to meet her when she’d texted him she had arrived.

The sky was a beautiful pale blue, dotted with fluffy clouds and centered by the bright sun. Kristy should have been going over vendor contracts and timelines, but it was a picture-perfect Sunday and she’d wanted to come. She’d stay for his events and then leave, but it might be hard to do on such a lovely day.

“I’ve been to regular rodeos.”

“Considering the mother of all rodeos is in Cheyenne, I would hope so,” Rusty teased. “But you’ve never seen a penning competition, or wild-cow milking, or doctoring?”

Kristy had to laugh. “I’ve seen a rancher pen a calf, but not in a competition.”

“Well, fasten your buckle, because you’re in for a treat.”

He placed his hand on the small of her back as they walked through the crowd milling about. This certainly didn’t draw like Frontier Days in Cheyenne, which was a weeklong mass of elbow-to-elbow people.

Though Rusty said he wasn’t into ranching, he certainly seemed to be, based on the excitement she saw in his face as they made their way into the stands.

“This isn’t a big one, more county fair than anything. But I’ll get you settled and then head down to the contestant area. Mom and Dad are in the stands with Parker. Junie’s working. Cort and Lexi are competing.”

“Lexi’s competing?”

“Just in the doctoring event. She’s quite the cowgirl. Hard to believe she once was a banker.”

“And you’re doing the penning?”

“And maybe one or two more.”

She glanced down at the single sheet of paper in her hand, which listed the events. She figured that “penning” was cutting cattle out of a herd, but she couldn’t wait to see wild-cow milking and doctoring. However, there was one event she was worried about. “You’re not competing in bronc riding, are you?”

“I’ll leave that to the younger guys.”

---