Page 63 of The Pieces We've Lost

Ihad told her exactly how I felt. Ellison stole my attention from the moment I saw her, and now I wanted nothing more than for her to be my girlfriend. I just couldn’t vocalize it. I knew she still had reservations, too, so I was determined to do anything in my power to ease her mind. Putting the power in her hands felt right.

We walked toward the arena where the horse races and rodeo would take place in a little under an hour. I wanted us to get a good seat, so we could be up close to the action.

Reid, Mikey, and the rest of the boys were nowhere to be found, so I shot Reid a text letting him know we would find them after the rodeo at the street dance.

I led Ellison to the grandstands and chose a spot in the middle of the arena toward the front rows.

The stands gradually filled with people who were eager to watch everything unfold. The Bucking Horse Sale wasn’t like typical rodeos that had all of the events. There was only saddle bronc riding, and there would be twenty riders vying for the prize money. Tonight, these riders would be some of the best permit riders, but in a couple ofdays, it would be the top thirty-two saddle bronc riders in the world who would compete for $50,000.

There was also horse racing, and the Bucking Horse Sale was one of two venues in Montana to hold the event. All in all, it was an exciting weekend that allowed people from all over to see what we had to offer here in Montana.

“Folks, you’ve gathered here from all over the world for the famous Miles City Bucking Horse Sale! Let’s get this show on the road and kick it off!”

Shouts from the crowd drowned out the announcer’s voice as excitement filled the air. People in Montana were fairly simple. They loved the state, they loved football, and they loved rodeo.

I didn’t know a whole lot about horse racing, but it still intrigued me as I watched the jockeys race around the track. Both Ellison and I were practically sitting on the edge of our seats.

“I’ve never been to a horse race before,” she admitted, still watching the action.

“I’ve been a few times, for this, but I couldn’t tell you a single thing about it.” I laughed.

The horse racing wrapped up, and they prepared to start the event that I actually knew a lick about, although I didn’t compete in it myself. I enjoyed watching saddle bronc riding, even if they caught a lot of shit from bareback riders and bull riders.

I knew that Jake had done some saddle bronc riding back when he was younger, but an injury prevented him from continuing. He was also a bit too tall now, standing at six-foot-two.

Ellison was so focused as she watched the riders that it was hard to imagine a time when she wasn’t invested in the sport and had separated herself from it completely. Inoticed how her brow furrowed when the rider was having a tough time and how the corner of her lips curled up when one made it to eight seconds. I could spend an entire rodeo watching her reactions instead of the sport itself. It was comparable to seeing a football fan cheer on their favorite team in the Super Bowl.

She caught me looking at her a couple of times and raised her eyebrows at me. She didn’t say anything, but I could probably guess what she was thinking.

Being with Ellison was so easy. She was fun and carefree when she was here with me.

After the saddle bronc riding, they had one of my favorite nontraditional events: wild horse racing. Wild horse racing stemmed from the days in the Old West when cowboys would have to break horses.

It consisted of up to ten teams, with three cowboys on each team who were required to saddle up a wild horse and race it around the track. The first team to make it across the finish line would win. It was entertaining to watch, that’s for sure.

There weren’t any people that I knew competing, although we had tried to sign up Mikey for it one year. It didn’t work out the way we had hoped since he never ended up competing; the rest of us weren’t going to try to compete with him, so he backed out.

The starting pistol went off, and it was pure chaos as the teams entered the arena. One cowboy would hold the horse’s lead rope to make sure it didn’t run off. Another would control the head so the horse didn’t rear back, and the third was the rider who would saddle up the horse and race it around the track.

Bucking horses were running and dragging cowboys around. A couple of riders were being dragged on theirstomachs, holding on to the lead rope for dear life. Laughter erupted around the crowd, and even Ellison couldn’t suppress a giggle. I loved wild horse racing. It was always one of the most entertaining parts of the Bucking Horse Sale.

It was still absolute mayhem as bucking horses were running into each other, each team just trying to get their horse calmed down enough to put the saddle on. One team finally was able to get a saddle on their horse and the rider exited the arena, but there were still plenty of other teams struggling.

Finally, the last team got their horse saddled and the riders were off, racing around the track. I shot off a text to Reid poking fun at Mikey.

Damn, we should have tried to get Mikey to do this again.

Reid

Lol if only.

“This is so fun.” Ellison smiled, sitting on the edge of her seat and waiting to see who would cross the finish line first.

It ended up being a team of three guys from down in Wyoming, and they celebrated as they got all of the horses and participants out of the arena.

About thirty minutes later, the rodeo had wrapped up with the mutton bustin’—another crowd favorite—and everyone was gearing up to head to the street dance.

CHAPTER THIRTY-SEVEN

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