Page 31 of Fool for You
“A few weekdays.”
I nodded and scrolled through her forms, tilting my head in confirmation. “Well, this is easy—you didn’t submit the registration.”
“What?”
I spun the computer to her. “You never submitted the form for the Flagstaff Rodeo.”
Quinn pinched her brow. “I didn’t?”
I shrugged. “It happens. I can’t tell you how many times Rhett didn’t finish his registration.”
“How many times? And you handled it for him?” She furrowed her brow, the expression of disbelief not hard to miss.
“You’d be surprised how many times. And yeah, I’d help the best I could. When our schedules aligned, he packed, and I took care of this. I made sure to book everything. Rodeos, hotels, camp sites, stables. All of it. He traveled with his mare, Buckle, but I was easy. No horse required.” I quickly scanned through her form, adding any details I could.
“So, committees hired you because of Rhett?”
I scoffed. “Hell no. I may not ride any events, but I made a name for myself.” I kept my concentration on the submission, not closing the browser until I got theWelcome to the Rodeobanner. I quickly moved to the stable website, searching in her email for confirmations.
Quinn just…watched. She was studying me as I worked, leaving me in silence for a bit. This was something I actually liked to do, the organization of it all. The planning, the prepping, making sure it all ran smoothly for Rhett. Then I’d relax as we traveled, knowing everything was booked and taken care of.
“Why don’t you ride in any events?” Quinn asked, breaking her silence, placing her hands on the counter.
I met her gaze and raised a brow in question, giving her a dubious look.
“I mean,” she continued, “I’ve seen you do tie down. You were terrible, but I can see you doing this now, and you’re like…a completely different person.”
I pinched my brow.
“I mean…” she started, pausing as if trying to find the words that weren’t going to be a direct insult to me. “I just didn’t think you would be the one people went to for”—she waved her hand in front of me—“all of this.”
The corner of my lips tugged. “All of this?”
“You don’t seem interested in this.”
“I’m going to need you to definethis.” I mimicked her hand gesture from earlier.
She slumped her shoulders. “I didn’t envision you being so organized when it came to rodeos. I just saw you as the one who tagged along and let everyone else take care of everything.”
I gave her a grin. “Rodeos take work, a lot of planning. It’s a lot for one person to handle and, Quinn…” I heaved a sigh. “This is my career, too. Not just a hobby.”
I could visibly see her chewing on her bottom lip. Her jaw tensed.
Studying her, I finally answered her question from before. “I don’t do livestock events because I grew up mutton busting and hated it. That’s the start. Now it’s because I don’t want to hurt myself.”
“You jumped off a roof,” Quinn said, her tone void, like she couldn’t believe my reasoning. “But you won’t ride livestock events?”
“I’ve done more than jump off a roof, but yeah, thatisa huge reason. I’ve seen Rhett tear muscles and Lachlan break bones. My dad has a bad back, and a few bull riders have retired early due to injury. Hell, I saw my brother-in-law die. I love to ride horses, but…when I have control of them.” I broke eye contact and went to the browser for the boarding stables. “I grew up a Hartwell. We live and breathe rodeo. And I just found my own way to love and enjoy it.”
“Announcing.”
“I like to talk.” I shrugged a shoulder, giving her a quick grin before turning back to the computer screen. “Can you pull up all the boarding confirmations?” I turned the computer to her and waited.
After a few moments of silence, watching her tap away at the keys, she slid the laptop back to me with several browsers open.
“Okay, this is just as easy; just pray they have stalls.”
“Praying.”
