Page 22 of The Wedding Ranch
Ryder sangcluck-cluck here and a cluck-cluck therealong with them, tapping the rhythm out on his steering wheel.
When they finally reached the fairgrounds, there was a line at the gate. Getting the animals loaded into the tents took time, a lot longer now it seemed than it had when he was showing at the fair. Then again, there were more entries these days.
The fairgrounds brimmed with excitement. Huge tents had been erected for the livestock activities, and the old concrete buildings were surrounded by cars and people unloading their wares into booths inside. Those buildings weren’t fancy, but at least they had ceiling fans and air conditioning in them now. A real must when the North Carolina summer humidity was as high as the temperature. He remembered how hot and miserable it was in those buildings in the summers when he was a kid.
Later this afternoon, when the fair officially opened, this place would be a flurry of activity. Carnival rides were set up on the far side of the property. Though he’d never known anyone to get hurt on one, he’d never trusted those rides. To think they could haul them in on a trailer and bolt them together in a few hours made him nervous.
He backed up to the gate at the sheep and goat tent, then went to unload the trailer. A series of corral gates kept the trailers of animals separate until the fair veterinarian could check them in and validate that they were correctly tagged and held the proper immunization paperwork.
Once all of the goats were unloaded, Ryder closed the gate and moved his truck and trailer out of the way so the nextgroup could unload. With six towns in the county they pulled in lots of entries.
Across the way he saw Ross and Reece unloading a display for their booth in the main exhibit hall. Ross waved. Ryder waved back, then heard someone yell, “Hey, you going to stand there and watch or are you going to help us?”
He’d recognize his sister’s voice anywhere. “Hey, Diane. I just saw the twins unloading stuff.”
“Come help. They are so excited about their booth this year. It’s a big step up from last year. I bet they’ll book a few more weddings.” She tugged at his arm, and he fell into step with her.
“Did they tell you they kicked me out of my own house?”
“That’s not exactly the way I heard it.”
He laughed. “No, they did let me think I had a choice, but you know I can’t say no to them. I’m not sure a high-profile wedding is as profitable as they think. It could lead to more problems than it’s worth.”
“It’ll be fine,” Diane assured him.
“I hope so. I keep reminding myself my house is insured. We’ll get through it no matter what.”
“They will make sure of that. You know they don’t want to disappoint you.”
“I know, but those famous types. Some of them don’t know manners from mayonnaise.”
“Well, let’s hope this couple is different.”
“At least Cody Tuggle was brought up by good country folks.”
“Have some faith, brother.”
He walked with her into the main exhibit hall and offered kudos to the twins on their booth. He was proud of them fornot being completely absorbed by the big new contract, and still taking the county fair seriously.
“Are you hanging out all week, Uncle Ryder?”
“No. I hauled the market goats over for Joe’s 4-H club. I’ll be back for the livestock auction though.”
Reece reached over and picked up a stack of glossy business cards. “Here. Hand these out when you’re chatting with people. Tell them to stop by and see us. The booth number is on the back. We have an awesome giveaway in our booth.”
“Good thinking. Sure.” He tucked the cards in his pocket. He wasn’t a big talker, but he could strategically leave cards in different places for people to find them.
“Ryder Bolt? Is that you?” The southern lilt swung like a lasso around him, turning him around.
He caught the passing glance between Reece and Ross as he turned.
Dressed in a white sleeveless blouse and blue jeans tucked into bright turquoise western boots, that woman always could make an entrance. “Penny Driscoll?”
“Mayor Blevins to you, Ryder.”
“I know you’re the mayor. I voted for you, but I still can’t believe you married Marty Blevins. You’ll always be Penny Driscoll to me.”
“Believe it. Poor Marty may not have been worthy to even pick up your sweaty football towels in high school, but that nerdy math wizard has been working financial magic ever since.” The light caught her silver and turquoise necklace, and then the hefty diamonds on her ring finger. “Turning money into more money. It’s what he does best.”
