“Only on the explanation.” Some of the kids’ attention had drifted, and Brady snapped his fingers and raised his voice to get it back. “We’re going to split up and try out a few events. After we observe everyone’s strengths, we’ll dole out assignments and replace a couple of your usual outdoor activities with training.”
“Not that I’m telling you what to do,” Danica said, running her fingers through her brown hair and sweeping it to one side, “but could they replace our chores instead? Or classes—I’m okay with missing either.”
Yeah, color him the opposite of surprised. “Not all of them, but we’ll shorten a class and maybe skip a chore or two, although we’ll have to alternate which ones. Things still need to run smoothly around here, and if I catch anyone slacking and not doing their training, they’ll get double the chores. Got it?”
Heads bobbed, all except for Maddox’s. No skin off his nose, given that Brady didn’t need him to nod. He’d outlined the rules, and if the kid didn’t follow them, he’d have consequences anyway.
“Harlow here is gonna help us train,” Brady continued. “I want you to listen to her and treat her with the respect she deserves.” She was his ace in the hole. Giving her a job made her part of the staff. That meant they had another instructor with experience, and since it allowed her more time to train, it benefited her as well.
Harlow lifted her hand in a shy wave. “Can’t wait to get started. I appreciate the chance to help out and the job.” Her gaze swept to Wade, who’d stepped onto the porch sometime during the commotion, and then to Ma, who stood near the whiteboard and had a death grip on the markers—the woman was hell-bent on contributing in whatever way she could.
“Happy to have you, dear,” Ma said. “The more we see you, the better. Specially if you promise to let me do some of the heavy liftin’ and not treat me like some kind of invalid.”
Harlow pressed her lips together, and Wade sighed.
“Ma,” he said, and she held up a warning hand.
“Don’t you start. Or I’ll tell your fiancée you don’t want dinner tonight.”
“With the way my fiancée cooks, you might be doing me a favor.”
On cue, Jessica charged out of the screen door. “Wade Dawson, what was that you just said about me?”
Before meeting Jess, Wade’s stoic expression would’ve remained in place. Instead, a grin split his face as he snagged her wrist and drew her close. “I meant before. You make a lot of good dishes now.”
A whole lot of PDA was about to commence, so Brady talked as loudly as he could while Ma scribbled the events he wanted to cover on the whiteboard.
Team roping
Calf roping
Barrel racing
Pole bending
Chute dogging (maybe)
On account of not wanting anyone to get hurt or to get sued, they wouldn’t attempt bareback or bull-riding competitions in their before-the-rodeo rodeo. That was a bad idea all around, especially without years of training.
Same went for steer wrestling, although that was the event Nash signed himself up for his first year on the ranch. Ma just about had a heart attack. She’d sprinted down the grandstand bleachers, hollering and waving her hands, but it was too late to stop him. Fifteen-year-old Nash had rushed out of the gate on horseback, leaped onto the long-horned steer, and pinned its head to the ground remarkably fast. So fast he’d not only won but set a new local record.
The next year, after the adoption had been finalized, Nash upgraded to riding bulls. Occasionally, during the rougher days on the ranch, Brady experienced a pinch of jealousy that Nash got to be out on the rodeo circuit, living the dream Brady had since he was a kid.
Since what-ifs never did anyone any good, he returned his focus to the items on the board. Chute dogging was a milder form of steer wrestling, one for beginners where they didn’t ride a horse and used younger, smaller steers. He’d placed it in the maybe category since most of the teens were too afraid of the steers to wrestle them, and again, Brady didn’t want anyone getting hurt.
There was living life and then there was asking for trouble.
That made him think of his best friend, because there was no one who liked jumping headfirst into trouble like Tanya. She was more cautious now, but back in the day, he could hardly keep up with her.
Brady rubbed his hands together, the idea of having a victory to hold over her causing an ear-to-ear grin. With this going on, he could leave the professional rodeoing to Nash. Besides, taking a spill off a horse these days meant ice baths and handfuls of ibuprofen. This plan allowed him to compete without as much pressure while also having a heap of fun. “Desiree and Danica, go with Wade for calf roping.”
Once they got the hang of solo roping, Brady planned on letting them team up. They already went everywhere together, to the point the teens called them the Double D’s, something he and the rest of the staff never did for obvious reasons.
Brady instructed Chloe and Aiden to start with barrel racing, as he could confidently send them to the corral on their own. Then he sent a handful of the kids who were still learning the ins and outs of horse riding to the stables for pole bending with his brother Trace.
“Which leaves Maddox to go with Harlow for team roping. Obviously today, we’ll just start with roping.”
Ah, hell. I didn’t think this pairing through very well. Brady glanced from Harlow to the kid with the enormous chip on his shoulder. The two were on opposite ends of a spectrum, and he should’ve held another student or two back so Harlow wouldn’t have to deal with Maddox one on one. “You know what? I can switch that up. Maddox can go with me as I—”
“It’s okay.” Resolve burned bright in Harlow’s big brown eyes, undimmed by the shade provided by the brim of her cowboy hat. “If he gets out of line, I’ll just pull on his hoop earring to get him to do what I want, same way I’d use the nose ring on a bull.” She shot Maddox a saucy grin. “Real handy, that.”
In the couple of seconds it took Brady to recover from his surprise, a snort-laugh accidentally escaped. Sounded like Harlow could handle the new kid just fine. They’d all be in fairly close quarters anyway as they made their way through the training areas he’d set up around back, so she wouldn’t be completely alone with him.
“You heard the lady,” Brady told Maddox, who sighed. Tough guys with their eye rolls and sighs—yeah, real scary. He clapped the kid on the back. “Cowboy up, dude.”
Maddox shuffled toward Harlow, taking his sweet time about it. She spun on her heel and charged toward the training course without a word, and he reluctantly followed.
Later, Brady would put away the whiteboard. For now, he circled the main house, grinning at the clusters of kids setting up at the various training stations. A win at the Silver Springs rodeo might not come along with expensive saddles, blingy belts, big cash prizes, and fame, but the more he thought about how satisfying it’d be to accomplish so much with a group of newbies, the more excitement stirred in his gut.