Rodeo Christmas at Evergreen Ranch (Gold Valley #13)(20)
“We need to start the training as soon as possible. I really want to get in this season.”
He stared at her, his blue eyes unreadable.
She felt pinned to the spot. And for some reason, the breath was coming a little bit faster into her lungs. “What? It’s really important to me. It’s why I’m doing this in the first place, so I need to get ready. And you seem to think I’m not ready, so you better have something interesting to show me.”
“Yeah, there’s some things that I’m going to show you. Fundamentally, you’ve been around it your whole life. It’s not like you don’t understand, but you need to make sure that you’re not overconfident. You need to make sure that you’re safe, and I would feel better if we ran through the routines as often as possible.”
“Every ride is different, and you know it. You can’t practice for it. Animals don’t do any one thing. They do what they’re going to do. And the horses are going to do what they’re going to do, regardless if I practice or not.”
“You know what you’re gonna do? You’re going to practice being strong. You’re going to build up your leg muscles. You’re not going to be caught off guard. You’re not going to panic when you fall, you’re going to relax. And you’re going to let them fling you around like a ragdoll, and if you fall, you’re going to figure out how to hit the ground and move your body as quickly as possible. Do you understand me?”
He stole one of her French fries, which was just patently unnecessary, because he had his own.
“I understand.”
He reached his hand back into her fries at the same time she did, and their fingertips brushed. And for some reason, it made her heart jump up and hit the bottom of her throat.
Maybe it was just because this whole situation was weird, and it was taking her friend and shoving him into a role that she wasn’t entirely familiar with.
But this, she was familiar with. His instruction, his guidance. He was good at that. He had been coaching her for a long time in other skills, and this was nothing new.
Yeah, the marriage thing was new, but that was it. And it wasn’t real.
She needed to practice thinking of it the way that he did. She needed to practice thinking of it as something that didn’t matter at all. It was just a function. A function to get her money.
To get her freedom.
Ultimately, the trust fund itself, and the amount of what it had in it, didn’t matter. She didn’t care about riches. She didn’t care about fancy things. And she loved her family more than anything in the world, so tricking them wasn’t something she relished. But she really, really needed this freedom, and that was what she required. Beginning and end of story. This was all in aid of that. It was all helping her get there. And that was what mattered. That was really the only thing that mattered.
That she could make her own history. That Callie Carson could feel like she had a place in the world on her own merit.
“All right. We’ll start training as soon as possible. Three days until the wedding, so tomorrow we saddle up.”
“Sounds good to me.”
“Sounds good.”
* * *
THE NEXT MORNING, Callie was up bright and early, and she was excited. Because if he was going to teach her how to ride, then she was ready.
Not that she didn’t know. She was confident enough that she could step into the ring and compete against the men, but she understood that he was doing his best to fortify her against anything that might happen. If he needed to do that, that was fine. The bottom line was, he was a great rider. He was a great cowboy, and she didn’t resent having to take lessons from him at all. Any tips that he might give her would be helpful. He had won it all before in the bull riding stakes, and while broncos and bulls were quite literally two different beasts, the function of riding the two of them wasn’t entirely different. The mechanics of it all.
Anyway, the mindset of a champion...that was what mattered.
The more she thought about it, the more she realized she didn’t just want to compete—she wanted to win. She wanted to prove that she belonged there. That it wasn’t just that she could buy entry, but that she could really and truly compete. She had a feeling that as much as Jake supported her, not even he fully believed that.
But he would see. He would. She would make him see, and then he would be... He would be proud of her, and so would her parents. They would understand. In the end, they would understand.
“You actually have bucking broncos out here?”
“I do, in fact, have some horses that are retired from the rodeo, but it doesn’t mean they can’t still buck.”
“This is fantastic. I haven’t ridden since the accident.”
“Are you strong enough?”
She laughed. “Yes. I did physical therapy, religiously. Everything is great. It’s the fact that my dad won’t let me near the horses.”
“Your dad?”
She blew out a breath. “He lost it when I broke my arm. He said...he said he’d been an idiot thinking I could handle it and that I obviously couldn’t. It’s not fair, Jake. Kit, Boone... They’ve all had their injuries. But the minute I couldn’t walk it off, I have to quit? He doesn’t want me to be equal, he wants me to be better. And I can... I can.”