Rather than text back, he had called, and that made her heart dance as she answered. “Hi. I thought maybe you didn’t have your phone with you.”
“Sorry. Just saw your message. We’d love to come, but we might have to eat and run. You could come with us, though.”
“Where are you going?”
“I’ll tell you over dinner. We’re on our way.” It wasn’t but about fifteen minutes later when they showed up at her doorstep and knocked.
She’d already set the table and poured drinks. “Come on in,” she called out. “It’s ready, so you can sit right down after you wash your hands.”
Merry Anna was so excited about how beautiful dinner looked. The crust had browned just right, and some of the gravy had bubbled up, leaving glistening, gooey sauce peeking through. She served it, and they all said the blessing before digging in.
“This is dee-lish-ish,” Zan said. “You are a really good cook.”
“Thank you, Zan.” She turned to Adam. “You know I just heated it up, right?”
“Still counts. Thank you. It is very good,” Adam said. “So, we’re headed to the Farrell County Fair, just east of here.”
“We’re gonna watch the button busting.” Zan scooped another spoonful into her mouth.
“Mutton bustin’,” he corrected.
Merry Anna’s heart flipped. It was one thing for Adam to ride. He was a grown man making his own decisions. But what if this sweet little girlie-girl decided to wear a helmetand cling to a dirty, oily, woolly, smelly sheep for dear life? It just didn’t seem right.
“Are you coming?” Zan asked. “Please?”
“Definitely.” But not for the reasons they thought. She was going to make sure that little girl didn’t get hurt, because even though Ginger seemed convinced it was a harmless activity, Merry Anna couldn’t imagine Zan riding a sheep.
—
Once Zan saw all the other kids lined up to ride the sheep, she was bouncing off the walls, wanting to do it. Merry Anna waited at the bleachers while Adam took her to sign up.
He stayed with her the whole time and even put her on the sheep.
Merry Anna held her breath. At least a dozen had already ridden, and most of them slipped right off the back before they got three feet past the open gate. Not a one of them cried. Maybe it wasn’t as bad as it sounded.
She watched Adam and Zan drop down into the gate. At one point, Adam picked up the sheep with two hands and turned it around so he could get Zan positioned on top of it. The girl wore a big rodeo number on the back of her frilly cowgirl shirt.
Merry Anna took pictures.Please don’t let anything bad happen.
Adam was yelling at Zan to nod so they’d pull the chute gate open. Finally, she did so, and, boy, did that sheep spring into the air. It looked more like a counting sheep than a rodeo sheep, but once it landed, it went running straight across the arena. That little blond girl was clutching the wool with white knuckles. Her legs were wrapped tight, and if Merry Anna hadn’t just watched Adam put the kid on the sheep’s back, she might wonder if Zan were Velcroed to the thing.
The girl’s hat flew off, but she hung on. And when the buzzer rang, the rodeo clowns ran to intercept them, one stopping that leaping lamb, and the other lifting Zan up and raising her arm into the air like a champion!
All the spectators were on their feet cheering, and Zan was smiling and waving as though she’d just won a beauty pageant.
Adam retrieved Zan from the rodeo clown and shook hands with him, then scooped his daughter’s pink hat up from the arena floor on the way out the gate.
Merry Anna ran over to them. “My goodness. Was it scary?”
“A little. I might not do that again.”
“Well, you did real good,” Adam said. “Once is enough, though, I think.” His lips were pulled into a thin line.
“You okay?” Merry Anna asked him.
He nodded, but he had a strained look on his face. “I need to make a phone call. Can you take her for a minute?”
“Sure.” Merry Anna took Zan’s hand.
