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I nod. “That’s the thing, Danny. I love her too.”
He’s silent for a moment, cocking an eyebrow as he looks at me. “You really mean that, don’t you?”
“I love her, yes. I mean that intensely.”
“Fucking hell,” he moans. “Gotta make this rough, don’t you?”
“That’s how it is. I’d like it if it wasn’t something that created a rift with my best friend, but I can’t help what my heart wants, man. I see that beautiful young woman there, the way she smiles, the way she talks with me, how unbelievably amazing she is. And I can’t resist. Even if it means testing our friendship, I can’t just let her pass me by. I love you as a brother, but I love her as so much more.”
“Never expected you to get so sappy, Jennings.” He shakes his head. “But you really do mean it. You love her. Damn.”
“I love her enough that I’m going to ask her to marry me.”
He just stares at me for a moment. “Are the drugs fucking with me or did I just hear that you intend to propose to my little sister?”
“You heard me right, man. We’ve wanted one another for ages. She came onto the rodeo circuit with us just because she wanted to be closer to me. But we’ve held back. Because of uncertainty. Because of you.”
“Trying to make me feel like a heel here, huh?”
“I don’t mean to. It’s just a mess of emotions. But I can’t deny how I feel about her. The scenes that play in my head when I look at her. Some of them I’m sure you don’t want to hear about, but there are ones that are also saccharine. Of holding her close while watching a sunset. Of having a family together. The cliche of growing old together. It all sounds like the best thing in the world to me.”
Danny takes his time as he hears this. Maybe I should have waited until he was healthy, but I badly wanted to clear the air between us. I wanted him to understand. I wanted our brotherhood, figurative and soon to be literal, to be strong.
“Man, I shouldn’t have doubted you,” he says. “I know you. You’re a fucking gentleman, Jennings. Rough and rowdy, but I never saw one red flag to suggest that you’re the kind of guy I wouldn’t want with my sister.”
“Are you giving me your blessing, for whatever that's worth?”
“I guess? You usually ask the father and not the brother.”
“Care more about your opinion than your dad’s, honestly.”
He laughs. “Yeah, well, you have it, then. My little sister isn’t gonna stay little forever, and it may as well be a guy like you helping her become a woman than some asshole who won’t treat her right.”
I let out a long sigh, feeling the weight lift off my shoulders. “Thank you, Danny. Thank you for understanding.”
“Just hope I don’t regret this and realize the painkillers were the ones talking for me here.”
“Guess I’ll just have to keep proving that June and I together are the right idea, then. More evidence for sober Danny.”
“That works. And I’ll still kick your ass if you hurt her.”
“Strong words from a guy with a broken back.”
“I’ll find a way, Jennings. I’m a persistent motherfucker, and besides, I’ll heal. My back won’t be broken forever. Which is more than I can say for your face.”
He can insult me until his own face is blue.
I’ve mended that bridge and gotten his blessing to propose to June.
Nothing else matters.
Except, well, now I have to ask her.
That sweet little cowgirl will be mine, no doubt about it, but I just need the right way to make it happen.
8
JUNE
The Burly County Spring Fair isn’t technically at the start of spring, but a lot of people of the town don’t consider the season to really start until it happens.
It’s a pretty big deal. We go to the biggest stadium in the county and people from all over pour in.
It’s only the second time I’ve performed at one of these, and I’m still nervous.
“You’ll do fine,” Jennings says from behind me, massaging my shoulders. “They don’t matter. All that matters is you and those barrels.”
“I’m sure my brother thought he was fine too until he met that pole spine-first.”
“Do you have any younger siblings you’ll be incensed to find are having a relationship with someone without you knowing about it?”
“I’m the youngest child, so no.”
“Then as I said, you’ll be fine.”
Danny will be a spectator for a while. He’s up there in the crowd now, still drugged out of his mind from the pain. But he’s smiling and celebrating, even if he’s in a wheelchair.
Because everyone acted so quickly and he didn’t have any complications, the outlook is overall pretty good for him. It’ll still take months of recovery, then months of physical therapy, but he’ll be walking again. If he works hard, he’ll be riding again, even. After what happened, I wouldn’t blame him if he never wanted to see a bull again, but he wants to be here today, and he made his desires loud and clear. Being back in the sun will be good for him, the doctors said.
