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“That’s not fair,” LeAnn said. “Why Muriel? Why not me?”
“Apparently, you were keeping your secret too secret. But that doesn’t matter right now. What matters is you’re going on after Muriel.”
“I am?”
“Well,” Dolly said. “I have to clear it with the MPRC and the WPRC first. While I do that, you need to grab your gear from the truck.”
“I don’t want to steal her thunder,” LeAnn said. Sure, she was disappointed that she wouldn’t be the first female bull rider in an event, but that didn’t matter as long as at the end of the season she was number one.
“Don’t think of it as stealing. Think of it as sharing. We can’t miss the buzz this opportunity will give us,” Dolly said. “Unless you’re not up for this. If you’re not ready, let me know now and I won’t try to get you in.”
Excitement jingled up and down LeAnn’s spine. “Of course, I’m ready for it. You can even ask Dylan. He thinks so too.”
“All right then. I’ll go make the arrangements. We’ve got about half an hour to set this up. Go get ready and try not to let anyone see you in the gear.”
After Dolly hurried away, LeAnn sprinted to the truck and grabbed her duffel bag with her protective gear and rope. She couldn’t believe this was actually happening. She should really give her parents a heads-up first. Checking her phone, she didn’t have much time. Calling them, she got both their voicemails. Should she break the news via text? Or should she wuss out and have Dolly tell them? When she returned to the back of the bull-riding chute where all the cowboys waited for their turn, Muriel was pretending not to hear the curious whispers from the men.
“How long have you known you were going to do this?” LeAnn asked, coming up to her.
“A couple of weeks,” Muriel said. “Are you going to compete too?”
“Yes. Should be fun.”
“Definitely interesting.” Muriel gave the bull riders a significant glance.
LeAnn was just happy Mick wasn’t standing in that crowd. “Do you know any other women who are going to compete with us?”
“Not for sure,” Muriel said. “But if I had to guess, I’d say there’s going to be about ten of us altogether.”
That was a decent list. She had thought about half that. But ten worked for her.
“Which bull do they have you on?” LeAnn asked.
Muriel pointed to a white bull with black spots. “Pecos Bull,” she said. “He’s new. I don’t think he’s been in any event before. I might be his first rider.”
“That can’t be right,” LeAnn said. “How will you know how he’s going to react with you on his back?”
“He’ll react the same as any other bull, I’d imagine.” Muriel shrugged. “He’s had training dummies strapped to him.”
“Yeah, but they only weigh about thirty-five pounds.”
“I guess we’ll find out in the arena,” Muriel said.
“I guess we will. Have you ever gone eight seconds before?”
“Of course, I have. The WPRC wouldn’t have chosen me to be their first rider, if I hadn’t,” Muriel scoffed.
“Who at the WPRC chose you?” And why hadn’t they approached her first?
“Shelby Miller, the CEO.”
“She just called you out of the blue?”
“Yeah, pretty much.
“Well, good luck.” LeAnn was going to have to sic Dolly on Shelby to see why she had called Muriel instead of her. Muriel was a decent barrel racer, but as far as LeAnn could remember, she had never placed higher than third in the bronc category.
“You too,” Muriel said.
