AllFreeNovel
Share Us
It had killed Johnny. He wasn’t going to let it kill LeAnn as well. But he wasn’t sure how he was going to stop it. Dylan felt like he was on a runaway train and couldn’t find the brakes. That damned bull had been too much for her. If she had given him time, he could have picked one that was more suited to her skill level. As much as LeAnn thought she was an expert rider, she didn’t have the experience that Muriel had.
Muriel had told him that she had been riding bulls even before she was riding broncs. She had even competed down in Mexico, which impressed the hell out of him because the bulls down there tended to be a lot meaner and harder to ride. Still, he had to face the fact that he had a bit of a bias toward LeAnn. He didn’t care if Mick, Muriel, or hell, even himself wrecked on a bull and took a bump that left bruises. It bothered him that LeAnn might have gotten hurt. It was stupid, overprotective, and everything that he shouldn’t feel. But it was still there, along with the memories of Johnny Montana’s last ride.
Dylan thought about hitting the gym to get rid of some of the anxiety, but his knees and his back ached too much. He wanted to soak in the hot tub, but he didn’t want to be alone and he didn’t want any company that wasn’t LeAnn. So he was fucked. He flopped down on the bed instead.
What a shitshow today had been.
At least Jackson Blevins had thought LeAnn’s stunt was hysterical, but he’d admonished Dylan to give him a heads-up next time. Well, there had better fucking not be a next time. But rather than tell Jackson that LeAnn had broadsided him too, he went along with it.
Stretching out, Dylan closed his eyes and tried to rest. But the events of the day kept him from finding peace. There was that thing with LeAnn, sure. And Lola wasn’t performing at her prime either. But it was the other animals that he saw that gnawed on his insides. There were horses in worse shape than Lola giving it their all out there. If he could just get his horse rescue ranch project up and running, Dylan could offer the owners a choice to give their animals a little peace in their retirement.
He rubbed his knees. It was getting close to his retirement too. His back and knees ached more than they used to.
When his phone rang and he saw it was his uncle, he almost didn’t answer it. But then he remembered that he’d never gotten around to telling him about his new job with Hickory Livestock. Uncle Lou should hear it from him.
“Yeah,” he said.
“Saw you on the TV today,” Lou said. “You were stinking up the joint.”
“Yeah, thanks for noticing.” Dylan put his arm over his eyes.
“Do you know the two cuties on the bulls?”
“Yeah, both of them. As a matter of fact, they were on Hickory Livestock’s bulls and I got a job with Hickory to choose which bulls are going to the WPRC.”
“You’re going to recommend mine, right?”
Dylan snorted. He knew that was coming. “Since Hickory Livestock is paying my salary, I’m pretty sure they want me to funnel their bulls to the women’s league. But don’t worry,” he said before his uncle could protest, “I know that Jackson Blevins is very happy with the quality of bulls you’re providing for the men. Who knows, you may be able to branch out to the women’s league sooner rather than later.”
“Just keep me in mind.”
“I will,” Dylan said. “How’s Paint?” Paint was his uncle’s workhorse, who had seen better days.
“Gone.”
Dylan’s hands clenched into fists. Paint hadn’t deserved to go to the slaughterhouse, but that’s where Lou had been planning on sending him once his working days were over.
If only he had his rescue set up.
“I wish you would have waited,” Dylan said, trying not to shout.
“For what?”
“I’ve got applications for a bank loan pending and there is a farm coming up on auction that might work out for the rescue ranch I have in mind.”
Lou scoffed. “You’re not going to be up and running this year, even if you do get the loan and the ranch.”
“You still could have waited.”
“I’m not running a charity. That’s your dream. You might want to run the idea by your father, you know. He’s part of that Shark Tank wannabe organization that’s looking to invest in new ideas.”
“No thanks,” Dylan said. “My father has made it very clear that he thinks I ruined my life by going into rodeo. I don’t need him to shit all over this idea as well.”
“That’s just because he’s worried about you,” Lou said. “You’re the only kid he’s got left.”
“He’s got a funny way of showing it,” Dylan said. This wasn’t a new argument. His uncle was always trying to find excuses for the way Dylan’s parents had foisted him off on them.
“You should call them anyway. They were asking about you the other day.”
