"And you don't care that his reputation might rub off on us?"
She laughed. "Have the other venues banned them from coming back?" When he didn't answer, she pointed at him. "And your silence tells me all I need to know. He must make money, or they'd all refuse to host him again."
"Apparently they all like some guy named Joey. He saves the reputation of the entire outfit and smooths things over."
"See," Vinia responded. "There's your answer. Find that guy and stick close. Our reputation will remain intact."
He rolled his eyes at her. "You're impossible sometimes."
"And they're arriving tomorrow, so it's too late to do anything regardless."
Drake took a final walk through the blue barn to make sure everything was in order. He and Colton broke apart a few hay bales and spread it around the area where the campers would be staged to try and cut down on the amount of mud that was sure to be churned up.
When they finished their checklists, they sat on the back deck of the barn and had a couple of beers. Colton sighed. "Ellie should be back this weekend. She'll be coming home to a circus." His wife was off on a marketing trip.
"I keep getting told that it's only for a couple days, so hopefully that stays true."
Drake had worked himself into a dark mood by the time the rodeo campers started pulling in the gate. With extreme patience that he didn't know he possessed, he meticulously directed each one into place. Luckily, he had to admit that the drivers were professionals, so it wasn't as difficult a job as he had anticipated. Most of the competitors were actually polite enough to thank him for the hay they had put down. Apparently he wasn't the only one that was concerned with mud.
Most of the competitors arrived before their boss. Drake's stomach turned when he saw the gaudy office trailer pull up to the gate. He pointed toward the field where the others were.
"Boy, do I look like I need to be stationed with the rest of the help?"
Drake put his hands on his hips. "Who are you?"
"Who am I? I'm Percy Western. I need to speak with a Ms. Vinia Hale."
"That's my mother. She turned this shindig over to me, so what do you need?"
"I need to be treated with a little respect."
"You're calling me boy, and I'm being disrespectful? No offense, dude, but you need to work on your own vernacular."
The man's eyes widened, but Drake saw the instant he realised that maybe he'd better cooperate a little. "I just need to have some space between me and the others."
Drake pointed to the end of the field. "See how easy that is when you lose the attitude?" He already despised the man, which wasn't boding well for the entire weekend. "Just park over there, but you'll have a longer walk to the arena area. And the blue barn is for your crew's use."
Percy saluted him and they drove off. Drake looked up and down the highway, but no other vehicles were in sight. He headed up to the barn to make sure the horses were getting settled in properly.
"Hey, man," one of the cowboys called out to him, "thanks for having the stalls prepped for us." He walked over and shook Drake's hand. "Warren's the name."
"Drake. Drake Hale. Pleased to meet you. And no worries on the stalls. We like to take care of the animals in our charge."
Warren snorted. "That's more than we can say about Mr. Western."
"Yeah, I've heard stories."
Over Warren's shoulder, Drake caught the glimpse of a woman with a long, dark ponytail leading a horse into a stall. His heart skipped a beat as he leaned a little to try and get a better glimpse. She was the most beautiful woman he'd ever seen, and his interest immediately perked up.
"....but anyhow, thanks again."
Drake's attention snapped back to Warren. He hadn't heard a word the man had said. He smiled and turned away. "Yeah, anything you need, just let me know."
Another guy called out to him about an extra bale of hay. By the time Drake helped him and made it to the stall where he'd seen the woman, she was gone.
Chapter Seven: The Interest Rises
Josephine “Joey” Preston
