Some of their most popular stunts were the bullfighting events, which was what West insisted they call them instead ofrodeo clown antics. West and a few other daring performers sat at a table and played poker, waiting to see who could flirt with the bull that was loose in the arena the longest before they got nervous and abandoned the game.
West always won.
Of course, West did not wear clown makeup.
He wore a black cowboy hat and tight jeans and as a result got exponentially laid for his feats of bravery. Whatever.
“Starlight is just over there waiting for you,” her dad said, gesturing to one of the holding stalls.
She crossed the distance to him and kissed him on the cheek. “Thanks, Dad.”
His whole face crinkled up with his smile. He smelled like tobacco and arena dirt. Her heart clenched. She had been feeling bitter lately. She loved her dad. She didn’t need to focus on the ways in which her childhood had been difficult. And anything that held her back now … that was her own problem.
Yes, there were things about her childhood that were tough, but there were also things that were great.
Hell, hanging out with Flynn should be a reminder of that. His dad was gone, and his mother was in town but didn’t even want to see him. Childhood trauma was a many splendored thing.
At least her parents loved her.
She walked back to the stall and started to open the gate. She didn’t hear her brother approaching and jumped half a foot when he leaned in and spoke.
“What are you up to?”
“What the hell?”
“That’s what I’m asking you. Where were you?”
“None of your business.”
“It is my business. Because you’re scheming.”
“I know, I know, you’re very concerned about my scheming.”
“You’re hiding something, and I don’t like it. Because we never even had to hide weed from Mom and Dad, because they were also smoking it.”
“I never smoked it, West.”
He breezed right past that. “So the fact that you’re stooping to subterfuge of any kind makes me concerned that it might end in a federal investigation.”
“You have so little faith in me.”
“No, Jessie, I have too much faith in you. Which means I don’t put anything past you.”
“We have a routine to rehearse, bro.”
“You’re really annoying, do you know that?”
“I’ve heard. Where’s Mom?”
He shrugged. “At home. She was doing something with her crystals?”
Jessie rolled her eyes, but affectionately. Then she went into the stall and patted Starlight on the neck. She was such a beautiful horse. White with gray speckles. Jessie got on her back and leaned in. “Ready?”
West gave her a look, but opened the gate, and then she and Starlight were off.
For a little while, she forgot about everything. Any resentment over the past, all the tension of being around Flynn. The paperwork she had just filed, and the signs she had ordered. For a little bit, she was just Jessie Jane Hancock, in her element. Where none of the deficiencies of her growing-up years mattered at all, because they had made her the best at what she did here.
There were worse things.
