She did as she promised. She took care of me. And I’ll miss her for the rest of my life.
Chapter 41
Trey
Pendleton, Oregon
Iset my hips to my rope, leaning my head toward my left shoulder, throwing my free arm down to get the weight on my left leg after this bull belly rolls for the third time.
He takes one more jump and hits in his left lead.
I feel my hips slide into the center of the spin—the well—as he turns back to the left. I look to the outside of the spin trying to wait for him to pick my hips up, but he drifts away from me and decides he’s going to drag his ass to finish me off. I fall all the way into the well, but my hand is stuck in my rope. I throw my free arm over his neck attempting to avoid taking a horn to my facemask.
Son of a bitch.Why does this keep happening?
I stay there as he does another round, trying to hook me. The bull fighters rush to grab his attention. It works—he moves toward a bull fighter, and I manage to stay on my feet, but I still get kicked in the leg once as I reach for my tail.
The other bull fighter jumps in to do the same. He finds my tail, yanks it, and breaks the bind, freeing my hand. I hit the dirt and run for the chutes.
The bull fighters step around the angry creature, and he makes a beeline out of the arena. I pick up my rope and thank the boys who saved me from what could’ve been a nasty wreck and limp out of the arena.
By the time I’m back to my gear bag, the charlie horse in my leg is calming down. I grab my phone and see I have one missed call from Kacey.
That was fast. She didn’t even give me a chance to text her and tell her I was okay. I look over and see Knox is packing his gear. “Your girlfriend already called me. That wasn’t even that bad.”
His head snaps up, brow furrowed. “I mean, it would’ve been better if you let go, but yeah, that’s weird.”
“I opened my hand, asshole. It was welded in there; I hate losing my rope, and I need to win every dime right now.”
“One of these days you’ll keep your rope and lose your teeth.”
I brush him off and tap her contact as he joins me.
“Hi, Trey.”
“Hey, Kacey. I’m fine, just a little charlie horse.”
“I’m glad. It looked rough, but that’s not why I called.”
“Okay. What’s up? Calling to complain about Knox again? You know I’m always here to listen.”
Knox scoffs.
“Unfortunately, no,” Kacey says. “I’m calling about Jessie.”
“Is she okay? Did something happen?” I’ve been so worried about her, I’ve hardly slept or eaten. Three more weeks—I need three more weeks on the road, then I can head back to Colorado.
“She’s as okay as she can be. The funeral is tomorrow, and I’m worried about her. She isn’t crying . . .”
I wait for her to say more, but she doesn’t. Jessie is tough. It doesn’t necessarily surprise me she’s putting on a strong front through all of this. I’ve seen her cry, but it takes a lot, and she always fights it. “I’m sure she’s sad and just trying to process.”
“She cried at the hospital, but since then she’s been almost robotic. It’s not just the fact that she hasn’t cried, though. She won’t talk to me or let me help her. She isn’t sleeping and barely eats. We’re all worried about her. I thought maybe you could get through to her . . . be there for her . . . ” She trails off.
I rub the back of my neck. “Kacey, I’m not sure that’s a good idea. I called her twice that day. She didn’t pick up or call back. Things didn’t end well between us.”
“She had her phone off all day; she probably never got the notifications. I don’t know what happened between you two. She won’t talk about it, but I know she let you deeper into her life than she let anyone else. She misses you, Trey. And I hate to ask it, but maybe you should come back for one day. I don’t think she’d slam the door in your face.”
I scrub my hand down my face. I want to fly back; I’ve wanted to since the moment I heard Dot passed. But I’m not as convinced as Kacey. There is a good chance Jessie will slam the door in my face.
