Mom hummed as she ran the brush through my hair, long blonde strands falling delicately over my shoulders when she reached the ends.
I looked in the mirror in front of us, taking in both of our appearances. Twin pairs of eyes—although hers were more bluish than green—stared back at me. I had my father’s nose, but that was the only part of me that looked similar to him. His hair was murky brown, and his eyes were an even darker, even more hollow brown. He had a tall, menacing stature, and while I wasn’t even eight years old yet, I had a feeling I wasn’t going to have his height either.
In every way that counted, I was my mother’s daughter.
And he hated that.
Sometimes I thought he just hated me—not the way I looked—because his eyes would rake up and down me with disgust before he scoffed and moved on. Maybe if I’d looked more like him, he would be proud of me.
The truth was, I didn’t want to be like him.
I didn’t think Mom realized I heard their arguments some nights. How they weren’t actually as quiet as they assumed they were. I heard the insults spewing from my father’s mouth. The ones that only ceased with the slap of a hand across skin.
By the time I’d washed the dye from my hair and emerged from the bathroom, Hayden had turned off the lights. The TV was still running, a low drone in the background, but his soft snores told me he’d fallen asleep half under the covers.
Careful not to wake him, I pulled the comforter out from under his leg, dragging it up so it was covering his chest.
His lips curved into a soft smile, but he didn’t wake up. He looked so peaceful, like an angel incarnate.
In a way, he was—an angel. He’d looked out for me for so long. Took care of me when all I wanted to do was push everyone away.
It was time I returned the favor.
CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO
sierra
The weather in Oregon was pleasant; the temperature was in the mid-seventies with a gentle breeze and little cloud cover.
I adjusted my cowboy hat, brushing the baby hairs out of my face as I peered out into the arena. The action had started not too long ago, and they were flying through the events, having already finished up bareback riding and half of steer wrestling.
There were three events between team roping and barrel racing—saddle bronc, breakaway roping, and tie-down roping—so even though I’d be riding around the rodeo grounds to keep Lucky warm before our race, I’d be lucky enough to get to watch Hayden and Keenan’s run, especially since they were fairly early in the lineup.
The boys left me alone earlier, heading to warm up their horses, so I was enjoying the little bit of calm I had, though it didn’t seem to last very long.
As soon as the team roping began, one of the rare barrel racers who was actually nice to me—Haley—walked up beside me, her hands in the pocketsof her jeans.
“Hey, Sierra.”
I was convinced a majority of the girls saw me as competition or a threat, so they kept their distance. Then again, I hardly ever made an effort to talk to them. I preferred to keep to myself, not letting anybody too close.
While there weren’t any inherent threats to the people I befriended, I didn’t want to let my guard down only to regret it later. I had to keep the people I cared about safe, and if there were fewer people for me to care about, that task would be much easier.
“Hi, Haley.” My eyes swept over her. Her light-brown hair was pulled back into a neat braid, and she lifted her cowboy hat to brush some stray strands out of her eyes.
“Have you been here for very long? In Oregon, I mean?”
I shook my head. “No, we got here late last night. I had some loose ends to tie up in Montana, so we didn’t make the trip early.” Granted, those ends were tied a couple weeks ago, but taking a break from traveling for a short bit was nice.
“Ah, I see. My fiancé and I got here a couple days ago.”
If I remembered correctly, Haley was from somewhere in Saskatchewan, so they had an even farther distance to travel. It made sense that they’d want a couple days to recover before all the action began.
“I’m glad you guys made it okay.”
“Oh, yeah. We definitely didn’t have to leave so early, but between you and me, I like dragging Bodhi around to do a little shopping. And he doesn’t complain that I make his wallet so much lighter.” She winked and shot me a grin before letting out a small giggle.
I returned her smile, shaking my head with amusement.
