My own mother couldn’t care less if I lived or died.
I blinked back tears. “Thank you, Jo.”
Dennis caught up with his wife, throwing his arm over her shoulder. “Did you already thank our hero for me?”
Jo leaned into his touch. “I did!”
“You know, after I retired from the rodeo, I was a pick-up man for about fifteen years, just as a hobby. From what I heard about today, you have quite the career in it, too,” he winked.
I adjusted my bag, not sure what else to do with my hands. “Ellie is being nice, but it was not as graceful as she made it sound.” I chuckled.
“I would’ve paid good money to see it!” He exclaimed.
I was not good at being the subject of conversation, so I quickly switched to the task at hand. “So Dennis, I wanted to make sure you were okay with the script I had prepared for the announcer tonight. Do you have a second to go over that?”
“I’ll let you two kids work,” Jo said, kissing her husband’s cheek.
I unlocked my iPad and handed it to Dennis.
He held it at arm’s length, squinting to read. “Sorry, old man eyes,” he muttered. He took his time reading it a few times. “This is perfect. You wrote this?” He looked up at me, and I noticed tears clinging to his eyelashes.
“Yes, and I have about fifteen minutes before I need to get it submitted, so if you want to change anything, now’s the time.”
“Allegra, this is beautiful. Thank you.” Dennis handed it back to me, shaking his head. “I could have a month to write that and wouldn’t come up with anythin’ better.”
I clickedsubmit, not sure if my feedback could get any better. “I appreciate that, sir,” I said, sliding the iPad back into my bag.
“Allegra, I appreciate how highly you think of my family.” He gave me his classic huge Dennis smile, ignoring the tears spilling down his cheeks. “Well, we’d better get loaded up. These boys are raring to go.”
My heart was full. It was a big job to try to put this family into words, and Dennis’ reaction had made me feel like I was taking a step in the right direction.
I followed him to the trailers, where the boys were starting to climb into the trucks.
Colton smiled and waved when I caught his eye.
He looked incredible. He was wearing a gray pearl snap button-up that made his eyes look even brighter. His hair was combed under his tan cowboy hat. He had shaved again, making his jaw sharp. “Ready to go?”
I nodded. “How are you feeling? Do you get nervous before a show?”
Colton shrugged. “More like butterflies. I don’t think there’s anythin’ that makes me more excited than a show.” He tugged on my dress, pulling me closer. “You look beautiful, by the way,” he whispered before softly kissing me.
“Thank you,” I whispered back. “I really love this shirt.”
He looked down at it. “This old thing? Why, thank you.”
“I especially love the price tag,” I laughed, tugging at it. “Really ties the whole outfit together.”
His face turned red, and he yanked it off. “Get your butt in the truck,” he said, grinning from ear to ear.
I climbed into his beat-up red truck, letting him help me in and close the door behind me. I leaned back, inhaling the scent of an old farm truck.
Gosh, I had missed this life.
Colton climbed in, popping a piece of peppermint gum. “Do you have a lot of work to do tonight? I’m not gonna lie to you, Ally, I don’t even know for sure what you do.” He laughed. “I mean, okay, I know that your company is workin’ to make Agri-Corp grow and reach more people, but why the rodeo?”
I smiled at his honesty. I know so many things could be cleared up and so many relationships strengthened if people admitted when they didn’t know something. With Colton, admitting when he didn’t know the answer or asking a question came easily. It was a humility I admired endlessly.
“That’s a really good question,” I complimented, not wanting him to feel stupid. “Thompson, Mickey, and your dad have done a fantastic job at making Agri-Corp thrive in each of their small towns. They hired my company because they want it to be more than a small-town dealership, though. They want it to be nationwide. Unfortunately, none of them wanted to travel, which is fair because they spend the entire season traveling. So, my boss, Mr. Sterling, came up with the incredible idea to market around the rodeo. I don’t know how much your dad has told you, but with them being the main sponsor and with their displays right outside the gate, Agri-Corp has opened up five new branches across the nation, and their sales have skyrocketed!” I realized my voice had been rising with each sentence until I was practically screaming. “Gosh, sorry, that was a bit of a ramble.”
