“Looks like your girl beat you here,” Shaun said, giving Jason a knowing grin.
“She’s not my girl,” Jason said, more out of habit than fact. He wasn’t exactly certain what Lainey considered herself to be in terms of their relationship, and the idea of asking her made him feel like a stupid, clueless kid.
All he knew was that he loved her, and the thought of getting to spend time with her filled him with anticipation and joy.
“Sure, Dad. Whatever you say.”
Jason scowled at Shaun, then glanced in the back seat where Brylee and the kids slept. He shifted his focus back to his son, his voice quiet. “You’d do better to focus your romantic notions on your wife.”
Shaun snorted. “Geez, Dad. Get a grip. The kids won’t stay in their beds in the trailer, and we end up with Carter’s fists and Caitlyn’s feet in our faces, not to mention you snoring like a wounded grizzly. How much romancing do you think can happen in that tin box on wheels?”
“More than I probably want to know about.” Jason smirked at his son, then sobered. “You’re a good kid, Shaun, and a great husband and father. I had my doubts after you broke Brylee’s heart the first time, but I’m glad you made the most of your second chance.”
“Thanks, Dad. That means a lot.” Shaun turned off the ignition and set the parking brake on the pickup. “Why don’t you grab the second chance dangling in front of you? If you put even a marginal effort into convincing Lainey there’s a future for the two of you together, I don’t think she’d disagree. In fact, I think she’d be plumb happy to be stuck with your worn-out old face for the rest of your life.”
Jason had opened his door, but he shut it again to keep the cool air inside. “What makes you say that?”
Shaun shrugged. “For reasons none of us can understand, she seems to like you. Maybe she can see something promising beyond that decrepit, ancient exterior of yours.”
Jason playfully punched Shaun on the arm.
“I’d better warn her you’re a man given to violent tendencies.” Shaun feigned injury and rubbed his bicep. “According to Lisa and Brylee, she talks about you all the time, and her face lights up when you walk into a room. Uncle Galen said she asked a lot of questions when she was at the ranch, like she wanted to get to know more about you. Pops claims she is besotted with you, so there you go. Take the dating advice of an octogenarian and quit wasting time.”
Jason grinned and opened the door. “Maybe I will,” he said, then walked around the pickup and waved at Lainey, wondering what he would do if she had no interest in a relationship with him.
Now that he had gotten to know her, it seemed impossible to forget about Lainey Collins.
The final day of the rodeo, Jason could hardly contain his amusement when Cooper James arranged what he referred to as a chip chucking contest to take place in the arena after the team-roping ended but before the saddle bronc competition began.
“Where did he get this grand idea?” Jason asked as he and Shaun sat on their horses just inside the gate, watching as a group of half a dozen women walked into the arena. Lainey was one of the contestants and didn’t look as wary as she probably should have, considering some of Cooper’s past shenanigans.
Cooper’s little boy, Alex, went from one contestant to another with a box of latex gloves. The women pulled them on, although they appeared confused as to the reason.
Lainey looked amused as she pulled on a purple glove and snapped it. Jason took in the sight of her, golden hair gleaming in the sunlight. She wore a teal-colored blouse with a tone-on-tone pattern that looked like tooled leather, a pair of dark blue jeans, and the brown cowboy boots she’d worn to every rodeo. A silver necklace with a small turquoise cross encircled her neck, while a wide silver cuff bracelet she’d picked up yesterday at a vendor booth rested on her left wrist.
No one looking into the arena would have any idea she was new to the world of rodeo. She looked the part of a seasoned cowgirl.
Jason glanced over the other contestants. Cooper had somehow talked the wife of the rodeo board chairman into competing as well as one of the breakaway ropers. There was a teenage girl with a face so red, Jason assumed she was either incredibly shy or mortified to be out there. Cobie Quinn, the reporter forAll Things Rodeo,was also in the lineup. Her cameraman stood behind Cooper, ready to capture the action on film. The sixth contestant was a woman in her thirties wearing a shirt cut so low and a skirt that rode up so high, she didn’t leave much to the imagination. She minced her way across the arena in a pair of fringed booties with stiletto heels that were ridiculous to wear at a rodeo.
“Cooper! What are you doing down there with those women?” the announcer asked in his booming voice.
“We’re fixin’ to have us a competition,” Cooper said in an exaggerated drawl. Jason knew for a fact that the rodeo barrelman had grown up on his grandfather’s ranch south of Portland, not in the heart of Texas.
“Is that so? What kind of competition, Coop? I don’t see crazy costumes or animals running wild. There aren’t any dance tunes on cue, or gallons of Gatorade to drink,” the announcer said, hinting at some of Cooper’s past contests.
Cooper glared up at the announcer’s booth. “We’re trying out something new. These ladies are my inaugural participants in a chip chucking competition.”
“Chip chucking?” the announcer asked. “Are they flicking potato chips across a table?”
“No! We’re going to see how far they can throw a cow patty, hence the title of chip chucking. Cow chips.”
The women had various reactions to Cooper’s declaration, from a disgusted, nose-snarled look from the woman in stilettos to an exaggerated eye-roll from the wife of the rodeo board chairman, as though she should have expected as much.
Jason didn’t miss the “help me” expression on Lainey’s face as she turned her gaze in his direction.
He smiled and waved at her, wondering how Cooper had landed on such an unusual idea for the competition and why on earth he’d chosen women to participate. Most of the men Coop typically rounded up for such nonsense would have thrown a cow pie and not thought twice about it, but the gal in the high-heeled boots was starting to look a little green around the gills.
When Billy Clark, one of the Rockin’ K bullfighters, came into the arena carrying a bucket full of cow chips, Jason thought it could have been full of venomous vipers for the way the female in the stupid shoes acted when it was her turn to pull one out of the bucket.
