Momma pulls back with narrowed eyes. “What happened?”
“Nothing. I’m fine,” he says.
“Royce Andrew—”
“Just tweaked my shoulder,” he confesses before she can get his full name out.
“How bad is it?”
“He got launched into a steel gate like a lawn dart on a Saturday,” I supply helpfully.
Royce sends me a murderous glare over her head.
Momma presses her lips together. “Both of you are going to be the death of me.”
Dad appears in the doorway then, chuckling low.
Boone Trust is built like the Rocky Mountains. Broad shoulders. Big arms. Thick, callous hands. Sun-weathered face. The kind of man who can calm a fretting woman with one look and scare the piss out of a grown man with another.
He leans against the doorframe. “If they ain’t dragging their asses home after finals, half dead, they ain’t riding hard enough.”
Momma turns her eyes to him. “You’re not helping.”
Dad grins.
I swear, the older he gets, the more amused he becomes by her fiery temper.
He walks down the steps and clasps my shoulder first. “Hell of a ride Friday night, son. How’s that round-winner money feel in your pocket?”
I shrug. “Should’ve scored higher. Then I could’ve given Bryce a better run for his money.”
“Could’ve busted your ass worse too,” he says.
“True.”
Then he pulls Royce into a careful one-armed hug. “Everything still attached over here?”
“Everything except my pride,” Royce replies.
Dad nods solemnly. “Good enough.”
That’s pretty much the Boone Trust philosophy on injuries.
Still breathing? Walk it off.
Momma shoos us toward the house. “Hurry. Go wash up. We’re heading out in ten.”
“Yes, ma’am.”
The house smells like Pine-Sol, coffee, and home.
I dump my duffel bag in my room upstairs. The same room I’ve had since we moved here after Aunt Miriam died. Same dark wood furniture Dad built himself. Same rodeo posters on the wall. Same navy-and-white checkered quilt.
I don’t bother unpacking. There’s no point.
Next week, Royce and I will move into one of the staff cabins full-time while we help Bryce train the young riders at the academy this summer.
Part coaching. Part ranch work. Part rest and recovery. Hoping to mend our bodies and build strength before next season starts.
