The truth is, Cabe could ride before he could walk. The boy was a natural.
“And what about the clinic? How’s Jovie doing?” he asks, ignoring my comment.
“Good, I think. Luckily, I haven’t had to see her in action too much,” Royce replies. “Half of the students have a crush on her. I heard some of the ropers talking about how much they liked her nutrition class. And when I asked them what it was about, not one of the little horny bastards could tell me what she said.”
Cabe laughs.
“You remember what it was like at that age. The only thing more exciting at the rodeo than riding in your event was chasing the barrel racers around the arena afterward,” I say.
“That age? Hell, I still get excited, chasing the barrel dancers,” Royce says, wagging his brows.
Dad chuckles as he grabs a post off the back of the tractor. I shovel about five inches of gravel into the newly dug hole, and he places it inside before pulling the torpedo level out of his back pocket.
While he and Cabe secure the post with some scrap two-by-fours, I mix another bag of rapid-set concrete in the wheelbarrow.
“This one good, Earl?” Dad bellows.
Grandpa gives him a thumbs-up, and I carefully pour the concrete into the hole.
Cabe looks toward me. “What do you think?”
“About?”
“Jovie.”
I shrug. “She’s doing well, I guess.”
“That’s it? I figured you would have more of an opinion.”
That sets off alarm bells in my head.
“Why the fuck would I have an opinion on her?” It comes out a little harsher than I intended.
Cabe looks confused. “Um, I thought you were supposed to be spying on her for Dr. Chaz?”
Shit.
I remove the glove from my right hand and run it over my face. “Right. Guess I’ve been too busy to play super sleuth. I’m sure she’s doing a fine job. Like Royce said, the students seem to like her, and she’s getting the hang of reeling them in during class. Even coaxed some of them into the gym.”
A smile touches his face. “Glad to hear it.”
I nod and tug the glove back on before bending down to grab the roll of barbed wire.
The conversation should end there.
Instead, before I can talk myself out of it, I hear myself ask, “So, what’s the status of you two anyway?”
Cabe pulls the staple gun from his belt as Royce holds the wire in place. “Me and Jovie?”
“Yeah,” Royce says. “You two been sneaking off into the barn together at night and bumping uglies?”
Grandpa almost chokes on his water as Dad chuckles into his canteen.
Cabe groans.
“You’re a real douchebag,” I say, shoulder-checking him hard.
“Hey, I was just asking the question we all really want to know the answer to.”
