Page 35 of July’s Cowboy Dallas

Roy's jaw worked. “You don't know what you're talking about.”

“Then explain it.”

He didn't. Instead, he turned back to the trailer and yanked the door open. The steer lunged.

Roy stumbled back, and the brindle bolted through the gap, favoring his leg but moving fast on adrenaline and fear. He veered left, toward the narrow alley between the main arena and the queen staging area, where Addison was helping the junior girls line up for the closing ceremony.

Sadie moved. So did I.

My horse was still saddled near the chutes, reins looped loose where I'd left him after my run. I didn't think. I swung up, gathered the rope still coiled at my shoulder, and sent him toward the alley.

The steer was headed for the fence rail where kids were leaning over to watch. Addison had already moved the junior queens back, her face calm but her hands quick, but the brindle wasn't slowing.

I went left. No second-guessing. I read the steer's momentum, the way his weight shifted right, and threw my loop.

It opened clean. Caught both hind legs.

I set back just enough to check his momentum and turn him away from the fence, giving Cody time to swing a panel across the alley. The steer stumbled, blowing hard, but stayed upright.

I dismounted before he could bolt again, keeping tension on the line while Sadie closed in from the front.

“Easy,” she said, her voice low and steady. “Easy, big guy.”

The steer's breathing evened. His ears flicked forward.

Sadie's hands moved over his leg, checking the injury, her touch firm and sure. The crowd had gone quiet.

Someone started clapping. Then someone else joined in.

By the time Sadie straightened and nodded to me, half the arena was applauding, and Orville Nelson was striding toward the back gate with Holt and Tanner behind him. Roy was still standing near the trailer, his face pale and tight.

Cody Briggs jogged over and took the rope from my hands. “Hell of a catch, Miller.”

I didn't answer. I was too busy watching Sadie, who was looking at me like she knew exactly what that catch had cost me—and exactly what it meant.

Addison appeared at my elbow a minute later, her crown slightly askew but her smile back in place. The junior queens clustered behind her, wide-eyed and whispering.

“Your cowboy has timing,” she said to Sadie.

Sadie's mouth curved. “He does.”

Your cowboy. The words settled somewhere deep, and I didn't try to dislodge them. Hers. Said out loud, in front of the junior queens and half the back gate, and Sadie hadn't corrected it. She'd claimed it.

By the time Holt and Orville reached Roy, a small crowd had gathered. Tanner stood with his arms crossed, his face unreadable. Slade was there too, along with Morgan and a few of the stock hands who'd been helping all week.

Roy looked from Sadie to Holt to the open trailer door.

“You want to explain why you were trying to move pulled stock off the grounds?” Holt's voice was hard.

Roy's hands clenched. “I was trying to clean up a mess before it got worse.”

“By letting an injured animal loose near kids?” Sadie's voice stayed level, but I heard the steel underneath it. “That's your idea of cleanup?”

“You don't understand⁠—”

“Then make me understand.” She stepped forward, her eyes locked on his. “Because right now, it looks like you've been covering tracks all week. Forged certifications. Mismatched brands. Stock held on Miller land without permission. A Cedar Draw box that vanished off the stock office shelf the same afternoon we found it. All of it points back to you.”

Roy's jaw worked. He looked at Holt, then at Orville, then back at Sadie.