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In the barn, TJ slowly and painstakingly tacked up Kai. Instead of swinging into the saddle with ease, he walked the horse to a big, concrete mounting block his dad had built for him. He climbed the steps carefully, slid into the saddle with absolute control.
It hurt.
But then again, everything hurt. All the time.
He pushed Kai into a walk with a subtle roll on his hips, braced and then breathed through the pain as the horse started forward.
They picked their way over the land together, TJ’s mind on another time and place. Another TJ. It was odd to think about how different his life would be if those two seconds hadn’t happened. Instead, here he was, a broken man with no future at all.
The thought didn’t make him sad. He’d come to see death as nothing more than an end to suffering, an absence of pain. There was peace in that.
Chapter 24
Odessa, Texas – January 12, 2027
The girls spent four perfect days in the town of Silver City, New Mexico, en route to Odessa. They hauled the trailer into the Gila National Forest, a wilderness area spanning over three million acres.
In the early morning, while Andrea and Stevie slept, Skye rode Smokey on the allocated horseback riding trails, Bandit trotting at their side. She didn’t push her horse, only gave the mare the movement she needed and the rest she deserved leading up to the Sandhills Stock and Show Rodeo in Odessa.
Once her friends were up and about, the girls spent the days hiking the numerous trails and swimming in the lakes – following Rule Number Two, of course, and wearing their bathing suits. They saw the Dragonfly Trail Petroglyphs and spent one night lying on their backs under a billion stars at a Gila Cliff Dwellings’ dark sky gathering. They hiked to the Kneeling Nun National Monument and, in an odd hour free and with nothing better to do, decided to go and look at where Billy the Kid’s mother was buried.
It was only when they were driving into Odessa at the end of their trip that Andrea said, ‘God, Skye. You’re so free.’
Skye didn’t point out the difference between roughing it for a few days versus making it a lifestyle, one where you constantly worried about your finances and your safety. She didn’t say that, sometimes, being alone on the road was scary and exhausting and so lonely and that, often, she doubted her own sanity. She just said, ‘It definitely has its perks.’
She shifted down to first gear as she carefully navigated her trailer through the gates at the Ector County Coliseum.
‘I envy you,’ Andrea added. ‘Both of you. Tech marketing sucks.’
‘Your problem, Andrea,’ Stevie added, ‘is that you’re too much of a rule follower.’
Andrea scoffed. ‘I am not.’
Stevie got out when Skye parked outside Barn B, but before she slammed the door shut, she said, ‘Skye, back me up here.’
Andrea was eerily quiet.
‘There’s nothing wrong with following the rules,’ Skye offered cautiously, as she turned the engine off.
‘What about when the rules stop you from living a full life?’ Andrea asked quietly.
‘You want my honest opinion?’
‘Always.’
‘Rewrite them,’ Skye said with a shrug. ‘I did. And if I can do it with nothing but a truck to sleep in, God knows you can too.’
Skye looked out the windshield when Stevie slapped the hood and shouted, ‘What are you guys doing? Let’s freaking go!’
Andrea sighed. ‘She’s exhausting.’
‘Yeah. But I wish I had her energy.’
Outside, Stevie grabbed Bandit’s front paws and started dancing with the dog, right there in the parking lot.
Skye and Andrea climbed out of the truck together. ‘I’m going to get Smokey settled into the barn if y’all want to walk around. The show animals should be here already if you want to look. Just remember: they’re not pets. And don’t get into any trouble.’
‘Trouble? Me?’ Stevie asked innocently and batted her lashes.
