Page 83

Everything slowed.

There was one moment of perfect stillness – and then Skye gave Smokey her head.

The moment the pressure on the bit released, Smokey shot down the alley.

The last thing Skye heard was the announcer’s, ‘Whoo-hoo! Look at them go!’

Skye took the left barrel first, getting Smokey’s weaker side out of the way. They took the barrel in three strides and surged towards the second with a mighty lurch that pushed Skye deep into her saddle. She switched leads effortlessly, rounded the second in a hiccupping stride that threw them slightly off course for the third and final barrel.

Skye corrected instantly, but she internally berated herself for losing that half-second of time. They turned the third and sailed down the straight and across the laser line.

Skye didn’t look back at the clock. But she heard Stevie and Andrea screaming her name, and rising above their shouts, she caught the announcer’s, ‘That’s a 14.99, folks, and the time to beat during today’s go-round.’

Skye pulled back, halting Smokey’s adrenaline-fuelled dash down the alley. She managed to bring her horse down to an abrupt halt right before they crashed into the gate.

‘Easy,’ Skye crooned, and reaching down, patted Smokey’s neck as the assistant starter opened the gate and let them back out of the arena.

Aware that other riders were still being fed into the holding area and that Smokey’s adrenaline hadn’t quite drained, Skye dismounted quickly. She took Smokey by the bridle and led her away from all the activity.

And that was Round One done. Years of training, weeks on the road, thousands of dollars on gas and vet bills and performance feed for a race that lasted about fifteen to nineteen exhilarating seconds.

The thought made Skye grin.

So, it wasn’t for everyone.

But goddamn, it was for her.

TJ stood at the side of the warm-up arena, out of Skye’s line of sight, and watched as she prepped Smokey for their first go round. While the WPRA’s dress code was relatively strict, requiring jeans with no fashionable holes or slashed knees, Western shirts and hats, Skye had put her own twist on the outfit by opting for black jeans, a black, long-sleeved shirt and a bright-pink hat. Both the shirt and the hat had the Hunt Ranch brand on them, making TJ think that Mav and Sierra must have partially sponsored her for the season.

Smokey wore tendon boots and a saddle pad in the same shock of pink. The colour contrasted with the horse’s ash-grey coat perfectly, but together, the girls definitely caught a person’s eye.

It wasn’t just their gear either. It was them – the way they moved together. Skye rode fluidly, running through drills with perfect precision, her hands and legs cuing Smokey with the smallest of motions.

It made TJ happy to see them, to know that Skye had become the horsewoman she’d always wanted to be. Looking at them now, nobody would know that they’d only been riding consistently for two years.

When Skye’s group was called to the holding area and the five girls in her drag started exiting the warm-up arena, TJ turned and made his way to the stands to watch.

He took a seat a few rows below Skye’s two friends, who’d brought a ridiculous banner that had Skye’s name in bright-pink glitter. Down below, the tractors left the arena after grading the ground for the next group of girls. The moment the arena was cleared, the event crew hurried to put the barrels back in place. The music’s volume lowered, and the announcer came back on with, ‘Next up, number seventy, from Blackfoot, Idaho: Sarah Goddard and her horse, Mickey’s Fortune.’

TJ shifted instinctively every thirty seconds or so as he tried to find a comfortable seated position on the hard plastic chair.

He watched as the four girls before Skye ran, held his breath as number seventy-four took the straight and bounded down the alley towards the exit gate.

He didn’t even hear the announcer as he introduced Skye, just focused on the woman and the horse as they stepped into the alley. Smokey immediately started prancing, her excitement clear. Skye, looking calm and collected, held the mare back.

She took her moment – and then let go. The mare was off like a shot. She galloped down the alley, rounded the first barrel perfectly. The second wasn’t as smooth, but TJ held his breath as they managed to straighten out for the third. They took the last barrel and popped out of the turn fluidly. There was no stopping them on the straight.

‘Yes!’ he yelled and pumped both fists in the air as they passed the starting line, and the clock froze on 14.99. ‘Goddamn.’

He’d always known she’d do it. But watching her, seeing just how good she was, filled him with a ridiculous sense of pride.

Before he could stand to leave, Skye’s friends bracketed him in, taking a seat on either side of him.

The black-haired one cracked her knuckles as she greeted him with, ‘Triple J.’

The other one merely looked forward at the arena and asked, ‘What are you doing here?’

TJ didn’t lie. He sighed. ‘I’m watching Skye. Just like you.’