Page 25 of Cowboy Wolf's Secret Baby

“You will. I have faith,” Gideon said. “Right now, I have to go put on my make-up and get into my clown clothes.”

“It’s said that people will never know that the real heroes of the rodeo hide behind a mask.”

“All heroes hide behind masks,” Gideon said. “Superman, Spiderman, Batman, and The Black Panther all have masks.”

“So does Deadpool,” Conner said.

Kelly walked by, blatantly staring at him. She hesitated for a second like she was deciding whether to come over and talk to him. Apparently, she decided not to and kept going to her horse.

Maybe she did finally figure out that I’m not into her and I never will be, Conner thought. Then he laughed to himself. Yeah, right. She’s just trying to figure out a different angle.

The lights flooded the arena and Kelly rode out, waving to the crowd. Her horse, Princess, bowed to the crowd and did all of her tricks. The Star-Spangled Banner was sung by a tiny little girl with the most powerful voice Conner had ever heard. The emcee said a prayer, asking that the cowboys and cowgirls be kept safe that night. Then, the events began.

Taryn was smiling and joking around with her friend. Then, when it was her turn to barrel race, a mask of seriousness replaced the smiles, and she and Pegasus made their way to the starting point. She nodded her head and the clock started.

The two of them executed the turns around the barrels perfectly. They tucked in close to the barrels. Dirt flew out from under Pegasus’ hooves. When the duo dashed to the finish line the time was called – seventeen point two seconds.

That’s an amazing time, especially for a little one, Conner thought.

Jenna was up next. She had a magnificent quarter horse who was very talented. Time was called when they raced to the finish line – seventeen point one seconds.

Jenna and Taryn jumped up and down hugging each other. They won first and second place. Conner was pleased that Taryn was able to celebrate her friend’s win, even though that put Taryn in second place.

That girl has a great heart.

Conner had a great night as well. He ended up with a bull named Angel. The name was ironic because it was one of the meanest bulls that he had ever come up against. Despite the bull’s best effort, Conner managed to stay on for the full eight seconds. He slid off as Gideon and the other clown ran up to chase the bull back into the chute.

His heart raced while he waited to hear the results -- first place. He was disappointed when he only scored a third-place win in the unsaddled bronc event. However, he scored second with the saddled bronc event and first in the steer wrestling, or bulldogging, event. Conner was the bulldogger, and he was randomly matched with a hazer, whose job was to keep the steer running in a straight line. The bulldogger rode their horse, full speed, to the side of the steer. They slid off their horse, grabbed the steer’s horns, and wrestled it to the ground. It was as dangerous as bull riding.

Conner’s mother asked him a million times why he would risk his life to do the events. He always grinned and said, “I love the adrenaline rush. I love the challenge and the danger.”

“You are going to come home broken into little pieces,” she would always say.

“A happy million pieces,” he replied.

He knew that his mother wanted him to find someone, fall in love, and settle down. However, he really didn’t see that happening any time soon. He didn’t have time in his life for a woman. He might be too old for love by the time he retired.

Taryn rushed up to him after the night’s events were over.

“Did you see me?” she asked, jumping up and down.

“I did. You were great,” Conner said, holding out his hand for a fist bump.

She grinned and bumped it enthusiastically.

“Have you taken care of Pegasus?” he asked.

“Yep. He’s got hay and water. I brushed him and gave him an apple. I also told him what a great horse he was and how much I love him.”

“Awesome. Do you want to help me brush Zephyr?”

“Sure,” she said enthusiastically.

Conner watched curiously as Taryn put her hand on the horse’s face. Zephyr put his forehead up against Taryn’s as though the two of them were communicating silently.

“I’ve never seen him do that with a stranger before,” Conner said. “You must be special.”

“I’m not a stranger. I’m his friend,” Taryn said, gently brushing Zephyr’s side.

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