Page 33 of Steadfast

Oakleigh simply nodded as she leaned her elbows on the railing. Her eyes were fixed on the ground while she crushed a tall sprig of grass under the toe of her boot.

“You sure got a lot of views that night,” Mia said flippantly, failing to notice Oakleigh’s face flash crimson. “It had to be some sort of record.”

Oakleigh could feel her chest begin to burn with resentment at Mia’s aimless attempt at small talk.

“Yep,” Oakleigh said with a clipped tone, clenching her jaw as she fought the urge to inform her thoughtless friend of the terrible price for all those views. Mia could never understand what it was like to lay in a pool of her boyfriend’s blood, unsure if he would live or die. She would gladly forego that record of views and clicks if only to rid herself of those awful memories.

“There’s your cute cowboys.” Oakleigh quickly diverted Mia’s attention, giving a nod to the group huddled around the bucking chute. She wouldn’t have necessarily described Wade or Colton as attractive, and certainly not Sawyer, but hercute cowboywas in the midst of them. Crew was taking the lead while they plotted their training for the day.

In the chute was the young bull with floppy ears and speckled fur that looked soft as a cloud. Lil Slim was already fitted with a training dummy on his back, the weighted box that would train him to buck.

Oakleigh’s nose crinkled. “Ugh, I hate this,” she let the words escape.

“How could you hate that furry little guy?” Mia tilted her head, squinting at the scene through her large sunglasses in the bright, late morning sun. “He’s like a teddy bear.”

Before Oakleigh could answer, Maeve’s voice came from behind them. “Because she knows thatfurry little guyis going to be one ferocious teddy bear.” She stepped beside them and scuffed her boot on the lower rung of the iron fence. Thatmorning, she was wearing her usual tan hat and aviator sunglasses. “Oakleigh, I’m surprised to see you out here.”

“Same to you,” Oakeigh replied with a shrug, noticing immediately that Maeve seemed somber and distracted.

“I’ve let things go a bit too much around here,” Maeve said, folding her hands as she leaned on the fence rail. “I’ve decided to tighten the reins and see to it that everything’s on track.”

Tilting her head, Oakleigh raised an eyebrow at the determined tone of Maeve’s voice.

“Are we not on track?”

“You’re doing great, Oakleigh,” Maeve answered. “There’s just a lot at stake these days.”

Something felt off with Maeve.

Whooping and hollering nabbed Oakleigh’s attention as the cowboys flung open the chute. Instead of launching into the arena and attempting to fling off the dummy rider as he was supposed to do, Lil’ Slim meandered out in search of a dandelion to snack on. The little bull was unphased by the cowboys, who were jumping around like lunatics, desperate for any reaction at all.

Sawyer threw his hands in the air, clearly annoyed by the lacklusterfuture starof Callaway Ranch. He kicked his toe in the dirt, sending a cloud of dust across the arena.

“Great, just great,” Maeve muttered. She whipped off her hat and glasses in frustration and brushed her sleeve across her brow. Oakleigh noticed that Maeve’s eyes were puffy and red, as though she had been upset that morning.

“Doesn’t look too ferocious to me?” Mia commented, clearly ignoring Oakleigh’s wide eyed glance and a subtle shake of her head to signal her to stop talking.

Maeve slipped her glasses back on and ducked through the iron bars, making her way to the irritated group of cowboys.

Before Oakleigh could stop her, Mia headed towards the group on Maeve’s heels.

“Mia, we should really stay back,” Oakleigh instructed, but she was already on her way to the middle of the arena. “Dang it,” Oakleigh muttered as she slipped through the fence after her.

When they approached, Lil’ Slim was now stepping peacefully past them and towards a patch of grass along the edge. It was apparent that the little bull, who was supposed to be the ranch’s legacy, was quickly becoming the Callaway Ranchproblem.

Wade spun the toothpick hanging from the side of his mouth.

“It appears what we’ve got here is a pacifist,” he said before launching a stream of tobacco into the dirt as Maeve stepped into the circle. His eyes went wide as she glanced down at his disgusting spit under her boots. “I’m sorry, Miss Maeve.”

She held up her hand, garnering the attention of the men. “What’s the plan here, boys? We’ve got Nationals in a couple weeks and they’re expecting the debut of a Callaway bull.”

Sawyer shook his head in disgust, “And everyone’s lookin’ to see a rival to Big Slim.”

“We’ve tried everything,” Colton sputtered.

Crew patiently listened to the group troubleshoot, standing with his arms crossed and looking at the dirt. When he caught sight of Oakleigh, his blue eyes lit up as he stepped beside her. “Hey, Beautiful,” he whispered.

“I want a cowboy too, Oakleigh. Where can I get one?” Mia gave a little squeal that caught everyone’s attention, interrupting the flow of conversation entirely.

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