Page 14 of Coming Home to Maverick

“Oh yes! You should both ride!”

“I could, little lady, but then I might beat your mama, and she doesn’t like that much.”

Gracie puckered her forehead and pressed her lips together, thinking about their dilemma for so long that he wanted to scoop her up and swing her up onto his shoulders. She was just so dang cute. Then she said, “I think you should ride together.”

And she won all of his gratitude, because the deep red on Bailey’s face was worth whatever awkwardness came after.

He tipped his head back and laughed. “You know, there was one time we did.”

Bailey’s horrified expression made him laugh even harder. “Maverick, this is not the time…”

He held up his hand. “It’s the truth.” People nearby were now listening, and he turned to look at them. “Maybe some of y’all remember?” He paused, but no one seemed to know what he was talking about. “You know, the time when Bailey and I rode the bull together.”

Low chuckles followed, and Bailey looked like she wanted to hide.

“Do it again!” Gracie clapped her hands and stepped up on the split-rail fence that circled the bull.

Bailey shook her head. “We’re not riding that thing together, Maverick.” She handed him her purse, paid the guy, and stepped up into the stirrup.

Watching her swing her lithe, strong body up on that bull did things to Maverick, things that he didn’t want to resist. She was just the kind of woman he’d always loved. She was the only woman he’d ever loved. And if looking at her was gonna get his blood boiling, that was just the way of things. So he let his eyes glide over her, and he welcomed the deep emotion that came with it. He’d always loved the way Bailey looked, but what he really loved about Bailey was the fire that burned inside. And that was on full display right now too.

He sidled up next to Gracie. “Your mama is something special, you know that?”

She nodded. “Yup. She’s a star.”

“Well now, that might be true. But that’s not what I’m talking about. Your mama has special mom magic. She’s smart. And good to other people, and super fun. She’d drop everything to help a friend, and you’re lucky to have her, of all the women in the world, as your mom.”

Gracie’s eyes widened, and she watched her mom with a new sparkle.

Bailey looked between them, and Maverick couldn’t get a read on her expression. She waved to them. “Okay. Gracie, honey, this is for you. ’Cause there’s no way I’d be up here for any other reason than to show my little girl that women can do this too.”

Maverick tipped his hat. “You’re not gonna hear any argument from me.”

Bailey nodded to the guy running the ride, and it started to move. The ride began slow, the rocking motion easy to move into as you adjust your body to the swaying and dipping. But most riders still fell off in the first twenty seconds anyway. If you made it through the easy stuff, then the bull started jerking and hopping and rotating in full circles, and it became truly difficult to stay on, even for Maverick.

The longer Bailey went, the larger the crowd grew. Gracie clapped. “Go, Mommy!”

And on she went. One minute. One minute thirty. A large horn blared, alerting everyone that she’d broken the record. And Bailey kept at it.

The bull dipped low, rose up, and jerked to the side at the last minute, flinging her to the ground.

Bailey stood up, brushing off the hay and the dust. She walked toward them, looking a little shaky.

Maverick rushed to her side. “Hey, you all right?”

She nodded. “Dizzy,” she whispered, then she reached for her girl. “What did you think?”

Gracie clapped. “The record! You beat it! Did you hear? I think there’s no way anyone’s gonna beat that.”

“Oh yeah? Maverick has to try, remember?”

He shook his head. But when Bailey raised an eyebrow, he nodded and paid the guy. He wrapped one hand up in the reins purely by reflex. The feel of the ropes in one hand and the saddle below him brought a surge of unexpected happiness. He raised a hand in the air, and the machine began.

Gracie jumped and clapped, and Bailey smiled. That smile brought him all the way back to a rodeo he’d done in high school. He’d been waiting in the box, sitting on the edge, ready to lower himself down on an angry bull. Then he’d met her eyes, waiting back behind the box for her barrel racing event, and her smile gave him everything he needed. All the fear left, and he’d won the event, setting a new record no one had yet beat to this day.

The mechanical bull beneath him jerked again, sudden and violent. Maverick was thrown to the ground.

He jumped up and started dusting himself off, but Bailey was already halfway to him, concern all over her face. “What happened? You okay?”

---