Page 3 of The Chances We Take

“He’s good! After the Bucking Horse Sale, he’ll probably go on the road again for a little while with the boys until June when the Montana circuit starts, and then he’ll be around during the week and gone on the weekends,” she replied. “They’ve always designated Montana as their home circuit, but they didn’t always compete in the smaller rodeos. They don’t really need to, given the number of bigger rodeos later in the circuit.”

“That makes sense.”

“Yeah, they’re all obviously trying to make it to the NFR again, so they’re marking bigger rodeos as official to get the most money. Colter wants a World Championshipthis year, since he and Reid barely lost out a few months ago. And Jake and Mikey were so close to making the NFR the last two years.”

I loved watching Ellison fall in love with rodeo again. The Ellison I knew two years ago would have never talked about it with so much enthusiasm like the Ellison now did. She and Colter had found the best type of love, in my opinion. It was one that allowed them to individually find healing, but also find it in each other.

I also liked to think I had a hand in it. After all, I’d been the one to set up their second date and the grand gesture that ultimately won Ellison over.

When it came to rodeo, I didn’t understand a lot of the technicalities she was talking about. She tried to explain it to me, but I may have zoned out a little and had to nod along. It’s not that the sport wasn’t interesting, it was just a bit out of my wheelhouse. Even though Ellison alienated herself from the rodeo community for most of her life, she still knew more than I did. Before Ellison started dating Colter, I’d only been to a couple rodeos as a kid. AndIdidn’t have a reason to avoid them.

I was so glad she was happy, though. Ellison deserved that after all she had been through with her dad’s passing. I never had the chance to meet Levi Merritt, but I knew how much he meant to Ellison. And I could only imagine what losing a parent was like.

“It’ll also be nice that Colter will be home in June, because there’s so much work to do on the ranch and I can’t always help with my job and coordinating lessons. He has ranch hands to keep everything running while they’re on the road, but the responsibilities were really thrown on Colter once he got older, you know? Once he bought land, he took on the responsibility of the cattle,” she continued.

“His mom and dad don’t do much?” I hadn’t really heard much about Colter’s parents, other than them not being together anymore.

“After their divorce, I think it was tough on Colter, so he needed something to take his mind off everything. His mom is from Silver Creek, you know, so she ended up keeping the house. But the situation is kind of like my mom’s. It’s hard to do everything alone, so I’m sure she was glad for the help.

“His dad does whatever he wants, I guess. He’s been in Miles City for a while now. I think they’re at least amicable now, though. And Clay comes over from Bozeman from time to time to help, but it’s a four-hour drive, so it’s not always feasible.” She paused, sucking in a breath. “I’m sorry, I don’t know why I’m telling you all of this. I feel like I’m just rambling.”

“No, it’s okay, really! I asked how Colter is, and you’re telling me how he is. The ranch is a huge part of his life, and his family is too. You know I’m always here to listen,” I reassured her.

“I know. And I love you for that.” She briefly squeezed my hand and then went back to work on invitations. “How’s your sister been?”

I smiled. “She’s been great. She just got her provisional license, so she’s super excited to be able to drive without my parents.”

“How exciting! I feel like the last time I saw Amelia she was in middle school.”

“I know. Makes me feel kind of old.” I laughed. She was starting her junior year of high school in the fall, which also meant she was going to start looking at colleges soon. I couldn’t believe it.

“Imagine how old the guys feel.” She chuckled. “It’s been almost ten years since Colter graduated high school.”

“Wow, okay. That’s not something I want to think about. Speaking of the guys, what do you think they’re doing this week?”

She widened her eyes and puffed out a breath. “Hopefully staying out of trouble and not doing anything stupid.”

CHAPTER TWO

reid

Ican’t believe Mikey convinced us to do this stupid event with him,” I grumbled to Colter as we prepared to participate in the wild horse racing at the Bucking Horse Sale. The sun, still high in the sky, beat down on us without any cloud coverage, making the weather uncomfortably warm for mid-May. Mikey was positioned out in the middle of the arena while we held the gate our horse was in.

“I think we both know this was the only way he was ever going to agree to it,” Colter pointed out. We’d tried signing Mikey up the past few years without any success. He’d told us he would only do it on one condition: we competed with him.

“All right, folks! The only thing left to do is a wild horse race. We’ve got eight teams out there today!” The announcer started introducing all of the teams one by one. “And finally, in the blue, we have a team from right down the road in Silver Creek, Montana!”

“We should have made Jake and Hayden do this.” I sighed as the horse rattled the bucking chute.

“Remind me again why we didn’t?” Colter asked, and I shrugged before I was interrupted by the announcer calling for the race to begin.

“Help me out here, folks! Let’s count them down. Five! Four!” The announcer started the countdown, and the crowd joined in. “Three! Two! One!”

We opened the gate and held on to the rope while the horse ran out, dragging us with it as dust flew in the air, surrounding us in a hazy cloud. Hooves pounded against the ground, and my muscles tensed as I held on to the rope with all my might.

“Dig your heels in, boys!” Mikey yelled at us as he sprinted over carrying the small saddle.

God, he looks ridiculous.He was wearing too-tight Wranglers, despite all of us telling him they didn’t look good. He claimed they“showed off his ass better and the ladies loved that shit.”

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