Page 36 of Love You
The man rode closer and peered inside the van’s windows. “He expecting you?”
“Yes, sir. We have an appointment.”
The cowboy looked at Darcy and tipped his hat. She smiled back at him.
“You want to keep going straight,” he said, and pointed to a bank of mailboxes up ahead. “See that stretch of fence? Hang a right at the last post and head up the hill about a mile. That’s when you’ll see the big entrance to the camp.”
“Thanks.” Win waited for John Wayne to ride back to his posse and followed his directions, sliding Darcy a glance. “That your boyfriend?”
“I wish.”
Sue giggled. “Don’t we all.”
“You ladies like them old, huh? Daddy issues?”
Russell howled with laughter and Remy gave Win a high five.
“Hey, both hands on the wheel.” That was Nervous Nelly Darcy for you.
Sure enough, a big wrought-iron gate with lots of scroll-work in what looked to Win like a cattle brand announced that they had arrived. Win followed the signs to a small lot, next to a tidy wooden building, which he suspected was the office. Everyone hopped out of the van and a man wearing a Stetson and a silver belt buckle the size of a dinner plate came out to greet them.
“You Darcy Wallace?”
“I am.” She blushed.
What the hell was it with Darcy and cowboys? He wanted to tell her to get a grip before she embarrassed herself.
Darcy made the introductions and the guy turned out to be Lucky Rodriguez himself. He stood back for a second, examining the group.
“Who’s gonna ride first?” Rodriguez looked directly at Darcy and grinned. “How ’bout you? You look tough.”
Win thought she was going to faint, even though it was obvious the dude was joking.
“I’ll go first,” Win volunteered, and Rodriguez took a minute to size him up, lingering on his hiking boots.
“Those aren’t going to work but I’ll hook you up. Before we do anything, there’s a short safety orientation I need to go over and there’s the tour.”
“Definitely the tour.” Darcy shielded her eyes with her hands and gazed around the property.
Win got the impression that Darcy had never been to a working ranch before, which was weird since she’d said her ex-husband sold them. Win had been to many. Growing up in the Sierra it was unavoidable. Half the kids he’d gone to school with lived on one.
Lucky showed them around, cracking jokes as he took them down rows of animal pens.
The corrals were clean and the livestock looked well cared for. They stopped occasionally along the way so Lucky could scratch one of the bulls behind its head. Lucky bred and raised bucking stock for rodeos and Pro Bull Riders events, he explained. From here they looked docile and even a little sweet, but Win suspected that wasn’t the case once you got on one of their backs.
It was a nice piece of property. Most of it was flat with rolling hills in the foreground and a spectacular view of the Sierra mountain range. There were a series of outbuildings, including several barns and a massive stack-stone and timber-log lodge that served as the camp’s mess hall and cantina. The whole setup was imposing and Remy, Sue, and Russell didn’t know where to look first. This was the real deal.
Win couldn’t help but think that they should be doing more business together. A day trip with some of GA’s family reunions and corporate groups and vice versa with guests of the cowboy camp. They could trade expertise, cross promote, and make a fortune together.
The business end of Garner Adventure was TJ’s bag but there was nothing to say that Win couldn’t be more assertive in that regard. It was time for him to take on more. To be more.
“This is impressive,” he told Lucky. “Tell us what goes into being a world champion bull rider.”
“A lot of concussions and busted teeth,” Lucky said, and spent the next twenty minutes describing life on the bull-riding circuit.
He was a compelling storyteller and Remy, Sue, and Russell drank it up. Win figured the trio had never been to a rodeo, let alone a PBR event. He wouldn’t call them tech nerds exactly but they probably spent a lot of time playing video games, going to Coldplay concerts, and watching sci-fi flicks. Or maybe he was just stereotyping.
Darcy seemed entranced too and she wasn’t even a rodeo buff. Just apparently a fan of cowboys, which was starting to piss him off.
