Page 60 of Boston
“I just wanted to say good luck on your interview today,” she said. “Are you going to shave?”
“Yeah, Rosie, I’m going to shave,” he said.
“Not like you have a whole lot to shave, but I think it helps.”
He had an interview that morning up at a ranch called Whispering Pines. They trained rodeo animals, so he doubted highly that they would care if he had facial hair or not.
“You should wear that light blue shirt I got you for your birthday,” she said. “Does it still fit?”
“Yeah, it still fits,” he said.
“Because it makes your eyes come alive, and that way you’ll be real charismatic.”
“All right, Rosie,” Cole said, suppressing his smile. “Should I tell him I got a rodeo sister?”
“No,” Rosie said, scoffing against his chest. “I’m not in the rodeo.”
“Yeah, you are,” he said. Just amateur, but Rosie would go pro, and they both knew it. She had more fire in her pinky finger than most people had in their whole bodies, and she loved horses, riding fast, and winning. Her competitive streak would definitely help her in the pro rodeo, though she still had two years of high school left.
“Maybe tell him about all your experience at Bryce’s ranch.”
“All right, Rosie,” Cole said, half drifting back to sleep.
“And don’t go back to sleep,” she said. “Sunny’s making cinnamon rolls, and you got a long drive.”
How she knew that, Cole didn’t know, other than he’d accidentally let it slip where he was interviewing, and she’d probably looked it up on Google Maps.
“Okay, I’m gonna be late,” Rosie said, and she slid out of his bed as fast as she had entered it. “I’m not closing this door,” she said in a normal voice. “Because you’re just gonna go back to sleep.”
“I’m not gonna go back to sleep, Rosie,” Cole said in a monotone.
She left for the riding barn on the other side of town at six-fifteen. She cleaned stalls and fed horses, and in exchange, she got to board her rodeo horse, a pretty Palomino named Clementine, for free. She’d also been working with the horseback riding instructor, a farrier, and a jumping trainer since she’d started there last summer. She loved it, and they loved her.
Cole groaned as he rolled onto his back and kept his eyes closed. He just needed one place that would love him enough to offer him a job. He could grow on them after that, like a fungus or algae.
One place, Lord,he thought.Just help me find one place.
He really needed to get a job to get his daddy off his back and some money in his bank account. Cole had done some riding in the rodeo in high school as well, but he didn’t want it to be his career. He felt an awful lot like his cousin Cash and didn’t want to go to college either.
His solution had been to look for jobs that were rodeo adjacent. He loved taking care of animals, and he had a calm enough demeanor to train horses or cattle or riders. Unfortunately, what he didn’t have was a lot of options or experience. There were huge cutting horse stables in Texas, andCole could do that and get some of the experience he needed. But he didn’t want to leave Coral Canyon very badly.
If he listened to his daddy, he didn’t want to do much of anything very badly. Cole could admit that he liked being comfortable. New things and new places and new adventures scared him, and he’d rather stay somewhere where he knew what to expect.
Today he expected his daddy to watch him like a hawk before he left for his interview, questioning everything from his shirt choice, to what he ate for breakfast, to what time he left. Daddy seemed to be everywhere lately, and Cole couldn’t get away from him.
If he could just get a job, he could also get his own place, and then the heaviness of his daddy’s gaze wouldn’t weigh so much.
He got himself up and showered, brushed his teeth, and, yes, shaved, before he pulled on a clean pair of jeans, the blue shirt Rosie wanted him to wear, and buckled his best brown leather belt around his waist. With matching boots and a cowboy hat, if he didn’t sayI’m a cowboy who knows what he’s doingsimply on looks alone, nothing would.
About halfway up the steps, the scent of cinnamon and frosting wafted down, making Cole’s stomach grumble and his mouth water.
Sunny had married Daddy about nine years ago, and in the summer, their two kids stayed home in constant need of entertainment. Cole wasn’t surprised to find Ladd and Skye at the bar, but the tray of ooey-gooey cinnamon rolls was a new addition to this Monday morning.
“Morning,” he said, and Sunny turned from the fridge where she’d just pulled out a carton of orange juice.
“Wow, you look great,” she said.
Sunny actually reminded him a lot of himself, though they didn’t share any genes. She was either really happy or really not, without much gray in between, and Cole was definitely like that.
