Page 5 of Rough Stock
It only took a split second for Jensen to make up his mind. “Hell yeah. I’ll be glad to rope with you. Honestly, though, I’ll do better as head than heels.”
“You’ve got it,” she said, never hesitating. “You take the horns, I’ll rope the heeler position. And I’ll owe you,” she added.
“No. You owe me nothing. But why didn’t you ask somebody who’s a better roper than me?” he asked, still in shock.
She gave him a look that would’ve melted steel and sighed. “Because nobody else would say yes, Jensen.”
“Oh.”Holy shit. This is ridiculous, he thought. They truly were trying to force her out. “Well, I’m honored,” he said, trying to lift her spirits a little.
“Cut the bullshit. Just do whatever you’ve got to do to be ready and meet me at the staging area at the appropriate time. And thanks,” she said, then reined her horse toward the gate and took off.
There was no question in his mind?Jensen knew what it had cost her to admit all that to him, and to ask him to help her.This is my chance to prove to her that we aren’t all douchebags and that somebody will come to her aid if she needs them, he told himself. He wouldn’t let her down. The woman was working hard, and someone needed to acknowledge that, so he would gladly do that.
He’d told her that she owed him nothing, and he actually felt that way. Even so, Jensen had a sneaking feeling his act of cooperation was going to cost him dearly.
Steer wrestling was before team roping, so Jensen would have time to change shirts before he had to be back. He decided he’d use Cobra for steer wrestling and Snowman for the team roping. The Appaloosa had long, strong legs and ran like a maniac. That would be good, as long as Jensen could hold him back and not break the barrier before the calf did.
There were ten guys bulldogging that day, and he was next to last. He was happy to see that CurtFellows was his hazer for that particular day. Curt was a good guy and knew what he was doing, so that was a worry he didn’t have. Jensen’s time in the gym over the previous five years had ensured that he had enough upper body strength to do the job, and sure enough, he had the lowest time. There was only one more guy to compete against him and fortunately for Jensen, he missed the steer entirely, so Jensentook the event that day. He hoped his edge would be enough to keep him afloat when averaged with the next day’s score.
He spurred Cobra straight to his trailer, changed, climbed aboard again, ran to the barn, and swapped Cobra for Snowman. He hated to put Cobra back in a stall with no cool-down time, no rub down, nothing, but he didn’t have time. Looking around, he didn’t see anyone he knew or trusted well enough to do it for him, so it would have to wait, and he decided he’d make it up to the dun that evening by walking him for a good long while.
By the time he got back, everyone was pulling together for the team roping. He didn’t like the lasso he had with him, but it was all he had, so it would have to do.Why didn’t I pay more attention to roping in college?he asked himself as he sat and waited for Shyanna to show up. Everyone was getting their tack and equipment inspected by the ring stewards, and he’d about decided she’d made the decision to bow out when she finally appeared. He watched as they checked over her tack and equipment, and when she looked up and around, he waved to her. “Thought you’d decided not to show,” he said when she rode up beside him.
Her face clouded over. “Thought I wasn’t going to get to. Somebody put a padlock on Rhubarb’s stall door and I couldn’t get it off. Couldn’t even find a hammer to knock it off. Had to get maintenance to come and cut it loose.”
“Seriously? That was pretty lame,” Jensen said, disgusted.
“Yeah? Well, it almost worked. Another five minutes and I would’ve been out. I’m just glad I got there a little early. You ready?” she asked, looking him up and down.
“As ready as I’ll ever be, I guess. Been wondering why I didn’t pay more attention to roping in college,” he said with a grin.
“College?”
“Yeah. I was an agricultural science major, but I was involved in the student rodeo association,” he said.
“Ah. Me too. Community college level. Of course, they wouldn’t let me do anything but barrel race and breakaway roping. Oh, and pole bending.”
“Where’d you learn to rope?” he asked.
She chuckled. “Taught myself.”
“Then you did a pretty good job.” He sat patiently, watching some of the other teams talking together. “How many roping partners have you been through so far?”
She snorted. “How many rodeos have I attended?”
“You don’t have a regular partner?”
She shook her head. “Nope. Every one of them has quit me. They either quit and left me without a partner to compete, or they competed with me and when I did well, they took so much shit from the other guys that they quit me. I can’t count on anybody.”
Aw, hell, now I REALLY wish I’d paid more attention to roping. She deserves to have somebody she can count on. I can’t screw this up.
Long before he was ready, it was their turn. Jensen’s nerves were jangled as he watched them load the calf into the chute. “You got this?” Shyanna called to him from his right on the other side of the roping chute.
“Yeah. I’ve got this,” he answered, careful not to nod. That would signal the workers to release the calf, and he didn’t need any false starts.
“Good luck,” she called out.
“To us both,” he called back.
