Once Upon A Rodeo

Chapter Twenty Eight - [?]

The girl sashayed away.

Jessie's lip curled in disgust at the girl's back.

"Who is that?" I asked.

"Anabelle Winfield," Jessie responded, equally disgusted.

"What's her problem?"

"Her parents are rich, and she's got rodeo in her blood. Annabelle is as good as they come. She's hard to beat. She's also spoiled and as snotty as they come. And so are her little minions."

"What was she talking about? What happened last year?"

Pain flashed in Jessie's eyes, and I almost regretted asking. But the pain was fleeing, and a determined look crossed her face. She wasn't going to let that girl get in her head.

"There was a hole in the ring that ground that was missed when they smoothed it out. My horse's hoof hit it in just the right spot, and we took a hard fall. Kingmaker broke his leg, and he rolled over me with out meaning to. He broke my arm."

"Is he okay?" I asked. "Were you okay?"

"My arm healed quickly, but his leg didn't. Thankfully, we had a vet that was able to fix his leg with out putting him down. He's retired from competition, but he's a busy body so now he's riding with kids as a starter horse."

I frowned.

"I'm sorry to hear that."

Jessie smiled, shrugging a bit.

"It's alright. It comes with the territory, I suppose."

She shook her head, as if she was ridding her self of the bad mood. She wasn't going to let Annabelle get her down.

"Don't let her make you think all the girls around here are like that. We form a tight knit circle, and a lot of use stay in contact even though we don't live around each other. Would you like to meet a couple?"

"Yeah, that sounds good."

Jessie took me around the stables, introducing me to some of the girls that she knew who competed a lot. They were all very friendly, and gave me tips when I told them it was my first time competing.

"Where is Brantley?" She asked, as the competition start time grew near. We had returned to the stable, where we were to meet with the other contestants.

I looked at my watch, and shrugged.

"I'm not sure. He said that he had an errand or something to run."

Jessie waggled her eyebrows.

"Maybe he's planning something romantic."

I grinned.

"You know, it wouldn't surprise me."

As if the timing couldn't get any better, a moment later, a pair of hand slid over my eyes.

"Guess who?"

"Get off of me," I giggled, pushing Brantley's hands off of my face. I turned around to greet him, and he kissed me.

"Brantley, this is Jessie. She's competing today too."

Brantley tipped his hat towards her.

"It's nice to meet you," He said.

As we were supposed to be near our horses, Jessie bid me good luck and went to stand by her horse. One of the competition officials entered the large barn and walked towards the middle.

He was a late sixties older man with a pot belly, old jeans, and an either older Stetson. When he spoke, one of the thickest southern accents I'd ever heard slipped out of his mouth.