Every Country Girl Needs A Country Boy

Chapter Three

Rose's POV

It’s rodeo weekend! I love the rodeo. I found out yesterday that Cody has never been to the rodeo. Tonight, I'm taking him to the rodeo. Before the rodeo, I decided to go for a ride. When I entered the barn, Cody was nowhere to be seen. I started to get all the tack I needed out of the tack room. As I was carrying the tack to the stall where my horse was, Cody came in front of me in the doorway to the tack room. He startled me, causing me to drop what I was carrying.

“Ah. Shit!”

“Oh. Sorry, I didn’t mean to scare you.” Cody says as he goes to pick up what I had dropped. He picks up the saddle and throws it on his shoulder with ease.

I leaned down to pick up the remaining tack I had dropped, before responding, “It’s okay.” I walk past him and to the stall my horse, Apollo, is currently occupying. His coat is chestnut with a blaze on his face. I put the tack I was carrying down and turned to face Cody. “You can put that over there.” I say pointing to a spot beside the tack I put down. He sets the saddle down on its horn.

“Sorry, again, Rose. Didn’t mean to give you a scare,” he says before turning to face Apollo and petting him along his neck, “Hey, buddy.” He looks back at me and says, “Going for a ride?”

“Yeah.”

“Mind if I join you?” he asks.

“Oh. No, not at all.” He heads back to the tack room to get the needed tack. I begin brushing Apollo before saddling him. As I am putting the saddle on Apollo’s back, I see Cody brushing Bandit. Bandit is a bay with a star on his face, two pastern leg markings on his front legs, and corenet markings on his back legs. Cody had brought Bandit with him when he came to our farm. We both finish saddling our horses and put the bridles on as well. Then, we get on and begin our ride. I take Cody on my favorite trail on our land. It leads to a beautiful meadow. When we reach the meadow, we dismount and tie the horse to a hitching post that is at the end of the trail before the meadow. After dismounting, I retrieve the sandwiches and drinks I had packed, as well as a small blanket. Cody lays out the blanket and I sit down on it, placing the food and drinks in front of me. Cody sits down next to me.

“Ham or turkey?” I ask.

“Ham.” he replies. I handed him the ham sandwich, taking the turkey sandwich for myself.

“Coke, sprite, or water?”

I’ll take a Coke.” He answers. I hand him the Coke, and take the sprite for myself. We both start to eat our sandwiches and after a while, he asks, “So why do you love the rodeo so much?”

“My dad used to take me when I was younger and tell me stories of when he was in the rodeo. I remember how he’d tell a story about his rodeo days and then I’d swear that one day I’d have my own rodeo stories to tell. I always wanted to follow in his footsteps and be a part of the rodeo, but I never did.” I tell him with a smile as I remember my father and the stories he used to tell me.

“Why didn’t you?” he asks.

“Well, I was going to the year my father passed. But when he got into that accident, everything changed. I didn’t know what was going to happen. The rodeo was the last thing on my mind. It was the first time I’d ever not gone to the rodeo. I just couldn’t bring myself to go without him.” I respond, with a sad smile.

“Well you should do it now,” he says.

“I can’t”

“Why not?” he questions.

“Because I’ve not trained, and the deadline to join is long since past.”

“Hm. Okay, then when’s the next rodeo?” he asks.