"And no black eyes at this rodeo, got it?"
My aunt Callie was staring at the three of us in turn with raised eyebrows and shaking a menacing finger. First, she looked at Kellan who nodded submissively to his mother like he always did, then to Coda, who seemed to shrink into herself more than usual, and then to me. Knowing how serious my aunt was, I didn't even send her my typical half grin that said I might try and be good. Like Kellan, I nodded, my own eyes serious. For once, I was dead set on getting through an entire rodeo without either starting or finishing a fight.
Apparently gaining confidence in the three of us, she nodded triumphantly and set both hands on her hips. "Good."
"Now can we leave?" My tone was a lot whinier than I would have liked, but I shrugged it off. Whiny or not, I was excited to get on the road.
A slow smile made it's way onto my aunt's face until her blue eyes sparkled. "Are you really that excited to rodeo?"
She laughed when I nodded vigorously. "Alright, fine. Load up."
Even though Kellan was his slow, careful self, I knew he was ready for the coming week, too. For him, it meant seeing his friends and, best of all, not having to go to school. He had been fairly good natured during the arduous process of packing up, at least after we'd gotten some coffee in him.
It was Sunday morning and we had been up since five fitting everything into the pickup and trailer. Surprisingly enough, I'd gotten out of bed pretty easily. Uncle Mark and Aunt Callie both looked like they'd seen a ghost when I walked into the kitchen before the sun was up, dressed and ready with a cheery smile.
Coda was eager to get on the road, too, and I had a feeling that had something to do with Wyatt's promise to be at this event.
Somehow, my sweet, shy best friend had caught the eye of Kellan's best friend Wyatt Lunders; a rodeo cowboy notorious for being the life of the party. Unlike most girls, she'd fought him tooth and nail when he'd tried to get her to go out with him, and I was actually proud of her. It was good for Wyatt to put in a little effort, especially for a girl as awesome as her.
While my excitement had nothing to do with boys, or at least not love interests, I was just as enthusiastic, if not more, than Coda as we shoved the last of our belongings into the bed of Uncle Mark's white Dodge. "Are you ready for this?"
She shot me a wide grin that stretched across her entire thin face. "Hell yeah! Are you?"
Again, I nodded vigorously, feeling the corners of my eyes crinkle. Reaching up to readjust the black and blue ball cap on my head, I surveyed our efforts.
Four horses were standing quietly in the large gray trailer. All of our tack was arranged neatly in the front compartment, though I knew it wouldn't stay that orderly for long. When you're in a hurry to hit your next event, you don't put much thought into keeping things organized.
The large bed of my uncle's dodge was filled, too. All of the bags were arranged like puzzle pieces to lay flat, which was obviously mama Callie's doing. I wasn't very good at packing, but I decided it was just a skill one acquired when they became a mom.
Even though the last rodeo had been half as far away, we'd taken two different rigs just because it was a pain to unhook a trailer every time you needed to go somewhere. This one was in my home town of Caldwell so I'd have my own rig to drive as well as parents to rely on for transportation as needed. That being said, we were only taking Uncle Mark's crew cab pickup, and although I wasn't really looking forward to being crammed in the back of it with Coda and Kellan for the long drive, I didn't plan on letting it dampen my mood.
***
Four and a half hours and at least three pit stops later, I watched tensely out the right window as Uncle Mark pulled to a stop in front of my childhood home.
The ride actually hadn't been as bad as I expected, mainly because Kellan put in earbuds and napped against the window for the majority of the drive. If he hadn't, the two of us probably would have spent the entire time squabbling like small children until Aunt Callie turned around and threatened to make us sleep in the horse trailer.
I worked hard to maintain a neutral expression as Mark methodically cut the engine and put on the parking brake. My insides were doing flips as I anticipated the way my mother would act upon seeing me for the first time in several weeks.
Part of me hoped she'd be just as excited to see me as I was to see her and my dad, but the practical side of me knew she was likely still mad about the minor stunts I'd pulled in the last few months. I wasn't sure why she was so upset; Kellan and I used to do worse on a daily basis at school in Caldwell.
Either way, I steeled myself, determined to not let it hurt if she laid into me right off the bat.
"Alright, girlies," my aunt turned around in the passenger seat to face us three in the back. Kellan sat behind his dad and I brought up on the far right with Coda in the middle. She immediately looked up from her phone and shut it off, giving Callie full attention. I did the same, though my pace wasn't near as quick. "We'll get you two and the horses unloaded and then I think we're gonna go get settled at Mark's parents' place. Sound good?"
Kellan had pulled out one ear bud to listen to his mom and he nodded along with Coda and I after hearing the game plan.
"Great. Let the horses stretch their legs and eat, and then if you two would have Remi and Dax ready by five for Mark and his dad, that'd be great."
I nodded, trying not to laugh as Coda just stared at my aunt with wide eyes. She obviously had no idea what was going on, and I promised to explain later.
"Alright," Callie clapped her hands together and flashed her perfect white smile our way, "let's get this show on the road!"
I languidly swung open my door and dropped to the ground, holding it as Coda stumbled out and almost face-planted in the dirt.
"Why are we getting Remi and Dax ready?" She questioned, dusting off and trying to regain her dignity.
"Century roping," I replied simply, shutting the door with a thud.
Her dark blue eyes got even bigger. "What's that?"
I grinned, trying hard to not make her feel stupid. "It's when the combined age of two team ropers is at least a hundred years. Basically, it's old guys roping."
She nodded, taking the news in stride. "And Mark and his dad are old enough to do it?"
"Yup. This is the fourth year now. Uncle Mark is forty-two and his dad is sixty-seven."
I watched the wheels turn in Coda's head as she tried to add the numbers, finally giving into pity at her struggle. "That's a hundred and nine years."
"Wow."
"Yeah." I slung my purple duffel bag out of the pickup bed and onto my shoulder, regretting it when my aunt's perfect packing was disrupted.
Coda followed suit so there were two empty spaces in the bed, though she didn't seem to mind.
This new temporary worry did little to replace the anxiety over seeing my mom that had settled in my gut the second the house came into view. Sucking in a deep breath, I turned to my best friend, praying that I was doing a good job of hiding my fears. Coda didn't need to know how nervous I really was about something as stupid as seeing my parents. She had more than enough to worry about.
"You ready?"
She nodded slowly, unable to mask the apprehension in her eyes.
I threw an arm around her shoulders and began walking towards the house, practically dragging her. "Hey, you have nothing to worry about. This week is gonna be a blast, you're gonna rock breakaway, and you and Wyatt'll have a great time. Trust me."
Her uncertain nod could have made me laugh, but I didn't want to her feel embarrassed about being nervous. It was only natural, especially when my unpredictable mother was involved.
Still pulling her along, I climbed the front steps to our yellow Victorian home.
It was kind of a snobbish house, built on a hill to overlook the valley, but then again, it fit my mom. She had always been the uppity kind.
Swinging open the heavy white front door, I announced our arrival. "I'm home!"
To my surprise, my mother immediately emerged from the kitchen, wiping her damp hands on a white dish towel. What I found more typical than surprising was the sour expression on her face that lessened some at the sight of Coda who was still tucked under my arm.
Mom's eyes narrowed slightly, but not in a malicious way. "Coda, right?"
My best friend gulped and nodded, trying to muster a smile. "Yes, ma'am."
"Good to see you again." Mom's smile looked equally as forced, but at least she was trying.
That was one of the reasons I'd been so set on having Coda stay here with me; mom was typically a lot nicer when we had guests.
I glanced around while they exchanged pleasantries, trying to pick out ways in which my childhood home had changed since I'd been gone.
We stood in the short hall that lead directly to the curving wooden staircase. The same dark table that my four year old self had put a dent in with her steel toed boots sat on the left wall, and the front left leg still bore my tantrum induced scar. The same two sets of coat racks, one for little people and one for big people, hung on the wall behind the door, and my dad's torn up brown slippers still sat on the right side of the bottom shelf of our old shoe rack. I decided that nothing had really changed, at least in this part of the house.
I released Coda and drifted towards the living room, which opened up on the left side of the hallway just before the stairs began. Mom interrupted my inspection, though.
"Blake, how about you and Coda take your stuff upstairs and then we can eat lunch? Dad said he'd be in around noon."
Nodding, I shifted the white strap of my bag, appreciating how light it was in comparison to my school bag.
Coda silently followed me up the stairs that I'd spent many hours sliding around on in my socks as a little kid. Reaching the stop, I smiled, remembering the day Kellan and I had decided to mattress surf down these very steps. We'd only gotten one run a piece in before mom had come in and yelled at us. In hindsight, that was probably a good thing because I'd already broken my arm once that summer, but at the time, we were horribly upset.
I led her through the little office area my parents had set up on the left side of the upper floor and into my bedroom. The door separating the two rooms was made of heavy barn wood that I'd helped my dad put together and hang on a track so it slid instead of swung open. I liked the idea because it was cool looking. My parents liked the idea because it was virtually impossible to slam shut during a fit of teenage sass.
Heaving the door open, I stepped onto the carpet that covered one half of the room and closely watched Coda for reaction.
As I predicted, her already wide eyes opened even more so that they showed more white than blue. "This is your room?"
Nodding, I took a few more steps in and slung my bag across the room, just barely missing the queen sized bed I'd been aiming for.
Most people had the same reaction Coda did upon entering my room. Being an only child herself, my mom had only wanted one kid. I was the lucky brat who got every bit of her parent's time and attention, as well as a huge space that didn't have to be shared with anyone.
My bedroom spanned the width of the entire top floor, as well as over two thirds the length. The last third of space was shared by my large bathroom and the little office off the stairs where we'd entered. The long wall was peppered with windows that let in a huge amount light. Lime green curtains that matched my bedspread framed the four large openings.
The carpet on the side where my bed and nightstand sat was a soft cream, which might have been a good idea to put in when my parents found out they were having a girl, but seventeen years of my dust and mud had proved otherwise.
The same hardwood that covered the stairs met my worn carpet at a halfway point and split the space into a bedroom and playroom. Since becoming a teenager, I'd traded out the rocking horse, giant stuffed pig, and huge box of Barbie dolls that never got played with out for a TV and mini roping stand. When my parents got new living room furniture, I'd gladly accepted the worn leather couch and reclining red armchair they would have otherwise gotten rid of. With those pieces, my old playroom became a functional lounge area, not that I was inside to use it a whole lot.
Even as a little kid, I'd spent more hours outside watching dad train horses or chattering endlessly while he worked on things in the mechanic shop that took up half of our barn.
Memories flooded every corner of my mind as I glanced around the space that had been dubbed mine the very moment my mom found out she was pregnant. Everywhere I looked, I saw something that brought back a story or memory that had long since been pushed to the back by more important things such as algebra.
Upon seeing the picture of baby me smiling from my mom's back, I remembered how dad liked to tell everyone that I'd been riding horses since I was six weeks old. Granted, I'd been in a baby carrier and she was riding the gentlest old horse we owned, but the story still rang true. I'd been a cowgirl from day one.
My mom had started dressing me up in western shirts, baby jeans, and soft leather boots as soon as I could move freely, so I guess a person could say I came by it honestly. She had sent me on the way to my destiny long before I was old enough to make my own conscious choice.