Winning the Cowboy's Heart

REGAN WAS THERE.

He’d been scanning the crowd, while Madison introduced Del, looking for his brother, just in case, when he spotted her on the opposite side of the arena. And then, since it kept his mind off his upcoming performance, he continued to watch her. He’d never seen her in jeans before, but they suited her. And he liked the way her chestnut hair was pulled back in a haphazard non-teacherish ponytail.

She had a notepad balanced on one thigh and from the moment Del stepped into the ring with his horse, her attention was focused on his performance. She jotted notes every couple of seconds, it seemed.

Will watched her as she wrote, wondering if she’d take notes on him, too. He told himself he’d check, but he knew that, once he was in the round pen with the mustang, all his attention would be focused there. It was the only way he ever got through public performances—by pretending the audience wasn’t there. Kylie’s classic underwear strategy didn’t work, primarily because of people like old Grandpa Meyers.

Lunch was the usual free-for-all, with the high school’s FFA club flipping burgers and people hustling Will and Del for free advice.

Just before it was Will’s turn to begin his afternoon performance, he eased away from the person he was talking to and approached Kylie and Sadie in the audience.

“Hey, would you guys do me a favor and stay here during the demonstration? In the front row?”

“Why?”

“I need some feedback and I want you to watch in order to give it.” He pulled the reason out of thin air, but it sounded good and he could see that Kylie liked it.

“Okay.”

“You won’t get bored and wander off?”

“Nope.”

“Good. I expect something constructive.”

“Be careful what you ask for,” Kylie quoted one of his favorite sayings. Will reached out, tapped the brim of her hat down and she laughed.

“Stay put,” he repeated.

WHEN MADISON ANNOUNCED the start of the final demonstration, Will walked to the center of the arena, his short chaps flapping just below his knees, his gaze down, so that it was impossible to see his face under the brim of the cowboy hat. But when he reached Madison, he tilted his hat back, gave a tight-lipped, well-here-I-am smile and looked as if he’d dearly love to be anywhere but where he was.

Madison talked about Will, his background and training strategies, but Will’s eyes were on the chute through which the mare would enter the round pen. There was some banging on the rails, as the horse was pushed into the paneled runway, then she emerged, her eyes round and wild.

She circled the round pen at a full gallop several times before coming to a stop at the side farthest away from the crowd. The rails were too high to jump, but she bunched up as if she was going to try. She continued to dance at the edge of the pen, desperately looking for a way out.

Will stood quietly until the mare threw him a wild glance over her shoulder and snorted. He took a slow step forward and the mare took off, galloping furiously around the pen, her hind feet kicking up divots and her attention outside the rails. Will moved to the center, pivoting as she circled, keeping his eyes on her, waiting for her to slow. When she did, he stepped forward quietly to get her moving again. This time her canter wasn’t quite as wild and every now and then she looked at the man in the center of the pen, trying to read him.

“What Will’s doing is controlling the mare’s movements—showing her that he is the lead animal, the boss,” Madison explained. Will also had a microphone clipped to his collar, but Regan wondered if he even had it turned on. “Horses want to know their place in the hierarchy of the herd and that’s what Will is establishing now. He’ll keep her moving, then give her an opportunity to stop when he wants her to stop.”

The demonstration continued, the crowd watched attentively as Will eventually approached the mare and then touched her. When she turned away from him, he set her moving again, repeating the pattern until she understood that he wouldn’t hurt her but if she didn’t hold still for him she’d have to run. And running was work.

Will continued approaching and backing off, asking her to allow him to do as much as she could tolerate, then releasing pressure by backing away for a moment. In the end, he was able to rub her all over, halter her and saddle her. Madison kept up a running commentary throughout the entire procedure.

Finally, Will stepped away from the mare and walked to the edge of the round pen. The mare followed. He ran a hand over her neck when she stopped, facing him.

“I’m not going to get on her,” he said, speaking for the first time since the start of the demonstration. “She’s done enough for one day. I hope I’ve been able to show you guys something during this demonstration. If there are any questions…?”

Several hands shot up and Regan leaned back in her seat as Madison began fielding the questions.

After the demonstration, Will was surrounded by people—mostly women, Regan noticed as she gathered her notebook and purse—and although he was polite, she had a feeling that like the mustang mare, all he wanted to do was escape.

WILL WATCHED REGAN LEAVE the arena over the head of a woman who was outlining her horse’s behavior in a rather long-winded manner. He redirected his attention and listened, thinking that this woman’s only problem was that she babied her animal. When he told her that, she wasn’t happy with the answer. She wanted her horse to mind her because he loved her, not because she was the boss. Will opened his mouth to tell her that horses were not wired that way, but instead he just nodded. If she’d sat through both his and Del’s presentations and hadn’t yet picked that up, then she was only going to hear what she wanted to hear. Some people couldn’t understand that affection and boundaries could actually go hand in hand.

When he’d answered his last question, he found Kylie in the front row where he’d left her. Sadie was gone, but another girl had taken her place.

“Honest,” she was saying to Kylie as Will approached. She suddenly noticed that Will was there. “I gotta go. See you tomorrow.”

“What’s that all about?” Will asked after the girl left.

Kylie frowned. “She said that she saw a guy who looked just like you in Elko yesterday.”

Will felt an instant tightening in his midsection, but before he could think of something to say, Kylie screwed up her forehead and said, “Gee, Dad. You don’t suppose it’s Uncle Brett, do you?”

CHAPTER FOUR

“WELL, do you think it was him?” Kylie repeated a few seconds later.

“Might have been.”

“Aren’t you curious?”

Kylie was certainly curious. She always had been and the older she got, the more curious she’d become. He didn’t blame her. The kid hardly had any relatives and the few she did have were not part of her world. So far, they’d only had a few brief discussions about Brett and the fact that Will and his brother hadn’t been in contact for more than a decade. She’d eventually stopped asking, but he knew she still wondered about her uncle.

“Get your stuff together.”

“Dad.” He frowned down at his daughter’s perplexed expression. “Don’t you ever want to see him again? I mean, was what happened really bad?”

“It wasn’t good.” Will made an effort to sound matter-of-fact. “And maybe someday Brett and I will get together and hash things out, but I don’t think it’s going to be any time soon.”

Kylie bit her lip and let the subject go, even though Will knew she wanted—deserved—answers. He couldn’t give her answers just yet. And he didn’t know if he ever could.

They started toward the truck, Will carrying the saddle and blanket and Kylie carrying the halter and rope.

“You know, Dad, you did really good in your demonstration.”

“Thanks, kid.” He appreciated her changing the subject, but he knew they’d be facing it again one of these days.

“You might try talking a little, you know, like Del does. Madison does all right, but I think people’d like to hear you explain more of it.”

“All right,” he said. “I’ll try. Anything else?”

“Nope.” She flipped the end of the rope as she walked. “Sadie was kind of weird today. She kept looking around, instead of watching the performance. And she asked me if I wanted to buy makeup with her when we go to Elko. I said okay, but,” she puckered her forehead, “whenever we put on her mom’s stuff, I forget and rub my eyes and it gets all over.”