style. They also talked about many promising young competitors.
Tristan had been working on new clothing designs that would serve as Lost Cowboy’s first true women’s collection. She hadn’t shown her sketches to her father yet, she wanted to get feedback from other women in the industry first. She hadn’t told Liv about them either. She wanted her friend’s initial reaction to be authentic, not based on anything Tristan told her beforehand.
“How’s the Black Forest operation going? Have you heard?”
“From what I understand, it’s going quite well. Renie told me Billy’s nose was out of joint at how well his dad and Bullet are getting on already.”
“Really? How interesting.”
“I told her to tell him to be careful what he wished for,” Liv paused. “I use that expression a lot. But it’s so true. What we ask of the universe sometimes comes back to us more quickly than we anticipate.”
Sound thinking, and very true words. Tristan began jotting down things Liv said while she was in Crested Butte. Things Ben said too. In fact, she took notes on many expressions she’d heard from the Rice and Patterson families. She planned to work them into Lost Cowboy’s upcoming social media posts.
“They’ll all be here next week.”
“Who all?”
“Billy and Renie, Bullet, even Bill and Dottie are coming. I can’t wait to see them…”
Liv was talking about Bill and Dottie, something about how much she missed them. But all Tristan could think about was Bullet. He’d be in Crested Butte next week. She had hoped he’d be there when she was, but wouldn’t have dared to ask.
“You’re done for today,” Bill told Bullet.
“What do you mean? Why?”
“Your head isn’t in it. You’re not paying attention to me or the two-thousand-pound animal you’re tryin’ to ride. You’ll get yourself killed that way.”
Bullet couldn’t argue. They were leaving for Crested Butte tomorrow, and that’s where his head was instead of on the practice bull.
“I’m sorry, Bill.”
“Don’t apologize to me. You wanna quit training, just say the word. All I’m doin’ is sittin’ on the fence watchin’. You’re the one who’s got the work to do.”
Bill might be sitting on the fence, but the bull hands weren’t. And if he wasn’t taking it seriously, he was wasting their time too.
“Ride the buck, not the bull,” Bill had been shouting at him. “Think less, feel more. Quit tryin’ to wrangle him. Ride the pattern.”
Bullet knew all this. He heard Bill’s voice in his head when he was in the chute, mounting on. It was the time in between that got him today. Once he eased his toes down the bull’s side, careful not to touch him with his spurs, he stopped hearing Bill’s voice and heard Tristan’s instead.
“It’s irresponsible for him to even try riding bulls. He has a child to raise.” Those weren’t the exact words he’d overheard her say, but they were close enough.
Once the chute opened, he didn’t have time to think about much, other than staying alive, if only to prove her wrong. And Bill was right, that would get him killed.
Bullet and the partners were on their way to the Flying R Rough Stock headquarters for a sponsored rider meeting. The cowboys and cowgirls who were already on the team would be there, along with new recruits being considered.
While Bullet was on the Flying R team, both as an employee and as a rider, it was the Lost Cowboy team he was vying for. It didn’t matter that Flying R was the bigger fish. If he was wearing the LC brand, it would mean he’d won Tristan over.
“We’re leavin’ at the crack of dawn tomorrow morning. Get some rest tonight.” Bill climbed down the fence and walked in the direction of the barn. “Oh, and Dottie wanted me to tell you she left dinner on the back stoop.”
“Thank her for me,” Bullet shouted back.
Bill waved and went into the barn.
Bullet looked at his phone. He had another hour before he had to pick Grey up from the babysitter. He could stick around and pull gates for the other guys.
Miss Dottie made dinner for him and Grey almost every night. He’d thank her, and then tell her she didn’t have to, only to have her shush him every time.
“No sense letting good food go to waste,” she’d say. Bullet didn’t dare suggest she not make as much.