Halloween Surprise
Segement 2
Twenty minutes later, Grady and Ed sat behind the gate with two runs under their belts, both right at five seconds each. “One more good run is all we need,” Ed mumbled.
Grady sat relaxed in the saddle, idly looping and shaking out his lasso. They were finally waved into the chutes and they bumped fists as they went into them. Grady reached up and made sure his hat was tight on his head, glanced at Ed, checked the arena, and nodded to the cowboy releasing the cow. “Let ‘er rip.”
The steer broke from the gate, the barrier dropped, and Rocky charged out of the chute. Grady got a quick loop on the steer, pulling its head to the left until his foot slipped through the stirrup. He got it back out, but his motions confused Rocky, who didn’t finish heading up the steer as Grady catapulted off of him. The announcer was saying, “And some bad luck there for Hart. I don’t know what happened, but they’re done for the night. It is a shame, because they were in the lead!”
Grady got up, spitting arena dirt and limping. He walked around Rocky and searched until he found the miscreant heel of his boot. He started to throw it, but just gripped it as he remounted, shook the loop loose and waved to the crowd as he and Ed trotted out of the arena. “What happened, Grady?”
Holding up his boot heel, he grumped, “Damn heel came off just as I pulled the steer.”
“You alright?”
“I think so. I’m gonna hurt in the morning, but…ain’t a damn thing I can do about that.”
“Yeah. Might as well go home. We’re out of the money and everything else.”
“Sorry, man.”
Ed shrugged. “Nothing you could do about it. We gonna enter the rodeo in Lubbock next month?”
“Yeah, I’ll get the entry fee in. I owe you one after tonight.” Ed turned toward his truck as Grady rode back around to where he parked. It surprised him to see Sandy and Patti standing at the hood of his truck. He got off Rocky, tied him to the trailer and limped toward his pickup as Patti started toward the trailer.
She stopped and looked up at him. “Horsie okay?”
He chuckled as Rocky whinnied and lowered his head. “Horsie is fine.” He held out his hand. “Let me introduce you to him. She took his hand, and he led her to the horse. Rocky, this is Patti, Patti, this is Rocky.” Rocky gently lipped her hair, causing her to laugh and pet his nose.
He blew in her hand, and she giggled. “Horsie, like me!” She threw her arms around his head and kissed him. Grady limped to the bed of his truck and threw the errant heel in the bed, pulled his muck boots out from between the bed and cab, and sat down to take his boots off.
Sandy asked, “Are you okay? You took a helluva fall out there.”
He started to shrug and winced. “I’m going to hurt in the morning, but I’ll live.” He tried to brush some of the dirt off his shirt and pants, but gave up.
Without the heel on his boot, he couldn’t get enough leverage to get it off and she said impatiently, “Give me your leg.” She straddled it, giving him a marvelous view of her posterior as she tugged until the boot finally came free. “What do you want to do with it?”
He pulled on his other boots and stood, stamping his feet into them. “Throw it in the bed. I’m not sure if they can salvage those old things again.”
She smiled and said, “I hope you feel better. Patti, say goodbye to Grady and Rocky. We have to get home now.”
Patti pouted but hugged Rocky’s face again and trilled, “Bye, Rocky!” She trotted over to where he stood and hugged his legs. “Bye, Grady.” She looked up at him and added, “You keep Rocky safe!” Running to Sandy, she grabbed her hand and pulled. “We go now, momma.”
Sandy shook her head and said, “It was a pleasure to meet you, and I hope you have better luck next rodeo. Take care of yourself, too!” She smiled as Patti tugged on her hand impatiently. “We are going, young lady!”
Grady chuckled. “It was nice to meet y’all, and good luck with her,” he said, pointing at Patti. “She’s gotta be a handful!”
Sandy smiled ruefully as they turned to go. “She is. She definitely is, but I love her anyway. Bye.”
