[ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]
.”“Roping.”She felt a warm rush of confidence.She could do that.No problem.“Bring it on.”He gestured to the gathering of the others by the corral, where the roping lesson was about to begin.Joe waved his hand to one of the cowboys.“Would you mind taking care of our horses so we can join the others?”“No problem, boss.”Joe gave him a slap on the back in gratitude, and motioned for her to walk ahead of him.Maggie waited for the usual snickers from the participants and eye-rolling from Danny, but they were mesmerized, watching as Ronnie twirled a rope overhead, brought it down to foot level, then stepped over it.Back and forth Ronnie stepped, moving the rope in figure eights.“That looks as easy as pie,” Maggie whispered to Joe.At least she thought she whispered.As the group laughed at her statement, Ronnie handed her the rope.He smiled at her as if they shared a secret.Joe took the rope out of her hands.“Ronnie…uh…I don’t think that Maggie—”Maggie took the rope back.“Hang on.” She stepped forward to give herself some more room.“I may be a city slicker, but I’ll give it a try.”She tried to remember what she’d learned from Baxter Bello, a trick rope expert who was hired to teach her when she starred in Annie Get Your Gun.He’d called it the Texas Skip.She’d played Annie Oakley six years ago, and she was certainly rusty in the roping department, but she wanted to impress Joe.She got a feel for the rope, letting out a little at a time from the knot, as she slowly began to spin it.Baxter’s voice rang in her ear, “Go slow.Don’t rush.It’s all in the wrist.”She concentrated, knowing that if she could pull off a couple of jumps, the kids and cowboys would be dazzled.Glancing at the astonishment on their faces, she saw they were already impressed that she’d gotten this far.Now!She jumped over the loop, again and again.When a loud whoop went up from the crowd, she lost her focus and the rope wrapped around her body.She got a round of applause from everyone, and she took a bow.Catching Danny’s eye, she saw a glimmer of admiration, and pride shot through her.Even his new friend Brandon looked impressed.But Joe looked the most surprised, and heat pooled in her belly as he looked her over.She spotted Ronnie, grinning from ear to ear.“How did you know?” she asked him.“I saw you in Annie Get Your Gun.Your trick roping was great, so I got a video and taught myself.”Maggie handed the rope back to him.“What brought you to New York City?”“A wedding.” Ronnie looked around at the group.“My mother wanted to see you in Annie so I took her.”Joe clapped his hands once.“For the rest of us who can’t do Maggie and Ronnie’s trick, we are going to stick with the basics.Break down into teams of three, please.”They kicked up some dust, shuffling around until they stood in groups of one cowboy, two participants and one plastic cow head stuck into a hay bale per team.Danny quickly fell into step with Brandon with Quint as their staff member.She couldn’t understand why Danny gravitated to Brandon, especially since he admitted that Brandon didn’t like Cowboy Quest.Danny seemed to like it a little more than before.Even if Danny liked Cowboy Quest a lot, he would still act apathetic to his pals.She and Joe were with Rick, one of the more sullen boys.He was a shorter, muscular boy with tattoos all over his body, including some homemade ones on his neck.“I’m sure you’ve all seen old Westerns,” Joe said, twirling a rope over his head.“The rope is used to keep the cattle moving, and to get strays out of ditches and the like.They aren’t too smart, so they get in all kinds of jams.You have each been given one rope.It’s yours while you are here.Take care of your rope and don’t lose it.It should be tied to your saddle when you’re riding.When you’re not riding, practice with it.”Maggie did as Joe instructed and let her rope soar at the horns on the plastic cow.Perfect shot! Roping was a piece of cake.Rick was struggling, so Joe spent more time with him.They roped from different angles and distances from the cow head, but she always hit her mark.As she waited for Rick, she couldn’t help but overhear Quint with Danny and Brandon.“C’mon, boys, you’re not even trying.Now pay attention and stop talking like a couple of old hens.”She was just about to say something to Danny when she remembered how Joe had asked her nicely to butt out, that the cowboy staff would take care of discipline.Danny halfheartedly roped the cow head, and he didn’t do badly, hitting the mark more often than not.She could tell he cared, that he wanted to do well, but he wouldn’t show it.It appeared to her that Brandon was acting like he couldn’t care less, and Danny was simply going along with him.“That’s it for today,” Joe said.“Tomorrow you’ll all get a chance to try roping a calf or two on horseback.Therefore, I suggest that you practice tonight after your homework.”Just then the dinner bell rang.Maggie walked to the bunkhouse with the rest of the group, trying specifically to stay away from Joe so the other boys wouldn’t tease Danny.“He likes you—a lot,” Danny had said earlier.“Everyone knows it.”Looking at Joe, she couldn’t help noticing the confidence in his stance—his muscular thighs, encased in worn denim.But she noticed more than his physical appearance.She admired his patience, the way he never spoke down to the kids, the way he was slowly winning over even the most angry of the lot, with the possible exception of Brandon Avery.There were many things about Joe that she liked, but what was the sense of flirting, or taking their relationship—such as it was—to the next level? The two of them were from different worlds, and they each had lives from which they couldn’t—wouldn’t—walk away.Maggie’s life was in New York, not in tiny Mountain Springs, Wyoming.But what was she thinking? She’d never have to make that difficult decision because she wouldn’t let her attraction get that far.As everyone entered the bunkhouse, Maggie turned to walk uphill to the ranch house, desperate to change her dirty clothes when Danny appeared next to her.“Some day will you show me that rope trick, Aunt Maggie?”“Sure.Whenever you’d like.How did your roping go?”“Okay.I did better than a lot of the other guys,” he said with pride.“Good for you!”Danny looked toward the rest of the group, then back at her.“Some of the cowboys are going to tell ghost stories at the campfire tonight.Are you going?”He actually wanted her company? Or maybe he didn’t want her to go to the campfire, so he could be alone with his pals.She chose to believe the former.“What would a campfire be without ghost stories? I’ll be there.I’m just going to change clothes and get a jacket.I’ll be down soon.”He nodded, then took off at a dead run to catch up with the others.This was sure a pleasant change from the sullen and surly boy he’d been for so long.Maybe their earlier conversation by the river had made a difference after all [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]
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.”“Roping.”She felt a warm rush of confidence.She could do that.No problem.“Bring it on.”He gestured to the gathering of the others by the corral, where the roping lesson was about to begin.Joe waved his hand to one of the cowboys.“Would you mind taking care of our horses so we can join the others?”“No problem, boss.”Joe gave him a slap on the back in gratitude, and motioned for her to walk ahead of him.Maggie waited for the usual snickers from the participants and eye-rolling from Danny, but they were mesmerized, watching as Ronnie twirled a rope overhead, brought it down to foot level, then stepped over it.Back and forth Ronnie stepped, moving the rope in figure eights.“That looks as easy as pie,” Maggie whispered to Joe.At least she thought she whispered.As the group laughed at her statement, Ronnie handed her the rope.He smiled at her as if they shared a secret.Joe took the rope out of her hands.“Ronnie…uh…I don’t think that Maggie—”Maggie took the rope back.“Hang on.” She stepped forward to give herself some more room.“I may be a city slicker, but I’ll give it a try.”She tried to remember what she’d learned from Baxter Bello, a trick rope expert who was hired to teach her when she starred in Annie Get Your Gun.He’d called it the Texas Skip.She’d played Annie Oakley six years ago, and she was certainly rusty in the roping department, but she wanted to impress Joe.She got a feel for the rope, letting out a little at a time from the knot, as she slowly began to spin it.Baxter’s voice rang in her ear, “Go slow.Don’t rush.It’s all in the wrist.”She concentrated, knowing that if she could pull off a couple of jumps, the kids and cowboys would be dazzled.Glancing at the astonishment on their faces, she saw they were already impressed that she’d gotten this far.Now!She jumped over the loop, again and again.When a loud whoop went up from the crowd, she lost her focus and the rope wrapped around her body.She got a round of applause from everyone, and she took a bow.Catching Danny’s eye, she saw a glimmer of admiration, and pride shot through her.Even his new friend Brandon looked impressed.But Joe looked the most surprised, and heat pooled in her belly as he looked her over.She spotted Ronnie, grinning from ear to ear.“How did you know?” she asked him.“I saw you in Annie Get Your Gun.Your trick roping was great, so I got a video and taught myself.”Maggie handed the rope back to him.“What brought you to New York City?”“A wedding.” Ronnie looked around at the group.“My mother wanted to see you in Annie so I took her.”Joe clapped his hands once.“For the rest of us who can’t do Maggie and Ronnie’s trick, we are going to stick with the basics.Break down into teams of three, please.”They kicked up some dust, shuffling around until they stood in groups of one cowboy, two participants and one plastic cow head stuck into a hay bale per team.Danny quickly fell into step with Brandon with Quint as their staff member.She couldn’t understand why Danny gravitated to Brandon, especially since he admitted that Brandon didn’t like Cowboy Quest.Danny seemed to like it a little more than before.Even if Danny liked Cowboy Quest a lot, he would still act apathetic to his pals.She and Joe were with Rick, one of the more sullen boys.He was a shorter, muscular boy with tattoos all over his body, including some homemade ones on his neck.“I’m sure you’ve all seen old Westerns,” Joe said, twirling a rope over his head.“The rope is used to keep the cattle moving, and to get strays out of ditches and the like.They aren’t too smart, so they get in all kinds of jams.You have each been given one rope.It’s yours while you are here.Take care of your rope and don’t lose it.It should be tied to your saddle when you’re riding.When you’re not riding, practice with it.”Maggie did as Joe instructed and let her rope soar at the horns on the plastic cow.Perfect shot! Roping was a piece of cake.Rick was struggling, so Joe spent more time with him.They roped from different angles and distances from the cow head, but she always hit her mark.As she waited for Rick, she couldn’t help but overhear Quint with Danny and Brandon.“C’mon, boys, you’re not even trying.Now pay attention and stop talking like a couple of old hens.”She was just about to say something to Danny when she remembered how Joe had asked her nicely to butt out, that the cowboy staff would take care of discipline.Danny halfheartedly roped the cow head, and he didn’t do badly, hitting the mark more often than not.She could tell he cared, that he wanted to do well, but he wouldn’t show it.It appeared to her that Brandon was acting like he couldn’t care less, and Danny was simply going along with him.“That’s it for today,” Joe said.“Tomorrow you’ll all get a chance to try roping a calf or two on horseback.Therefore, I suggest that you practice tonight after your homework.”Just then the dinner bell rang.Maggie walked to the bunkhouse with the rest of the group, trying specifically to stay away from Joe so the other boys wouldn’t tease Danny.“He likes you—a lot,” Danny had said earlier.“Everyone knows it.”Looking at Joe, she couldn’t help noticing the confidence in his stance—his muscular thighs, encased in worn denim.But she noticed more than his physical appearance.She admired his patience, the way he never spoke down to the kids, the way he was slowly winning over even the most angry of the lot, with the possible exception of Brandon Avery.There were many things about Joe that she liked, but what was the sense of flirting, or taking their relationship—such as it was—to the next level? The two of them were from different worlds, and they each had lives from which they couldn’t—wouldn’t—walk away.Maggie’s life was in New York, not in tiny Mountain Springs, Wyoming.But what was she thinking? She’d never have to make that difficult decision because she wouldn’t let her attraction get that far.As everyone entered the bunkhouse, Maggie turned to walk uphill to the ranch house, desperate to change her dirty clothes when Danny appeared next to her.“Some day will you show me that rope trick, Aunt Maggie?”“Sure.Whenever you’d like.How did your roping go?”“Okay.I did better than a lot of the other guys,” he said with pride.“Good for you!”Danny looked toward the rest of the group, then back at her.“Some of the cowboys are going to tell ghost stories at the campfire tonight.Are you going?”He actually wanted her company? Or maybe he didn’t want her to go to the campfire, so he could be alone with his pals.She chose to believe the former.“What would a campfire be without ghost stories? I’ll be there.I’m just going to change clothes and get a jacket.I’ll be down soon.”He nodded, then took off at a dead run to catch up with the others.This was sure a pleasant change from the sullen and surly boy he’d been for so long.Maybe their earlier conversation by the river had made a difference after all [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]