His smile returned, and he took my hand, cradling just the tips of my fingers in a light touch. Not a great handshake atall, but he was a Californian. I guess I couldn’t expect him to know how to shake a girl’s hand proper in Idaho.
“You’re welcome,” he said. “See you around.”
I waited until he left before I walked to the break room to set the flowers in a tin can on the table. I probably should take them home, but... well, they looked nice there, where everyone could enjoy them. That was it.
Then I pulled out a pair of fresh nitrile gloves and went back to fish that plug out of the drain pan.
Dusty
“You ready?” Luke asked.
I glanced over at him, parked on my left, aboard his new gray. I shook out a loop and nodded. “Just about. You, Austen?”
It was Saturday, and Luke wanted to score some practice runs on his mare to see how she handled. I’d invited Austen over to watch. He said he wanted to “get better” at roping, but I found out he didn’t even know the basics.
Rather than embarrass him by giving him lessons in front of Luke, I just asked him to drag the hot heels with the four-wheeler for a bit, and then I’d show him some stuff later. Marshall was off somewhere with Kelli, and we needed someone to pull the roping dummy anyway.
Austen gave us the thumbs up, and Luke nodded. “Okay!”
Luke’s job was to run up on the left side and get a loop over the cow’s head. He and his horse would then “switch” the cow, pulling it forward and to the left, so it kicked its heels out to the right for me to rope. A cow roped safely and efficiently in the branding pen couldn’t hurt itself or anyone else, and Luke and I were usually figured to be about the best team in the valley for getting the job done without roughing up the stock. Everyone always asked us to rope, anyway, and that was something to be a little proud of.
Austen gunned the engine, and the practice dummy shot forward. I was off my mark, and my horse was in a great position, but Luke was fighting with Duchess. She should have been right up on the dummy, but she was too far back, dead even with me. “You’re behind!” I yelled.
“You think I don’t bloomin’ know that? Gee up there, mare!” Luke tried urging Duchess up for about three more strides. Then we were going to run out of room. “Doggone it! Stop.” He pulled his horse down and backed her up.
“What was that?” I asked.
“Just hesitated. I told you, she’s rusty.”
“How rusty? Do you think you should school her a little before roping off her?”
“She’s fine. Let’s give it another try.”
I shrugged. “Okay.” We jogged back and waited for Austen to get lined up again.
“Ready when you are,” Austen said. “Set?”
Luke raised his loop and gritted his teeth. He was ready to jump hard this time. “Go!”
Our horses leaped into action, Luke’s gray mare powering up and closing in faster than before. He was still fighting to keep her where he needed her, pushing her up farther than she wanted to be, but she did respond. Three quick twists of Luke’s wrist and the loop snaked into place, just as pretty as a picture.
I had my loop in motion, and my hand had just dropped in the release when Luke’s rope went slack. Instead of running ahead of the dummy and holding tension on her end, Duchess dug her heels into the dirt and cut hard to the right, almost colliding with my gelding. She ran over both ropes, and it was only some quick handling on Luke’s part that kept her from getting tangled in them.
“What in blazes?” Luke hollered. “What happened?”
“Your horse tried to plow me over, that’s what happened!”
“You were too close.”
I snapped. All the frustration of the last couple of weeks, my irritation with Luke, and my own failure to act when I’d had the chance—it all boiled over. “I was right where I was supposed to be! Your horse screwed up.”
Austen stopped and turned off the quad’s engine to turn around and watch.
“It wasn’t her fault. Something didn’t feel right, and she called me on it,” Luke said as he coiled his rope.
“Now you’re just making up excuses. You sure that trick knee of yours didn’t act up? Maybe you jerked the bit or kicked her this way.”
“It wasn’t my knee,” Luke growled. “Let’s just reset.”