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“If you wouldn’t mind looking at her tonight,” Taylor said. “I’ll sleep a lot easier.”
With another look at Shane, who nodded his affirmation, Reba said, “Sure. Let’s go.”
Shane followed behind them as Reba lectured Taylor about the changes in Dale’s diet and exercise. As they got closer to the barn where Dale was, however, he noticed a bunch of bull riders gathered around another one who was causing a bit of a ruckus.
“What’s going on there?” Shane asked, gesturing with his chin.
“That’s just Mick,” Taylor said.
“Is he still pissing and moaning about the wreck he took last season?” Shane asked.
“Yeah, he says it’s the end of the world.”
“Oh, for Christ sakes,” Shane said. “I’m going to set that boy right.” Had Mick gotten stomped on by a bull. Yes. Had he had a concussion? Yes. Did he break his leg in two places? Yes. Mick also had the best treatment that money could buy. And now Mick only walked with a slight limp. Unlike Shane, whose ankle had snapped so badly the back of his shin bone also broke off. He had been an orthopedic surgeon’s nightmare. If Shane wasn’t out there bitching about the rodeo, there was no reason for Mick to do it either. Mick, at least, could get back on a bull and work a season. He should just shut the fuck up instead of pulling the woe is me card.
“Let it go,” Reba said with a hand on his arm.
“What? Why?”
“Because he’s just looking for attention. If you give him a fight or something that can be put on social media, it just makes him more popular. If you ignore it, eventually people will lose interest.”
“I don’t know about that,” Taylor said. “He’s pretty much been a loudmouth for the last year and a half. People like to hear him complain. It gets them riled up and they tend to do things like protest the way animals are being treated.”
“Our animals get the very best of care,” Reba said, affronted.
“See,” Shane said. “It eats at you, doesn’t it?”
“Hmm,” Reba said. “Well maybe we can compromise a bit. We can let it go, but that doesn’t mean the UPRC has to.” Reba pulled out her phone and called someone.
“Hi, Dolly?” Reba said. “Do you know bull rider named Mick?”
Shane didn’t need to be near the phone to hear Dolly’s loud response of “Oh, that asshole? What the hell is he been up to now?”
“He’s down by the horse barn with a crowd of people and it looks like he’s making a case that the UPRC doesn’t take care of their riders or their animals.”
“I’ll be right there,” Dolly said. “Do not engage. This shit ends tonight.”
Reba blinked at her phone before slipping it into her pocket. “I know you’d rather handle it,” she said to Shane. “But trust me, Dolly knows what to do in these situations.”
“You’ve got a lot of faith in your sister,” he said.
“Have you ever seen her in action?” Reba asked.
Shane shook his head. “Nope.”
“I wouldn’t cross her,” Taylor said. “And I run around the arena and grab angry bulls by the horns.”
Shane took that under advisement. With one last glare at Mick, he followed Reba and Taylor into the barn. He made himself useful around the stable while Reba treated Taylor’s horse, Dale.
Taylor looked a little green around the gills when Reba started her examination. He moved quickly away and joined Shane tidying up the stalls and making sure that all the horses had the correct amount of food and water. It wasn’t their job to do it, but all the cowboys looked after each other’s horses. It was like an unnamed rule in the UPRC. That was why when Vidar had gotten whipped it was such a betrayal of that unspoken code.
*
“How did you do today?” Shane asked.
Taylor made a face. “I didn’t come in last. But I’m not going to compete tomorrow. My scores weren’t high enough.”
“You’ll get better. Just keep practicing.”
