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‘No. Our breeding and training programme really took off last year.’

‘Which makes travelling hard,’ Skye commented.

‘It does. But I’d be lying if I said that was the only reason.’ Tia slipped her thumbs into the pockets of her jeans. ‘I was tired. Always away from home, always sleeping on the road. If I thought I’d have a chance at the NFR, I might have kept at it for a few more years, but there’s a point where the sight of all those young girls with more fire than you, more energy than you, and all those years ahead of them, just makes an old girl like me feel past her expiration date.’ She released a raspy chuckle. ‘Clearly, I am no Lisa Lockhart.’

‘There’s only one Lisa Lockhart,’ Skye replied. ‘These are my friends, Stevie and Andrea. They’re travelling with me to Odessa before flying back to Dallas.’

Tia greeted them warmly before walking around to the back of the trailer. ‘Let’s get Smokey offloaded and park your rig.’

At Skye’s side, Stevie asked, ‘Who’s Lisa Lockhart?’

‘Barrel Racing legend,’ Skye explained. ‘She’s in her early sixties and still qualifies for the NFR like every year. I think she’s legitimately competed in it twenty times.’

‘That’s wild.’

‘Tell me about it.’

‘Could you imagine if you got to compete against her one of these days?’

The thought made Skye want to hurl. And still, the strangest thing was that it wasn’t outside the realm of possibility anymore. She’d be competing in Rodeo Rapid City, South Dakota in only a month. The rodeo was in the Badlands Circuit, and that was Lockhart’s home circuit. Her only comfort was that barrel racing included a rider, her horse, and the clock, so even when she ran against the best in the industry, only their times would go up against each other.

‘I probably won’t even be at the rodeos at the same time.’ Praise Jesus, Skye added internally. ‘I’m choosing to run in the slack when I can.’

‘The slack?’

‘Yeah. Ah, so, basically, at events with a lot of contestants, we’re split into “performance” and “slack”. The overspill will run outside of the main ticketed rodeo show times. The slack.’

‘You don’t want to run during the performance?’

‘Not really. Smokey still gets a little spooked by big crowds,’ Skye explained. ‘So, running in the slack is actually easier for her. No crowds.’ Although she didn’t say it, Skye preferred it too. There was no pressure when there was no crowd. There was no expectation of entertainment. No televised event her father might be able to use to track her whereabouts.

Tia unbolted the trailer and lowered the ramp. ‘You better work on desensitizing her, because once you start making the big rodeos – the American, the NCFR, Rodeo Houston – there is no slack anymore.’

‘Yeah,’ Skye agreed, though the chance of her making any of those rodeos this year was slim to none.

They offloaded Smokey and, after letting her walk around, settled her into her stall with food and water. It was only once they had hooked up the trailer to the water and sewer that Tia said, ‘Well, I’ll let you relax and get settled in. You’re welcome to come by the house for dinner if you’d like? We’re having a few people over for a barbecue.’

‘Thanks, Tia. I think we’re going to wash the travel grime off and then head into town for a few drinks. We’ll stop for food when the mood strikes.’

‘Stop by anyway, so I can give you a gate remote in case we’re sleeping by the time you get back. You’re welcome to leave your dog with ours while you go out too.’

‘Thank you. Oh, and do you mind if I use the arena tomorrow morning?’

‘Not at all. If you text me when you’re tacking up, I’ll come watch.’ She winked at Skye. ‘Maybe this time, you can give me some pointers.’

‘I doubt it.’

Tia grinned. With one last wave, she headed towards the farmhouse.

In the trailer, while Stevie showered and Andrea emptied her huge bag in search of something to wear, Skye opened the YouTube app on her TV and pressed play on a throwback playlist. She turned the volume all the way up, so that ‘Fireflies’ by Owl City pumped through the confined interior of the trailer.

‘I love this song!’ Stevie shouted from inside the shower.

Andrea walked over to the mini fridge. ‘And look what some kind soul stocked in the fridge.’ She pulled out a bottle of champagne. With a few expert moves, she twisted the cork off.

Skye opened the cupboard over the sink, took stock of the meagre supplies. ‘I have exactly two glasses – and they’re water glasses.’

Andrea tipped the champagne bottle back and took a huge sip – then immediately started coughing as the bubbles fizzed down her throat. ‘Holy shit,’ she rasped. ‘It’s been a while.’ She passed the bottle to Skye at the same time that Stevie stepped out of the shower wrapped in a towel.