Their situation ate at him. He hadn’t been able to get the fact that there seemed no solution to help their relationship out of his mind. He’d gotten up before daylight and started riding the new horse just because riding and thinking went hand in hand for him.
But it hadn’t helped him much this morning. Lucy was a hard woman to figure out, and she’d been through more than any woman should have to go through.
He let her have her space at church that morning. He was glad she was there. When the service was over, he’d stopped by where she was talking to the boys and reminded her of practice in case she wanted to come. He’d had to force himself to look at her. After the preacher’s sermon about wounds and how God could mend the brokenhearted, he’d started praying that He would do this for Lucy. But he knew it would take time. And even then with his past, there was no hope.
They’d been practicing for about thirty minutes and there was no sign of her. He hated it, that he’d made her uncomfortable...that he’d messed his life up and that the consequences of his past stood between them like a mountain.
“Lucy’s coming!” Sammy called, riding his horse over to the fence and waving his coiled rope in the air as Lucy’s black Dodge pulled to a stop beside the arena.
Rowdy’s chest felt like a steel band had just clamped down around it, and he forced himself to hold back. Morgan rode up beside him.
“Looks like it’s your lucky day,” he said, smiling.
“Yeah, I wish. She’s out of my league, bro.”
“Well, that’s true, but sometimes that doesn’t matter. Jolie picked me.”
He knew Morgan was trying to make him feel better, but Morgan hadn’t done the things he’d done. Morgan had always been a hardworking class act—yeah, he’d been irritating as all get-out growing up, but it was true. Rowdy had been the wild child, living recklessly and choosing unwisely. He was just thankful that God hadn’t let go of him through all of his prodigal-son days.
Regret was a hard companion, though, and despite having his life on track, it trailed him like a bloodhound.
Lucy was smiling and kidding with the boys as she climbed to the top rail of the arena. She wore her long-sleeved shirt and her stiff collar. Her beautiful hair cascaded around her shoulders. Her smile was contagious.
Feeling like a stack of horseshoes was stuck in his throat, he rode over and forced a grin. He might not have a future with her, but he could be her friend.
“So are you here to watch or are we going to have another go at it?” Okay, not the best word choice.
“I’m here to milk a wild cow.” There was challenge in her eyes. “That was the bargain I made with the fellas.”
“We don’t want you gettin’ hurt.” Wes came out of a holding pen where he’d been helping B.J. learn to wrestle a small calf. “Ain’t that right, little dude?” he asked, scrubbing B.J.’s head with his knuckles. B.J. grinned and twisted away, laughing as he ran over and climbed up the fence to Lucy.
“We don’t want you to get hurt, but if I can learn, I know you can, too. It’s fun. You shoulda just seen me take that calf over there down. I mean, I locked him in a headlock like Wes just done me, and that dude came right off his feet. You should try that.”
Lucy had started smiling halfway through the boy’s excited words. He was standing on the rungs with his hands on the rail behind him, grinning at her. She smoothed his hair out of his eyes and Rowdy’s admiration of her went up yet another notch. She got that these boys craved love from the adults around them. The small kids especially needed the attention of the women who were in their lives.