“We can come back,” Ty offered, in no hurry to meet the owner and manager of Cowboy College.
In the next instant, he mentally kicked himself. He hadn’t come all this way to chicken out at the last minute.
“But we have to get the key to your guest cabin. How else you gonna unpack your stuff?”
“It’ll wait,” Ty assured him. The poor kid was trying so hard and deserved a break. “How ’bout we head to the barn and unload my horse. Maybe Adele will show up by the time we’re done.”
Stick immediately brightened. “Sure thing,” he said, only it sounded more like “shore” thing.
Back outside, they hopped in Ty’s truck, and Stick directed him down the dirt road to a row of three barns. Across the open area in front of them was a large arena complete with holding pens, boxes, chutes, bleachers and an announcer’s stand. A handful of riders were honing their roping skills with the help of some wranglers. Situated behind the barns were two smaller arenas, a pair of round pens, and endless acres of fenced pastures in which dozens of horses grazed on fresh spring grass. About a half mile beyond that, at the base of a valley, afternoon sunlight glinted off a large pond.
“How’s the fishing?” Ty asked.
“Plenty of bass and bluegills. But if you’re hankering for some serious fly-fishing, Little Twister Creek’s the place to go. It’s not far, about a mile or two from here. My cousin and I go every chance we get.”
“You up for some company sometime?”
Stick’s face exploded into a huge grin. “Just name the day.” As they approached the row of barns, he indicated the largest one. “Here we are.”
Ty pulled up in front of an old-fashioned hitching post and parked. His horse, Hamm, greeted him with a shrill whinny and a bang on the trailer sidewall when he went around the back and unlatched the gate. Eager to be free after the long drive, the large gelding piled out of the trailer. Once on solid ground, he raised his head high, took in his new surroundings and whinnied again. Mares with young foals in the far pasture ran to the fence for a closer look at the newcomer.
“He’s a beaut!” Stick gazed at Hamm admiringly.
“That he is.” Holding on to the lead rope with one hand, Ty patted the horse’s neck. Plain old sorrel didn’t begin to describe Hamm. With four perfectly matched white stockings and a three-inch-wide blaze running down the entire length of his face, he was striking.
“Bet he can chase calves down like lightning streakin’ across a meadow.”
“He’s fast all right.” Ty didn’t elaborate. His problem, the reason he’d come to Cowboy College, had nothing to do with Hamm and everything to do with him.
“This way.” Stick started toward the barn opening. After several steps, he turned, gave Ty’s horse another adoring once-over and whistled low. “That big boy can sure walk out.”
The barn housed at least forty horses. Every one of them charged to the door of their stall and hung their head out to observe the visitors. A few of the braver ones stretched their neck out to either sniff Hamm or give his rump a quick nip. Ty assumed some of the horses belonged to Cowboy College and the rest to guests like himself.
Midway down the aisle, Stick stopped and opened the door of an empty stall. “Here you go.”
Being accustomed to traveling, Hamm entered his new quarters without balking. He quickly inspected the stall’s perimeter, then buried his head in the feed trough. It was empty, and a second later his head shot up in obvious displeasure.
Given it was late afternoon, Ty supposed the stable hands would be feeding soon. Still, he asked, “You got a little grain or pellets we can give him until I go over his diet with the barn manager?” Hamm liked to eat, and a snack would help him adjust to his new surroundings.
“Be right back.” Stick took off and promptly returned with a small bucket of oats.
Fifteen minutes later Ty and Stick were parking his trailer behind the barn. When they were done, Ty pulled his truck around front.
Stick sat forward in the passenger seat. “There’s Adele.” He hitched his chin toward the arena. “Come on, you can meet her.”
Horses and their riders had gathered at the south end of the arena. Ty picked out a trim young woman astride a stout paint mare, a blond braid snaking down her back from beneath her battered cowboy hat. Despite the distance, he recognized her immediately. No surprise; he’d been staring at pictures of her on Cowboy College’s website for weeks while deciding to come or not.
“She looks busy.”
“Naw.” Stick dismissed his concern with a wave. “She won’t mind.”
They selected a spot along the fence and settled in to watch, their forearms resting on the top rail.
“Hey, folks.”
Stick’s friendly greeting was returned by all except Adele. She was preoccupied with lining her horse up in the box. The mare, obviously new at tie-down roping, didn’t like being enclosed in such a cramped space. She danced nervously, snorting and pulling on the bit. With firm hands and a honeyed voice, Adele brought the animal under control.
“Good girl.” She placed the pigging string in her mouth, checked her rope and shifted in the saddle. Ty knew she would cue the wrangler manning the chute only when she and the horse were completely ready. That moment came a second later.
“Go!”
The wrangler slid open the gate, and the calf bolted for freedom, running in a straight line away from the chute. Adele’s horse might not have much experience, but its instincts were right on the money. The mare exploded from the box at a full gallop, following the calf with the persistence of a heat-seeking missile. Adele’s arm came up. In the next instant, she threw her rope. The noose landed right where it should, squarely on the calf’s horns, and she leaped from the saddle even before the mare had come to a complete stop.
Ty watched, completely captivated as she raced to the calf and dropped it effortlessly to the ground, securing its legs with the pigging string. She worked efficiently, not a single motion wasted. And yet there was a natural, fluid gracefulness about her.
It was then Ty noticed the mare. Rather than backing up and stretching the rope taut, as was her job, she moved aimlessly, allowing the rope to hang loosely. The lack of assistance, however, didn’t appear to hamper Adele’s performance. She threw her hands in the air, signaling she was done—in less than eight seconds, according to Ty’s internal stopwatch. The students watching at the end of the arena broke into applause. He and Stick joined them.
Stick beamed. “Isn’t she something?”
“Pretty good.” Ty rocked back on his heels, absorbing what he’d just seen and thinking how much he hated admitting his sister might be right about Cowboy College.
Adele stood, exhibiting that same dancer’s grace from earlier. The calf, now free, trotted off, only to be rounded up by one of the wranglers. Suddenly, Adele turned and glanced in Ty’s direction. Their gazes connected, and the same recognition he’d experienced when he first saw her was reflected in her dark green eyes.
“Glad to see you made it, Mr. Boudeau. I’m Adele Donnelly.”
“Glad to be here.”
“Did you get your horse situated?”
“Stick’s taken fine care of us.”
At the compliment, Stick puffed up his skinny excuse for a chest. “Ty still needs to get checked in.”
“I’ll be up to the main lodge in a bit.”
She walked over to her horse, calmly collecting her rope and winding it into a coil. With the ease and confidence of