She threw her hands in the air denoting she was done. Billy slowly backed away from the calf in order to maintain the tautness of the rope until Patrice could climb onto his back again and move forward to relax the rope on the calf.
“Ooh, wee!” exclaimed the announcer. “That little filly knows her roping. Ms. Patrice Sutton, Albuquerque girl and TV-and-screen star, caught that ’lil doggie in nine seconds flat. It’s the new time to beat, buckaroos!”
The crowd roared. Patrice waved her hat in the air and signaled Billy One Star to take a bow as she’d taught him. Billy bowed by lowering his great head and bending his front legs slightly.
A couple of cowboys detached Patrice’s lariat from the calf and untied the calf, who immediately got to its feet, unhurt. Patrice sighed, relieved. She always worried that she might injure the calf, but in all the years she’d been roping, she had never done so.
She rode Billy out of the stadium to enthusiastic applause. When she got to the area behind the corral where various RVs and horse trailers were parked, awaiting the return of their passengers, she was greeted by her excited family. Her brother Luke took hold of Billy’s bit and patted his neck while Patrice dismounted and removed her hat. She was immediately enveloped in her father’s arms. “Way to go, Peanut,” he said.
Patrice beamed. Nobody called her Peanut except her daddy. Patrick Sutton’s handsome brown face crinkled in a grin. Six-two to Patrice’s five-seven, he bent to hug her. “You should have heard your momma cheering,” he said proudly, turning to look back at Cady Sutton.
“Of course I was,” Cady said. Patrick released Patrice so his wife could hug her. “It brought back memories.” When she was younger, Cady had been a roper, too. Patrice was the only one of her two daughters who’d shown any interest in it. She reached up to gently caress Patrice’s cheek. “Well done!”
“Thank you, Momma,” said Patrice, her face a mass of smiles.
Keira came running up to everyone. “You beat Lucy’s time. I’m so happy.”
“What was that all about?” Patrice asked, referring to Keira’s earlier strange behavior.
Keira, who was slender and had skin a little lighter than Patrice’s medium-brown skin, smoothed her dark auburn curls away from her heart-shaped face and grimaced. “I overheard her telling one of the other competitors that she planned to mop up the floor with Little Miss Movie Star. That’s you! She said no one was going to steal her title as the area’s champion lady roper, especially not the sister of the little gold digger—that’s me—who had wormed her way into her brother’s heart. She hates me.”
“That was mean,” Patrice agreed, sad that Lucy was making Keira’s life difficult. “I’m here for the kids, and my career is fine, thank you!”
Her mother jumped suddenly. “Oh, my goodness, your cell phone just vibrated,” she said with a laugh. She had been holding Patrice’s purse for her until after she’d competed in the event.
She handed the shoulder bag to Patrice now, and Patrice quickly reached in and retrieved her still-vibrating phone. Looking down at the display, she saw that it was Blanca Mendes, her agent. “I’d better answer this.”
She flipped the phone open. “Hi, Blanca. How are you?”
“Fine, fine,” Blanca replied in her hurried manner. “Listen, chica, you’ve got to get back to L.A. as soon as possible. Mark Greenberg wants to see you in his office at 11:00 a.m. tomorrow morning.”
“I just got through hog-tying a calf in a rodeo. You do know where I am, right?”
Blanca laughed shortly. “It’s Thursday. You must be in The Land of Enchantment, otherwise known as New Mexico.”
“Albuquerque is nearly eight hundred miles from Los Angeles,” Patrice reminded her.
“I know that you drove home on this trip, sweetie,” said Blanca. “You don’t have time to drive back. I’ve booked you on a six o’clock flight out. Just go to the desk at your favorite airline, and they’ll take care of you.”
“Six o’clock!” Patrice cried. “It’s already half past four.”
“Then you’d better get a move on,” Blanca told her. “T. K. McKenna. Need I say more?”
“No,” Patrice sighed.
“That’s what I thought,” said her agent, satisfied she’d gotten her point across. “I’ve arranged to have a car pick you up at the airport. You can get a good night’s rest and be refreshed for your eleven o’clock meeting. I have a good feeling about this. Mark wouldn’t have asked to see you again unless he was really interested. I know how he thinks. He probably wants you to read with one of the other actors.”
Patrice’s heart leaped into her throat. “Do you think he wants me to read with T.K.?”
“T.K. doesn’t have to audition for anyone,” Blanca replied.
“But the role I’m up for is his love interest in the film,” said Patrice hopefully.
“Be prepared for whatever happens,” advised Blanca. “However, I seriously doubt T.K. will show up. Besides, I would prefer to have you cool, calm and collected. Even I would freak out at the prospect of meeting T.K.”
Patrice laughed shortly. Blanca Mendes usually wasn’t intimidated by anyone.
“Okay, I won’t get my hopes up,” Patrice promised. “Thanks, Blanca. I’ll make that flight.”
“Of course you will, chica,” said Blanca, “because you understand that to get anywhere in this business one must be prepared to make—”
“—sacrifices,” Patrice finished for her.
“Call me after the meeting. We’ll go out and celebrate,” said Blanca confidently.
Patrice closed her phone and looked into the crest fallen faces of her family. She sighed heavily. “I guess you got the gist of that. I’ve got to leave this after noon.”
“Did I hear you say ‘T.K.’?” Keira asked excitedly, practically jumping up and down.
“That’s right,” Patrice told everyone. “I auditioned for the role opposite T.K. in a Western of which he’s also serving as one of the producers. I didn’t tell you because I didn’t want you to get your hopes up for me in case I didn’t get the part.”
Cady put her arm about Patrice’s waist. “Oh, honey, we root for you no matter what. We know you have your head on straight and realize that when you don’t get a role you really want that it isn’t the end of the world. Maybe something better is waiting just around the corner.”
Patrice wondered what could be better than starring opposite T. K. McKenna, one of the biggest box-office draws in the world. It had to be something mighty good.
She smiled down at her mother and hugged her. “Thanks. I appreciate that.”
She straightened and looked at them all in turn. “I’m sorry to have to cut my visit short.”
They all shrugged aside her apology, assuring her they understood.
The announcer’s voice rang out. “If the lady ropers would gather in the center of the stadium, it’s time to announce the winner of the competition.”
Keira grabbed Patrice by the arm. “Come on, I can’t wait to see Lucy’s face.”
Patrice, Keira and her parents walked back to the stadium while Patrice’s brother Luke led Billy One Star to his horse trailer where he would rub him down before putting him inside for the trip home, a ranch on the outskirts of Albuquerque.
Luke, twenty, was a junior in college but lived at home