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tie-Pie Murphy winked in Amber and Ray’s direction
as she walked over. “What can I say? Blue Suede
Shoes came on the radio and inspiration hit.”
“Do you also have them for men?” Miranda
asked, and Amber burst out laughing, imagining the
look on Presley’s face if his mother gifted him with a
pair of blue suede boots.
While Ray paid for Miranda’s boots—under the
condition she would not order a pair for Presley—
Amber’s stomach started doing flips. She’d never
been to the rodeo before, despite the weeks spent in
Wayback, and the knowledge of how Presley’s father
had died had her so nervous she’d not eaten all day.
It’d been hard to leave Presley when he’d went off
with the other competitors, the fear of him being
hurt clawed at her insides, but she’d had to. How
could she convince him to not worry so much about
her safety if she acted like a ninny over his?
“You all right, honey?” Miranda rested a hand
on her shoulder. “You’re awfully pale.”
Amber took a deep breath and gazed at the en-
tryway which would take them away from the hall
filled with concessions, and into the actual arena. “I
don’t know if I can watch.”
Miranda smiled gently. “It terrified me when
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Crystal-Rain Love
Presley started participating in the rodeo, especially
after losing his father in one, but Presley knows
what he’s doing and he had a darned good teacher.”
She turned loving eyes toward Ray. “Trust me,
honey. Presley has a true talent for bronc-busting
and once you get over the initial fear of him getting
hurt out there, you’ll be awestruck by his ability.”
“Well, if you can watch him, I guess I can, too.”
Amber squared her shoulders and walked into the
arena, her knees wobbly as she saw the large dirt
oval.
“He’ll be fine,” Miranda reassured her, ushering
her toward their seats dead center where they could
see all the action.
Despite the nerves wracking her system, Amber
found herself enjoying the rodeo. A funny clown en-
tertained the crowd, and Amber laughed at his an-
tics. The steer-roping and barrel racing events were
fun to watch, and the whole crowd seemed to be en-
joying themselves. The excitement in the air took
away some of Amber’s edginess, but when the an-
nouncer stated the bareback bronc-busting competi-
tion was about to begin, her stomach took a dip.
“Relax, honey.” Miranda patted her hand softly.
“Just enjoy the show and be ready to give Presley a
congratulatory kiss.”
Amber swallowed hard and focused on the show.
A different song played for each rider, and the
music varied from country to hip-hop. The gate
opened, the horse came out bucking, and the rider
held on for dear life with only one hand. Amber was
fascinated watching them, amazed how their bodies
could snap back and forth so quickly without injury
as they tried to stay on the horses.
Ray explained the mechanics of it all so she
could understand the way points were given. She
couldn’t believe how slowly the eight seconds seemed
to go as she watched each rider try to reach the
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Guardian Cowboy
mark. Two fell off before the eight second mark and
quickly rolled away from their horses. Amber’s
breath caught in her lungs for both of those cowboys,
but there were two other men on horses in the arena
at all times, and it was their job to keep the cowboys
safe and remove a strap from the broncs, effectively
stopping their bucking motion. Once that was done,
the horses actually seemed quite safe.
“And now, ladies and gentlemen,” the an-
nouncer’s voice boomed, “the moment we’ve waited
for. Wayback’s own King of the Bareback, Presley
West, will ride atop Roll of Thunder. Can he make
the eight-second mark?”
A cacophony of “hell yesses,” hollers, and cheers
resounded through the arena, Ray among the loud-
est, and Amber felt Miranda’s hand squeeze tightly
around her own. She stared at the stall where
Presley stood poised over the bronc, his feet on oppo-
site slats, waiting to drop onto the untamed beast.
She wanted to close her eyes and not watch, but
couldn’t take her eyes off the sexy man in the white
and blue Western style shirt and dark brown Stet-
son, terrified it might be the last time she saw him
in one piece.
She vaguely registered the remixed version of
Elvis Presley’s A Little Less Conversation start play-
ing as the gate opened and Presley flew out of the
stall on the back of a big, angry brown horse. Amber
stood up in response, too enthralled to sit.
“He marked out!” Ray yelled in glee, letting her
know he’d come out of the stall with his heels raised
in the right position. Not doing so would disqualify
him.
The horse bucked viciously and spun in circles
trying to dislodge Presley, but he held on with one
hand, the other raised in the air as his upper body
was flung back and forth.
Oh, God, Amber thought and must have spoke
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Crystal-Rain Love
because Miranda ran a hand over her arm, soothing
her.
“He’s doing great,” she reassured her. “It’s al-
most over.”
The buzzer sounded and the crowd cheered
louder as the two other men in the arena steered
their horses toward Presley. Instead of allowing one
of those men to saddle up next to the bronc so he
could swing over to their horse like the other riders
had done, Presley jumped off the bronc and rolled
safely out of the way before standing in the ring and
raising his Stetson, igniting another series of whoops
and whistles. He looked right at Amber and winked
before running out of the arena.
****
“I knew you’d come in first!” Ray exclaimed as
they exited the arena after the entire event was
over.
Presley’s arm snaked around her waist, and
Amber snuggled in closer to his side as Ray counted
his winnings. The sun had gone down and the air
was nice and warm, with a cool breeze blowing by.
“So?” Presley queried softly so only she could
hear. “What do I get for winning?”
Amber chuckled. “I’ll tell you when we’re not so
close to your mother.”
“She’s too busy oohing and ahhing over those ri-
diculous boots to pay us any mind.”
“Hey, Presley!”
They glanced ahead to see Johnson Green ap-
proaching, hand outstretched. “Awesome ride, man.”
“Thanks.” Presley shook the other man’s hand.
“I just wish the circumstances for tonight’s event
were different.”
“Well, ya’ll really came through for a hometown
boy. With the money raised tonight, my little girl is
going to get high quality care.” The blonde cowboy’s
eyes glistened as he cleared his throat. “I’m really
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Guardian Cowboy
touched by what the town put together here, and I
know you don’t really compete anymore, so for you to
come out tonight and help draw a crowd like this…
It touches my heart. I can’t thank you enough.”
Presley nodded awkwardly. “I didn’t do much of
anything. The people came for you and your little
girl. We take care of our own here. You know that.”
Johnson nodded. “There’s definitely no place like
home when you have the fortune of hanging your hat
in Wayback.”
A crush of people joined them, congratulating
Presley and giving their best wishes to Johnson. Af-
ter several minutes of accepting the congratulations,
Presley squeezed Amber’s hand tightly and led her
out of the fray.
“You’re like a hero tonight,” she commented,
then realized the depth of the statement. “Of course
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