Cowboy Karma (Cowboy Cocktail Book 4) by Mia Hopkins

Author:Mia Hopkins [Hopkins, Mia]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Little Stone Press
Published: 2016-10-16T18:30:00+00:00

After a few days, the swelling in Lucky’s jaw went down at last. Seeing what a dark mood her brother was in, Araceli didn’t tease him about Harmony. Both his sister and his mother knew things had gone horribly wrong on his date, and if he wanted to tell them more, he would open up in his own time. For now, they steered clear, giving him lots of space.

He worked at the feed and tack store. He put in his hours at the sale barn. Every night, he worked with Batman until he was so sore he couldn’t lift his arm.

On Wednesday, at the rodeo arena, Dean and Lucky watched the video of his last run. For some reason, Batman had been slow in sliding to a stop as soon as the calf was roped around the neck. Lucky racked his brains to figure out why. Dean made a few suggestions that seemed to work, but Lucky’s times had not improved in the last two weeks. He’d be leaving for Arizona in a couple days.

“You’ve been working yourself too hard. How’s the shoulder?” Dean asked.

“I’ve been icing it down at night.”

“Take it easy. You’re going to hurt yourself before Payson.”

Dean was right. “I know,” Lucky said.

“And the knee?”

Lucky had twisted his knee late last season and had to undergo weeks of physical therapy for it. It was the reason he was out of the running for world finals last year. “It’s okay. I don’t feel it much anymore.”

Dean nodded and searched his face. The eldest MacKinnon brother had always been an intimidating figure to Lucky. As a professional bullfighter, Dean had stared down eighteen-hundred-pound bulls in the arena, protecting bull riders who’d been bucked off. He’d retired from the professional arena last year. He continued to work cattle on the ranch and ran a bullfighting and bull riding school with Bo Walker, the stock contractor in nearby Lake Isabella.

So Dean would understand Lucky’s particular conundrum more than anyone else.

“Do you miss it?” Lucky asked. “Do you miss being on the road? All those shows?”

Dean shrugged. “From time to time. I miss the excitement. But I sure as hell don’t miss being away from home.” Since he’d gotten married and had a son, Dean was as steady as an oak tree, as hard a worker as his father had been. “Truth is, I don’t have much time to miss it. I don’t have time for much of anything these days.”

“I know how busy you are. Thanks for helping me out with all of this.”

“Don’t sweat it. This is how I unwind. There’s only so much talk of breast milk pumps I can take before I start to get a little weird.” Dean closed the laptop. “Tell me the truth. Are you still thinking of giving this up? Selling your horse?”

“Araceli’s starting college next year. With her and Abel enrolled at the same time, I don’t know how we’ll swing it. I need to find steady work—these odd jobs, they’re not enough. And we can’t rely on my winnings—too unpredictable.

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