America's Sweetheart

three | angel

Edited - 03.19.2022 (12:17am)

^^Emma's truck above^^

"Yes, Sir. Colton Daniels came home from Nashville too!"

"Well, that's great. Do you think you could get him to sing the National Anthem with you?"

"Yes, sir, Mr. Granger."

"Good deal! People have missed you and your boyfriend around these parts since y'all both left us," He says and I widen my eyes.

"We're not dating, Mr. Granger. We're just friends."

"Alright, little lady. Well, I'll make sure there's a spot for you to do your surprise for Mr. Daniels's little sister. How does right after Barrel Racing sound?"

"Amazin! Thank you!"

"I'll see you tomorrow night, Ms. Mayfield," He stands and walks to the door, opening it for me.

I smile and walk out of the trailer. I see a beautiful horse running barrels and I smile. I look around for my mom and sister-in-law and see them in the stands, talking to my boyfriend from high school. I begin to walk that way slowly, hoping the conversation wraps up before I get too close to hear anything.

"Emma? I thought we were waiting until tomorrow afternoon to surprise her," I hear Colton say from my left.

"Yeah. I had to come talk to the owner of the rodeo. He wanted me to sing the National Anthem tomorrow night. Speaking of that, he wants us to sing together."

"Sounds good to me," he says looking over his shoulder to make sure his sister hasn't caught sight of me yet.

"And I got us time to sing her Happy Birthday after barrel racing. Is that okay?"

"Yeah, she'll love it," he smiles and takes his hat off to wipe some sweat off his forehead.

"I hope so," I say with a smile

"So are you ridin' tomorrow night? I know Addy used to love watching you ride," he chuckles, "she talked me into doing a ride tomorrow night for her birthday. It was more of a guilt trip though."

"Uh, well I was thinkin' 'bout it.. I just don't want to fall off and screw up the tour."

"You'll be great. I mean, don't feel pressured, but I think it would help you with your confidence. Just knowing that you've still got it."

"W-well. Uh-"

Mister Granger walks up in the middle of the conversation and I stop talking, turning the attention to him.

"Miss Mayfield! I meant to ask you earlier about riding. I told the board about asking you to sing the National Anthem and they were begging me to get you to ride Angel. What do you say?"

"Ah, well, alright," I say, a slightly uneasy feeling coming over me.

"Hank! We might have a problem," someone calls from the round pens and he excuses himself before leaving us.

"I'm glad you're doing it," Colton says, "you're goin to be amazin. I know it."

I look down to avoid blushing from just talking to him. When I catch sight of his boots, I let out a goofy snort. My unease drifts away quickly.

"What?"

"Those boots," I laugh, "Where'd you get them? Did one of your old buckle bunnies give 'em to you?"

"No. Ex but close enough. I only wear 'em when I'm near cow shit."

I laugh and he smiles.

"So you only wear them when you're possibly gonna be around bullshit? Good to know," I laugh a little more before I see a young girl that looks like a younger, girl version of Colton walking with her horse in our direction.