Carolina Blue

Part 2

After I was done mucking the stalls, Cope had called and asked if he could see me tonight to talk about something. I checked the time and noticed I had one hour till Cope would be here. Eager to not make him wait, and have mama stare daggers at him through the window, I ran inside to clean up.

Just as I finished getting ready I heard the crunch of the gravel outside signaling Cope had pulled up.

I was almost out the door when of course my ma had to butt in.

"You're seeing that Yeller boy again tonight?"

"Yes mama, bye!"

"Now hold on a minute young lady, he better drive careful with you, and you better not stay out too late."

I nodded and replied "Yessum," and hurried out the door before she could say anything more.

Once I was in Cope's truck I realized Cope seemed tense tonight.

"Hey," I greeted him with a light smile playing at my lips.

Cope glanced at me then said a quick "Hey," back, then focused on backing out of the drive safely back onto the road.

"How was your day?"

"Mm pretty good I guess, how about you?" Cope replied while barely glancing at me and fidgeting all over the place. He was starting to make me nervous that whatever he wanted to discuss was going to be bad news. Maybe he wanted to take back what he said the night before about us building a life together. I sure hoped that wasn't it.

"Pretty good, Darla even stopped by for a bit and we got to catch up."

"That's good." Cope answered not even glancing at me while he clenched and unclenched his hands around the steering wheel. I could feel my heart start to race just thinking about what could be so important for Cope to be this nervous. Cope wasn't one that usually got this worked up about discussing anything with me.

"Yup, so what did ya want to talk about?" I asked jumping straight to the chase before my anxiety could give me a heart attack.

Cope glanced at me before he started to turn his truck into a field drive off the side of the road. When I glanced around I realized we were back in the same drive as the night prior.

Cope placed the truck in park and turned his whole body towards me. His Ford truck had a bench seat in it so he could easily sit kind of sideways to talk.

"Um, Ya know how I said my goal is to buy this place," Cope said while gesturing with his hand out into the open land.

I nodded.

"Well they put Ol man Jerry in hospice today."

"Oh, alright, that's too bad his health is going down that fast."

Cope nodded, but continued on. "Well I have a feeling this place will come up for sale soon. So I was trying to think how I could come up with some quick cash."

He paused so I interjected with, " Please don't tell me you're gonna rob a bank or start sellin drugs or somethin' stupid."

Cope let out a light laugh shaking his head saying, "no nothin' quite like that, but I don't think you're gonna like it."

"Why," I eyed him squinting eyes my forehead showing all signs of confusion.

"Ya know how rodeo season is starting and..."

Right as Cope said rodeo my breathing hitched for a second. And I had to stop my mind from going back to that day. To that person more to say.

Cope glanced over at me and took my hand. And continued on, "and ya know that certain events carry big cash prizes."

Although I hated where this was going, Cope wasn't wrong some rodeo events paid big bucks. I was just holding my breath before he told me which event.

"So I'm thinking of tryin my hand at bull ridin.."

He finished a little quieter than he had began and stared at me waiting for my reaction.

I'm pretty sure my eyes had already gotten larger and my brain was running a hundred miles a minute with all the possibilities that could go wrong.

So I took a breath before I asked, "What about what happened to your Uncle Steven?"

Steven Yeller. He was a heart breaking cowboy that had long time success riding bulls. He did well, made quite a bit of money along with fame. Until one day fate wasn't on his side and a bull went after him and he became paralyzed from the chest down and suffered from severe brain damage. Steven was still currently alive living in an adult home that gave him around the clock service.

Cope took a deep breath for replying, "I know what happened to Steven was terrible, but doesn't mean that will happen to me. I know it's not the safest option available but it's the most legal and quickest way for me to earn cash. Ya know bull ridin' is in my blood 'Lina and I used to do youth ridin' when I was younger and I was actually quite good at it too." Cope even tried to lighten the mood at the end by dashing me a smirk and little shove with his elbow.

I still wasn't excited about it though, not only was it dangerous from the bull standpoint, but also because I still worried that a certain someone would still be lurking around the rodeos.

Cope didn't know the full story of what happened last summer, he only knew that something did.

Cope noticing my hesitation continued on, "I wouldn't expect ya to come watch unless you felt comfortable doing so."

I gave his hand a squeeze because honestly I didn't know if I'd feel comfortable. I wanted to be the supportive girlfriend, but at the same time what happened still scarred me to this day.

"Are ya gonna be mad at me if I do it 'Lina bean?" Cope asked with expectant eyes even using his nickname he gave me.

I looked down at my hands briefly and thought for a second before shaking my head,"no, I won't be mad at ya Cope, I'll probably just be a nervous wreck every time you get near one of em bulls. Can't you just ride Broncos still the thrill with less horns?"

I already knew his answer before he replied but it was still a shot, "the bulls is where the money is at, so sadly no."

Cope smiled at me with a little glint of mischief in his eyes and said, "and I doubt this will gain me extra points in your ma's department unless she gets woo'ed by a man who knows how to ride." He finished by adding a wink at the end.

Cope and I both laughed at his statement and I hit his shoulder playfully.

"Haha, I doubt it, but ya never know she fell for my daddy back in his riding buckin Broncos days."

And although laughter fell from my lips in my head I was still a nervous nelly trying to brainstorm any and all other ways to help Cope earn the money with less bull riding as possible.