A Couple is Three: The Beginning (book 1 & 2 Completed)

Chapter 18 - Make A Wish

As soon as the rodeo was finished, Samantha's friends descended on her wanting to know what they should do for the next few hours besides eating while waiting for the concerts to start. She immediately suggested to them that they should go and get some tables before the crowds reached the food area while she would go wait for Josh and Jake at the gate.

"Is that where all the riders exit?" asked one of her female church friends.

"Yes."

"Well then count us in," her friend replied. "We want to see some of those cowboys up close," she continued with a wink to the other girls who were nodding their heads in agreement.

"Besides we aren't letting you go alone anywhere in this crowd, Squirt," admonished Dan.

Samantha knew that there was nothing she could do to talk her friends out of this. She hoped that the women waiting at the gate today would leave her boys alone with all the big names that were competing today. Tracy was the only one that knew of her deal to help Josh and Jake and she didn't really want to try to explain it to the others. Having two boyfriends, even if they thought it was acting, was not going to be accepted by her church friends. Sure, Samantha had told the boys on Friday that she didn't care if anyone saw her, and it was true to some extent. She just never thought that anyone from her church would see her.

Samantha packed up her bag after pulling out Josh's cell phone and putting it into her pocket. She led her group of friends over to the competitors gate. She was relieved to see, that even though there was a large group of women waiting, it was smaller than the previous two days. The best news was that the women were waiting off to the side letting the families with small children wait up closer to get autographs.

The gate opened allowing Jake and Josh along with a few other competitors to exit. There was an immediate movement towards them, but Samantha was pleased to see that it was mainly children with their parents who were wanting autographs. She moved a little closer so that she could step in if needed leaving her church friends behind, but stayed back from the crowd.

She stood there amazed watching Josh and Jake interact with their younger fans. Their demeanor was vastly different from how they had reacted the last few days. They were laughing, smiling, and even talking to their fans as they signed autographs and posed for pictures. This was them in their element and they were great at it. Her heart was so full of pride for her boys that her eyes started to well up. This was what her boys were made to do.

Josh and Jake each took a moment in between signings to look around the crowd for her. As they each caught her eye, their smiles became larger, softer. The look of sheer bliss on her face made them each, independently, to vow that they would do everything in their power to keep that look on her face.

Samantha couldn't take her eyes off of her boys. So she jumped when she felt skin sliding across her leg just below the hem of her skirt. She looked down to see a boy about 8 sitting in a wheelchair. He wasn't looking at her, but had absentmindedly reached out his hand and stroked her leg.

"Yes?" she questioned softly.

The man on the other side of the wheelchair looked at her when he heard her voice. A look of confusion crossed his face until he noticed what his son was doing. "I'm so sorry," he tried to apologize on behalf of his son. "He used to do that to his mother all the time when he was wanting something or just needed comfort."

"It's not a problem," she replied with a smile. He wasn't the first child to play with her legs. It was just that usually the toddlers from the church nursery only grabbed her lower legs unless they were sitting in her lap.

She looked down at the boy again and saw longing etched across his face. She was just about to ask when she noticed the open notebook filled with rodeo pictures and the pen sitting on his lap.