Resilient

Chapter Six

Me and Wendy sit on a bench outside the sixth boutique Bonnie has dragged us to. She's probably bought over twenty outfits for Ellie.

"She's going to be so spoiled," I say.

"Yeah," Wendy says with a laugh.

"So I'm thinking about getting involved in the rodeo," I say.

Wendy looks at me shocked. "It was only a matter of time," she laughs.

I shove her a little. "Okay keep the jokes to yourself," I say with a smile. "I think it'll be fun."

"What would you do?" Wendy asks.

"Barrel racing," I say. "And bronc riding," I add.

"Isn't that dangerous?" She asks.

"Yeah," I say with a shrug.

"Can't you get killed doing that?" Wendy asks incredulously.

"You can get killed driving," I retort.

"You're crazy," she states.

"Maybe, but I need the distraction," I tell her.

"Can't you pick a safer distraction?" She asks. "Like knitting."

I roll my eyes and laugh. "Wendy, you know I'll be as careful as I can," I assure her.

She sighs. "I know, I know. I just want Ellie to know her Aunt Georgie," she says with a smile.

"And she will," I reassure her.

"You're gonna talk to Colt about going to the ranch and learning how to do all of that?" She asks.

"Yeah," I reply.

We get back to the house and I pull Colt to the side. "Okay I've already talked to Wendy she's not happy with the idea, but I want to get involved in the rodeo," I tell him.

He laughs. "Okay, why isn't she happy?" He asks.

"Well I want to do barrel racing," I say.

He shakes his head. "That's pretty safe," he says.

"And broncs," I say with a nervous smile.

"Are you on drugs?" He snaps.

"Colt," I say.

"Georgia Rae, absolutely not," he says.

"Well you can't make that decision for me. I'm eighteen," I say.

He sighs. "You're really gonna do this? You really wanna put mom through this," he says.

"Mom will be okay. She learned to be okay with you working there," I fire back.

He lets out a deep breath. "Fine Georgia. We can go talk to Bradley tomorrow," he tells me.

"Thank you," I say.

"Just be careful," he says.

"I will. I want to know my niece," I say with a smile.

"You're gonna give me gray hair kid," he says with a smile.

I smile back. "You better start getting use to that daddio," I say and walk back to my room. I hear him laughing as I walk away.