Cowboy's Tribulation

Chapter 1, continued

Leading Ranger down the barn aisleway to his stall, Kate greeted the girls who competed in the barrel racing competition.  Looked to be a full house this weekend.  The whole barn was filled with the girls and their well trained horses that could run a cloverleaf pattern in under thirteen seconds.  Every color of the rainbow was draped all over the stable area, tack equipment and clothing. Some of the girls were sharing a central stall and had turned into a feed and tack storage area so they didn't have to keep hauling everything back and forth from their trailers.

Pulling the latch on Ranger's assigned stall, Kate pushed open the door and led him in.  He tried to pull her over to the hay bag she had hung earlier at the back of the stall.  With a quick tug on the lead, she remined him who was the boss and that he'd get to eat hay when she released the lead from his halter.  He stood still as she unbuckled the bronc style halter, and slid it off his nose.  Now free Ranger wasted no time making a bee line for the hay bag.  That horse ate more in hay then any five horses on her folks ranch.  But the hay kept him busy and content, funny thing was he wasn't over weight. Putting her hand on his hip she slid it across his white spotted rump as she made her over to the door, she buckled his halter and lead on the door.  Making her way out of the barn she ran straight into a male wall. 

"Whoa there, what's the hurry?"

"Oh sorry," Kate stammered as she felt Wade's hands on her shoulders.  His very big and warm hands.  She looked up into his eyes and was suddenly speechless.  She wasn't sure what to say next.

"Cat got your tongue?"

"No, just finishing up Ranger's stall and then going to my trailer." Why she told him that she didn't know.  She just had no idea what to say and began to ramble. "I didn't mean to run into you."

"No worries." He drawled and released her shoulders. She instantly missed his hands on her.  The dipped in his voiced sent shivers through out her body. She felt like there was a cord that ran from her stomach right down to her nether regions.  She quickly turned and walked over to her truck and got in. Sitting behind the wheel she let out a huge breath.  Never, since she had known him had he ever touched her till now.  Omg, she thought.  Starting the truck she pulled away from the barn and made her way over to the trailer parking area.  Pulling into her slot next to a power pole, she sat a moment just rethinking over what had just happen.  Oh good grief she thought to herself, he only touched her shoulders, who knew those could be an erogenous zone.

She got out of the truck and walked around it to the passenger side where her electrical hook up was.  Her trailer had a custom wrap around image of her and Ranger performing the hippodrome trick. The Logo and Larson's trick riding emblazoned over the image.  When she came around the back side of the trailer was the image of her and Ranger standing with the American flag during the National Anthem, Ranger even had his head bowed. 

After plugging in her trailers electrical, she walked back to the cab, grabbed her purse and tote bag with her laptop and papers in it.  She needed to finish up her paperwork for the Miss National Rodeo contest.  It was one of those things that she was torn about. On the one hand she did want to compete but on the other she didn't.  She was not so vain, to think that she would win but if she did it would be a year of a lot of travel and not much trick riding.  And that she would miss. Plus most of the travel would be by plane so Ranger would be stuck at home.  He loved traveling. He was one of those rare horses who did better traveling and being in different places then being in a pasture all day. Ranger loved his job.  Run for fifteen, twenty minutes a rodeo and stand around eating and visiting with people over his stall door. Ranger was a bit of an odd ball.  Plus this was actually her last year of eligabilty to compete.  At twenty seven, next year she would be considered too old.

Stepping up into the living quarters of her trailer was like coming home.  She'd spent more time traveling since she was a five that a trailer was more of a home then her apartment attached to the barn at her folks ranch.

Making herself a sandwich from the fixings her mom had loaded into her fridge, she sat down at the table and pulled paperwork out of her bag, and set up her lap top.  She filled out the paperwork on line and got it sent.  Now she was committed.  Up until that moment she didn't know.  Even though she did have the title of Miss East Texas Rodeo from the year before to use as a reference.  She had had to take a leave of absence to recover from an injury  a young training horse had caused her over the winter. Some days she still had so soreness from the injury but nothing that precluded her from performing her act or competing now. 

The young training horse had knocked her off balance while she was setting herself up for a hand stand on the side of the horse.  A loud noise in the stabling area had spooked the horse, causing him to duck sideways and she'd come down onto the saddles overly long horn and bruised her kidney when she landed on. She had'd broken bones in the past but that bruised  kidney was worse then any broken bone. The doctor had ordered no riding at all for six weeks and then only easy riding on a trusted horse after that.  The winter had gone by slowly for Kate.  Being laid up was not her idea of a productive winter. 

Contemplating a nap, Kate thought over the rules she had just read while she crawled up into the gooseneck part of the trailer that held her bed.

Contestants could not be married or have children and boyfriends were frowned upon.  Something about they created unnescessary distractions and took away from the wholesomeness of being a rodeo queen.  At least to the company that ran this contest.  She was going to have to keep her distance from Wade, because if he could make her tongue tied and like him touching her just the little that he had done already, she was in big trouble.