Chasing Eight Seconds

For Tate Sullivan, eight seconds has always been enough to prove he belongs.

At seventeen, Tate Sullivan is already making a name for himself in the Fort Worth rodeo world. A saddle bronc rider since he was ten, he's spent years collecting wins, chasing bigger scores, and training under his father, Nick-a former bronc rider who knows exactly what it takes to survive in the arena.

With senior year approaching, Tate has his sights set on his next challenge: college rodeo at East Texas A&M University.

There's just one problem.

His parents still see the kid they had when they were only sixteen.

When Nick and Krystal refuse to let Tate make the two-hour drive to visit the university alone with his best friend, Koah, a furious Tate storms out to the barn.

Hours later, a sickening crash shatters the quiet of the Sullivan ranch.

The loft floor has collapsed.

And Tate is lying beneath it.

With a devastating spinal cord injury, a broken back, shattered bones and an uncertain future, the boy who has spent his life getting back up suddenly faces the possibility that he may never walk-or ride a bronc-the same way again.

Tate wants nothing to do with rehabilitation. He refuses the wheelchair waiting beside his bed and pushes away everyone trying to help him.

Until he meets Summer Buchanan.

An almost-eighteen-year-old barrel racer recovering from her own riding accident, Summer knows exactly how much it hurts when horses are your entire world and suddenly you're watching that world from a hospital bed. And when she sees Tate giving up on himself, she remembers another rider whose life changed in an instant.

Amberley Snyder.

Maybe Tate's story in the arena isn't over.

Maybe it will simply look different.

Because Tate Sullivan has spent seven years learning how to hold on for eight seconds.

Now he has to learn how to hold on when eight seconds isn't enough.

Sometimes the hardest ride begins after you hit the ground.