Sticking strictly to the posted speed limits, Joanna arrived at the rodeo grounds just as the sixteen-member drill squad galloped into the arena. Shading the sun from her eyes, Joanna spotted Butch, Jim Bob, and Eva Lou Brady sitting high in the stands.
Excusing herself, Joanna made her way up to them. She was grateful to realize that their backs were to the sun.
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Butch greeted her with a kiss. “Glad to see you,” he said.
Joanna settled into the seat beside him and actually let herself relax as she watched the end of the drill team’s performance.
Joanna couldn’t help but be impressed by the talented troop of elaborately costumed and synchronized riders as they galloped around the relatively confined space on swiftly moving horses.
Each rider carried a banner that stood out straight behind her, whipping in the wind. As horses and riders careened around the enclosure, Joanna held her breath. At every turn it seemed as though two or more of them were bound to crash into one another with disastrous results, but they never did. It made Joanna grateful that when Jenny’s turn came, there would be only one horse and one rider in the ring at a time.
As the drill team finished up and filed out to tumultuous applause, Joanna turned to Butch. “I thought Eleanor was going
to be here.”
“She called and canceled at the last minute,” Butch replied.
“She said she had a splitting headache.”
Eleanor’s got a headache, all right, Joanna thought. It has nothing at all to do with Jenny’s rodeo appearance and everything to do with me.
Eva Lou Brady reached over and squeezed Joanna’s knee. “Congratulations again, Joanna,”
5va Lou said. “Jim Bob and I are both so happy for you.”
Joanna looked at her former mother-in-law. For some inexplicable reason, her eyes filled with hot tears. Jim Bob and Eva Lou Brady were and always had been the embodiment of unconditional love. They, too, might have come up with any number of excuses for not going to the hot fairgrounds, but they were in attendance that afternoon, interested and uncomplaining, to support Jenny’s foray into the world of rodeo riding.
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When Joanna had announced her engagement to Butch Dixon, they had accepted her choice without a hint of disapproval. From the beginning, they had treated Butch with unfailing kindness and grace. And sitting there under the hot afternoon sun, Joanna knew, without question, that Jim Bob and Eva Lou would accept this new child- Joanna and Butch’s child-as though he or she were their own flesh-and-blood grandchild.
“Thank you,” Joanna murmured.
‘Are you nervous?” Eva Lou asked.
Joanna didn’t know if Eva Lou was asking about Jenny’s upcoming ride or about the pregnancy. She simply nodded yes.
As the first barrel racer pounded into the arena, Joanna’s attention was riveted.
The girl looked to be much older than Jenny, and the horse, a palomino, was utterly splendid. Leaning into the curves as one entity, horse and rider skidded around the three equally spaced barrels. Watching their seemingly breakneck pace, Joanna couldn’t help but hold her breath.
As the PA system broadcast the first rider’s time, Joanna’s cell phone rang. The distinctive rooster-crow ring echoed through a suddenly silenced grandstand. Joanna dived for her purse to stifle the noisy thing. With many nearby spectators glaring at her in disapproval, Joanna glanced at the readout. She recognized the number at once-Dispatch.
“Sheriff Brady here,” she said tersely into the phone. “What’s up?”
“I thought you’d want to know that we’ve got a serious rollover accident on Highway 80 out by Silver Creek,” Tica Romero answered. “A coyote-driven SUV with twenty or so undocumented aliens riding in it. We’ve got injured UDAs everywhere and at least two confirmed fatalities. Multiple units, ambulances, and an Air-Evac helicopter are all on the way.”
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“What about Chief Deputy Montoya?”
“He’s at the site of a reported road-rage shooting west of Huachuca City. It’ll take him at least an hour to get to the other side of the county.”
“Fair enough,” Joanna told her. “I’m on my way.” God help me, I’m on my way!
She glanced up in time to see the second barrel racer charge into the arena. She hoped for a brief moment that it possibly might be Jenny, but of course, it wasn’t.
Butch looked at her questioningly.
“There’s been a multiple-fatality accident east of here on Highway 80,” she told him. “I’ve got to go.”
Butch nodded. “Okay,” he said. “Drive carefully. See you at home.”
“Are you sure you can’t stay long enough to watch Jenny ride?” Eva Lou asked, reaching out to stop Joanna. “It can’t be more than a few minutes before it’s her turn. Barrel racing doesn’t last all that long.”
