Not only would a sponsor pay for her entry fees and travel expenses, but it would also give her cash to live on so she wouldn’t have to work to make even the paltry rent she paid Trip for her small apartment here on the ranch, and her boarding costs for Tenterhook, also a paltry amount that was more of a token rather than a normal boarding fee. Even with the advantage of low rent and boarding, all the money she made at her job in town paid for travel and competing in regional rodeo events. If she were ever going to get a chance to go pro, she needed more money to compete.
Levon tapped her on the nose. “I’m not one for brown nosing because I don’t give a flip about those things. But if you want to impress the big guns, and he’s one of them, you gotta play nice, little lady.”
“I wasn’t not nice!”
He chuckled again. “I know you too well. Let me guess, he came in here sniffing around Tenterhook and you got all territorial.”
“Something like that,” she confessed.
“Well, don’t. This man has the money you need to live your dream with this fine horse. I should have kept him for myself,” he teased with a wink. “But he loves you more.”
“He does, doesn’t he? Do you think that’s why this guy is here? Trip never mentioned it.”
“Well, don’t go having it out with Trip just yet. In fact, better steer clear of Trip’s office for the rest of the day, if you can help it.”
“Why’s that?”
Levon shook his head. “Trip was pretty angry on the phone earlier. Never heard him so ugly.”
“Trip, ugly? About what?”
Levon adjusted his cowboy hat. “Trip don’t pay me to stick around and eavesdrop, Tabby. Self-preservation, you know? I’ll give Hunter a call for you while you get Tenterhook settled in his stall.”
“Thanks.”
Levon left her in the barn among all the other livestock Kasper Dobbs was here to inspect. Or so it seemed. They were just investments to him.
She looked up at Tenterhook. “Me and my big mouth. I hope I didn’t blow it for us today.”
The horse bobbed his head up and down as if answering her. She chuckled low. But it did nothing to crush the tug in her gut that told her something was up.
Whatever it was, it didn’t have anything to do with her unless Mr. Dobbs was willing to invest in her and Tenterhook.
* * *
She had steered clear of Trip for the rest of the day. But only because he couldn’t be found. He’d spent most of the day talking with Kasper Dobbs. Kas for short.
By mid-afternoon the next day, Trip knocked on her apartment door asking for her to saddle up Tenterhook so an investor could get a look at what horse and rider could do.
Her nerves had been on edge all day for some reason. But as soon as she rode Tenterhook into the arena and got ready for her run, those nerves disappeared.
Until she saw the suit watching her. Trip was watching her too, but she was used to that. Of course she’d know Kas would be here. He’d requested to see her and Tenterhook ride. But she felt his gaze on her so strongly that she couldn’t ignore it.
Kas wasn’t wearing a fancy business suit today. Dressed in a pair of blue jeans and a heavy gray Henley shirt, he looked more like most of the men she saw around Sweet.
But he was so different. She just couldn’t put a finger on what made it so.
Tabby was used to an audience at the rodeo. Hundreds, sometimes thousands of fans packed the arenas she frequented on the Western Rodeo Circuit, or WRC as most everyone referred to it. There were devoted followers who loved the sport and came to see their favorite rodeo riders.
Most people went to see the bronc riders or bull riders. Some came for the barrel racers. But the big money was on the bulls and broncs.
But today she had an audience of only two. She was in the arena at the Lone Creek Ranch where she’d ridden Tenterhook thousands of times in the nearly eight years she’d owned him.
Sponsorship, even on a local level, wasn’t unheard of for a barrel racers, although most sponsors liked to put their money on the high profile bull and bronc riders. But most all of those sponsors had a stake in advertising a product or service that was related to the rodeo industry. Kasper Dobbs was a businessman. Tabby didn’t want to look a gift horse in the mouth, but what did someone like Kasper Dobbs want with a barrel racer?
It felt strange that someone was looking seriously at sponsoring her rodeo endeavors. She’d wanted it. But now that it seemed so close she could reach out and grab it, it made her nerves on edge. She wouldn’t be riding for just herself anymore. Someone else would have a stake in her success or failure.
It didn’t matter. Whether or not she had an audience or she ended the day with a little money in her pocket for sponsorship, she was here to do a few barrel runs with Tenterhook as she had done practically every day for the past eight years. And after she was done with her run, she had to get Tenterhook settled in his stall and get to work in town at the grocery store so she could pay her bills and save as much money as she could for next season.
Trip stood against the wall holding a stopwatch in his hand. He already positioned the barrels in the arena while she was saddling Tenterhook for his ride.
“I’m just going to do a few circles around the arena to let Tenterhook stretch his legs,” Tabby called out.
Trip nodded and then turned to Kas to say something. Tabby focused on her riding. Hunter had already come and gone earlier in the
