Cowboy Country (76 page)

She knew her mother was worried about her, Rebecca’s screams brought her running and she would sit and hold her daughter, rocking her as she had when she was a child, until Rebecca calmed down. When Rebecca got back from her nightly visits to the barn, she always had hot tea ready and she sat there in silence with her daughter, drinking her tea.

She had suggested after the second night of the terrors that Rebecca get a prescription for a sleep aid from her doctor but Rebecca declined. She didn’t like drugs and wanted her head clear of chemicals so she would be able to do her best at the show.

A couple of those nights, Rebecca called Luke on his cell phone, hoping he would answer. The first time she reached his assistant, who just happened to be Dwayne, who had been promoted right after the Tonya fiasco. She was delighted to hear from him and he quickly ran down how the tour was going, the beautiful cities they were seeing and asking when she was going to come join them on the tour. She explained about the upcoming show and that she was hoping to be able to see Luke after that. She’d inquired about Luke and Dwayne explained that he was just finishing up his encore but that he would be calling her back within thirty minutes. Luke had called back within twenty minutes and after she had spent the first five reassuring him that she was fine, the conversation flowed into a familiar exchange, both excited to hear about what the other was doing. She found his voice soothing and enjoyed their talks but painfully wished that they were together. After they ended their call and she fell back to sleep, she dreamed of her and Luke reuniting and the time they would spend together. She didn’t have nightmares the nights that she talked with him.

She was able to speak with him one more time before she left and though she enjoyed their exchange, she felt disappointed when he explained that they were getting ready to fly to the next country and he would be unable to call.

“I’ll talk to you on the twenty-eighth, I promise. I want to hear about how you blew away the competition and that you have a fully booked breeding season in the spring.”

She told him that she understood, not wanting him to feel guilty about doing his job. She’d was starting to become dependent on talking with him, knowing that afterwards she would have a terror free night of sleep. He’d become her own personal sleeping drug that kept away the nightmares.

She selfishly wished she could talk with him tonight so that she would get a good night’s sleep before her big day. As she settled down for the night, she picked up her phone to call him, hoping that she would hear his voice, even if it was only on his voicemail. As she pulled up his name to dial, she was startled at a knock at her door. Warily, she looked out the window and saw a woman she didn’t recognize, holding a huge bouquet of roses.

She opened the door and smiled. “Can I help you?”

“Are you Rebecca Gordon?” the lady asked a warm smile on her face.

Confused, Rebecca nodded. “Yes, I am.”

“These are for you, you lucky lady. Have a great night.” The woman handed her the vase and walked away.

Rebecca brought the vase in and set it down on her little dining table, the fragrant smell of the beautiful red blooms filling the area. She relocked her door and sat down with the vase in front of her. She searched throughout the foliage and finally found the little card. As she read it, butterflies filled her stomach and she began to laugh and cry at the same time.

My sweet Rebecca. I wish I was there to hold you tonight. I know how important tomorrow is and that you are probably picking up your cell wanting to call me but unable to. You are so amazing and the strongest woman I have ever met. No other person can do with Othello what you can do. I know you have this tomorrow, I have faith in you. If you start getting nervous when you are out there, look out at the crowd and imagine you see me there. All my love, Luke.

She held the card to her chest and closed her eyes, imagining his voice reading the touching words. As she crawled into bed that night, she held the card in one hand and cradled one of the roses in the other as she slept. She didn’t have any nightmares that night.

CHAPTER SIXTEEN

The day dawned bright and beautiful as she gazed at the flowers, feeling full of hope. The round stadium was adorned with baskets of bright flowers, the arena lined with colorful ribbon that linked from one pole to another. The judge’s booth sat right below the stands while on the opposite side held the clamshell shaped, covered stage for the orchestra. People bustled about with their horses or carrying tack, getting ready for the big night ahead.

Her mood quickly diminished as one catastrophe after another occurred. When she got Othello out of his stall, she saw he had thrown a shoe on his front hoof. It took her an hour to find a decent farrier and get his shoe replaced. Then, as they were practicing in the outdoor arena, the girth to her saddle snapped. She dug through her tack trunk and discovered that in the chaos of the fire at home, she had forgotten to pack her spare tack box. Luckily, another rider had a spare girth and graciously allowed her to use it.

After they were finally able to go through their routine, she led Othello over to the wash rack to be bathed before her class that night. As the wash bar swung over Othello’s head, he jerked it up and the chain that prevented the bar to swing too far caught a large portion of his long mane and ripped it out. Feeling defeated, she finished bathing him, tears mixing in with the spray of water as she watched part of his gorgeous black mane flow down the drain. She blanketed him and turned him loose in his stall, throwing in his hay so he could eat his supper before the class. She went back to her trailer to lie down. She had three hours before her class, if she stayed in the trailer, maybe nothing else would happen.

She laid on her bed, holding Luke’s card and dozed lightly, his words on the card filling her brain. If he was here, everything would be ok. If she imagined that he was here, maybe everything would still be ok.
No,
she said to herself,
everything
is
okay.
She had found a farrier, she was lent a girth strap and she could trim Othello’s bridle path back a little farther and no one would know the difference. It didn’t change the fact that she had an amazing stallion, an incredible routine and a beautiful song. She
was
going to be fine, no one or nothing could take that away from her unless she allowed it and she wasn’t going to allow it. She had worked too hard.

She got up and jumped in the shower, allowing the water to wash away the feelings of negativity that she had felt. She took her time getting ready, carefully applying her evening make-up. She pulled her hair up into beautiful French braid, the clip sparkling with faux rubies and diamonds that would sparkle with the night lights. She dressed in sweats and a T-shirt to go get Othello brushed and saddled, clipping his bridle path and brushing the rest of his mane and tail. His naturally wavy mane hung past his neck and his tail dragged the ground. She pulled his tail up into a clip that would be removed before the class and saddled him. She left his halter on and tied him to the trailer as she went in to get dressed. Checking her hair and makeup one last time, she went out and put his bridle on, making sure his saddle was secure.

She walked him over to the check-in booth, giving the announcer her last name, Othello’s registered name and their show number. The female ring steward smiled at her, verified the name of the song she was using then went through her notes. Rebecca felt her heart drop as a frown flashed over the woman’s face before quickly disappearing. She looked back up at Rebecca and smiled.

“It seems there has been a change in the venue. Instead of being third, you will be showing last.”

“Oh.” Rebecca stammered. She knew that being last usually made a greater impression but that also meant she would be delayed another thirty to forty-five minutes. Just that much more time to allow her nerves to grow.

The announcer lady smiled sympathetically and tried to console her. “You’ll do fine, honey. Last is always better in this case, right?”

Rebecca smiled back. “Of course. We’ll be fine. Thank you.”

She led Othello over to the side of the arena where she would have a good view of the other riders. Moments later she heard the woman announce the change of sequence for the riders and suddenly frantic shouts were heard that they were being moved up and were to get their horses ready. She took a deep breath and looked around the stadium. There were thousands of people filling the seats, family members of the competition and also perspective breeders. She knew that there were no family or friends there for her, her parents had their own successful cattle ranch that they had to deal with, Megan had her kids, who were in school and Luke was halfway across the world. But there were other ones there, unknown names that had traveled to watch her stallion, to see about breeding him to their mares.

She pulled the card from Luke out of her boot and smiled, reading it again. She glanced again at the stadium and imagined she saw him there in the unseen faces. It was easy to pretend he was there, watching for her, cheering for her.

Moments later, the lady announced a call for the first rider and then who was on deck, or up next. Rebecca watched as the gorgeous white Hanoverian stallion pranced into the arena. A portion of the crowd went wild as he stepped in and danced about, ears flicking nervously at the noise. When they walked up to the judge’s booth, the stallion’s rider nodded his head and after a moment of silence, the music began. The crowd cheered loudly as the Hanoverian performed to the Irish song,
The Kiss
, from the movie
Last of the Mohicans
.

Rebecca cringed as she saw the stallion mess up part of his routine, nervously missing his step when the crowd got loud. The stands went silent as his rider fought to control him and get him back on track. When the routine ended, the rider once more stopped his horse in front of the judge’s booth and nodded, indicating that he was finished. The crowd cheered, though not as loudly, knowing points were being taken off for the errors in the routine.

As they left the arena, a new horse came in, a large bay, and this time the horse and rider performed flawlessly. There were four other horses that performed, all of whom did very well and Rebecca felt the nervousness build in her stomach. She had tough competition this year. She mounted Othello as the last stallion performed but the announcer came on and stated they had a ten minute break before the last routine and apologized for the delay.

Rebecca felt frustration that once again, she had to wait, the butterflies in her stomach threatening to come up into her throat. She straightened her saddle, checked her vest and jacket and waited nervously. It felt like forever but finally her name came over the speakers and she moved Othello into the arena.

“Alright big boy, we’ve been working for this since you were born. Let’s show them what we’ve got.” She cooed to Othello, patting his neck she stopped him in front of the judges booth. She took a deep breath as she gathered Othello’s reins and nodded. Luke’s music began to play and Othello automatically started his movements as they had rehearsed for so many months. They were transitioning into the first stage of the performance when she heard Luke’s beautiful voice flow out of the speakers. She jerked her head towards the orchestra area and saw Luke standing at center stage. She felt tears well up in her eyes then brought her attention back to Othello, who hadn’t missed a beat. He moved fluidly and the years of training, discipline and loving hands were put on display during their four-minute song. They rode through the routine flawlessly and when they stopped at the judge’s booth and Rebecca nodded to them, indicating that they were done, screams and whistles erupted from the stadium. Othello danced in place as if understanding the audience’s approval. Rebecca laughed out loud as she threw her arms around her stallion’s neck and started to guide him out of the arena. She looked over at Luke in the bandstand and blew him a kiss. He nodded his head and started clapping, pride obvious on his face.

“Ladies and gentlemen! Let’s give a warm applause to Mr. Luke Grayson who performed the song,
Love Everlasting
, live, right here in Kentucky. Let’s also give a round for Miss Gordon and Othello.”

The roar in the stadium grew to a thunderous crescendo and Rebecca had to cover her ears. She made her way out of the arena, fellow competitors congratulating her for such an innovative performance. She’d been a little worried that she was being so well received because of Luke’s performance but as the crowd gathered around her, she realized it was because of her and Othello’s performance. She answered questions about Othello’s breeding schedule and if he was currently available for stud. She smiled and nodded absently, scanning the faces for Luke. She finally caught sight of him, pushing through the crowd to get to her. She jumped off Othello, patting his neck before throwing herself into Luke’s arms.

“Thank you so much for doing this for me. You have helped make my dreams come true.” She gushed.

Luke kissed her on the lips before squeezing her. “Maybe we should wait to hear what the judges say before you credit me for that.”

“It doesn’t matter. You’ve been there when I needed you. I’m a winner regardless of the outcome of the show.” she laughed.

The announcer came on and started to read off the placing. Her name wasn’t called for the fourth or third place and everyone held their breath as second place was given to the big bay stallion. When Rebecca and Othello’s names were called for the world grand championships, the crowd went wild and Rebecca pulled Luke’s head down to hers, her lips eagerly touching his, blind to the onlookers. She jumped back on Othello and entered the ring to accept her trophy. Othello cantered around the ring gracefully, his mane and tail flowing like a shiny, black flag. They left the arena and Rebecca jumped off of Othello, allowing the reins to drop and ground tie him. She fell into Luke’s waiting embrace, tears of joy flowing down her cheeks. When they parted, new fans and reporters were waiting patiently for a statement.