Jace laughed. “No, nothing like that. It’s more that I’m thinkin’ of goin’ out myself.”
“For what?”
“Bulls.”
“Huh? Since when are you a bull rider?”
“You don’t know m
uch about me, do ya?”
“Can’t say I ever wanted to. Still don’t.”
Jace told Billy that his dad had been a bull rider and his grandfather had been one, too. Jace had toured on the circuit at the same time Billy had. He wasn’t as competitive on bulls as Billy was on broncs, so their paths had never crossed.
When Jace tore his ACL skiing, he figured his bull-riding career was over. He’d kept it quiet, but he’d been riding practice bulls for about a year. He also rode bareback as often as he could, getting his muscles to grip and release without relying on a rope or spurs.
“You know what I don’t get,” Billy said after listening to him talk for a while.
“What’s that?”
“Why bulls? Why not broncs?”
“I don’t know. I never thought about broncs.”
“My dad was a bull rider, too. He retired before I came along. Riding broncs wasn’t intentional, at least not with competin’ in mind. Had a couple rough ones to break, and my dad saw somethin’ in the way I road ’em. He said I was a natural. You’ve ridden all your life, haven’t ya?” He didn’t wait for Jace to answer. “You’re ridin’ now, a flat-back horse, I’d guess, if you’re workin’ your muscles for bulls. But what do I know?”
“What are you sayin’, Billy.” Trying to follow Billy’s train of thought was like trying to follow a jackrabbit through a thicket.
“Get on some broncs for Christ’s sake. What do ya think I’m sayin’? Jesus. How many bulls bucked ya off? You got noodles for brains?”
“I guess it’s worth a try.”
Jace spent most of December in Crested Butte. Ben Rice and his brothers were talking about getting into stock contracting, so they set up a practice area on the ranch, where he and Billy trained most every day.
He’d rented a studio apartment near the ski area in town, and no one, other than Billy and Renie, knew he was there.
Once he got in the saddle, getting back on bulls never entered his mind again.
Jace wasn’t sure he’d be ready to compete in Denver, but he’d be Billy’s travel partner, and part of his crew anyway. Billy was serious about his retirement, and this would be the beginning of his last season. Going to the National Western would give the two some time out on the road together, working and practicing.
When Jace told Renie he and Billy would be traveling together, she didn’t believe him.
“But, he never travels with anybody.”
“I don’t know what to tell you darlin’. It was his idea, not mine.”
“Huh,” she answered, still looking perplexed.
“Isn’t it weird?” Blythe asked Renie when she told her what had been going on for the past few weeks with Jace and Billy.
“It was at first, but now it isn’t. They’re a lot alike. They still bicker all the time, if I didn’t know better, I’d think they hated each other. But whatever. It works for them.”
“Is Jace any good?”
“Better than he thinks. That’s why Billy wants him to go to the stock show. Jace may be a full-time bronc rider a lot sooner than he thinks.”
“I can’t wait to see you,” Blythe said, and meant it. The whole thing with Tucker had thrown her. She wished there was someone willing to tell her what his story was, but other than Jace, she didn’t know anyone who knew any more than she did. She’d asked Renie to ask Ben, but he had no idea, and didn’t offer to ask his aunt and uncle about it.