Two Weeks Later
Day One – Ryder maneuvered his black Jeep Wrangler around to the rear of the Tyler & Mack Center, the rumble of its engine echoing off concrete walls. Wren rode shotgun, Bella Rose in the back, while Thomas and Grace followed close behind in a Chrysler Sebring. Terry, Sam, Celeste, and Luther trailed in the Chevy Tahoe, a little convoy rolling into the heart of rodeo country.
Once the vehicles were parked, Ryder led the way through the back entrance, the smell of hay and dust already heavy in the air. At the holding pens, he and Wren leaned against the rails, sizing up the stock—broad-shouldered beasts shifting under the shadows of the chutes. Ryder pointed out the angle of a hump, the roll of a shoulder, explaining to Thomas how a bull’s spin or the way he dropped his fr
