“Yep. He sure can chase the clouds. And he’s never been grassed, at least that I’ve seen.” She kept her tone low too. “But with that bronc doing a circle buck, he’s gonna get dizzy mighty fast.”

Riding bareback and hanging on to nothing but the gelding’s mane, Gordo raised his free arm to keep his balance during the twisting, bone-jarring ride.

“How long has he been competing in these parts?”

“He’s been in every competition I’ve seen.” Ivy had been watching the contests long before she’d gotten up the nerve to enter them as Buster Bliss. “That devil sure is bucking the whiskers off Gordo.”

“If the fellow is from the East like he says, how’d he learn to ride like that?”

Ivy twisted at the long piece of grass in her mouth. “Heard he lived down in Texas for a spell. Maybe he was a rough-string rider there.”

Gordo hung on for several more seconds, an eternity in bronc riding, before a gun went off, signaling he’d lasted longer than anyone else. A cheer went up from the crowd. Gordo’s pickup man rode over to help him dismount and get out of the way of the wild horse.

The scent of roasting meat and freshly popped kettle corn permeated the air and made Ivy’s stomach growl. Across the field, the children raced in sacks, their laughter a sweet sound rising above the chatter of the bystanders.

Ivy started to climb down. The cattle-roping contest was next, and Buster Bliss was last on the list of entrants. The best for last. She’d worked her way to that coveted position, and she aimed to hold it the rest of the summer.

If only Wyatt and Flynn and everyone else in the family didn’t have to watch. Jericho had recognized her—what if they figured out her identity too? Trouble was, they wouldn’t be as understanding as Jericho had been. In fact, he would seem like a holy saint next to Wyatt and Flynn if they discovered her disguise.

She’d ridden with them to town but made up excuses about needing to go off and tend to a few things, telling them she’d meet up with them later for the evening activities. Only Astrid had raised her brows, but no one questioned her, since they were already well acquainted with her independent ways.

“You sure you want to do this today?” Jericho straightened but didn’t look at her.