“Little Cassie Lawler, all of sixteen fiery years old, dropped her saddle right in the dirt. She got rid of her bridle, vaulted back onto her horse, and rode the whole horsemanship pattern at liberty.” The announcer chuckled. “The judges didn’t know what to think. First, they disqualified her. After some discussion, though, they decided the greater display of horsemanship outweighed the points she lost on congeniality, and she went home with the crown.”

Whistles erupted from the crowd, and LJ laughed. “Of course she did.”

Stacia propped one of her motorcycle-booted feet on the bottom rail. “Girl could always ride. She and Jason used to push each other to do all kinds of crazy stuff—racing all over the ranch blindfolded, seeing who could jump the highest fence bareback. Might as well have been competing for who could break the most bones, because that’s how it ended up. But he stopped challenging her after she came home from college, and she never calls him out anymore.”

“Jason? Really? He seems kind of quiet.”

“Yeah, with most people, but not with Andra and me.” She tapped her bottle against the fence. “I guess they’re both quiet these days. As teenagers, they were a little nuts, but it was kind of fun to referee their bets.”

He glanced down at her, not sure what to make of the tone of her voice. “Do you ride?”

“Sure, who doesn’t?” She smiled up at him. “I prefer something with a bit of a growl to its RPMs, though. Horses are too much trouble when you can swap out for an engine that comes standard equipped with common sense.”

“Today, we get the pleasure of a father and daughter team, with Bill Lawler himself shooting for the heels. And if that old salt misses them, I give every single one of you permission to stand up and boo as loud as you can.” The announcer laughed straight into the microphone. “Aren’t you ready yet, Bill?” he asked as the ranch owner and his daughter got their lariats adjusted, swinging them to test the length. “Do you need a minute to do some of that New Age yoga?”

Stacia shook her head. “God, he’s embarrassing. We’re never going to get a decent-sized rodeo around here with that yahoo running the show.”

LJ snickered. “I think he’s kind of funny.”

She blinked. “Really? After the way he introduced you?”

His fingers tapped restlessly against the fence. When he rode into the arena, the announcer had informed everyone he was the first “Negro” cowboy to grace the Wild Falls Rodeo. His back had gone stiff so fast his horse had spooked. But he was trying not to lose his temper every time somebody said something ignorant.