Total pages in book: 23
Estimated words: 21040 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 105(@200wpm)___ 84(@250wpm)___ 70(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 21040 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 105(@200wpm)___ 84(@250wpm)___ 70(@300wpm)
He shakes his head and looks across the arena. “He wouldn’t let me. He paid for all four years and wouldn’t let me pay any of it back.”
“Dad!” I say, completely shocked. I never had any clue that we had financial problems and stupid me never questioned my schooling getting paid for. Yeah, when my mom died my senior year of high school, I was numb, but surely I would have noticed that we were having money problems.
Dad shakes his head. “Lila, after your mom... well, I sort of fell apart. I tried to hide it from you. I got hurt, and the bills kept coming. Ace wasn’t going to let me fall apart, though. He worked tirelessly on the ranch with me when he wasn’t competing. He helped me get it together, so yeah, I owe him a lot.”
“Dad, why didn’t you ever tell me this?”
He nods across the arena. “He didn’t want me to tell you.”
I sit in shock, unable to believe what I just learned. Ace paid for my college degree. If it wasn’t for him, who knows what I would have done? I wasn’t the same woman then that I am now. I had just lost my mother; would I have been able to get my shit together? I’d like to think so, but who really knows? Questions whirl in my head. “I have to pay him back, Dad.”
My dad shrugs his shoulders. “Trust me, I’ve tried. Repeatedly. He won’t take it, pumpkin.”
At that moment, the announcer calls Ace Tucker’s name. I cross my arms over my legs and watch him. Like any other time I’ve watched him ride, I can’t take my eyes off him. He’s hidden behind the chute, but I watch him wrap his hand to secure himself to the bull. With a nod from Ace, the chute opens, and the bull busts out of the holding area. He bucks and spins, doing his best to get Ace off his back, but Ace doesn’t let go. I hold my breath as the crowd counts along with the clock, and when it hits eight seconds and the buzzer sounds, Ace bounces easily off the bucking bull and lands on his feet. He walks carelessly to the side of the arena, waving to the cheering crowd.
My dad and I are both standing cheering. I lean toward my dad near his ear because I know it will be hard for him to hear me with all the commotion. “I’m going to go talk to him, Dad.”
He nods and wraps me in a quick hug. “I’m sorry, honey. I never meant to let you down.”
I look up into my dad’s eyes. “You could never let me down. You have always been the best dad. I love you.”
He pecks me on the nose with his finger. “I love you too, pumpkin.”
I roll my eyes at his nickname he gave me. I know it’s because I wore a pumpkin costume one time when I was little, but it sort of stuck with me, and no matter what I say, he’s not giving it up. “I’ll be back.”
He nods, and I walk away to go search for Ace.
Chapter 5
Ace
I watch my score on the jumbotron and know I’ll make it into the finals. I turn to look up where I left Reilly and Lila, and they’re hugging. People are talking to me and congratulating me for my score, but I can’t take my eyes off Lila as she walks away from her dad and starts coming around to where I’m standing. Even from a distance, I can tell she’s not happy.
I start in her direction, and when she gets close, she smiles at me, but it doesn’t quite reach her eyes. “Congratulations!” she says and then gasps. “What happened? You’re bleeding.”
I wipe at my lip, and sure enough, there is some blood. “I ran into a fist.”
She gasps and reaches for my face, putting a hand on each of my cheeks before pulling me down so she can get a closer look. “Did Jessy do this?”
Normally I hate to be fussed over, but there’s nothing that’s going to pull me away from Lila when she’s looking at me the way she is right now. “Yeah, you know I had to let him hit me first.”
She shakes her head, clearly frustrated. She grabs my hand and pulls me over to the medic booth. She waves across the tented air. “Hey, Doc, you care if I clean him up?”
“Sure thing, Lila.”
Lila has helped out many times with the circuit since she became a nurse. She pushes me into a seat, grabs some supplies and sits down across from me all while mumbling under her breath. I don’t even flinch when she cleans my lip up with something that burns like hell.
It’s clear she’s worried about me, but I know there’s more to it. “What’s wrong, princess?”