of training turned out a good horse—have more time than the horse. He believed in that. Patience came naturally working with a horse. With Kalli, biding his time and using gentle persistence came harder.
It didn’t take much figuring to see Kalli would have liked to keep their contacts to a minimum.
But she couldn’t, thanks to his foresight in making her promise to be around for all his interviews.
She lined up as many as possible. Newspapers—from Billings, Cheyenne, Casper, and, not to be left out, Denver, plus a stringer from the
Los Angeles Times.
Radio—local at first, then a telephone hookup with his old buddy Sailor Anderson’s stations in Texas drew more interest. And television—regional shows mostly, but there’d been interest from a local affiliate. And each of those showed up on the Internet in several forms.
He could see it paying off, too. The rodeo had drawn record crowds for the Fourth of July weekend. And he’d had the pleasure of Kalli’s company a lot more than he would have had otherwise.
The pleasure of having her by his side during the interviews, of greeting people together, as a team. Almost the way a real couple might.
That made the interviews worthwhile.
* * *
“HEY, KALLI, YOU know where Walker is?”
The voice from behind stopped her in the act of opening the door to the Jeffrieses’ truck.
“Hi, Matt. I’m just going to pick him up.” She gestured in the direction of the opposite side of the rodeo grounds, where Walker and Gulch were fixing a section of livestock pen a recalcitrant bull had loosened the night before. “Then we’re heading out for an appointment. Is there something I can help you with?”
“Uh, no. That’s not... I mean, uh, you probably got to get going.”
She checked her watch, though she already knew she’d left three times as much time as necessary for the trip to a local radio station. She didn’t want to risk anything going wrong with this hookup with the network personality who’d carved out a reputation for warm, cozy “chats” amid the reports by hard-hitting journalists. She’d put in a lot of work to line this up. Giving in to a whim this morning, she’d replaced her simple white blouse with the jade one Walker had bought her that day at Lodge’s, with some vague idea it might bring luck.
If she showed up now, Walker would probably give her that amused look, remind her they didn’t have to leave a lot of extra time for traffic around Park and make her wait until he’d finished the job.
And she couldn’t complain. Because, despite his dislike for being a public person, he’d handled all this like a pro. She couldn’t help but be impressed by his willingness to do something he hated for the good of the rodeo. She also couldn’t help but be impressed that he encouraged her to take the lead in dealing with the business side and being the spokesperson with the business community, and that he pointed out her role in each interview.
“It’s okay, Matt. I’ve got time. Is there a problem?”
“Problem? No, no, it’s not a problem. I just wanted. I mean... I wanted to ask Walker if he’d explain something. You know I’ve been trying the bulls some, along with the broncs. I’ve been practicing like he told me, going through things over and over on the practice drum, so it’s natural and doesn’t need any thinking when I’m on the bull. But there’s this one move I saw that Trembler bull make last night, that real rank one?”
She nodded at his description of the animal who’d earlier taken exception to the pen fence.
“Well, he was spinning inside, and kicking his back legs out the same time. I wondered what Walker’d say to do in a case like that, when a bull has a lot of snap in him. I would have tried to draw my own conclusions, but Johnny Prentice got thrown so early, I didn’t have anything to go by.”
“I can see your problem.” Amused, Kalli also was touched by Matt’s obvious regard for Walker and
It didn’t take much figuring to see Kalli would have liked to keep their contacts to a minimum.
But she couldn’t, thanks to his foresight in making her promise to be around for all his interviews.
She lined up as many as possible. Newspapers—from Billings, Cheyenne, Casper, and, not to be left out, Denver, plus a stringer from the
Los Angeles Times.
Radio—local at first, then a telephone hookup with his old buddy Sailor Anderson’s stations in Texas drew more interest. And television—regional shows mostly, but there’d been interest from a local affiliate. And each of those showed up on the Internet in several forms.
He could see it paying off, too. The rodeo had drawn record crowds for the Fourth of July weekend. And he’d had the pleasure of Kalli’s company a lot more than he would have had otherwise.
The pleasure of having her by his side during the interviews, of greeting people together, as a team. Almost the way a real couple might.
That made the interviews worthwhile.
* * *
“HEY, KALLI, YOU know where Walker is?”
The voice from behind stopped her in the act of opening the door to the Jeffrieses’ truck.
“Hi, Matt. I’m just going to pick him up.” She gestured in the direction of the opposite side of the rodeo grounds, where Walker and Gulch were fixing a section of livestock pen a recalcitrant bull had loosened the night before. “Then we’re heading out for an appointment. Is there something I can help you with?”
“Uh, no. That’s not... I mean, uh, you probably got to get going.”
She checked her watch, though she already knew she’d left three times as much time as necessary for the trip to a local radio station. She didn’t want to risk anything going wrong with this hookup with the network personality who’d carved out a reputation for warm, cozy “chats” amid the reports by hard-hitting journalists. She’d put in a lot of work to line this up. Giving in to a whim this morning, she’d replaced her simple white blouse with the jade one Walker had bought her that day at Lodge’s, with some vague idea it might bring luck.
If she showed up now, Walker would probably give her that amused look, remind her they didn’t have to leave a lot of extra time for traffic around Park and make her wait until he’d finished the job.
And she couldn’t complain. Because, despite his dislike for being a public person, he’d handled all this like a pro. She couldn’t help but be impressed by his willingness to do something he hated for the good of the rodeo. She also couldn’t help but be impressed that he encouraged her to take the lead in dealing with the business side and being the spokesperson with the business community, and that he pointed out her role in each interview.
“It’s okay, Matt. I’ve got time. Is there a problem?”
“Problem? No, no, it’s not a problem. I just wanted. I mean... I wanted to ask Walker if he’d explain something. You know I’ve been trying the bulls some, along with the broncs. I’ve been practicing like he told me, going through things over and over on the practice drum, so it’s natural and doesn’t need any thinking when I’m on the bull. But there’s this one move I saw that Trembler bull make last night, that real rank one?”
She nodded at his description of the animal who’d earlier taken exception to the pen fence.
“Well, he was spinning inside, and kicking his back legs out the same time. I wondered what Walker’d say to do in a case like that, when a bull has a lot of snap in him. I would have tried to draw my own conclusions, but Johnny Prentice got thrown so early, I didn’t have anything to go by.”
“I can see your problem.” Amused, Kalli also was touched by Matt’s obvious regard for Walker and
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