Page 63 of Forgiveness
CHAPTER THIRTY
Maggie
Las Vegas, Nevada
Four months later
“We can dothis, baby boy, okay? Just stick with me out there and no surprises, just like we practiced it,” Maggie whispered in Odysseus’s ear as it twitched in an affirmative reaction before his head nudged her shoulder. “We’re going to be amazing out there.”
She nuzzled him back and took a small sugar cube out of her pocket, feeding it to him as he made a pleased noise and lapped at her open palm.
“There’ll be more of that later, after we win.” Maggie took a deep breath into her abdomen and shifted her focus from her horse and the ride—to the course that was mapped out in her brain like the back of her hand.
It would be close. She’d been monitoring the scoreboards all night and she was the last one in the ring. Crappy luck, but she told herself not to worry too much about it. Whether going last or in the middle, none of the numbers defined her performance. It was all up to Maggie and her trusty steed. She applied a quick coat of lip balm, her pre-racing ritual, and shoved the tube in her jeans pocket before mounting up on Odysseus.
This is it.What she’d been waiting for her whole life was here in a blink of an eye. Maggie swallowed through her tight throat and closed her eyes, envisioning them both at the finish line as her name blared across the loud speaker in front of the whole rodeo. She glanced at the stands and smiled at her parents and three brothers. On the sidelines, a flash of Flux’s proud facial expression made a warm, gushy feeling explode in the center of her chest.
A rap on the stall door made her jump and she focused her attention on Odysseus. It was the two-minute signal. Without wasting time, she navigated her horse out of the stall and closer to the ring then into his own holding shoot as the roar of the crowd soaked into her skin. This was the life she’d worked for, she’d begged for, and had given everything to experience. It was all paying off, big and bold, and she wished she knew with certainty how she’d gotten so lucky.
“… Odysseus!”
Maggie heard the tail end of the announcement, and then everything was a blur of speed, light, sound, and momentum. She kicked her baby boy into high gear and relished the feeling of the wind in her hair. Odysseus’s quick cantor made her thighs ache as she gripped him hard so as to remain in the saddle. Her heartbeat pounded in her ear drums as adrenaline pumped through her veins.
One barrel. Two barrels. Three barrels.
They were charging toward them, her arm muscles tight with strain, her thighs burning, and sweat licking down her back. The cheers and shouts of the crowd barely registered, and everything else faded away but the task that was set in front of them. It all narrowed down to her slightest movements while they plunged through the course, and she fought to keep them both calm, connected, and shifting through the route without losing their footing.
Within seconds, it was over. Maggie pulled Odysseus up to a halt at the front of the run; they were both breathing heavily, and she wiped the sheen of sweat off her forehead. Her stomach flipped and she rode the adrenaline high and hard. There was no way to know how she’d placed until they figured out the qualifiers, and that normally took about three minutes after the last ride. Instead of jumping off and escorting her horse into the back area, Maggie kept herself saddled and steadily stroked Odysseus’s flank with her hand.
He neighed and pawed the ground with his hooves, pacing from one side to the other, still slightly agitated from their quick run that had felt damn incredible. It was better than Maggie could’ve ever hoped in her wildest dreams. She blinked, pushing back the burning sting of tears. So much exhilaration for such a short life-defining moment. All around her, people took videos on their phones, cheered, and genuinely acted like fans while she absorbed the moment as best she could while trying not to tally the results in her head.
“Our top three have been tallied and their timed scores reviewed,” the announcer’s voice rang out through the stadium. “The National Finals Rodeo Champion in barrel racing with a score of fourteen-point-ten seconds is Maggie Haves.”
The crowd roared.
“Ms. Haves, please come to the center of the ring with Odysseus to collect your winnings.”
For a second, Maggie thought she might’ve blacked out because everything went a little hazy around the edges.
“Ms. Haves, please come to the center,” the announcer said again.
Maggie clutched Odysseus’s reins and negotiated their way to the center of the ring on autopilot. When she dropped down out of the saddle, there were at least a dozen people clamoring to get her photo, and an older man with a weathered face pushed back his white Stetson and handed her a gold-colored trophy and a check for more money than she’d ever earned along with a folder filled with sponsors who wanted to work with her.
Maggie blinked, lost in the roar of what was once unbelievable but now was her reality. A huge grin spread across her face, and the first thing she did was glance around the sidelines for Flux. When their eyes locked from across the stands, she couldn’t hold back her tears anymore. What once had seemed elusive in her life—falling in love, was now realized, and coupled with winning the finals, Maggie felt that she’d finally grabbed the brass ring. She clutched the trophy to her chest and rattled off a bunch of answers to the bloggers and reporters who were eager to get a sound bite from the barrel racing champion.
“You fuckin’ did it, baby!” Flux’s voice resonated throughout the stadium. Almost as if he was—
Maggie jolted and jumped as strong arms wrapped around her from behind. Flux swung her around in a tight circle and she squealed before he put her back down again. He wouldn’t let go of her hand and forced her to spin around and face him. Then he snagged her around the waist and drew her to him for a passionate, never-ending kiss that made everything around them fall away to nothing.
When Flux pulled back, they were both panting and he wore one of the biggest smiles she’d ever seen on him. He squeezed her waist, nuzzling into her neck with a soft sigh.
“That’s my woman. I just fuckin’ knew you’d win this, darlin’,” he whispered, his voice raw with a mix of emotions. He stared down at her and wiped a tear from her cheek with the pad of his thumb. “Next up, world domination?”
Maggie laughed and shrugged, unsure what mountains were left to climb anymore. This had been it. Afterward? Literally anything was fair game. No limits. She could live the life she had always dreamed,outsideof the rodeo. Preparing for this single moment had taken so much out of her life and given so much back to her ambition, but as the dawning of the title fell into place inside her heart, maybe prioritizing things other than her career might not be too bad. It may even be fun.
With a quick kiss to her man’s cheek, Maggie turned to smile again for the cameras knowing that the hot kiss they’d shared would be plastered across the internet in a matter of minutes, but she didn’t give a rat’s ass about it, another first for the career-conscious Maggie.
“Maggie,” her mother cried out as she rushed toward her, arms outstretched.
