Chapter Six

Boone

"The great Boone West coming back to Magnolia Grove was not on my bingo card," Chad laughed, shaking his head as he took a swig of his beer. "You're a damn legend, Boone."

I chuckled and lifted my own bottle to my lips. "I don't think I'd go that far."

Chad leaned back in his chair, his expression full of disbelief. "Come on, man. They make posters of you. And I know that because my seven-year-old asked for one for his birthday. When he finds out I'm sitting here having a beer with you, he's gonna lose his mind."

I huffed out a breath, shaking my head. Famous? Maybe in the rodeo world, sure, but that didn't make me anything special outside of it. "Bring the poster next time, and I'll sign it for him," I offered with a grin.

"Oh, I will," Chad laughed. "And he'll be with me, too. Kid's not gonna let me leave without him if he knows where I'm going." He paused, still grinning. "I still can't believe you won the World Finals two years ago, man. That's insane."

I leaned back in my chair and stared down at my beer. "Yeah, well… it feels like a lifetime ago now."

Two years. It didn't seem like that long in the grand scheme of things, but so much had changed since then. I may have won that title, but the rodeo had a way of humbling you real quick.

Mother's Devil sure as hell did.

"Winning didn't stop that bull from stomping on me like a cockroach," I said, my voice a little gruffer than I meant it to be.

Chad winced, raising his beer in a sort of toast to my survival. "Yeah, that was crazy, man. Jake and I were watching when it happened. Scared the living hell out of us."

"Me too," I said with a dry laugh. That was the truth. One second, I was on top of the world, feeling that rush you only get from riding a beast like that, and the next? Flat on my back, unable to feel my legs. There wasn't a scarier moment in my life than that.

I knew the risks. Every rider does. You get on a bull, and you know it could be your last ride. But I was good. Hell, I was better than good. I could read those animals like no one else, could sense what they were gonna do before they even did it. For fifteen years, I rode without a single major injury. Fourteen years of luck, I guess.

Until it ran out.

Chad was still watching me, his gaze a little softer now. "So how come you came back here?" he asked, his tone more serious.

I shrugged, leaned forward, and rested my elbows on the table. "Magnolia Grove is home."

"Yeah, but your family's not here anymore," he pointed out. "They left a couple of months after you did, right?"

I nodded, taking another sip of my beer. "Yeah, they were looking for something different. Bounced around for a bit before they ended up in Florida."

Chad grimaced. "Florida? No thanks. Hot as hell and hurricanes every other week."

I snorted, nodding in agreement. "Pretty much. I'll take Magnolia Grove's heat over that any day. At least here, we don't have to worry about our roofs blowing off every other day." We hadn't had a real hurricane hit in years, but the thought of dealing with that on top of everything else? No way.

Chad leaned back and folded his arms across his chest. "Still, man… coming back here? After everything? That's gotta be weird, right?"

He wasn't wrong. I'd been gone for so long chasing my rodeo dreams that coming back felt like stepping into a time warp. Everything looked the same, but it wasn't. The people had changed and moved on. Hell, I had changed. Magnolia Grove wasn't exactly the big city, and in a town this small, people remember. They remember your highs, your lows, and everything in between.

"It's different," I admitted. "But it's also… it's home. You know?"

Chad nodded like he got it, and maybe he did. Magnolia Grove had a way of sinking into your bones. No matter where you went or how far you drifted, it was always there, waiting for you to come back.

"You run into anyone you know yet?" Chad asked, taking a casual sip of his beer, but I could tell he was fishing for something.

My jaw tightened a little. "A few folks," I said, trying to keep it vague. But I knew what he was getting at. There was one person I hadn't mentioned, and of course, Chad had to bring it up.

"And by ‘a few folks,' you mean Dolly, right?" He smirked, giving me a knowing look.

I exhaled and stared down at the table. Of course, it was about Dolly. Even after all these years, she was still at the center of every conversation. That's what happens when you date someone from high school, and everyone expects you to marry them. Then you up and leave, and all they remember is the one who stayed. The thing was, I would have stayed if Dolly hadn't basically chased me out of town.

"Yeah," I finally said, my voice low. "I ran into her."

Chad leaned forward, eyebrows raised. "How'd that go?"

I let out a dry laugh. "About as well as you'd expect. She was pretty shocked to see me."

"Can you blame her?"

"No," I admitted. "I can't."

"She still looked good, though, didn't she?" Chad asked, grinning.

I shot him a look, but the truth was, he wasn't wrong. Dolly looked as beautiful as ever. Hell, she looked even better than I remembered. Time had been kind to her. I couldn't say the same for myself.

"She did," I said quietly, my thoughts drifted back to that moment in the bagel shop when I'd run into her—literally. The way she'd stumbled back, the shock in her eyes when she realized it was me. I could still feel the way her arms felt under my hands when I'd caught her. The way her eyes met mine like she was trying to figure out if I was real.

Chad nodded, his smirk fading a little as he glanced at me. "You gonna talk to her again?"

I let out a breath, running a hand through my hair. "I don't know, man. It's complicated."

Chad chuckled, shaking his head. "It's always complicated when it comes to women, Boone. Her kid scaring you off?" he asked, his tone light but curious.

I shook my head. "Nah, man. Pretty sure everyone our age has a kid now. I'm the only one who doesn't." I took a sip of my beer, letting that thought sink in. I couldn't really expect that Dolly wouldn't have had a life after I left. I had a past, and so did she.

"Yeah," Chad laughed. "You might be right about that, man. I've got three of my own, all of them over ten."

I raised my eyebrows at that. Chad, with three kids. It felt like time had moved at double speed for everyone else while I'd been out on the circuit, living in a world where everything revolved around bulls, arenas, and rodeo wins. Yeah, I definitely had some catching up to do when it came to things like settling down or starting a family.

There was one thing, though, something that had been gnawing at the back of my mind since I'd seen Dolly again. "Who did she end up with?" I asked, trying to sound casual about it, though the question had been bothering me more than I wanted to admit.

Chad shrugged and leaned back in his chair. "Don't know, man. I think it was a one-night stand or something. She's been single the whole time you've been gone."

That surprised me. I nodded, looking out at the river, letting the steady flow of water calm the thoughts swirling in my head. It was hard to imagine Dolly raising a kid all on her own, but then again, she was always strong. Independent. I'd always admired that about her.

"You never ended up with anyone serious either, did you?" Chad asked after a beat of silence.

I shook my head, letting out a dry chuckle. "Lots of buckle bunnies out there, but none of them held my attention."

Chad whistled low, shaking his head with a laugh. "Buckle bunnies. Man, when you set out to leave Magnolia Grove, you really did."

I laughed too, but it felt a little hollow. He wasn't wrong. The rodeo circuit was a whole different world compared to peaceful Magnolia Grove. Fast-paced, full of highs and lows, and yeah, plenty of girls chasing after a piece of the action. But none of it stuck. None of them were Dolly.

"Yeah, but now I'm right back here," I said, looking down at the beer in my hand. "I wasn't in it for the money or the girls, Chad. I just loved to rodeo."

Chad nodded slowly, his expression more serious now. "I get it, man. But I'm sure the money wasn't hard to adjust to either."

He wasn't wrong about that. I had earned good money on the circuit, especially after winning the World Finals. The more I won, the bigger the paychecks got, and I socked away every cent I didn't need.

"Yeah, it was nice," I admitted, thinking about the cushion I had sitting in my savings account. From where I stood now, I wouldn't need to work a regular nine-to-five job for the rest of my life, not if I was smart about how I spent that money.

"I bought my house outright, got my truck paid off too," I said, glancing over at Chad. "Still got a good chunk left, enough to live on for a while."

Chad gave a low whistle again. "Must be nice," he said, a hint of envy in his tone, but not in a bitter way. "You don't plan on just sitting on your ass forever, though, right?"

I laughed. "Nah, man. I'll find something to do, eventually. Right now, I'm just trying to settle back into life here."

"Well, you've got time to figure it out," Chad said, finishing off his beer and setting the bottle down on the table. "Hell, maybe you can teach some of these young kids how to ride. Pass on all that rodeo wisdom."

I grinned at the idea, though I wasn't sure I was cut out for teaching. Still, it wasn't a bad thought. "Maybe. We'll see."

Chad nodded, a knowing look in his eyes. "You've got time, man. No rush." He pushed back from the table, stretching his arms over his head. "Well, I better get home before my wife sends out a search party."

I chuckled, standing up as he did. "Good seeing you, Chad. Let's do this again soon."

"Count on it, Boone," he said, clapping me on the shoulder before heading for his truck. "And don't forget about that poster for my kid," he called as he got in his truck.

"I won't," I called after him.

I stood there for a moment as the quiet settled in around me as I watched him drive away. It was strange being back here, surrounded by the same streets, the same sounds of crickets and rustling leaves, but feeling like a different person. So much had changed in the years I'd been gone, and yet… so much hadn't.