The roping session evolved into a lesson on horsemanship, the basic skills David’s dad and his uncle had pounded into his head while he’d fidgeted in his saddle the same as these kids, impatient to get to the good part. But they listened, did as they were told to the best of their ability. As the day wore on, they relaxed, slapping each other on the back for a decent run, dishing out a good-natured ribbing when it didn’t go so well.
Each time David looked up, Mary was there on the nearest end of the bleachers, watching but never alone, even though Hilary had left after half an hour. First, her seat was taken by a teenaged girl who talked fast, with a lot of hand gestures. Mary nodded along, somehow managing to give the girl her complete attention while still keeping one eye on the arena.
“So can you help us?” the girl asked. “Please?”
“Sure. As long as all I have to do is auction off the pies and not make them.”
“Thank you. You’re the best.” The girl gave Mary a hug and then bounced off to share the good news with a gaggle of other girls lounging around on the bleachers, trying to look cool despite the wind and dust.
The seat next to Mary didn’t have a chance to cool off before another butt was planted on it, this time a boy no more than eight. He had a fat, fluffy Australian shepherd puppy cuddled against his chest and offered it for Mary’s inspection.
“What’s its name?” she asked.
“George. Like the pig in the cartoon. ’Cause he’s my favorite.”
“But…your puppy is a girl.”
“Yeah. So?”
“So…um, that’s a great name.” Her eyes sparkled with humor, and her mouth curled into a tender smile as she stroked the puppy’s head. She laughed as it nipped at her fingers. David sidled in closer, leaning on the fence nearest where she sat, pretending his attention was glued to the action in the arena while he shamelessly spied on her. Hey, the better you know your enemy…
“Can I bring her for show-and-tell, Miss Mary? Please? She’s so little and cute.”
Mary tousled the boy’s mop of brown curls. “School doesn’t start for two more months, sweetie. She’ll be half grown.”
“Oh.” The boy frowned, thinking it over. “But I want them to see how cute she is now.”
“How ’bout I take a picture, and we’ll put it on my computer in the classroom?” Mary offered. She pulled out her phone and took a few shots, then the boy was off, thumping down the bleachers.
David dragged his attention back to his students, stepping out in front of the chutes to stop the next roper before he rode in the box. “Your reins are too long. Shorten them up, and hold them down close to your horse’s neck. That’ll help you get up and over the front of your saddle coming out of the box.”
Satisfied that the kid understood, David retreated to his spot on the fence as a round-faced little girl in braids and a grubby pink T-shirt plopped down next to Mary, clutching a Cat in the Hat book. “Hi, Mith Mary,” she lisped. “I been practithing my reading, juth like you thaid. Wanna hear?”
“You betcha.”
Dr. Seuss was his cousin Adam’s favorite, so David knew most of the book by heart. The little girl stumbled through the rhymes, so painfully slow that he had to clench his teeth to stop from shouting out the right words. Mary murmured encouragement and gentle prompts. When they finally, blessedly, reached the end, she and the girl traded high fives.
“That’s amazing, Shalea. I bet if you keep practicing every day, by the time school starts, you’ll be able to stay in the first-grade classroom for reading.”
The girl’s plump bottom lip poked out. “I like being in your room, Mith Mary.”
“But you’ll get to see your friends more in Mrs. Murphy’s room.” The girl pooched out her cheeks, thinking it over. “Do I still get to thay the “Good Morning” poem every day?”
“Hmm.” Mary made a thoughtful face. “How about Monday and Wednesday? Brendan and Julene like to have a turn, too.”
“I thay it better.”
“You are pretty tough to beat.” Mary’s mouth twitched ever so slightly. She put out a hand. “I have to be fair to everybody, though, so…do we have a deal?”
“Oh, aw wight.” The girl gave an exaggerated sigh but accepted the handshake. “Deal.”
Mary laughed and gave her a hug. “Tell your mama I’m very proud of both of you for all your hard work.”
A sharp elbow jabbed David in the ribs, making him jump. He looked down to find Sam smirking at him. “You here to rope, or just check out the chicks?”
A couple of the other kids snickered. David felt his face heating up.
“I was waitin’ on you,” he told Sam and sent the whole bunch of them down to bring the calves back from the catch pen.
The rest of the afternoon was more of the same. David tried to keep his focus inside the arena fence, but he was fascinated by the endless stream of people who stopped to chat with Mary. Many appeared to be students or their parents, but one woman looked closer to eighty than eight, leaning heavily on a cane as she hoisted herself up the steps.
“You gotta talk to my granddaughter about the boy of hers,” the woman declared, loud enough that David didn’t have to try to listen. “She don’t want to think there might be somethin’ wrong with him, and she sure don’t want to hear it from me.”
She plunked onto the bleachers beside Mary and went on—and on, and on—about all the reasons she feared her great-grandson had a learning disorder, obviously not concerned about the boy’s privacy. Or his mother’s.
When she paused for breath, Mary patted her hand. “I’ll spend some time in his kindergarten class this fall. If I see anything that concerns me, I’ll talk to his mom about doing some screenings.”
The old lady thumped her cane on the metal bleachers. “You make sure of it. I don’t want him falling through the cracks.”
“He won’t.” Mary’s voice was honed steel.
David believed her. The old woman must’ve too, because she hmpffed her approval, ordered Mary to help her down the bleachers, and then stumped off to inflict her opinion on some other poor soul.
As Mary started back up the bleachers, she glanced over and caught David watching. She raised her eyebrows. He gestured toward the old lady, rolled his eyes. Mary smiled and shrugged. For an instant, they were just two people sharing a small joke. Her face was relaxed, her eyes warm, the way she must be in real life.
Then the shutters came down. She ducked her head, turned away, and moved to the other end of the bleachers to join a trio of women near her age who’d been observing both her and David with open curiosity.
It was near suppertime when Galen called a halt. While the boys unsaddled horses and stowed their gear, David accepted a cold bottle of water from Galen and took a long, grateful gulp, rinsing the grit out of his throat. The bleachers were deserted, the parents and girlfriends who’d tagged along with the boys straggling back to their rigs.
“I don’t s’pose you’re staying a while?” Sam asked, giving him the puppy-dog eyes again.
David shook his head. “I have to leave day after tomorrow.”
“Too bad.” Sam’s gaze slid to Muddy dozing beside Mary’s trailer, and he lowered his voice. “Are you taking the horse with you?”
Everyone stopped, waiting for his answer. David was acutely aware that Mary could hear every word.
“We’re still working out the details,” he said, and went to help load the calves.