The next week on Tuesday morning, Ryder sat in his truck in the Ruritan barn parking lot while the 4-H-ers loaded their goats into his livestock trailer for the short ride to the county fairgrounds. It was a much better-looking group of meat goats this year. Couldn’t have made a good soup out of some of the entries last year. They’d been mostly dairy goat culls. Sure, any goat can be a meat goat, but people were finally learning that the conformation of meat and dairy goats was very different.
Joe slapped the side of the trailer. “All in. All clear.”
Ryder raised his hand and inched forward, the trailer lurching as a few wild bleats rose from the back as the truck bounced over the unlevel terrain.
By the time Ryder got to the main road, there were two pickup trucks full of kids—the two-legged kind—following behind him. He waved them around, then followed them into town.
The children’s voices filled the air as they belted out “Old MacDonald Had a Farm” at the top of their lungs as they cruised by.
Ryder sang cluck-cluck here and a cluck-cluck there along with them, tapping the rhythm out on his steering wheel.
When they finally reached the fairgrounds, there was a line at the gate. Getting the animals loaded into the tents took time, a lot longer now it seemed than it had when he was showing at the fair. Then again, there were more entries these days.
The fairgrounds brimmed with excitement. Huge tents had been erected for the livestock activities, and the old concrete buildings were surrounded by cars and people unloading their wares into booths inside. Those buildings weren’t fancy, but at least they had ceiling fans and air conditioning in them now. A real must when the North Carolina summer humidity was as high as the temperature. He remembered how hot and miserable it was in those buildings in the summers when he was a kid.
Later this afternoon, when the fair officially opened, this place would be a flurry of activity. Carnival rides were set up on the far side of the property. Though he’d never known anyone to get hurt on one, he’d never trusted those rides. To think they could haul them in on a trailer and bolt them together in a few hours made him nervous.
He backed up to the gate at the sheep and goat tent, then went to unload the trailer. A series of corral gates kept the trailers of animals separate until the fair veterinarian could check them in and validate that they were correctly tagged and held the proper immunization paperwork.
Once all of the goats were unloaded, Ryder closed the gate and moved his truck and trailer out of the way so the next group could unload. With six towns in the county they pulled in lots of entries.
Across the way he saw Ross and Reece unloading a display for their booth in the main exhibit hall. Ross waved. Ryder waved back, then heard someone yell, “Hey, you going to stand there and watch or are you going to help us?”
He’d recognize his sister’s voice anywhere. “Hey, Diane. I just saw the twins unloading stuff.”
“Come help. They are so excited about their booth this year. It’s a big step up from last year. I bet they’ll book a few more weddings.” She tugged at his arm, and he fell into step with her.
“Did they tell you they kicked me out of my own house?”
“That’s not exactly the way I heard it.”
He laughed. “No, they did let me think I had a choice, but you know I can’t say no to them. I’m not sure a high-profile wedding is as profitable as they think. It could lead to more problems than it’s worth.”
“It’ll be fine,” Diane assured him.
“I hope so. I keep reminding myself my house is insured. We’ll get through it no matter what.”
“They will make sure of that. You know they don’t want to disappoint you.”
“I know, but those famous types. Some of them don’t know manners from mayonnaise.”
“Well, let’s hope this couple is different.”
“At least Cody Tuggle was brought up by good country folks.”
“Have some faith, brother.”
He walked with her into the main exhibit hall and offered kudos to the twins on their booth. He was proud of them for not being completely absorbed by the big new contract, and still taking the county fair seriously.
“Are you hanging out all week, Uncle Ryder?”
“No. I hauled the market goats over for Joe’s 4-H club. I’ll be back for the livestock auction though.”
Reece reached over and picked up a stack of glossy business cards. “Here. Hand these out when you’re chatting with people. Tell them to stop by and see us. The booth number is on the back. We have an awesome giveaway in our booth.”
“Good thinking. Sure.” He tucked the cards in his pocket. He wasn’t a big talker, but he could strategically leave cards in different places for people to find them.
“Ryder Bolt? Is that you?” The southern lilt swung like a lasso around him, turning him around.
He caught the passing glance between Reece and Ross as he turned.
Dressed in a white sleeveless blouse and blue jeans tucked into bright turquoise western boots, that woman always could make an entrance. “Penny Driscoll?”
“Mayor Blevins to you, Ryder.”
“I know you’re the mayor. I voted for you, but I still can’t believe you married Marty Blevins. You’ll always be Penny Driscoll to me.”
“Believe it. Poor Marty may not have been worthy to even pick up your sweaty football towels in high school, but that nerdy math wizard has been working financial magic ever since.” The light caught her silver and turquoise necklace, and then the hefty diamonds on her ring finger. “Turning money into more money. It’s what he does best.”
Ryder shrugged. “Poor dirt farmer can’t compete with that.”
“Mm-hmm. I know better than that, darlin’. How’ve you been?”
“Good. I really did vote for you.”
“Of course you did. We always did think alike.”
She’d been Valerie’s best friend. He’d barely spoken to her since the accident. It was just too painful to relive happy memories Penny had of Valerie. That’s when Penny and her first husband, Buster, split up and she went on to marry Marty Blevins. “Yeah. Those were the good old days.”
“That they were. We should catch up some time.”
He pulled a few of the cards from his chest pocket. “Here. Reece and Ross have transformed the old barns on the bottom acreage into an event venue. It’s called The Wedding Ranch, but they host all kinds of parties. Fit for a mayor, or the governor even. You should throw some business their way. You’ll be impressed.”
She swept the card against the palm of her hand. “I’ll get on their calendar.”
Ryder heard a tiny squeal out of Reece from across the way. He loved earning hero status with her. It never got old.
Penny lifted her hand in a finger wave. “I’ll see you around, Ryder.” She strode off with the air of success. She’d always been audacious.
He watched as she left, wondering how on earth someone like Marty Blevins managed to get even a first glance from someone like Penny Driscoll.
Joe walked up behind Ryder. “Now that’s a fine—”
“That’s Penny Driscoll.”
“Oh. The mayor. I didn’t recognize her from behind! And to think I was going to set you up with the lady who opened the new bakery on Main Street. I may not know anyone flashy enough to appeal to your taste.”
“Real funny. She’s married. I’m not interested. Not in her or anyone else.”
“You haven’t been to the bakery yet, have you?”
“No. Why?” Ryder wondered what Joe was hiding. “Are her cookies that good?”
“Definitely. I’ve just about eaten my way down the first whole row of treats in that glass case already. That gal can bake, and she’s nice.”
“I’ll pass on a date, but you can set me up with a cupcake and I won’t turn it down.”
“Never say never, my friend. One of these days you’re going to finally wake up again.”
Maybe when I see Valerie holding Ronnie Dwayne’s hand in heaven.