Randall Pride by Judy Christenberry Page A

He’s staying with him to be sure Cocoa is all right.”
    “Oh.” It was as if the sun had set. All her enthusiasm for the day was gone. She had nothing to look forward to. Toby wasn’t here. And maybe he wouldn’t come back. After coming home and finding how boring it could be here, he might change his mind. Stay at the rodeo.
    “You don’t think he’ll stay, do you?”
    At first Elizabeth thought she’d said those words. Then she realized her voice wasn’t a deep boom. It was Jake who’d said that.
    B.J. kept her eyes on the eggs she was eating but said quietly, “I don’t know. He said he’d be back next weekend.”
    Rich looked up from his breakfast. “I guess Cocoa is almost as famous as Toby. He’s had some outrageous offers to buy him.”
    “A good horse can make a difference,” Pete said.“I was thinking about telling him he should start training horses to sell. He’d make good money. It’d help pay the bills for him when the price of beef is down.”
    “Hey, that’s right! Good idea, Pete. I’d forgotten he trained Cocoa himself,” Jake said, smiling again.
    “Isn’t he leaving you in a lurch, going off without notice?” Elizabeth asked, her voice stiff.
    The older men looked up, stared at her and then each other. Finally Jake answered. “We told him if he changed his mind, it was all right, Elizabeth. But he asked me before he decided to go. I won’t hold a child of mine who doesn’t want to be at home. That’s why we let him go in the first place.”
    She knew that. But it didn’t make it any easier to bear that Toby was gone. She wanted him back. She’d had four or five days with him back in her life. She might’ve gotten irritated with him, but she missed him.
    Her mother reached over and took her hand as it rested in her lap. “I’m sure he’ll be back. I was in the kitchen when he took the call. He wasn’t excited about going back. The friend had to beg him to help. It seems the friend is on the trail to the nationals. His horse will only be out this week, but he’ll miss a lot of points if he doesn’t perform.”
    “I’m sure Toby couldn’t refuse in those circumstances,” Jake said.
    “Yeah, or people would say he was jealous,” Josh added. “Though no one would believe it!”
    Several agreed with Toby’s little brother.
    Red got up from the table. “You all still eating? You’d better hurry or we’ll all be late.”
    Soon Toby’s circumstances were forgotten by most of them as they filled several vehicles for the trip to the local church, where Randall marriages usually took place.
    Elizabeth caught a ride with her parents, but her thoughts remained on Toby. In church she added a special prayer for his return.
     
    T OBY LEANED AGAINST the rails of the corral, watching Lonnie practice roping the calf. When his friend had dismounted, bound three of the calf’s legs and thrown his hands in the air, he clicked the stopwatch.
    “How’d I do?” Lonnie hollered across the arena.
    “Good. Five-point-seven.”
    Lonnie threw his hands in the air. “You know that won’t win me much.”
    “Depends.” He watched his friend stride to the fence, leading Cocoa.
    “What can I do?”
    Toby debated how much to say. Finally, he cleared his throat. “Well, you’re wasting time telling Cocoa what to do. He’ll take care of his job so you can tend to yours.”
    “What do you mean?”
    Toby began to detail how Cocoa was trained. He’d trained his horse to be his best partner.
    When he finished, Lonnie gave a nod of comprehension and headed back to try again.
    “Hi, cowboy. You lonesome?” a silky soprano voice said. Turning around, Toby found an old friend at his elbow. “Hi, Sally. Long time no see. How’s Wes?”
    Sally was a barrel rider married to one of the bronc riders. She’d been following the rodeo for more than ten years.
    “I wouldn’t know. We separated about a month ago, just before you pulled out. Are you back?”
    “Just temporarily.” He