The Musical Cowgirl (Bear Creek Rodeo) Read online

  Brittany jumped back from Matt, embarrassed to be caught kissing when they’d known each other such a short time. Of course, he had asked her to marry him. “Goodnight!” she said as Emily took her arm and pulled her into the apartment.

  She leaned against the door as the other two talked for a moment about their performance the night before, and she moved over to watch as Emily pulled up a video on YouTube that someone had posted the night before. After Emily headed off to bed, Brittany sat down beside Stephanie. She felt she had a special relationship with her youngest sister because they wrote songs together.

  “How was your evening alone?”

  Stephanie grinned. “I really did write a new rodeo song. I think it’s going to be a huge hit.” She handed the lyrics to Brittany and waited as she read through them.

  “Oh wow. I can already hear the beat in my head! I’ll take my guitar for my table time tomorrow and work on it some while you guys are off.” Brittany looked at her sister. “Matt is going to bring his niece who he’s raising tomorrow so I can meet her. She’s going to spend the whole day at the rodeo. I can’t wait to meet her.”

  “Has he asked you to marry him yet?”

  Brittany laughed. “You’re still determined that I’m going to meet a man and marry him fast. Well, the truth is, he did ask me to marry him and be a mother to his niece Olivia. I said I had to sleep on it. I wasn’t going to answer that so quickly.”

  Stephanie started laughing and couldn’t seem to stop. “He actually asked you to marry him the day you met? I always knew that would happen to you!”

  “But you thought I’d say yes, and I didn’t.”

  “That’s true.” Stephanie shook her head. “I still think it’s fun that happened. Are you looking forward to meeting his niece?”

  “Yeah, I am. He said she’s a little shy, and she really wanted to spend the whole week with him at the rodeo, but he told her no.”

  “You always complain about the kids you teach music lessons to.” Stephanie eyed her skeptically. “What makes you think this one will be different?”

  “Honestly, I don’t know. And it’s not like I hate kids. I just have a hard time when they don’t do what they’re supposed to do and practice.” Brittany shrugged. “I feel like she’s going to be different.”

  “Well, we’ll see, won’t we? You are going to take your turn selling CDs tomorrow, right?”

  “Yes, I’ll be there. I wouldn’t let the two of you down.”

  “Good. I feel like Emily is trying to go off with Chris all the time, and now you’ll be going off with Matt . . . what about me?”

  Brittany understood what her sister was saying, and she covered Stephanie’s hand with hers. “I know. You’ve always been the romantic, but somehow Emily and I are the ones finding love.”

  “I’d say it’s not fair, but what would be the point? I’ll just write another song about waiting for love to show up, and we’ll make lots of money off of it.”

  Brittany rested her head on Stephanie’s shoulder for a moment. “That sounds like how our lives go, doesn’t it?”

  “It does. Oh well. Song fodder is nothing to sneeze at.” Stephanie smiled, but it was a sad smile.

  “You’re going to find someone amazing. I know you will.”

  Stephanie shrugged. “Maybe I’ll be a cat lady. Can’t you just see me with one hundred or so cats living with me? I’d feed them all, and they would worship me as much as any cat ever worships anyone.”

  “You’ve been allergic to cats since you were a little girl. How about being a crazy dog lady? Or a crazy bunny lady? I heard there’s this crazy bunny lady who lives in Idaho and talks to fairies. Very strange if you ask me.”

  “I think I like the idea of bunnies, but maybe I should get tested to see if I’m allergic first.” Stephanie wrapped her arm around Brittany. “Thanks for checking on me, but I really am fine. Have fun tomorrow.”

  “I will. I hope you do, too. Maybe we could have the guys bring you a friend.”

  Stephanie wrinkled her nose. “I’ll think about it.”

  “G’night.” Brittany got up and wandered toward her room. They may be triplets in their twenties still living together, but at least she had her own room.

  She fell asleep, still feeling Matt’s lips on hers. He was something pretty special all right.

  The three sisters were unpacking their boxes of CDs at their table the next morning when Matt walked toward them, holding the hand of a little girl who was looking around her as if she was seeing something magic. He led her straight to their table, his focus on Brittany.

  “This is my niece, Olivia. Olivia, this is Miss Brittany. She’s my friend.”

  “Are you her Ken?” Olivia asked.

  “I don’t even know what that means,” Matt said, confused.

  Brittany grinned, understanding perfectly. “I think he might be my Ken someday, but he’s not yet.” She leaned across the table and smiled at the little girl. “It’s very nice to meet you. These are my sisters.”

  “How come you all look the same?” Olivia asked, her eyes dashing back and forth between the three sisters.

  “You know what twins are, right?” Brittany asked.

  Olivia nodded. “Sure.”

  “Well, we’re triplets, meaning we were three babies born at the same time instead of two.”

  “Oh.” Olivia’s attention turned to something else. “Is that you singing?”

  “One of the voices is mine. The other two are my sisters’. We’re a singing group.”

  “My favorite song is ‘Puff the Magic Dragon.’ My mom sang it to me at night before bed every night.”

  Brittany tilted her head to one side. “Would you like us to sing it for you?” She and her sisters had loved the song as children, and her guitar was behind them. She’d hoped for a little time to write music for the lyrics Stephanie had written the night before.

  Olivia nodded emphatically, her dark hair flopping in the wind. “Yes, please.”

  Brittany looked at her sisters. Emily was smiling as she shut off the cd playing, and Stephanie handed her the guitar. Brittany sat down and put the guitar on her knee, playing the opening notes, and then Emily took the lead.

  By the time they had finished the song, there was a crowd around them, and Olivia was standing in front of them. “Thank you.”

  Brittany smiled, nodding to the applause and knowing her sisters were doing the same behind her. “We weren’t planning to do that, but I’m glad everyone enjoyed it,” she called out.

  She turned to give her guitar back to Stephanie, because she knew her sister would need to hide for a moment. She was always embarrassed during applause.

  Emily laughed. “I’m not sure we’re up for requests, but thanks for listening!”

  A line formed in front of them, ready to buy the CDs they’d set out. Stephanie nudged Brittany. “Go. I’ve got the table for the first shift.”

  Brittany noticed that Chris was walking toward them as well, so it made sense that Stephanie would start. “You take second shift,” Brittany said to Emily, who nodded.

  “Take your time getting to know Olivia.”

  “Thanks. I plan to.” Brittany hurried out from behind the table and walked over to Matt and Olivia. “What should we do first?”

  Olivia shrugged. “I’ve never been to a rodeo before. What is there to do?”

  Brittany smiled. “Well, we’re supposed to go and sit and watch the rodeo.”

  “Okay.”

  Brittany frowned. “Do you have tickets?” she asked.

  “I’m a sponsor. I have a box. We can all sit there.” Matt wasn’t sure if Brittany had been planning to watch the rodeo, but he would love it if she did. “You’re not going to fall asleep while we’re watching like your sister did, are you?”

  Brittany laughed, shaking her head. “Only Emily can fall asleep in the middle of a crowd that way. I actually have to have music playing to sleep.” She patted her phone with its earphones.
r />   “I can see that with you. Thanks for playing her favorite song for her.”

  “Did you like it?” Brittany asked.

  Olivia nodded. “You should sing that song every day.”

  Brittany laughed. “We usually sing songs that my sister and I write together.”

  “How come?”

  “Because we like to write songs, and we think they’re pretty good.”

  The girl seemed to accept that explanation, because she didn’t say anything else about it. When they reached the stands, Matt led the way down into his box, explaining what the first event would be. Brittany wasn’t terribly interested in the events, but she listened anyway. “What did you do in the rodeo?” she asked.

  “I’m a bull rider. That’s the first thing we’ll watch. A bull rider needs to stay on for eight seconds, and I know that sounds easy, but it feels like forever when you’re on the bull’s back.”

  Olivia looked at her uncle. “You don’t still ride bulls, do you?”

  “No, I stopped that when we started living together. It’s too dangerous, and we’re a team now, remember?”

  Olivia nodded, looking at the man getting ready to ride a bull. “What happens if the bull steps on his head?”

  “He gets hurt really bad.” He carefully left out the fact that the bull rider would most likely die. That was something she didn’t need to hear after losing both of her parents so recently.

  “I hope no one gets stepped on, then.”

  Brittany smiled at the girl, liking her already. “Do you know how to play any instruments?” she asked.

  Olivia shook her head. “I want to play piano, but I don’t know how.”

  “Would you like me to teach you?” Brittany wasn’t sure why she even asked, because she hated teaching music, but this little girl . . . she wanted to do whatever she could to make her smile.

  Olivia nodded. “Could you?”

  “I’ll talk to your uncle about it.” Brittany looked at Matt. “Where do you live anyway?”

  He laughed. “About thirty minutes west of you.”

  “Oh, that’s easy, then. I drive farther for lessons.”

  He didn’t say it, but he thought it: If you married me, there would be no travel involved. He knew it was too soon, so he stayed quiet.

  Olivia looked at Brittany. “If you are Uncle Matt’s Barbie, you could live with us.”

  “We’ll see what happens. I’ve only known your uncle for a day!”

  “That’s long enough to decide. Haven’t you seen Cinderella?”

  Brittany couldn’t help but grin. “I think we should all live in a Disney fairy tale, don’t you?”

  Olivia nodded seriously. “I want to be Elsa!”

  Brittany thought that was an odd choice, considering that Elsa lost her parents young, but she didn’t question her. Maybe that’s why she could relate to her. “Elsa is beautiful, and she has Olaf to entertain her! And Anna.”

  “I like Anna, too. We should play princesses, and you could be Anna, and I’ll be Elsa.”

  “Are you going to build an ice castle like Elsa did?”

  Olivia nodded. “I think every girl should have a castle. We live in a house.” She looked at her uncle. “I need a castle.”

  Matt frowned. “I could get you a toy castle maybe.”

  “I need to live in a castle like a real-live princess. Why don’t you understand?” Olivia sounded slightly panicked and moved to sit on Brittany’s lap. “He just doesn’t know what princesses need.”

  Brittany shook her head. “We’ll teach him. Soon, he’ll understand all about princesses.”

  The crowd around them groaned, and Brittany looked to see a rider on the ground. She hadn’t paid any attention during the time she’d been in the box. Instead, she’d gotten to know the little girl. She wanted to look over at Matt and say that she’d marry him, if only to keep this little girl happy.

  When it was time for her to relieve Emily at their table, she dropped a kiss on Olivia’s head. “I hope I get to see you guys later.”

  Matt smiled. “We’ll be at your table in an hour, and we’ll all go to lunch somewhere.” He was amazed at how well Brittany was getting along with Olivia. They already had more of a bond than he’d been able to form with the girl in the past few months.

  Whatever he did, he knew he had to find some way to get her to marry him and help him raise Olivia. He’d pay her if necessary.

  He looked over at the little girl, who looked lonely again. Why had she seemed so happy when Brittany was there?

  Three

  Brittany did her hour at the table, and she sold CD after CD. She was glad they’d autographed so many the day before, because it was easy to just hand them to the people coming to purchase them. Any lull was filled with her adding her name to the CDs that Stephanie and Emily had signed during their shifts at the table.

  Her face almost hurt from the constant smile she had, when she saw Stephanie walking toward the table, looking particularly alone. They’d all thought they’d spend their time off in twos . . . always together. But Emily and Brittany now had someone else they wanted to spend time with during their time away from the table, and that left Stephanie on her own.

  Stephanie took her spot behind the table, looking at Brittany with a smile. “How’d we do?”

  “Fabulously! I can’t believe we’re selling so many CDs. It’s kind of scary.”

  Stephanie grinned. “I really think we’re taking off. Can I say how much I love sitting here listening to ‘Lipstick on my Jeans’ on a loop and seeing people stop to listen to the words and smile?”

  Brittany nodded. “I totally get it. That’s our music and our voices and our lyrics . . . it’s all us. And we’re totally winning.”

  “We are! Now go play with your man and his niece. Or is he your Ken now?”

  Brittany shrugged. “Not yet, but after spending a little time with her, I almost told him I was done thinking about his proposal, and the answer was yes!”

  Stephanie laughed. “Wouldn’t surprise me at all.”

  Brittany looked up and spotted Matt and Olivia walking toward them. “I’m going to go and eat with them. I’ll see you in a few hours.” Brittany looked at her sister. “You sure you’re okay?”

  “Yeah, I’m just fine. Having fun dealing with people.”

  Brittany felt sad for her sister even as she hurried over to Matt and Olivia. Olivia looked excited to see her and took her hand right away. “What are we going to eat?”

  Brittany looked over at Matt. “Do you have something in mind?” she asked.

  He shrugged. “I figured tacos, nachos, corn dogs, or some other ridiculous fair food.”

  Brittany stopped walking and stared at Matt for a moment. “You think tacos are a ridiculous fair food?” That was it. There was no way she could marry the man. Ever.

  “I meant that corn dogs are ridiculous fair food. Not tacos or nachos. What kind of monster do you think I am?”

  She looked at him for a moment and then nodded. “I suppose that’s fine. And I want tacos. Or empanadas. Any of these food trucks have empanadas?”

  “I’m sure there has to be one with empanadas. Let’s look.”

  Brittany looked at Olivia. “Do you like empanadas?”

  Olivia nodded. “My mommy called them burrito pockets.”

  “That’s a good name for them. I think I’ll call them burrito pockets, too.”

  They found a food truck with empanadas, tacos, and nachos. Each of them ordered a different flavor of empanada, and they took them to an open picnic table.

  “This place is packed!” Matt said, shaking his head. “It’s so different being at a rodeo as a fan rather than as a rider.”

  “Which do you prefer?” Brittany asked.

  “To be really honest, I would rather ride rodeo every day for the rest of my life, but I can’t, and I’ve accepted that. It doesn’t mean I don’t miss it, though.” Matt shrugged. “Olivia is the most important person in my whole life
, so I need to make sure that I’m always around for her.”

  Brittany felt a twang of jealousy toward the little girl before she realized how ridiculous she was being. “I can understand that. She’s a pretty special little princess.”

  Olivia giggled. “I’m not really a princess. I’m just a little girl.”

  “You’re a princess to us,” Brittany said with a wink.

  “I’ll be your princess.” Olivia took a bite of her empanada and smiled. “This is yummy!”

  Brittany smiled, trying hers. “Mine is, too!” She’d gotten one with potatoes and beef. It was her favorite, and she had them so rarely it was ridiculous.

  They both watched Matt take a bite. He made a terrible face. “Mine is yucky.” He looked back and forth between their empanadas, and Olivia pulled hers closer. “I want a different one!”

  “You have to eat what you chose, Uncle Matt!”

  Brittany cut off a bite for Matt with her fork, feeding it to him like he was a child. “There, you had one bite of a good one, and now you have to eat your yucky one.”

  Matt sighed and applied himself to his empanada, taking a big bite. “Maybe it won’t kill me . . .” His empanada was actually very good, but he wanted Olivia to show a little bit of the spark she’d shown with Brittany earlier.

  As they ate, Brittany asked Olivia what she’d missed at the rodeo.

  “People kept getting tossed on the ground by the bulls,” Olivia said. “And another person would get on another one. Seemed dumb to me.”

  Brittany laughed, looking at Matt, who seemed half-offended. “You know, there’s something about riding a bull they think no man can ride.”

  Olivia shook her head. “It’s not safe. I think it’s a bad idea, and I don’t want you to do it anymore, Uncle Matt.”

  “I promised I wouldn’t.” Matt still missed the rodeo life, but more important to him was the safety of his niece, and he wouldn’t even think about riding again. “Taking care of my princess is so much more important than riding any bull ever could be. Bull riding is silly in comparison.”

  “It’s silly anyway,” Olivia announced, eating another bite. “I’m glad you don’t do it anymore.”