“Oh, I get that. I’m on the day of—between Taurus and Aries. Our dad is a Taurus, our mom is a Capricorn, so…” Ryder chuckled softly. “Honestly, I have no idea what that means.”
He laughed. “Well, Taurus is stable and stubborn, Aries is spontaneous and loves adventure. So, essentially, you got the Taurus and Roper the Aries.” His mother, like him, was hardworking, practical and somewhat pessimistic. Recently he’d begun to understand what they said about Capricorns aging backward, and he liked it.
“Roper was first, so I can believe it.” Ryder pulled a malted milk ball out of the milkshake and popped it in his mouth.
“My mother was an Aries too. Beautiful. Always coming and going. She had a large group of friends and boyfriends.” She hadn’t been the most present mother, but she’d been a good person, a happy person. Kind.
“Wow. Our mom is a school teacher now; dad is a cowboy. They were both rodeo people once.”
“Where do your parents live?”
“Silver City, New Mexico. They love it there.”
“Did they ever travel to see you both ride?”
“Oh, absolutely. When it’s closer to home—Midwest, Southwest, West Coast. They’re right there.” Ryder smiled, the expression warm, fond. “They’re exceptional parents.”
“They sound it. How old are your twin brothers?” He was curious, and they were here as just people, as Ryder had said, so he didn’t feel like questions were out of bounds.
“They’ll be eighteen this year. Crazy boys.”
Eighteen. So young. “Are they riding too?”
“They’re junior bronc riders, and they like to rope, too. Lasso and Latigo saw us beat ourselves half to death.”
“Given your names, I get the impression this was going to be a rodeo family one way or the other,” he said dryly.
“My mom still races sometimes, and Daddy ropes, so yes. We’re not super famous, just an old rodeo family.” Ryder tilted his head. “What about you? Do you have a lot of family?”
“No. I had my mom, but she passed away right before I met Tad. And my father, well, I told you about him. I do remember my mother’s parents a little.” His mother raised him modestly, but she’d come from money. “I would have liked to have siblings, but my mother was happy with just me I guess.”
“I’m real sorry for your losses, sir.” Ryder almost reached out for his hand. “You’ve had so many.”
“Seems like it, doesn’t it?” He shrugged. “I think that’s one of the reasons I wasn’t sure I wanted to hire anyone after I—after Tad died. But I do appreciate your company.” He took Ryder’s hand and held it for a second, then slowly let it go and pushed his drink away. “Hm. I think I’ve had plenty of that.”
“You made a dent in it, yessir.” Ryder’s smile was warm, focused on him. This was dangerous.
He needed to put a little space between them.
He took a breath and stood up slowly in case he was more tipsy than he realized, but he was fine. Buzzed, no question, but steady. “Care to walk a bit more? Do you think we should find our seats soon?”
“Let’s wander. There are a few of my former sponsors I’d like to show my face to.”
“Lead the way.” He followed Ryder back out into the crowd. They hadn’t gotten very far when a big man in a black hat bumped into Ryder, knocking him back a step. He caught Ryder instinctively by the shoulders to keep him upright.
“Sorry, man. Whoa! Hang on. Roper? Ryder? Which one are you?”
“Ryder. How’s it going, Hank?” Ryder didn’t sound incredibly pleased to see this Hank.
“Fair, fair.” Hank was looking Charles over as he spoke. “I see you’ve kept yourself busy since you hit your head.”
Ryder moved to where he was between him and Hank, protecting him. “Yep. Busy and happy. You doing well?”
Ryder, who was half this man’s size, was getting between them. Anyone else might think that laughable, but he knew Ryder was tough. He’d seen the YouTube videos.
“Fine, Fine. No need to get defensive, boy.”
“I’m Charles.” He’d just be friendly. He wasn’t afraid, but he wasn’t keen on the idea of Ryder getting in a fight. And why did it seem like every big man they came across was aggressive around Ryder, anyway?