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the horse gave him a soft nicker followed by a snort that sounded more like  about time than it did
 thanks . Even his livestock wasn t giving him time to recover from the loss of both his father and his
career. Life went on, he supposed. For better or for worse.  So what brings you around?
Chris shoved his hands in his jacket pockets against the chill in the air.  You about done here?
 Yeah. Just let me top off his water bucket and then I m done. Why? What you got in mind? Any
distraction would be welcome at this point.
Chris shrugged.  I don t know. You want to go into town for a drink?
In town people would come up to him and want to ask how he was doing. He wasn t in the mood for
that. It had been bad enough when he d almost had to go with his mother to the church. When she d come
out to the barn to tell him she was taking the truck to drop off the bags and he d offered to drive her, she d
said she would go alone. That was probably a good thing. He wasn t in a sociable mood today.
 How about we pick up a couple of six-packs and drink them at your house instead? Luke glanced
hopefully at Chris.
 Sure. We can do that. Chris continued to watch him in that strange way he had, like he was seeing
deeper than Luke wanted him to.  You okay?
And there was that question again.  Yeah. I m fine.
Chris planted a boot on a bale of hay and leaned one elbow on his knee, then focused on Luke s face.
 Look, Luke. I m just going to say it. There s an event on TV tonight. The one you d be riding in if nothing
had happened. I know it and you know it, so let s just get it out there in the open.
Luke s brow rose.  Okay. So the event s on TV. They always are. What exactly are we getting out in
the open?
 Your feelings.
 My feelings? You ve been watching too many daytime talk shows. Luke scowled and dragged the
hose across the barn floor.
 Joke if you want, but we both know you d rather things were different. So I guess the question is are
we going to get drunk and not watch it and pretend you don t wish you were there riding tonight? Or are we
going to get drunk and watch it and pretend you don t feel bad that you re not there?
Leave it to Chris to not pull any punches. Luke shoved the nozzle into the bucket inside the stall and
held it there while the water level rose. When he glanced up, Chris was still waiting for his answer. Luke
saw no reason to lie. His friend would probably see through it anyway.  I haven t decided yet.
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Hooked
 All right. Well, when you do, let me know. I need to tell the rest of the household what they re
allowed to watch on TV tonight.
Luke looked up with a frown.  They can watch whatever they want.
 Yeah, sure. I m going to town to grab the beer. See you at my place in a few?
He nodded.  Yeah.
It would get easier. People looked forward to retirement. Right?
Yeah, right.
Cold beer went down real smooth when things in your life felt like they d all gone to shit. Luke took
another swallow from his fifth or was it sixth bottle of brew. He slumped lower against the cushions of
the Collins s living-room couch, settled in for the night.
The station came back from a break and cut to a picture that had the bottle in Luke s hand pausing
halfway down from his lips. An old photo of his father from back in his rodeo days filled the screen. Across
it was written the name Charles Carpenter and the dates of his birth and death.
Chris leaned forward in his chair, then glanced at Luke.  Wow. Did you know about this?
Luke shook his head.  No.
He stopped talking because Annie s voice came on the television as she narrated. It started with a
video of Luke with his father at a competition last year, then it backtracked to a comprehensive photo
retrospective of his father s rodeo career which brought the mist that had been hovering just out of range
for days now, back to his eyes.
The piece ended with video of Luke s final ride from last week. The last time he d ridden
professionally. The last time he d been happy before Chris had broken the news to him.
Then it was over. They cut back to the chutes and the next bull and rider with JW, one of the [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]