R- Not much to say about the second chapter. I wish it were longer but I couldn't seem to lengthen it no matter how I tried. Hope you enjoy!
A wide grin spread across the clown's heavily painted face. "Mrs. Dixon! I was just thinking about you," Bobby greeted enthusiastically with a slight lilt to his voice before Reno could get a word in. "I wanted your opinion- I tried something new with my shirts, to get them to fit better over my armor." He gestured widely to the bright red garment fitted loosely over his chest.
"Looks great, Bobby," Melissa assured with a smile. "I wanted to introduce you to our new bull rider, Reno Raines," she added, motioning to Reno.
Bobby laughed and Reno couldn't help but notice how it made his dark eyes scrunch up. "Oh, of course, how rude of me," he said, sticking out a hand for Reno to take and he shook it. "Bobby the Clown at your service, combination bullfighter-and-barrelman at this fine rodeo."
Reno offered a nod and a smile, taking a moment to get a closer look at the man. They were about the same height, though Bobby was perhaps a bit taller with wide shoulders. His makeup and wig did a good job of covering his face and hair, so all Reno could make out was dark brown eyes and a round face. "So, you'll be the one who has my back out there?" he asked.
"You bet," Bobby said.
"We haven't had a major injury to any of our riders since Dutch brought Bobby on," Melissa informed, and Reno didn't miss him beaming proudly.
"I guess you could say, I'm the best clown in the business," Bobby said with a grin and another small laugh.
"Well, that's good to hear," Reno said. "I'll see you in the ring then?"
"Let's hope you don't need me to rescue you," Bobby said with a teasing smirk.
That got a chuckle out of Reno. "Let's hope," he agreed, silently suspecting he was going to like the clown.
"You did good today," Cheyenne said before taking a short sip from her drink.
"Thanks," Reno said with a smile, "Just hope I do that good tomorrow when it's actually in front of a crowd."
They sat across from each other, picking idly at the remains of their meals as they talked. It was already dark outside the small restaurant and it was anything but crowded, leaving a comfortable atmosphere they weren't quick to leave behind. Earlier that day, he had had his first trial ride, and he had lasted a good amount of time on the bull. He wasn't amazing, no, but he was good enough to entertain an audience.
"Couldn't have been your first time bull riding," she commented.
Reno shrugged. "I'm no pro but I've ridden a time or two, when I was younger."
"Young and crazy?" she offered with a smirk.
"Oh, definitely," he replied cheekily. "Enough about me, though, what about you? How long have you been barrel racing?"
"Well, I've been riding since I was little," Chey explained with a hint of a far-off look. "This job was really just a fluke, took it so I could stay around my brother."
"Your brother works at the rodeo?" he asked in mild surprise.
She smiled slightly, nodding.
"I guess you guys are close then," he commented.
"Yeah, he's really my best friend," she said fondly. "I was always a bit of a fish-out-of water growing up and he was always there for me. And after our father died, it just feels good to be around family."
Reno nodded knowingly. "I understand."
"You have any family?" Cheyenne asked.
"Not any that I see often enough," he explained. "My dad is a cop back in Chicago, my brother lives in Thailand, and my mother died a few years ago." He paused befire deciding to leave it at that, purposefully leaving out his loss from the previous year.
Chey gave him a slight supportive smile and he was glad to not see any pity in her eyes, just understanding. "Well, if there's one thing that's nice about this job, it's that most of us feel like family. Always willing to adopt us another member," she said, but paused a moment before smirking and adding, "well, as long as you don't run with The Hound or something."
Reno was quick to remember catching a glimpse of a weaselly guy earlier in the day. Barking and howling while he harassed some poor female crew member, he made quite the embarrassing spectacle of himself, to the point where Reno nearly felt the need to step in. "You don't need to worry about that from me," he promised.
"I thought so," she said. "So, are you ready for tomorrow? First big day in front of a crowd."
"Oh, yeah, definitely," Reno replied, though his voice dripped with sarcasm. "I'm totally ready to get torn apart by a bull in front of hundreds of strangers."
"Hey, that's the life, right?" Chey said with a small laugh. "Besides, you're in good hands. I'll make sure my brother doesn't let anything happen to you," she assured teasingly.
"Wait, your brother?" Reno asked. "Is your brother-"
"Bobby, yeah," she said with a nod. "He really takes his job seriously."
"I've heard," Reno said. "No major injuries to bull riders since he started." Her pride at that was clear on her face and it made Reno smile. "I met him earlier today, he seems like a great guy."
"He's an even better clown," she joked, getting a laugh out of Reno.
They fell into a moment of silence after that, Reno's mind on her brother. He quickly felt guilty at that, trying to turn his attention back to the person he was sharing his dinner with. Instead, he wound up asking something else that was on his mind. "Hey, you don't happen to know Dixon's story, do you? He doesn't really seem to fit with the whole roping-and-riding thing."
"Tell me about it," Chey said. "I don't know what possessed him to buy a rodeo, but he at least seen to know what he's doing. Doesn't seem like the most honest guy around, but what guy is honest?"
Reno put on a faux insulted look. "What about me?"
"Jury's still out on you, Raines," she teased. "But, yeah, I think the only person around here that would really know Dixon's story is Melissa. He's not exactly 'open'."
Reno tapped his fingers on the tabletop. "I'll keep that in mind. Thanks."
"And thank you for buying me dinner."
Reno took a deep breath. The sun was bright in the mid-morning, cloudless sky and he tried to block out the sound of the crowd's roaring. He had done well the day before when just the crew was watching, but the pressure was on and he was doing everything in his power to stay calm. Ignoring relative strangers offering him offhanded 'Good luck's, he focused solely on getting in the pen and on the bull. He didn't hear the announcer over the intercom, or the crowd's laughter, but for some reason his eyes decided to trail on the brightly-clad figure out in the ring, entertaining the audience before he went out.
Heart lurching, he sucked in another breath, attributing it to the bull shifting and huffing underneath him. A man wrapped one of Reno's gloved hands in the bull rope and he gripped it tightly, forcing his gaze down on it instead.
A few short seconds later the door swung open and the bull burst out of the pen, Reno holding his freehand up in the air while the animal thrashed and bucked about in an attempt to throw him off. In an instant it was like all of his senses flooded back on him, the sound of the crowd shouting and the bull snorting and the announcer narrating, all hitting his ears. Dust burned his eyes and nose and throat, and in less than a second his hand ached with the effort of holding into the rope. He still held tight, trying to count the seconds away in head before he finally pulled away and freed his hand, jumping as far away from the bull as he could.
The bull whirled back towards him and Reno scrambled away, barely managing to stay on his feet. Suddenly, a familiar brightly-clothed clown came up from behind him, waving his arms and leading the bull away, distracting it long enough for Reno to escape the ring.
On the sidelines and out of breath but otherwise no worse for wear, Reno turned down the offer for first aid to see him. He was able to make out over the intercom that his score was good and the audience sounded reasonably entertained which let him breath a sigh of relief. His nervousness was quickly replaced with a buzz of excitement but he hid it the same as he did his anxiety.
Leaning heavily against a wall, he only straightened up slightly when he saw Bobby coming his way.
"Hey, man," he greeted the clown, "thanks."
"It was nothing, Reno," Bobby responded with a grin that scrunched up his eyes at the corners. "Just doing my job. You okay?"
"I'm fine," he brushed off, but couldn't help but return the smile. The clown seemed to exude an upbeat air about him that rubbed off on Reno whenever he was near.
"You did good out there, congrats," Bobby said. "And I heard you took my sister out for dinner last night," he added, raising an eyebrow at him.
Reno chuckled, slightly embarrassed. "I didn't know she was your sister until the end. But I assure you my intentions were pure," he said, raising his hands in an innocent gesture.
"Mhm, I sure hope so," he said, but with a hint of a smile. Reno was suddenly aware that staying on Bobby's good side was probably best; he may dress like a clown, but he also fought bulls for a living. Not to mention that under his loose clothing Reno could make out a very solidly built body.
Reno drug his eyes back up to look at his face, but was cut off from whatever he was going to say when someone called for Bobby.
Bobby offered him an apologetic look. "Sorry," he said, "but the public awaits," he joked. "I'll see you around."
Reno offered a quick goodbye and watched the clown rush off.
"Raines!"
He looked up quickly when he heard his name, glancing around for the source of the familiar voice. He found it quickly, greeted by the practiced grin of Dutch Dixon.
"You did pretty good out there," he said, walking up to Reno. "Keep it up and I'll definitely consider hiring you on when we move out of town."
"Hey, I'm just getting started," Reno assured, though the confidant smirk he offered was slightly forced.
"I'll bet," Dutch said. "I can really see you becoming an asset around here, Raines." Patting Reno on the shoulder, a smirk tugged at his lips that Reno barely caught as he walked past.
Though he wasn't one to be overly suspicious of people, Reno was struck once again with a pang of uneasiness about his new boss. Something about him didn't sit right with him, and no matter how hard he tried, he couldn't shake it.
Sighing, he considered Cheyenne's words from the night before: if anyone knew Dutch's story, it was Melissa.