Authors Note--

I know I haven't updated anything for ever but I'm working on it, sorry!! All I'm going to say before I get on with the chapter is that I need more reviews for this chapter because I got, like, half of what I usually get for the last chapter. I KNOW it was basically just a filler and all but still. Anyways, enjoy! And I'm half done a chapter for BP and a chapter for WP, I just felt like writing this! And there are only two chapters left of TP (I think) and I know what's going to happen in the next chapter of TUP so… I'll update everything ASAP! Promise…

Review!

-Steph

Disclaimer: Everything recognizable belongs to Lauren Brooke

Rodeo Stoner

Chapter Four— The Barbeque

Wednesday

Mom and dad woke us all up early the next day. Abbey practically bounded out of her bed but Lou and I rolled back over to go back to sleep. Jetlag sucks. That's all there is to it. Well, fine. So that's a bad excuse seeing as how it's early over in the west then it is in the east and all… alright, fine. So I just wanted to sleep more. So sue me.

I think I recall moms exact words being, "Come on, girls! You're wasting prime Yellowstone time sleeping!"

Yeah. You'd want to go back to sleep, too, believe me.

Abbey seemed convinced that we were going to see some 'wild horsies' in Yellowstone and came back into our room and proceeded to jump on Lou and my respective beds until we were up. Aren't little sisters the greatest? I so wouldn't be driving her anywhere when she was older.

"Let's go see the wild horsies! Let's go see the wild horsies! Let's go see the wild horsies! Let's go see the wild horsies!" Abbey chanted over and over and over and I swear that I thought she would never stop.

After I was dressed in a pair of faded jeans and a sweatshirt—you'd be surprised how cool it was in the mornings up in Wyoming—I pulled my hair into a ponytail and went to meet everyone else out on the porch.

It was then announced that we were going to go up to the house to enjoy that continental breakfast thing that they had every morning.

Lou and I followed slightly behind mom, dad and Abbey as we went up to the house. The horses were still peaceful in their pens, probably enjoying all the time they had before people came to ride them. There was a guy I hadn't met tossing hay to the horses.

We walked up that steep hill and then up some stairs to the front of the house. Mom just opened the door and walked right in the rest of us followed. Maybe it was just me, but isn't there something a bit weird about just walking into someone's house? Whatever.

Mom and dad greeted Rick and Kara—the couple that owned the place—who were sitting at one of the tables in the dining room. Kara held a little baby on her lap—I think they said his name was Dakota. Kara was medium height and skinny with long blonde hair while Rick looked like a hardcore cowboy. He had the worn in boots, stained jeans, cowboy hat and big belt buckle to prove it. The baby, Dakota, was cute but rather bald and looked kind of big sitting of Kara's lap. Kara's mom and dad were also at the table. They were 'living' in the cabin next to us. I swear, living. They'd been there for like three months so far. Wow…

Anyway, there was one other family at one of the other tables and we sat at a circular table in the corner before we got up and helped ourselves to the splendid buffet that was laid out for us. Basically, it was donuts, muffins, cereal, coffee, water, orange juice and fruit. Oh, and some pastries. I got a glazed donut and headed back to the table. Mom got a plate of fruit for us all to share… she always did that a help-yourself kind of meals.

We ate quietly at first but then mom started chatting away about all the animals and cool things we'd see. Abbey still insisted that we'd see 'wild horsies' and no one told her differently.

We were just finishing up our breakfast when a door slammed shut and someone was stomping towards the dining room. There was also the sound of claws against the hard wood floor.

A little dog bounded into the dining room. Abbey got up to pet it but mom told her to finish her cantaloupe. Well, it wasn't really a small dog, more medium sized. It was one of those Australian Cattle Dogs. It was a rich gray color all over its body, a bit of tan on its face and front legs and black ears. Very cute dog.

It went over to Rick and Kara and demanded attention. The baby on Kara's lap giggled as the dog licked and snuffled its face.

And then the dog's mystery owner or whatever entered the room. It was the guy from yesterday—I think his name was Ty. Today, we wore a pair of darkish jeans that were faded on the thighs. They were looser then the ones he had worn the day before but they sure weren't ready to fall off his butt. He got some points for the plaid shirt he was wearing; it was dark blue and black with a pocket on either side of his chest. The shirt emphasized his broad shoulders and it was left unbuttoned—he had a black tee-shirt underneath though—and the sleeves rolled to his elbows. Any points he got for almost appearing to fit in on the ranch were taken away—he still wore those Converses.

"Hey, Ty," Kara made an attempt at being cheerful.

"What do you have planned for the day?" Rick asked him next.

Ty turned to Rick with a bit of an incredulous expression on his face and in his eyes—at least what I could see of his eyes. "I'm going on that ridiculous trail ride you're making me go on," he said bitterly. "Why else would I be wearing this shirt?" Yep, all points lost.

"Ty," Rick said in a warning voice. "We have guests," he reminded his nephew.

"Don't we always," Ty muttered.

He did look a little out of it… or maybe that was just how he always looked. I couldn't be sure. And then, with great excitement, I remembered his tattoo. I looked at his arms as surreptitiously as I could manage. There were two leather cuff things on his right wrist and then winding up his arm was what looked like a vine with dead flowers… um, alright. And then there was some sort of tattoo band type thing around his left wrist. Oh boy. There was something wrong with that guy… maybe I wasn't so far of in targeting him as a stoner.

"Adam will be going on the trail ride this afternoon, too," I heard Rick say.

Ty cringed and then smirked. "Wonderful," he said sarcastically. "Is that supposed to make it all better? I'd rather kill myself then spend time with that—"

"Ty," Kara stopped him.

"Fine. I'll just go and make sure that none of those idiots gives one of my horses two much hay." Ty spun around and stomped out of the room only stopping to yell, "Let's go, Gray," and the dog bounded out after him.

After he left, Kara looked over at us and the other family apologetically. "Sorry about Ty," she said. "He's really not a bad kid, just a bit rough around the edges," she smiled but it didn't reach her eyes.

We said goodbye then and left, after assuring Kara and Rick that we would be at the barbeque thing that night.

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Yellowstone was interesting and all don't get me wrong. It's just that I wasn't as into it as mom and dad were. Abbey thought it was cool but she really just wanted to see those 'wild horsies'. Lou may have tried to act like she didn't love it but we all knew she did—she loves outdoorsy stuff like that. I just couldn't see anything to go crazy about over it. I mean, yeah, sure, it was cool and the rock formations were pretty cool looking and all but I just wasn't, like, wetting myself to get a picture of the mountain goat on the rocks.

Things got interesting later when we returned back to New Hopes Ranch. It wasn't actually until the barbeque that the day got a lot more exciting… or, well, as exciting as you can expect it to get in the middle of nowhere… or Cody, Wyoming but what's the difference? Really.

So, the barbeque was in front of our cabin and down a little hill. There was a pond that was used for fishing, a fire hole and a little enclosed area where the food was. Rick was just finishing up barbequing the hamburgers and hotdogs when we got there. Other then that, there was cornbread, corn, baked beans, stuffing—your typical cowboy/ranch type of meal.

We sat at one of the benches around the fire while we ate. The rest of the people staying there were there, so were Rick and Kara and baby Dakota along with the rest of the stable hands. There were also the rest of the dogs that lived on New Hopes Ranch—practically a given around a barbeque.

After we had eaten, mom and dad went off to talk to some people they had met earlier that day. Abbey went off to play 'horsies' with a girl and a boy that were her age. Lou and I just sat around and tried not to look too bored.

"Hey," a guy said and Lou and I looked up. It was Adam—and he had decided to sit down at our table.

"Hey," Lou said in a flirty voice and suddenly looked a little more into life.

I choked back a laugh.

"So, did you guys have a good day?" he even had the courtesy to glance at me—even though the question was 100 percent directed to Lou.

I let Lou answer. "Oh yeah, it was pretty cool. We went to Yellowstone."

"The park's amazing, isn't it?" Adam leaned his arms on the table and looked at Lou.

"Amazing!" Lou seconded. "The landscaping and everything is just so…" and then I trailed them out because, come on, it just wasn't a conversation that I found terribly interesting. I kind of thought that Lou and Adam wouldn't much mind—or notice—if I left but there wasn't anywhere for me to go so that option was completely out. I mean, I suppose I could just sit by the fire alone… like a loser… no.

"… don't you think so, Amy? Amy?"

I cleared my throat and sat up straighter at the sound of my name. Adam and Lou were both watching me expectantly and it didn't take long to piece together that I had been asked a question and they were waiting for an answer.

"Um, I…" I started to stuttered but stopped as headlights flooded briefly over the picnic area. I looked up and saw a black pickup pulling into the farm and driving along the path to park by the side of the barn. "Who's that?" I asked to save myself from my impending doom… or humiliation at the very least.

Adam slouched over. "He's back," he said gloomily. "I wonder what happened; he never comes back this early at night." I didn't know who he was talking about but it was obvious that Adam wasn't very fond of whoever it was.

"Who's h—" I started but stopped as Rick's deep, booming voice called through the still night.

"Ty! Come on over!" Oh, of course.

I saw the figure that had gotten out of the car freeze in its tracks. The figure—Ty, I guess it was—was dark in the shadows. Rick called again and Ty slouched over to his uncle.

"Yes?" he asked in a clearly annoyed voice.

Rick chortled—somebody had had a few too many beers. "Stay around for awhile. Have some food, eat, socialize, enjoy!"

"I'm busy," Ty said in monosyllables.

"How busy can you be?" Rick didn't wait for an answer—not that I thought Ty was going to supply one—and continued on, "Look," he pointed over to our table. "There's Adam, go and talk."

"I'd rather eat shi—"

"Ty," Kara jumped in quickly. "Come now, you know we don't talk like that here."

"How could I have forgotten?" Ty responded in a sarcastic voice.

"Get yourself something to eat," Kara said instead of replying to Ty's 'question'. "You're starting to look a little skinny. How would your mom and dad feel about that, now? If they thought we weren't feeding our nephew!"

Kara stopped abruptly as though she suddenly realized she had said the wrong the thing.

"Well," Ty began and I could tell that the longest answer I'd ever heard him give was coming on, "considering that my mother and father don't give a shit about what happens to me and the fact that I've already eaten and that I have things to do… I'm leaving." And then Ty turned and walked away again, disappearing into the shadows that surrounded the barn.

"Is he always like that?" Lou whispered to Adam.

"Yes," Adam snorted. Adam didn't seem to like talking about Ty too much and so he decided to change the topic. "Hey, do you guys want to go and see the horses?" he offered.

"Of course," Lou responded with a smile. They both looked at me.

"Sure," I shrugged.

We got up and walked, unnoticed by the rest of the group, to the round pens. I followed Lou who appeared to be following Adam's lead and we stopped in front of that smallest round pen with the two horses—Blue and Red.

Both horses munched contentedly on their hay and just looked generally peaceful in the calm night.

"They're such beautiful horses," Lou said, leaning against the fence and stroking Blue's dark muzzle.

"Yeah," Adam agreed. "It's a shame they're owned by a stoner though," he said in what almost seemed to be regret.

"Is he really a stoner?" Lou asked next and I listened on casually.

"Well," Adam began, "I've never seen him doing anything but I've seen the guys he hangs out with and… well, it's one of those things that you're pretty safe to assume."

"So I take it that the two of you don't get on so well," Lou said rather sympathetically as she leaned towards Adam a little bit.

"He's not a pleasant person. I've heard that he had a pretty rough home life and was sent here when he was fourteen because he kept getting in trouble—you know drugs and stuff like that."

"So how old is he now?" Lou asked.

"Eighteen, nineteen, something like that."

I didn't even bother to say that Adam had already told us this yesterday… well, besides the age part, I mean.

"So how—"

"I thought I told you to leave these horse alone," a low and dark voice said from somewhere behind us.

I spun around in surprise and saw Ty standing there with his arms crossed across his chest. His dark hair fell across his eyes but I could feel the intense emotions in his eyes as they swept over us. I noticed that he was, rather surprisingly, holding a large, dark leather and worn looking Western saddle in his arms.

"I was just showing these two ladies you horses," Adam stepped forwards and responded bravely—clearly it was in an attempt to impress Lou… and I think it was working.

"I don't care if you've got the damned Pope with you," Ty said, not even gracing me and Lou with a glance. "I told you not to touch them." He walked forwards and dumped the saddle and the rest of the tack in a pile on the ground near the round pen.

"Way to treat the tack," Adam smirked.

Ty picked up the tack with a glare and shoved it on the fence. "There," he said, "is that more pleasing to you, your Highness?"

Adam's smirk disappeared. "Hey," he said, "I've got two of the guests at this place with me. Don't you think you could be polite for even two seconds?"

"If I even gave a damn about this place then maybe," Ty said as he climbed over the fence skillfully and dropped into the round pen. Red and Blue only flicked their ears at his appearance and turned towards him a little.

"Why don't you get lost now?" Ty said. "And stay away from my horses. This is the last time I'm going to tell you," he warned.

Adam chuckled, albeit a bit nervously it was still a chuckle. "Or you'll what, Ty? What can you possibly do to me?"

Adam's question was met with silence. Adam laughed uneasily but stopped after a few moments. I could think of a few things off of the top of my head that I'm sure this guy could do to Adam. Ty was a fair few inches taller then Adam and he had broader shoulders and looked all around more fit. Not that Adam wasn't fit…

"You'd think you'd understand simple English, wouldn't you, Boswell? What, with that fancy ass college you go to. Stay away from my horses. It's as simple as that."

Adam couldn't think of a smart reply quick enough so he stomped away. Well, he didn't stomp per say… but it was pretty well close to it.

Lou followed him and I walked after her with a quick glance back. I caught the look on Ty's face before he turned to his horses and I thought that he took pleasure in what he did to Adam.

Adam pointed out some of the other horses to us and no one said anything else about Ty. Finally, we decided that we ought to head back to our cabin. Lou said bye to Adam and then walked by my side back to our cabin. I glanced at the smallest round pen once and neither Ty nor the two horses were there. I looked around but the night was dark and silent.

Lou chatted about Adam and how great he was as we walked but I didn't really pay any attention to her. I'd heard her talk about enough guys to get the gist of it without actually having to listen.

When we got back, mom 'casually' announced what we were doing the next day/night.

We were going to the rodeo.

A/n: yeah, so it's short and horrible but it will get better in the next chapter because this chapter and the previous one are only fillers! Review! -Steph