Free Getting Lucky by Carolyn Brown Page A

Your wife left her child and hasn't been back to see her since, don't even care enough to call on her birthday or send a Christmas present. Who's the whore and who's the good mother? You best be rethinkin' your judgment, son."
       Griffin threw up his hands in defeat. "This has been a day from hell. I'm going to the field to sort it all out."
       "Might be a good idea," Marita threw over her shoulder.

Chapter 4

    A BREEZE BLEW ACROSS THE PORCH AS JULIE AND ANNIE waited for Mamie. Like most five-year-old kids, Annie couldn't be still with the excitement of going to her first rodeo. Finally, they heard a car and Annie ran to the edge of the yard to look up the road.
       "It's her! I know it's her and now we can go," Annie said.
       Mamie came to a stop without turning into the driveway and waved at Annie.
       "Buckle up, cowgirls. We're on our way to the big Chisholm Trail Rodeo," she called.
       Julie fastened Annie's belt in the backseat before she opened the door on the passenger side of the car.
       "Why do they call it all that, and do men really really ride on the backs of bulls?" Annie asked.
       "The Chisholm Trail came through here from San Antonio through Fort Worth and right up 81 through Oklahoma. That's why they call it the Chisholm Trail Rodeo. Anyway, the trail had feeder trails and the folks who came through Saint Jo back then stopped and watered the herd and the men at the square. It's all part of the local history," Mamie explained. "Which reminds me. That deal about the winter festival that we had to postpone has been rescheduled for Sunday afternoon. It's the only time Clarice and Everett can work it into their schedules. I'm sure they're hoping that no one will take time out on Sunday, and they'll vote the idea down."
       "I'll be there," Julie said. "Might as well dive right in and get in the middle of the town's arguments. Nothing like being on the wrong side to get me fired next year."
       "You ain't gettin' fired, girl. Mrs. Amos runs the school and she told me you're doin' a fine job."
       "The school board has something to say about that," Julie said.
       "Maybe so, but not a one of them wants to see Mrs. Amos turn in her resignation. If she likes you, darlin', you won't be gettin' a pink slip."
       "How'd she get so much pull?" Julie asked.
       "She squatted in a field one day and they built the school around her. I can't remember when Mrs. Amos wasn't at the school. She taught for years. Was mine and Griffin's third-grade teacher. Teachers come and go. So do superintendents, but not Mrs. Amos. She's been there since Griff and Graham and my parents were in school."
       "Might be nothing could keep me here," she said.
       "Want to talk about it?"
       "Not with the backseat driver listenin' in," Julie said.
       Mamie had proven to be a good friend the past weeks. She had made a special trip to see Annie with the news that Lizzy had been grounded to her yard for a week and couldn't ride her pony for a whole month—and never back down to Annie's house. Annie had been fine with it until Friday when school let out and then the pouting began. She missed Lizzy and Chuck, and why couldn't they just call their parents and see if they could come for a play day at her house? The Saturday night rodeo was a nice diversion to help her get through the weekend.
       Julie hadn't been too sure about what to wear to the shindig. When she thought about a rodeo she pictured women in jeans and shirts with pearl snaps and boots. She had the jeans. A tank top with sequins scattered on the neckline had to work for the shirt. The only boots she had were the rubber ones she slipped over her high heeled shoes when it rained. She had put on her sandals. Two out of three wasn't bad.
       Annie was going to see the horses and the bulls and she would have worn a Cinderella gown if Julie would have let her. Julie talked her into a pair of jeans, a T-shirt with Ariel on it,