Free Getting Lucky by Carolyn Brown Page B

and sandals.
       Mamie wore jeans, boots, and a pearl-snapped sleeve less shirt. Three out of three. Did that mean she went home with the cowboy that night? Julie didn't care if she did. She'd had her one night of being a wanton woman. It had netted her a child that she wanted desperately, but she'd be hung from the tall limb of a Texas pecan tree with a worn out rope before she went in for a repeat performance of that night.
       "Anyone I know going to be here?" she asked Mamie cautiously.
       "Just everyone in the whole area who likes rodeos," she said.
       Julie bit her lip to keep back the groan. That meant Griffin for sure. He was a rancher, and they did like cows and bullshit, didn't they?
       Annie spotted Lizzy before she was even out of the car and began to tug on Julie's hand. Julie looked up and saw Lizzy dragging an older lady across the parking lot toward them. Both little girls stopped a foot from each other, smiles on their faces and their eyes all aglitter. They reached out at the same time and laced their fingers together. From that point, there was no separating them.
       The lady held out her hand. "I am Marita. I have been keeping house at the Lucky Clover since before the twins were born. I take care of Lizzy. You must be Annie's mother. Her name comes up about every five seconds at the ranch."
       Her handshake was firm.
       "I'm Julie Donavan. It's the same at my house. Lizzy and Chuck are my daughter's new best friends."
       "Nana Rita, Miss Julie is the white trash Daddy told you about. I want to grow up to be just like her," Lizzy said in awe.
       Mamie laughed until she got the hiccups.
       Julie blushed.
       Marita just smiled. "The little ones don't know what they are saying. Forgive her."
       "Don't worry about it. Kids just repeat what they hear at that age. She doesn't even know what those words mean," Julie said.
       "Can we sit together, please, Nana Rita, please, please, please?" Lizzy begged.
       "We will all sit together if that's all right with Miss Julie and Miss Mamie," Marita looked at Annie. The child was the image of her father, Graham. His face had always been a bit more round than Griffin's and he'd been just a shade shorter. Wait until Deborah Luckadeau found out there was a remnant of her son still on the earth. She'd be ecstatic.
       "Of course, it's all right. Is Griff riding tonight?" Mamie asked.
       They found seats near the top at the far end for the three adults. The two little girls sat right in front of them.
       "If there's the smell of a bull ride within fifty miles, Griffin will be there. He's already drawn his number and got the meanest, blackest bull I've ever seen. Horns out to here"—Marita measured as far as her hands would reach—"and evil in his eyes."
       "Where's Carl?" Mamie asked.
       "Right down there with him. Egging him on. Making sure he has his lucky clover charm pinned to his hat," Marita said.
       "My daddy can stay on a bull eight seconds. That's a long time," Lizzy bragged to Annie.
       "Is eight seconds a long, long time?" Annie asked.
       Julie wished she could find a big black cave, drag Annie in it with her, and pull a rock over the entrance. She'd have found an excuse or a reason not to go to the rodeo if she'd known Griffin was riding. She eyed Mamie from the corner of her eye. Was she friend or foe? A lamb or a wolf dressed in lamb's clothing?
       The announcer gave the name of the first rider and the bull, and a chute opened. Julie had seen bull riding on television when she passed through the living room and her father was channel surfing. She wasn't totally ignorant when it came to the sport, but nothing prepared her for the excitement. The smell, the dust, the clowns, the cheering all around her, Annie's eyes and Lizzy's shouts; they all combined to make her heart pump faster than it had since the fight with Griffin and Rachel. Julie looked around but she couldn't