Dakota giggled lightly as he made the joke, playing along. "You know what they say about barrel racers." She said, rolling her eyes. "So. Where'll it be, cowboy?" She asks, a twinkle in her eye as she looked at him

"I'll be there." She said, smiling at him. "And i'll win that barrel run, just watch." She added, walking off

Dakota was blushing a deep scarlet by the time she was loading up her mare. She sighed as she started the truck and drove off

The next week went by in a blur with Dakota antsy for this weekend. When the day before the rodeo finally rolled around, Dakota packed and loaded her mare. She drove to the rodeo that was 2 hours away, unloading the mare and tacking up to work the kinks out of her legs

Emma's eyes brightened when she saw Nate in the arena. She jogged, then loped the rail, giving Nate room to work. When there was enough room, she practiced the tight turns again