Rodeo (BBW Cowboy Romance) (BBW Western Romance) Read Free Page A

ranch.  A cowboy at heart, his ambitions spanned no wider than the rim of his Stetson hat, his future was already mapped out for him and he was content with that.  He cherished the wide open spaces, this was his paradise, his freedom and his comfort zone, and it was difficult for him to comprehend a different way of life.
     
    I was expected to get my exam results on the same week that my sixteenth birthday fell which meant, that in light of what had been building up between Tommy and I, it was going to be a very important week, a life changing week.
     
    As I woke on my sixteenth birthday I was greeted seconds later by my grandmother, the postman had already delivered and as we had no other family I was guessing that the envelope she had in her hand wasn't a birthday card from a long lost aunt.  Teasing me, she walked to the other side of the room and waved it in my direction, I pulled back the covers and leapt out of bed, I was too fast for her and I caught the envelope out of her hand.  Before she had time to retrieve it the lid was ripped open and the paper was out.  In my hand were the important results, the results that would determine where and what direction my life would be going in.  I was suddenly frightened to look.
     
    I passed the paper to my grandmother, “You read it. I just can't.”
     
    My grandmother didn't need asking twice and she took the paper, opened it and I watched expectantly.
     
    I'll never be certain how far she got down the paper but as soon as I saw her eyes fill up with tears I knew I'd been successful.  I ran over to her and looked over her shoulder, I was a straight A student, I was off to university and neither me nor my grandparents could have wished for a better birthday present. 
     
    As a family we were never really ones for celebrating birthdays, my grandparents had tried their hardest when I'd been young but once I'd reached my tenth birthday I was kind of reluctant to accept all the fuss, it was all just an unnecessary waste of money as far as I was concerned and much preferred the family time together than the presents and effort to please party goers.  I suppose presents were extravagant pleasures to me when I'd much rather have my parents there instead.
     
    I wasn't granted this decision on my sixteenth though, this was considered a special birthday and in light of my exam results, even more special.  It was out of my hands but I was happy for it to be so, my grandparents deserved the right to celebrate, not only had they managed to raise me safely for 16 years but their nurturing and encouragement had enabled me to succeed well at school.
     
    It wasn't a big gathering, I was expected to invite a couple of friends from school, obviously Tommy and his parents had been invited and my grandparents had invited a couple of the neighbors from the village.  The weather was kind to us which allowed us to have a barbeque; there was nothing better than a family and friends barbeque whatever the occasion, due to everyone's working commitments it was very few and far between that we were able to synchronize our schedules but when we did, I loved the fact that there was always plenty of laughter, all the adults got drunk which meant the drunker they got, the looser their inhibitions became, us kids learnt all kinds of secrets, it also meant we could get away with drinking alcohol without the adults knowing.
     
    The courtyard to the farm was scattered, randomly with hay bales for people to be seated but most of the time they were used to balance drinks on or half empty plates of food, which Dolly the Collie soon cleaned up and waited patiently for the next lot to be cast aside.  Inside the barn the men had constructed a makeshift bar, this would house at least half a dozen barrels of beer that had been kindly donated by our local bar and every kind of spirit you could think of that had been brought by guests.  The food was always supplied by my grandparents and if they thought