The Cowboy Meets His Match by Leann Harris Page B

Bob’s hardware store, people came out of the buildings, seemingly curious. “Come see,” Erin answered. The people followed behind. Erin heard murmured comments.
    When they entered the hardware store, Bob and Tom Kirby, a local rancher, were at the checkout counter talking.
    â€œMorin’, Erin.” He looked at Sawyer and nodded.
    â€œIs there something I can help you with?” Bob asked.
    Erin heard the other residents filing into the building.
    â€œSawyer and I have been discussing the rodeo redo and how to implement it. Sawyer needs the names of local vendors who want to bid on working for the rodeo.”
    â€œOh?” Bob frowned at Sawyer. “I thought he’d want to use the big boys out of Albuquerque.”
    â€œI’m open to all bids. I do have a budget, but I want to include as many local vendors as possible. They know the history of the rodeo, and that could put a different spin on the work they do.”
    Bob considered Sawyer’s words. He turned to Erin, silently asking if she believed this stranger.
    â€œI think it’s a good idea, Bob,” she replied. “Locals would have a shot at working on the rodeo. It would give them a personal stake in the project and an opportunity to show off their work and maybe get other contracts.”
    â€œI think so, too,” came a shouted reply from the back. “I’d be interested,” a man called out.
    Erin looked over her shoulder at the man who’d offered the comment and gave him a thumbs-up.
    â€œOkay, give me the list of what you need, and I’ll post it in the store. The folks behind you will read it and spread the word.”
    They didn’t need the internet in this town. Word of mouth was faster and the mode that had been used for over a hundred years, but Sawyer wanted to use the internet to bring younger people into the redo.
    Sawyer pulled a slip of paper out of his shirt pocket and placed it on the counter. “Anyone who wants to bid can come by the rodeo board office.” Sawyer turned to the group. “So read the list and, if you have any of the skills needed, come by and talk to me, then put in your bid.”
    Sawyer and Erin made their way through the crowd by the front door, leaving Bob and Tom with their mouths hanging open.
    Erin laughed.
    â€œWhat’s so funny?” Sawyer asked.
    â€œI don’t think I’ve seen Bob that off-balance before.”
    â€œI do have that effect on people.”
    Boy, didn’t she know it. No matter how much she wanted to dislike him for getting the job she’d thought was hers, he managed to throw something in her way that made it impossible.
    * * *
    â€œC’mon, Auntie, we’re late,” Erin said, trying to speed up her aunt and brother as they walked into the Hope Community Church.
    â€œI’m not the one who caused the delay.” Betty eyed her nephew. “What was Tate thinking about, wearing his torn cutoffs and old plaid slip-on tennis shoes with holes in each shoe to church?”
    When Tate had appeared in the kitchen for breakfast, Auntie had sent him back to his room to change before he could touch any of the food. She’d ended her scolding with the threat that he had five minutes before she threw his breakfast in the garbage. Tate made it back in time to eat his egg-and-bacon flat-bread sandwich.
    Entering the church, people clustered in different spots in the main sanctuary talking. They turned and acknowledged Erin and the family.
    From the instant Bob had posted the jobs that needed to be filled, a constant stream of residents had come by the hardware store and rodeo board’s headquarters. The board members in Harding County got the word that they were hiring for jobs to work on the rodeo. People had called and stopped by the Delong home to check out the rumors about jobs working on the rodeo. It’d been the talk of the town. No, it had been the talk of the county, and late