Chapter 41

Friday, July 10, 2020

I didn’t think it would EVER get here, the rodeo, Calgary Stampede, Calgary, Alberta, Canada, one of the biggest rodeos in the world. Dani’s barrel racing in that rodeo for the movie. My studio contact, Janet (studio’s publicist), had told me that they wanted authenticity, a real rodeo, not some put-together, tiny little thing they’re pretending is big like so many movies do. The Calgary Stampede fit every criteria, including the timing with the rest of the shooting.

The only drawback, which was also much of the reason it was picked, was that it is huge, Dani will be scared to death, a nervous wreck for her barrel racing debut in such an atmosphere, in front of roughly twenty-thousand people. And she’ll get one chance to do it right. The hard thing for me was going to be that Janet also told me that I wouldn’t be able to see Dani until after filming that night to not distract her. After two months, that was going to be fucking hard!

Ten of us had flown to Calgary, Jenny and Richard, Jon and Tammy, Jodi, both our sets of parents, and me. We’d gotten our passports to get into Canada not long ago, and the day had finally arrived. Dani’s big ride was going to be tomorrow ... I hoped. Janet also said there was a backup plan in case she couldn’t do it, an experienced barrel racer as a double. We all knew it was a big risk, not only the possibility of serious injury but also that Dani could back out at the last minute. She’d made it clear to me in our nightly chats that wasn’t going to happen, but ... you never knew.

Her little joke that the studio was doing this scene last in case she killed herself was only half joking, although no one expected an accident. In any case, my nerves were acutely on edge. Of course, the fact that I hadn’t had sex for the last month was only adding to the angst. I think both Elle and Jenny had conspired to make this reunion memorable. It had been four weeks since that last time with Elle, not at all with Jenny since that night we watched the video. A couple dinners at their house, but no ‘after’ fun.

Speaking of that last time, I mentioned Elle’s little ‘test’ of her ex in my last chapter. She’d divorced him a little over three years earlier because of his cheating, then after our trip to Tampa, she admitted she still loved him and decided to give him a second chance with an honest, open relationship. She’d invited me to her house Friday, June 12th, four weeks and one day ago, “Precisely at ten o’clock,” she’d said, “for a test.”

I was at her house at nine-fifty-four and sat in the car, waiting for six minutes. I did notice a car in her driveway, one that had never been there before, her ex’s, I presumed. She’s always parked hers in her garage. I rang the doorbell at ten, exactly, no idea what she might have planned. I couldn’t help but smile, remembering that first time I’d rang this doorbell two months ago, and how scared out of my mind I was.

Elle answered the door wearing a flowery, pink-colored blouse, about half sheer, and tan tights. Her dark red bra was shining through her blouse; bangles on her wrists, her hair in a sexy ponytail, large hoop earrings, lots of eye makeup, lip gloss ... and that sheer top. Damn, she looked yummy! And it had been two weeks since that weekend in Tampa. I was in serious need.

One person I didn’t see any sign of was Derrick, her ex-husband.

Elle stood on her tippy-toes and kissed me. “Come,” she said, “let’s go have some fun.” She took my hand, leading me through the house to her bedroom. There, in a chair, was a guy, I presumed the famous ex-husband, perhaps soon to be ex ex-husband.

I couldn’t help but stare, he was tied to the chair; legs tied together and pulled back, the strap hooked to a pair of handcuffs on his wrists behind the chair, and straps going around his chest, waist, and upper legs tying him down. And he was naked, blindfolded, a rubber ball in his mouth ... almost the same as I’d been on that night in my dream, except I’d been wearing that godawful leotard and leather collar, vengeance from Dani for what I’d done to her earlier. That was the night Dani and Leslie, i.e., Elle, had tortured me, fucking right in front of the blindfolded me, except I hadn’t known it was Leslie.

She whispered in my ear, “Don’t say anything, I don’t want him to know...” The guy was looking around toward her voice, no doubt wondering what was happening, the same as I had that night. I can say with confidence that he was turned on, dicks don’t poke those big holes in the air otherwise.

Then she knelt in front of him, reached out and took said dick in her hand, leaned over him, and guided it to her mouth. As she slid her lips over him, his head flopped back and what sounded like a moan came from his muffled mouth.

Elle worked her lips up and down on him, and when he looked like he wouldn’t be able to postpone the inevitable any longer, she pulled off him and pinched the base of his shaft, “Hold that thought,” she told him, “I’ll be back.”

Another long moan.

She turned to me, still on her knees, and pulled my pants and shorts down to my knees, taking my already rock-hard dick in her hand, “Want you in the mood, too,” and pressed her lips over the head.

I know she’d said to be quiet, but the groan escaped my lips involuntarily. Besides, after thirteen days, Elle’s lips slowly working their way down my shaft felt fucking good! Maybe this girl had been out of practice, but she was sure as hell getting her groove back!

I was gritting my teeth, trying to avoid coming in her mouth when she slid off me, stood, and asked, “Wanna peel a tomato now?”

I liked to think I had a bit more finesse than Elle’s Mexican lover in Tampa. I was more than happy to ‘peel a tomato’. Her sheer top was a slip-on, so I reached under it and reversed the ‘on’, sliding it up and off, Elle holding her arms up for me to dispose of it. As soon as it was gone, I reached around her and unsnapped her bra, taking it off as well.

All this time, Elle was either purring like a kitten or moaning like a girl in heat. If she was just ‘acting’ for her guy, she was one fucking good actress!

“He’s making me naked, Derrick, too bad you can’t watch, too.”

“My tomatoes want to be sucked, know anyone?” she asked. Hell, I wasn’t even a little averse to sucking her ‘tomatoes’.

It was as if doing this in front of her ex who could only hear was supercharging Elle’s sex drive. And then when my lips sucked in that nipple ... oh shit!

She was clawing at my head, almost a continuous moan. I sucked hard, letting that sucking noise reverberate through Derrick’s ears the way I remembered from my dream.

She pulled away from me, leaving me frustrated and wanting that cunt, “My pants,” she said.

Okay, I could do that, pulling her pants and little black panties down, both at the same time, baring that smooth, luscious pussy.

She pushed her shoes off, stepped out of her pants and panties, and turned back to Derrick, sitting on his lap, letting his dick slide up inside her, grinding down on him. “Ohhh, yes,” she moaned, “except ... it’s not your turn,” she said, pulling herself up off him. The guy had to be nearly out of his mind.

I hardly remember the in-between, but it seemed no time later that we were fucking. I was honestly intending to do this slowly, letting the tension build, but it ramped up so damned high almost instantly, that there was no friggin’ way. I know that I’ve had numerous times of, shall I say, rather ... extreme lovemaking, but this time, in front of Derrick, having a pretty good idea what must have been going through his mind not able to see, his dick still wet with her juices, was on par with anything I’d ever done.

Pretty obviously, Elle, too. She was possessed, wrapping her legs around me, switching positions, bouncing on my dick, her continuous wails, tears streaming from her eyes. And then when we came ... Elle’s pussy sucking the cum from my dick, holy fucking shit...!

I know the neighbors on both sides of Elle’s house must have heard us.

And then we lay side-by-side kissing half the night away, slowly making love a second time, Derrick completely forgotten ... and that was my last time before Calgary.

Needless to say, I was anxious to see my wife! I had hoped to see her the moment we stepped off the airplane, but like I said, that wasn’t to be. We’d have to wait until they finished filming, probably after the dance that night. Dani had given me a rough outline of events, but that was all she’d known; her ride at the rodeo, probably dinner, then a scene at the dance after the night pageant.

She said that Tony, the director, liked to keep them in suspense for the scenes to make them more spontaneous.

We’d flown out of Pasco, to Seattle, to Calgary, leaving Friday evening, arriving in Calgary just past midnight, and going straight to our hotel, the Ramada at the airport. Calgary is only a little over an hour from Butte, Montana in their private jet, so they weren’t leaving until early Saturday, another reason she wouldn’t be at the airport waiting for us. She was still in Montana when we arrived.

Saturday morning was a blur of nervous energy. I couldn’t even imagine what must be going through Dani’s mind, how she must have been feeling, knowing that for the first time in her life, she was going to be riding in a rodeo, one of the biggest rodeos in the world, a dangerous race against the clock

Oh, by the way, Derrick must have passed the test. They were still together, even talking about a wedding from the last text I’d gotten from Elle.

We got up, had a late breakfast in the hotel dining room, and I wasn’t the only one nervous that morning. None of us ate hardly a thing.

I’d read a lot about Calgary, and how it turns ‘old west’ during rodeo time. If you’re not wearing a cowboy hat and boots, you might get shanghaied and shipped out of town, or so the rumors said. So the ten of us were fully prepared with hats, boots, and big belt buckles. Thankfully, Dani and I had gone to the Pendleton Roundup once, another big rodeo about sixty miles from Kennewick, a couple times, so I had some idea what it’d be like.

Of course, that was a bit different, Dani hadn’t been in the Pendleton Roundup, and we hadn’t been apart for two-plus months, so the stress factor hadn’t been quite like it was that morning in Calgary.

We got dressed for the rodeo, and I had to admit that Jenny looked fucking good in her tight blue jeans and cowboy hat. She reminded me a lot of the Mel McDaniel song, ‘Baby’s Got Her Blue Jeans on’. God, I was in a bad way and wanted to see Dani!

The rodeo started at one-fifteen, and we were there at twelve-thirty, wandering around out back where the corrals and cowboys were, just hoping for a glimpse. My excitement went through the roof when we saw the big cameras mounted on their motorized carts ... and there was Dani in a corral, talking to her horse and scratching its muzzle (face if you’re not a horse person). I stood, staring, willing her to look our way, hoping she wouldn’t. Like Janet had said, I didn’t want to distract her. If she was as nervous as me, she was sure as hell hiding it well.

She looked different, like the young, pretty girl I’d married over twenty-eight years earlier. My heart was pounding, just looking at her from the distance. I had no idea where the barrel racing was in the schedule. We’d have to buy a program, probably several so we’d be sure to have at least one that survived as a souvenir. God, I wanted to call out to her, let her know we were there, see that smile I hadn’t seen for so long.

At one, Jenny took my hand and pulled me away back toward the section with our seats. Our seats were in Section DD, rows thirteen and fourteen, seats eight through twelve in front and nine through thirteen behind (as if you needed to know that).

At precisely one-fifteen, to the second, a big cannon boom started the rodeo, the announcer introducing the queen and four princesses, riding one at a time at a full gallop across the arena, jumping the little fence around the race track, then a full gallop around the track, waving at the crowd. Calgary is famous for its grass infield with a quarter-mile track around it, a beautiful arena. It was all lost on me, though, my heart was pounding a hole in my chest. There just ain’t no way to express how fucking nervous I was!

We bought our programs, and the barrels were about three-quarters through the rodeo, right after the bull riding. And there, right after the barrel racing competition was ‘Special event, barrel exhibition’. I won’t bore you with any of the other events, other than the booming, western voice of the rodeo announcer.

It was finals day, the top twelve contestants of each event. After each, they gave a trophy and prizes to the winner. It seemed an interminable time, that Dani’s barrel racing would never get there. Finally, it was the Brahma bull riding. Those cowboys are freakin’ crazy, riding those things, two ‘clowns’ doing their best to keep the bull off the riders once they’re thrown. It must be the longest eight seconds in history for those guys.

I can tell you it was the longest twelve rides I’d ever imagined, knowing that Dani would be next. The ‘clowns’, even let a couple of the bulls run around, ‘playing’ with them, teasing them, putting on a show.

And then ... they were putting out the three barrels, my heart rate spiked again. Like I said earlier, I couldn’t even begin to imagine what Dani must be going through.

Just like the men’s events, there were twelve women listed in the program, the combined times of their previous three rides listed. Their average times were all in the sixteen-seventeen seconds range, with tenths of a second between some of them, for all three rides.

One by one, they were announced, as the woman raced around the barrels, the announcer encouraging the cheering, giving a little history of her, her horse’s name, and with each race against the clock, my anxiety ratcheted higher.

I know I’ve seen movies with ‘rodeos’ as an integral part, a few hundred spectators at a supposedly world-class rodeo. This wasn’t going to be like that. This was a real rodeo, over twenty thousand people.

The winner was declared, a twenty-two-year-old from Albuquerque, New Mexico, her average time for four rides was sixteen point nine-seven seconds, missing the arena record by eleven-hundredths of a second, beating out the second-place girl by two one-hundredths of a second. The third-place girl was a quarter-second slower. Damn, I couldn’t even imagine Dani riding like that.

Then the announcer came on with his big, booming voice, “Now we have a treat, ladies and gentlemen, we’re helping to film a movie today and will have one more contestant. Her name’s Daniella Foster and you’ll see her in an upcoming movie, to be released Thanksgiving weekend. She’s never ridden at a rodeo before and I’m sure she’s plenty nervous, so cheer her on.”

Jodi, our daughter, and Jon, our son, were on either side of me, squeezing my hands as we watched their mom, my wife, enter the arena. I couldn’t have been prouder, she was sitting on her horse like she had been on one all her life, wearing a cowboy hat, looking for all the world like this was the most normal thing in the world for her.

The announcer went on to explain that he’d be introducing her and treating her race as if she was a real competitor.

There were six big cameras on motorized carts out in the arena. The weird thought went through my head, wondering how they hid those cameras in the final scenes.

Through all this, Dani was trotting back and forth, letting her horse gallop a little to get warmed up, looking cool as a cucumber, like she’d been born on a horse. I felt more helpless right then than I’d ever felt in my life, our two kids squeezing my hands, apparently trying to send me to the hospital with smashed hands. I guessed they were a bit nervous, too. The only one that didn’t look nervous at all was Dani. Other than those brief minutes before the rodeo started, this was the first time we’d laid eyes on her for over two months. Maybe I’m getting a bit repetitive and rambling here, but you gotta understand...

“And now folks, our first-place contestant, Lynn Stevenson from Helena, Montana, riding her horse, Rocky. Lynn has a healthy lead and needs a time of seventeen point three-one seconds to take home the trophy.”

Dani lined her horse up behind the barrier, I held my breath, still not believing this was actually happening, probably the most exciting few seconds of Dani’s forty-eight years. Well, not counting the moments that Jon and Jodi were born, anyway. Or maybe those first few minutes in the hospital when I’d woken up after four months in a coma, looked around, and asked her where we were.

And then she was off at a full gallop, the announcer cheering her on, “Look at this ride, folks...” I can’t even begin to replicate his excitement ... or mine. His chatter went on, the crowd noise deafening, Dani riding tight around the barrels...

“How about that, folks sixteen point nine-eight seconds. We have our champion!” I jumped up, throwing my arms in the air, “Yes, yes!” the rest of our group right along with me, jumping and cheering my wife.

The cheering from the crowd was thunderous.

That announcer, who’d been at it for years, announcing the top rodeos all over the world, couldn’t contain his excitement, either, going on and on about the fantastic ride. “Folks, this lady who’d never raced competitively before just turned in the third-best time of the day! Missing the leaders by less than a tenth of a second!”