"Alright, first up today, we have an eight year old OTTB rescue." Misty's dad, Bill, said through the microphone. "Racehorses aren't common in this area, we know, but Charlie here is a great horse with lots of promise. In the two months he has been with us, we have started training him to be a roping horse. He has improved greatly, and he loves people. My daughter, Misty, will ride him around for a little while, and then we will start the bidding." Bill turned off the microphone, turning his attention to the arena where Misty entered on the back of the tall, bay Thoroughbred. Misty had really come to enjoy this horse. Because of his past on the racetrack, he lives for the adrenaline rush of the opening of the gate, which gave Bill the idea of him being a roping horse. It also meant that he was used to big, loud crowds. It took some time, but Charlie was starting to get used to having a rope spun over his head. Misty's only hope was that a willing owner would buy him today. The racing industry, and Thoroughbred horses were rare in Wyoming, which is part of why Charlie was abandoned and left for dead by his previous owners. Misty hoped someome would be willing to look beyond his past and into what his future holds.

       Charlie responded well to Misty's cues as she walked, trotted, and loped him around the large arena. After about ten minutes of riding, Misty led the horse to the center of the arena, stopping him before pulling out her rope. She started by making the loop, watching Charlie's ears the whole time. When she decided that he wasn't going to spook, Misty swung the loop over her head, asking Charlie to walk slowly around the center of the arena until he was lined up with the roping dummy. Swinging her rope faster over her head, Misty let it fall onto the dummy's head, telling Charlie to turn left. The crowd clapped as Misty gathered her rope, smiling at how well he did. 

         "Alright, folks. Great demonstration by Bill's daughter. Charlie is a great horse. Let's start our bidding now. Let's start at one bill. Just $100." Arthur, the auctioneer started the bidding, pointing to each person in the crowd when they placed their bid. "Remember, folks, all proceeds go to the food bank and charities." The bids grew higher and higher as Misty continued riding Charlie around the arena. "$1,350 going once. $1,350 going twice...and sold to customer 213!" Just like that, Charlie was sold, and for a much larger sum than anyone in Misty's family could have expected. With a huge smile on her face, Misty patted Charlie's neck, telling him he was a good boy and that she was proud of him. 

           Next, it was time for Kate, Waylon's wife, to ride one of the horses for the demonstration. Waylon was one of the hands on the McAdams' ranch, and he was one of the family's closest friend. Kate was a multi buckle winning barrel racer, so it just seemed fit to have her ride Miracle, a buckskin mare who was dropped off at the ranch a few months ago with severe malnutrition and neglect. Miracle used to be a fantastic barrel horse until her rider got into an accident which caused her to stop riding. The rider's parents could no longer afford to pay for their horse, nor had the time to take care of her. Miracle was just that, a miracle. 

           Kate waited patiently at the gate, controlling the excited mare, as Clay and Waylon set up the barrels in the arena. Once they were finished, Bill gave the go-ahead, and Kate let Miracle have her head as she burst into the arena, turning perfectly around each and every barrel. The audience cheered as if it was a real rodeo, and even though Kate had tried holding Miracle back, Miracle put on quite a show, having a perfect, fast run. 

         Arthur grabbed his microphone, teasing into it, "Alright, Kate, you can stop showin' off now. Let's go ahead and bring Miracle back in here and show everyone that she has a quiet side, too." The audience chuckled at Arthur's comment. Kate led a now calm Miracle back into the arena, walking her around slowly. Shortly after, Arthur began the bidding, ending it at $3,000. 

           From her spot on the other side of the fence, Misty's eyes grew wide when she heard the number that Miracle was sold for. "$3,000?!" Misty unintentionally said out loud. Beside her, she heard a chuckle. Turning, Misty saw Clay walking up next to her, fiddling with the rope in his hand. 

         "Yeah, $3,000. This has to be the best sale we have ever had here." Clay smiled, leaning back against the fence as he looked at Misty. "I can't wait to take you out on a real nice date with all of the profit we get." 

         Misty turned so she was facing Clay. With one hand on the fence, and the other on her hip, Misty rolled her eyes at him. "You and I both know that the profit goes to charities, churches, other rescue barns, and those kinds of organizations. So, sorry, cowboy, this paycheck won't be much bigger than the other ones."

          Clay sauntered over to stand in front of Misty. He wrapped both of his arms low around her waist. "So that means I can't take you out on a nice date? Just because the profit goes to a good cause?" There was a playful smirk on Clay's lips. 

            "Well, of course you can still take me out." Misty played along, no longer trying to contain her smile.

           "Good." Clay dropped a kiss on Misty's cheek, his face only inches from her as he said, "I already have it planned out." Pulling back, Clay added, "Now, I have to go get saddled up for the next demonstration. Stop distracting me with your beauty." With a wink, Clay dropped his hands from Misty's waist, walking towards Tupac, the brown and white paint horse that was next up in the demonstration. 

            "Alright, folks. My daughter, Misty, will be announcing the next horse up. Tupac is the last of our donation horses. After we show Tupac, we will move onto the mustang foals from this year's roundup. Misty has worked one on one with this horse, so I can assure you he is very well trained. Misty, over to you." Bill said, nodding at Misty in the arena.

            Misty grabbed the microphone Waylon handed her, thanking him. Turning, Misty motioned for Clay to bring Tupac into the arena. Once he did, Misty began the introduction. "This horse here is Tupac. He is four years old, and was brought to us by his owners because their daughter was going to college, and didn't have time for Tupac. He has competed in several local rodeos as a heeler horse, but used more recently to rope calves for branding and such. Riding him today will be my boyfriend, Clay." Misty turned to walk to the edge of the arena. Just as she did, she saw Clay riding over to her. Before she could get to the edge of the arena, Clay spun his rope over his head, making it land perfectly around Misty. With a mischievious grin, Clay pulled the rope tighter, careful to not hurt Misty. 

          The rope tightened around Misty's ankles, making Misty fall to the ground. The audience cheered and burst into a fit of laughter at the goofy couple. Being a good sport to Clay's antics, Misty chuckled as she pulled the microphone up to her lips. Still from her spot on the ground, Misty closed, "And there you have a perfect demonstration of how calm Tupac is with roping. Thank you, Clay, for the demonstration." Misty playfully glared up at Clay, sticking her tongue out at him. 

           The crowd was still laughing at the scene as Clay hopped off of Tupac to help Misty. The commotion died down as Arthur started the bidding. Bending down beside Misty, Clay smiled as he took the rope off of her ankles. "That was pretty creative on my part, huh?" He whispered. "What better way to show how good of a roping horse he is?"

           "Yeah, real creative." Misty replied sarcastically, taking the hand Clay offered her. 

           Clay pulled Misty to her feet, then walked over to grab Tupac's reins. Looking down at her feet, Misty saw Clay's rope still laying there. Quickly, Misty grabbed the rope, forming a loop, and swinging it over her head as she walked towards Clay, whose back was to her. The second he took a step forward, Misty let the rope fly, catching his left foot in the process. Pulling the rope back against her made it tighten on Clay, pulling him to the ground. Misty was glad that the bidding was over because her revenge made the audience roar in laughter and cheers all over again.

          Misty walked over to stand by Clay. Smiling down at her boyfriend, Misty mouthed, "payback," then walked out of the arena, leaving Clay in the dirt to fend for himself. 

           Shortly after Tupac was sold, the foals and horses from this years round up were brought out to be looked at for adoption. This was the slow part of the sale because it was the time that, whoever was interested in adopting, came up and looked at the horses. 

          Misty was thankful for a break from the demonstrations. It was already around three in the afternoon, and Misty hadn't eaten at all today. Fishing out a sandwich from the lunchbox in the truck, Misty went to find shade to relieve herself from the hot, beating sun. Sinking down against a tree, Misty took a bite of her sandwich.

         Not long after finishing her sandwich, Clay saw Misty sitting against the tree. Walking over, he sat down next to her. "You feel better now that you have gotten revenge on me for roping you?" 

          "I feel much better." Misty smiled, giving Clay a look. 

         Clay ran a hand over his sweaty forehead. "It is really hot today, huh?"

        "It seriously is. I'm surprised there are this many people still here. It's gonna be a long night, that's for sure." Misty leaned her head back against the tree trunk.

         Clay reached over, resting his hand on Misty's knee. "I know it will be a long day, but do you want to have supper and hang out in my apartment afterwards? It's air conditioned." 

          Misty turned her head to glare at her boyfriend. "It is not air conditioned. You have one window air conditioner in the kitchen/dining room, and two fans in your bedroom. It ain't the same as central air, which my house has." 

           "Do you still want to stay, at least, for supper?" He scooted closer to kiss Misty's cheek, not caring if her skin was sweaty. "Please?" He landed another kiss on her cheek.

          "Of course, honey. That would be fun." Misty smiled at Clay so he knew she was serious. 

         "Great. I can't wait." Clay reciprocated the smile, jumping up from his spot, offering Misty a hand up. 

        Six hours later the sale was finished, the arena and bleachers were cleaned up, the horses were in their pens for the night until their new owners could stop by and pick them up, and Misty was about to head over to Clay's apartment for supper. 

          Flipping off the light switch in the main barn, Misty walked to Clay's truck, hopping inside the cab. "Thanks for picking me up." Misty smiled. 

          "Of course." Clay grabbed Misty's hand as he drove towards his barn. He was silent for a couple minutes before he turned to look at Misty. "I wanted to apologize again for our fight. I didn't mean anythin' I said. Especially the part about us hanging out less. If anything, I want us to hang out more."

         "Clay, I appreciate you apologizing, but really, it is okay. I know that you didn't mean it." 

         "I know, I just feel bad. I slept horrible that night because I was worried I had messed things up by what I said and did." He softly began to trace a finger over Misty's wrist, most likely thinking about how he had squeezed her arms tightly when they were fighting.

         Misty leaned over in her seat to kiss Clay's cheek. "You could never mess things up between us." She whispered in his ear, truly meaning it. When she said it, Misty realized something about Clay for the first time. The realization sort of startled her at first, but when she realized what she just thought to herself, she could only smile.