-- and they call the thing rodeo.

[kade trent]

kade trent.
it's the ropes and the reins and the joy and the pain.
___________________________________



-----For the longest time, it seemed like it was just one thing after something else that had happened after this other thing. It was on and on and on, never seeming to take a break, never letting those that it was affecting catch up or rebuild themselves fully before something else came around to tear them apart again. Drama and death and anything and everything that could happen to take a person down seemed like it had happened here in the small town of Grace. Those that were left to deal with it were all trying to do just that. Some were handling it well, able to pick up the pieces and move on with their lives the way that there were supposed to. Others didn’t feel as though they could handle it at all, and made attempts on their own lives just so they didn’t have to deal with the pain anymore. Then there were those that were caught somewhere in the middle, and those that had gotten lost along the way. Kade was one of those poor idiots that had gotten lost, not knowing how to make their way back to their old lives after so much had happened. He took wrong turns, made bad decisions, and lost part of himself along the way. It was a dark, twisted road on a downward spiral that had led him to the ultimate low of his life, hitting what had to be rock bottom and having nowhere to go but up. It had just taken him awhile to figure out how to go back up after such a crash. Of course, the whole town knew about that. With his excessive drinking, smoking, partying, and whoring around, and all. He had been stuck there at the low of all lows for some time, spinning his wheels and getting nowhere. Kade was hurting people he loved, and hurting himself, but nothing seemed able to be fixed no matter what he tried, so why try at all?

-----Then, he hit a wall. Hard. Kade saw it all clearly for the first time in a long time, and finally figured out what he had to do to get his life back on track. The person he saw in the mirror wasn’t the person he was, but rather an empty shell of that old Kade. He had always been a little cold, sometimes a little mean, but he had never been so constantly. Kade used to smile more often, and used to be the one having one hell of a good time at the parties, being in the middle of everything and always laughing. For what was probably the last two to three years, that hadn’t been him. He had changed, slowly slipping into this shadow of who he used to be. He hadn’t even noticed until this wake up call out of the blue, and it took him some time before he finally faced the fact that he needed to change it all. He needed to go back, face his issues, and then he could be happy again. Saying is always easier than doing, and it was certainly true in this case. Kade had never properly dealt with anything, from his father’s death to Shaye leaving, to his mother to Hunter. To the mine. Now it was time to do that, and it was damn hard for him. Brit Morgan had helped him start on the right track, Kade having a breakdown for the first time in years and just letting it all go, not caring about not crying, or not showing weakness. From there, it had been baby steps.

-----Now, things had changed. Kade was so much better, so much more like his old self that it was hard to believe that just a short time ago he was barely keeping himself afloat. The drugs he had been using were gone; he had been clean for almost a month now and had no interest in ever taking that route again. He was mild when it came to sleeping around with several different girls, having brought that to a complete halt. Kade was going out and running every day like he used to, and that brought his body back into a fine shape, him no longer looking sickly like he had been there when Hunter had died and the mine explosion had happened. He was happier; he smiled more often, and was just better in general. He went to Jared and Mackenzie’s often to visit with his daughter, Ava. He was also often found at the main Trent house with Mykayla, whenever she was there instead of out with Ethan. When he wasn’t at either of those places, he went to see Brit, Jacen, and Hadley, or sometimes stopped in to see Anna. It was amazing what a little self therapy could do for a person, and Kade was proof of that. The only thing that he had yet to deal with, though, was Shaye. He had stayed away from her, and only gone to see Evan when he knew that he wouldn’t have to be around her much. Why he kept that one for last, Kade didn’t know. Really, he was over the whole issue of her leaving him twice. She had every reason to, and he knew that. It was more like the thing that he still loved her, and it was hard to be around her and know that it was indeed over between them.

-----But, even that bridge had to be crossed sooner or later, and it was going to be today. There was a rodeo going on down at the fairgrounds, and Kade had agreed to meet Shaye and Evan there. Evan was really excited for it, and Kade had always liked going out to events like that. He had arrived there when it first started, watching the opening ceremony with Jared and Jacen from the tailgate of his truck. Mackenzie came later with Ava, and Kade held onto his baby girl until Jared and Mac decided to head home for the afternoon. Kade had reluctantly let Ava go, but knew it was for the best. Brit and Hadley showed up later, them plus Jacen being Kade’s company until it was time for Kade to go and meet up with Shaye and Evan. He found them buying drinks at one of the stands, and from then on Evan was practically glued to his father. They watched a few of the different events, Evan asking questions and Kade explaining to his son the best that he could to where the young child would understand. Evan didn’t seem to like the goat tying, but the calf roping was pretty entertaining. To Kade’s surprise, being around Shaye wasn’t too hard. In fact, it seemed easy, and he found himself enjoying it rather than having to watch what he said, or feeling that hole inside aching. Kade had Evan up on his shoulders as the calf roping ended, them clearing the calves out and started setting up barrels for the barrel races. Jacen came at that point with Brit and Hadley, asking if Evan wanted to go see the bulls before the bull riding started. Of course the boy wanted to go, and he latched onto Uncle Jacen’s hand full of excitement without even looking back to his parents before leaving. ”He really loves this,” Kade commented to Shaye after Evan and the group had disappeared into one of the barns. He smiled, looking over at her. ”Maybe we’ll get him to ride a sheep next year.” Every rodeo kid had to start out somewhere. Might as well be the sheep, just like Kade and his siblings had done when they were younger.



[ shaye leblanc. ]

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