Counting on Starlight (7 page)

“Take good care of my car,” Aunt Chin Mae said when Liann went to gather the keys from the hook on the kitchen wall. “Bring it back in one piece.”

“I will. I’m just going down the road a little way.” Liann picked up her aunt’s key chain with the green plastic frog on the end. “I won’t be too late.”

“Don’t worry about it. You a grown woman. I won’t call and check up on you like your mother would.” Aunt Chin Mae waved her off. “Have fun visiting your boyfriend and his family.”

“He’s not my boyfriend.” Liann shook her head and laughed. She left the house and ambled to the driveway. Aunt Chin Mae’s tiny gold vehicle glinted in the sunlight. It looked sort of like a metallic  bean on wheels.

She scooted into the Smart Car and laid the rifle and saber in the passenger seat. However, the flag was way too long for a two-seater. Liann rolled up the flag and stuck it through the open window on the passenger side. So long as it didn’t unravel and start flapping in the breeze like the sail of a ship, she’d been in good shape heading over to the Tuckers’ house.

The inside was like a sports car—comfortable, with bucket seats. Liann eased down the driveway, feeling as if she piloted a pod craft in space. She headed along the road toward Tucker Ranch, taking care not to hit the occasional hole in the asphalt.

Liann eased the car over the cattle guard, the wheels bouncing on the metal pipes covering the driveway. The car gave a little pop as the rear wheels rolled back onto solid pavement.

She was right on time. A shiny blue pickup truck  sat beside a small limestone building with another sign:
Tucker Boots
. She didn’t recall seeing it the other day in her dehydrated fog. What didn’t this family do? No wonder Maddie was so driven. Tuckers didn’t sit around for long—or if they did, they were probably planning something.

Liann parked the Smart  Car next to what she guessed was Jake’s truck. Maddie bounded out the front door of the long ranch house and was at the driver’s side door before Liann could turn off the engine.

“You made it,” Maddie said as soon as Liann climbed out of the car. “Wow, now that’s what I call a metallic paint job.”

“Yes, my aunt’s car. Mine wouldn’t start again, but I didn’t want to miss coming tonight.” Liann had to smile at her enthusiasm. “Tonight is when everything changes for you. You’re going to do great.”

“I hope so.”

Maddie led her not to the house, but to a wooden barn that dwarfed the small limestone building beside it. “Jake’s in here. He asked if I’d take you over here when you arrived.” They entered the barn, and Liann squinted to see with the help of the sunlight slanting over their shoulders. Six stalls plus a hayloft made up the interior.

“Hey, do you like horseback riding?” Jake pushed a wheelbarrow into the center of the wide aisle.

“I’ve ridden a few times, mostly the old slow horses on trail rides. Nothing too adventurous, but I enjoy it.” Liann thought they’d be visiting inside or practicing with the flags outside.

“She can ride Misty. I don’t mind.” Maddie tugged on Liann’s arm. “She’s really gentle and sweet. I’ve had her since I was ten. She’ll go wherever you want to go.”

“Am I too early?” Liann asked.

“Not at all. We’re sort of delayed. Billy and Justine are coming too, but they’re waiting to pick up a fresh pie from Rebecca’s Kitchen in Kempner,” Jake said, as if that explained everything. “Plus,
somebody
forgot to make their potato salad until the last minute.” With this, he glanced at Maddie and gave her a grin that took any of the irritation out of his words.

“Okay.” Horseback riding. She wore the black stretchy pants she used for working out and her sturdy sneakers. “But I don’t have boots on.”

Jake put a hand on his hip and swaggered in her direction. “Ma’am, that don’t mean you can’t go ridin’ for a while.”

“I’ll get Misty saddled for you,” Maddie said as she buzzed off. “Then I’ll go check on the potatoes.”

Within fifteen minutes, Misty the white placid mare and Patch, Jake’s horse, were saddled and ready to mount. Liann managed to haul herself up onto Misty’s back. The mare looked shorter than she really was. Liann gripped the saddle horn with one hand and clenched the reins with the other.

“Don’t worry. When she sees Patch step out, she’ll go too. She’ll follow him wherever he goes.” Jake looked as comfortable as a real cowboy on his horse’s back. Patch was taller still than Misty, white with brown splotches on his body, legs, face, and neck. He gave a little kick, and Jake settled back in the saddle.

“I hope Misty doesn’t follow his lead, not that way.”

“Oh, she won’t.” Jake reined Patch back until Misty ambled her way in his direction. Liann scanned the land, dotted with live oaks, twelve to fifteen feet tall, along with green scraggly cedar bushes of varying heights. Those bushes, she’d learned from Uncle Bert, were the source of many central Texans’ allergies and the reason that Rivers Honey did so well. The land looked unspoiled, covered with dry grass and studded with rocks. Liann guessed it probably looked the same  a hundred years ago. She remembered Uncle Bert telling her all about the real cowboys of Texas.

“How many acres do you have?” Liann tried to let Misty’s soft swaying motion relax her back.

“Sixty-five. Our land ends at the Lampasas River.” Jake released some of the tension on Patch’s reins, and the horse tossed his head.

“What are those three little cottages over there? My aunt mentioned that your brother runs a soldiers’ ranch here.”

“New Hope Ranch—that’s Billy’s project. He and Justine run a nonprofit that invites recovering soldiers and their families to spend weekends here on the ranch.” Jake brought Patch to a halt, and Misty stopped as well. “The second building was recently finished this spring. We had a wet spring, so building stopped for a while. Otherwise we would've been done sooner.”

“The cottages are really cute.” Liann wanted to hop off Misty and look in the porch window of the first cottage, but then she’d be faced with having Jake help her get back on. As it was, riding like this with him felt almost...like a date. Maybe it was just to kill time, but they could have done that in the air-conditioned house. They reached a stand of tall oak trees that arched over the trail and gave them some dappled shade.

“We’ll be at the river soon,” Jake said as the horses strolled along under the high branches. “I remember getting some good catfish out of there back when I was in high school.”

“Do you still fish there?” One thing Liann liked was fishing. Not that she’d had the chance very often, but she and her parents would go sometimes to the mountains. Mom would try to teach her how to cook, and Dad would teach her how to fish. The camping she wasn’t so crazy about, but she loved the feel of reeling in a fish, wrestling to get it into the net.

“It’s been a while.”

“Why’d you stop?” She glanced at him. He looked deep in thought, his hazel eyes focused on the saddle horn.

“I don’t know. Got busy, I guess.”\ He shrugged and looked her way.

“I love fishing. I find it relaxing.” She found herself smiling at the admission. “Like you, I got busy, though.”

“You, fish? I wouldn’t have picked you for a fisher-person.” For the first time, Liann realized he had a dimple in one cheek. Maybe because today she was seeing relaxed Jake, away from the field and the pressure he loved so much.

“Why not?”

“I dunno. It doesn’t seem like...you. I can see you being a cheerleader and doing the whole spirit thing, and back flips and pyramids. But fishing?”

“Yup.” The wide path grew rockier as they headed downhill. The broad trail gave them plenty of room to ride, but it was an ideal route for runoff from the rain. Which, of course, ran straight to the river.

“Almost there.” Jake didn’t look back but kept his attention on the trail ahead. “Careful. It’s a little trickier going down.”

“I’ll just let Misty do her thing.” Liann had hardly needed to lean the reins on Misty’s neck. “She’s done great so far without my help.” The shadows had grown longer as they’d ridden the distance from the house.

“Here we are.” Patch came to a halt, and Jake swung off his back. “You going to get off for a few minutes, stretch your legs?”

“Um, sure.” Liann pulled back on Misty’s reins, but Misty had already clumped to a halt. She slid down from Misty’s back, and the horse put her head down and started sniffing for scraps of grass. The sound of gurgling water filled the air as sunlight glinted off the water.

“What about the horses?”

“Patch won’t leave, and wherever he is, Misty will be.” Jake looped Patch’s reins over a low branch. “I forgot how much I like these cliffs.  I used to come down here and find fossils in the limestone, besides catch fish.” He stepped from the sheltering shade of the oaks and onto a large flat rock that jutted out into the river. Jake pointed up to the cliffs.

Liann joined him on the rock and followed his line of sight. The river, over hundreds of years, had carved a slow but definite space in the limestone, and the cliff on the opposite side of the river rose at least twenty feet above their heads. The river itself was barely more than a foot deep, probably no more than three feet in the center. The current drifted lazily, inviting her to toss an inner tube onto the surface of the water and drift along.

“What kind of fossils?” She almost wanted to find a place to cross the river and start chipping at the limestone herself. Their side of the riverbank sloped gently to meet the water, dotted with small rocks.

“Clams, mostly, of all sizes. A few trilobites.” He grinned. “My dad left some of the fossils on the mantel in the living room. This poor river is so dry. You can tell it’s the middle of August, and we haven’t had any rain for at least a month. When the drought was really bad, the river was almost a trickle.” Jake used his hand to shield his eyes as he looked downstream.

“I can’t wait until it cools off more around here.”

“Not till mid September, at least. Those first few games are going to be scorchers.”

“Speaking of football, you got a phone call from Kansas Tech the other day. You seemed pretty excited about it.”

“Yes. They’re sending a coaching scout to watch one of the Yellowjacket games sometime in the next few weeks. They’re recruiting for their coaching staff, and I found out they’re considering me. My head coach knows, so the process is going smoothly so far.” He grinned and picked up a small rock, chucking it into the river. “Then, if Starlight makes the Division 4A playoffs, I could be offered a spot higher up. Away from here, finally.”

“But you love it here.” Liann tried not to frown. “I can hear it when you talk about coming to this place to fish, when you talk to my aunt and uncle, or the Bushes.”

“I’ve always wanted to coach at the NCAA level. It’s been a dream since I was a kid. Usually coaches from larger school districts get considered, but my college buddy is on the staff there, and he put in a good word for me. I’m counting on a great season this fall. The boys have it. I can tell.”

“I see.” Why did her heart sink just a little at the idea of him leaving Starlight? After all, two weeks ago she’d been considering this a temporary exile. That is, until she realized she wanted to prove to the town that the color guard squad would work—that these girls weren’t losers.

Until she met Jake.

“Yup.” Jake snapped his fingers then slapped his fist with his palm of the opposite hand. “Have you ever wanted something, prayed for it, worked for it? You can see it right there, in front of you, just out of reach? But you know in your heart, it’s yours...someday?”

“I... I’m not sure.” The truth hurt her ears. What had she truly ever wanted? Had she ever tried to dream big like Jake? Cheerleading had started out as a social climbing move on her part. She’d done it for selfish and shallow reasons. Then she’d drifted into college with the promise of eventually teaching and coaching secondary school, which she loved. Then the new youth pastor came on board at her church. After a whirlwind romance, a proposal, then—here. Almost twenty-seven years old.

“I do. I can see it happening, someday soon. Maybe that’s why I was hard on Maddie. Because I hit the big 3-0, my last birthday. It sort of sneaks up on you, you know? I don’t want her to start making compromises and settling, because life happens fast. Look at what happened to Billy. Less than three years ago, he was trying to get his life back after a roadside bomb in Iraq almost killed him. Now he’s married, going to be a father. He’s running a terrific nonprofit that really helps people.” Jake turned to step off their perch on the rock, and Liann moved to let him pass. His boot slipped, and he reached to catch himself with a free hand. Patch’s head jerked up, and he skittered back at Patch's sudden movement, his reins sliding quick as a noodle from the tree branch. On his powerful haunches, Patch tore up the trail toward the house with Misty right behind him.

“Patch—Misty!” Jake regained his balance before completely falling. Liann reached for his arm as if she could keep his two hundred pounds from landing half on the bank of the river and half on the rock. Then she slipped, and they both tumbled into the shallow water.

“Ow!” Liann felt a chuckle erupt and she flung water on Jake as she lay half on her side on some rocks, half on his arm.

“What was that for?” he asked.