Cowboy Country (49 page)

“Well, he’s Ralph. He’s teaching Hymie to weld.”

“Good for Hymie, he can make good money welding. You go have a good ride on Mabel. Going out on the trail?”

“Sure am, catch up with Lance and Wyatt.”

After she’d tacked up, Jessie pushed Mabel into an easy lope, up the trail. At the top of the promontory, prairie hens cooed and clucked, and she took her hat off a minute, let the breeze cool her head. She spotted Wyatt and Lance down in the east pasture and trotted down to join them, closing every gate behind her carefully.

Wyatt was cutting heifers, taking them through the chute into a round pen.

“Hey, Jess, you and Mabel wanna help cut?” Wyatt asked, after awhile.

“Sure, if we can.”

“Lance you want a breather?”

“Sounds like a deal, Jiggers won’t mind a break. Let Wyatt spot ‘em for you Jess. He knows the brands. Next year we’ll separate ‘em earlier, so it’s easier. Mary say anything about bull semen?” Lance asked.

‘Uh-huh, it’s in the refrigerator at your house. I brought it in with the groceries.”

“Good girl.”

“Denise has a roast. Mary’s making a chocolate pudding pie. Judge is in San Antonio,” Jessie told them.

“You’re stayin’, right?” Lance asked.

“Guess it’s up to Wyatt, it’s his house.”

“You’re staying, then,” Wyatt grinned. “You’ll need a ride home and my truck doesn’t leave til nightfall.”

“Sounds like a plan, boss,” Jessie told him, blushing at his sly grin.

She and Wyatt got two dozen heifers into the enclosure in less time than Jessie could have imagined. Raoul, one of the ranch hands, showed up on a quad loaded with hay bales to keep the heifers busy overnight, while Jessie and Wyatt finished with the last. Lance disconnected the chute, slammed the gate on the enclosure, and fixed it with a safety chain and snap. “Weather will hold, anyway,” he said, looking up at the sky.

“We’ll be back here early tomorrow, anyway, with feed and the semen.” Wyatt said.

“You want to bring the teasing bull out here, or round ‘em up and head ‘em into a shed?” Lance asked.

“I don’t know, let’s fight about that tomorrow. What time did Denise say she’d have dinner, Jess?” Wyatt asked.

“Seven-thirty.” Jessie answered.

“Well, that was ten minutes ago. Let’s step on it.”

The table was pretty, a long dark wooden rectangle with bright woven place mats, the setting sun an orange slash in the sky. When she sat down, Denise filled plates and Jessie remembered to put her napkin in her lap. Wyatt set two thick slabs of roast, mashed potatoes, and some green beans and carrots in front of her, while Mary cracked beers for Lance and Wyatt.

“God is Good, God is Great, He’s really happy to fill our plates,” Wyatt said with a grin, then, “Let’s eat.”

“To Jess’s senior year!” Mary and Denise raised wine glasses, Lance and Wyatt raised beer bottles, and Jess had an iced tea, clinking in the middle of the table.

“Here, here!”

The pot roast was tender, and flaky, the mashed potatoes laced with butter. “Yum, Denise, this is great, thanks.” Jessie said. “Good brain food.”

‘Valedictorian, right Jess?” Mary asked.

“Maybe, you guys, but I don’t wanna jinx it.”

“Tomorrow’s Homecoming,” Wyatt said, straight-faced.

“Homecoming?” Lance grinned. “Isn’t there a big dance and stuff?”

“It doesn’t matter, guys,” Jessie answered, concentrating on her mashed potatoes, trying to put a stop to whatever shenanigans Wyatt was up to.

“If you’re going to be valedictorian this year, you’ll have to go to Homecoming, Jess,” Lance said.

“I’m not sure about valedictorian, yet, Lance, it’s way too soon to know, but Spectra’s getting her dad’s car, so I guess I’ll head to the game, keep an eye on Lalinda.”

“You guys going?” Wyatt asked Lance and Mary.

“We might as well head down there, nothing else going on. Denise, you want to ride with us?” Lance asked.

“Sure do, haven’t been to town in the evening for awhile. Sounds like a nice time. Jess, did they pick Queen yet?” Denise asked.

“Not yet.”

“Well, who’s it gonna be?” Wyatt asked, mouth quirked to the side, to hide his grin.

“Probably Stacia Smith. I’m sure she’s had her dress picked out for months.”

“You got a dress picked out, Jess?” Wyatt asked, shoving a little elbow her way.

Jess elbowed him back, hard. “Course not. That stuff’s stupid.”

“Ahh, Jess, you think so now, but...” Lance smiled, pushing his plate back. “Heard there’s some chocolate pie around.”

“I’ll get coffee,” Mary offered.

“I’m gonna go take care of the horses before dessert, Mary, if you don’t mind,” Wyatt said. “C’mon, Jess, if you wanna say goodnight to Mabel.”

It was dark, a big waxing moon hovering low in a clear sky as Cash trotted at their heels up the path to the stable. Jessie was nervous around Wyatt lately, her stomach all loopy when he looked at her a certain way.

“Know which one is Venus?” Wyatt asked.

“Not really,” Jess answered.

“Over there, the bright one. Down low. You see it?”

“Oh, yeah, cool! My Dad knew stuff like that,” Jess recalled.

Mabel whinnied as they approached the corral. After Wyatt turned the lights on in the stable, Jess put halters on the horses. Wyatt led Jiggers and Alamar in and Jess followed with Mabel. “Is it okay if I groom her?”

“Don’t you have homework?” Wyatt countered.

Jessie sighed. Even though she caught Wyatt staring at her chest all the time, he laid the big brother routine on a little thick. “A vocabulary test tomorrow and some calculus.”

“Calculus? You’re gonna need an extra helping of pie to get through that, huh?” Wyatt joked.

“It’s not bad, only twenty questions. I check my answers in the back of the book to make sure I know what I’m doing,” Jess answered impatiently, grabbing a curry and starting on Mabel.

“You know what you’re doing, Jess,” Wyatt told her, putting the grain buckets that Raoul had left out into the horse’s stalls. He began to curry Alamar while Jess picked Mabel’s feet and soft brushed her body, checking her legs for swelling.

When Wyatt finished, he leaned on the stall door, watching. “Good idea, Jess, she’s not used to all the activity she had today. Any puffiness?”

“Nope, plenty sound. Will you trot her out tomorrow morning, just to be sure?”

“Sure will, and I’ll check her legs for swelling again first thing.”

“So you gonna take a tease bull out to that pen tomorrow?” Jess asked, as they started on the path back to the house.

“Maybe, I’ll see what Lance wants to do. He’s the pro. You wanna help inseminate?”

“I’ve got school, then I have Okay’s. I could see if Hymie will cover the register for me Saturday morning, if you’re gonna try then.”

“We’ve gotta try every day, Jess, till those heifers are all bred. I can pick you up Saturday morning, early, if you want.”

“Thanks, but I’ll have to open the store. Can you meet me at, like, 7, at Okay’s?”

“Sure thing. Let’s go get dessert.”

When Lance and Mary had gone, Jessie sat for a few minutes on the front porch, talking with Denise.

“How’s Lalinda doing?”

“She’s good, too much beauty queen stuff, but staying out of trouble, I think. She and Teja took the bus to Corpus Christi last weekend, she was second runner up in Miss Corpus Christi Pageant, got point for states.”

“Good for her. How ‘bout your mom?” Denise asked.

“Jackie’s the same, Neesie. Out nights, still drinking.”

“Some lizards can’t change their spots, I guess, honey. I know it’s hard on you and Lalinda, but Jackie loves you,” Denise smiled agreeably, not willing to leave a bad taste in Jessie’s mouth.

“Guess so. Her kinda love is a little hard to understand,” Jessie answered, as Wyatt pulled up in the ranch pickup. Denise gave her hand a squeeze and Jessie squeezed back. “Thanks for dinner, Neesie, it was delish.”

“You come out here anytime you want a hot meal, bring Lalinda, too. Wyatt will come get you,” Denise said. ‘If the Judge isn’t in the mood for company in the dining room, you and Lalinda can have a nice dinner right in the kitchen with me.”

“Okay, Neesie, I sure will. Lalinda’d like that. See you tomorrow night at the game.”

“Here’s your book bag and clothes, don’t forget. Mary brought them down.”

“Got ’em. See ya.”

Jessie hopped into the passenger side of the big white Chevy. Wyatt had a cd blaring in the sound system. As they lumbered down the long bumpy drive towards the ranch gate, Jessie got her vocab list out.

“This gonna bother you, studying?” Wyatt asked, turning the music down.

“Not really.” Jess scoured her list.

“How many words?” Wyatt asked.

“Thirty-two.”

“How many you know?”

“All of them, I think.”

“Let’s see…rubicon?”

“The act of winning a game against an opponent whose total score is less than 100, in which the loser's score is added to rather than subtracted from the winner's,” Jessie said, from memory.

“Heck yeah, you know them. Where is this stuff from, Middle England? They gonna ask you to pull the sword out of the stone, next?” Wyatt joked.

“Maybe,” Jessie grinned back at him.

Wyatt was usually quiet in a crowd, but he always cracked jokes when they were together in the truck, or out riding. She was yawning by the time they pulled into the trailer park, though. Everything was dark, so Wyatt switched off the headlights so he didn’t bother the occupants. 

“You okay, Jess? You’ve still got twenty calculus questions to do. Don’t fall asleep now,” he said, real quiet.

“I can do half now and set the alarm for five am, to finish up, if I have to.”

“Next time I promise to get you home earlier. I’ll see you at the football game tomorrow, so let me know about Saturday morning then, okay?”

“You’ll be at the Homecoming game?” Jessie was surprised and embarrassed, for no good reason.

“You think I like sittin’ out at the ranch, all by myself?” Wyatt responded.

“No, I didn’t mean it like that. Of course you should come, if there’s nothing better to do.”

“I only graduated Hobble Creek high school two years ago, Jessie,” Wyatt chided. “Some rancher friends will be there to watch the game, probably. Ty McGreer, and maybe Hank Gallagher. Somebody down in Harleyville asked a favor of me, anyway, so I’m obligated. Don’t worry, your fun is coming. Next year you’ll be in Austin, there’ll be plenty to do.”

“Let’s hope I’ll be in Austin, Wyatt. I could be flipping eggs at Okay’s.”

“You’ll be in Austin, Jess, don’t worry.”

“Thanks for letting me ride Alamar today, Wyatt,” Jessie said, glancing his way.

“Try cutting with Jiggers some time, too,” Wyatt answered, grey eyes flashing at her fondly. Jessie couldn’t smiling as her insides twisted. “You better go hit the books, Jess.”

She fished in her knapsack for her keys. “I will. I’ll let you know about Saturday. Thanks for everything.”

“Night, Jess.”

Wyatt waited until she’d unlocked the door and gone in. After Jessie flicked a light on, she waved out to him, then put the leftover pie Mary had sent along for Lalinda in the fridge.

4

SUNBURST TRAILER PARK

Friday, September 9, 2006, 5:48 AM~Sunburst Trailer Park, Hobble Creek, TX

Jessie heard Lalinda rustling around her room before the alarm. Climbing out of bed, she fished amongst the clothing hung over her bed frame and tossed on the floor. Belting worn jeans, she pulled on a clean t-shirt and stuck her head in Lalinda’s room.

Linny was on her bed, foot up on a chair, painting her toes bright pink to match skin tight leopard print fuchsia pink long pants. The white sequined top she’d borrowed from Teja.

“Mom here?” Jessie asked.

“Don’t think so,” Lalinda answered. “Didn’t hear her come in last night. You ridin’ your bike or takin’ the bus to school?”

“Bike. Gotta work at Okay’s tonight, until half time,” Jessie had answered.

“Heard Stacia’s real pissed off that you made Homecoming Court,” Lalinda drawled in her high, silky soft voice, dipping the brush in the polish. “I hope I’m Queen, in two years.”

“Shut up, Lalinda, Stacia is pissed at somebody else. I am not in Homecoming Court!”

Lalinda looked up from her toenails. Blue eyes fringed with heavy mascara, she insisted, “Oh, yes, you are, Jessie, it’s what everyone’s sayin’! You better figure out what you are wearing to this parade tonight, and to the dance tomorrow, and I am not lyin’!”

“I don’t have time for this, Lalinda,” Jessie said, impatiently. “You’ll be Homecoming Queen in two years, don’t worry. There’s chocolate pie Mary sent over for breakfast. I’ll go get you a slice.”

Jessie brought a two plates back, taking one into Lalinda, then sat at her desk to check over calculus homework, eating her pie, then packed her books in her knapsack, checking on Lalinda. “Bus will be here in ten minutes, Linny, I gotta get going. Did you eat that pie?”

Lalinda handed her the plate scraped clean. “Every bite. You tell Mary it was delicious, and you thank her for me.”

“She’ll be at the game tonight, you’ll see her.”

“Okay, then. I’m packing clothes for the parade for you, Jessie. I’ll take them in on the bus. Teja and I will get your Queen outfit together later, once they make the announcement.” Linny said, assurance in her voice.

“Lalinda! Stop it! I don’t care what I’m wearing!”

“You better care, Miss Homecoming Queen. You can’t let me and Teja down, Jessie! We’re out to rule the school, fashion wise, so don’t you embarrass me. The rich girls have nothing on us!”

“Pick out what you want me to wear, and bring it along.” Jessie sighed resignedly. “I’ll change at Okay’s before half time,” she called, taking the plates into the kitchen.

Putting them in the sink, she’d gone out to her bike, a sparkle of dew on the spare, rocky ground as she’d started towards school.

Friday, September 10, 2006, 7:39 AM Hobble Creek Consolidated High School, Hobble Creek, TX