Love Drunk Cowboy

chapter 11

Gemma was gone when Austin awoke the next morning. There was a note beside the coffee pot that said her boyfriend had wasted no time in getting her stuff to her parents’ house that morning and she was going home to talk about the future. She thanked Austin for the safe house, the late supper, but most of all for the support.

Austin roamed through the house and decided to start in the garage again but when she opened the door she shut it quickly. That’s when the realization hit her like a bitch slap in the face. She’d have to be in and out of the house for the next few months, so she did not have to deal with the garage today.

“So I can work on it a weekend at a time through the summer. And I can see Rye every weekend and maybe have dinner with the O’Donnells sometimes.”

The battle began.

In this corner was common sense. If she came back every weekend for three months, she’d never want to sell the farm when fall came.

“But I don’t want to sell it! Where in the hell did that come from? I can’t run a farm and do my job in Tulsa too. I’m not Superwoman.”

In the other corner her heart was pouting. It wanted more time with Rye to see where the relationship might go. Out of sight; out of mind. It kept repeating that phrase over and over, reminding her that they’d barely gotten a foundation laid in the two weeks she’d been there. He’d forget a few wild kisses and a couple of nights of passionate fumbling in no time.

Temptation begged to stay.

Ambition insisted that she throw her bags in the ’Vette and leave Terral behind in a cloud of dust.

She poured cold cereal in a bowl and topped it off with milk and carried it to the living room desk. She pushed aside the payroll checkbook. She really needed to be there on Fridays for payroll.

“But if I go for good, I could make arrangements for the bank to do a direct payment each week for the money going to Mexico and then give them their money in advance for the rest of the season. Felix will have the truck.” The more she rationalized the heavier her heart became.

When she finished her breakfast she had another idea. She called her boss on his cell phone. He picked up on the first ring. He was in the office playing Saturday morning catch-up before going to his daughter’s softball game in Oklahoma City.

They did the usual niceties including are you getting your grandmother’s affairs settled, and how are things at the office? Then she hit him with the bombshell. “I’d like to work four days a week until the end of the summer. This is taking longer than I thought in the beginning. There’s a crop in the field and payroll to meet on Fridays for the hired help. I’ll stay late at my job there every night Monday through Wednesday to make up the time.”

“I think that is doable. I’ll see you Monday?”

“Yes, and thank you.”

“Austin, you know you are being groomed for my job. Don’t let us down by deciding to make a career move toward farming. I’m looking forward to having you back in the office.”

She said good-bye and heard the guys talking as they rounded the end of the house on their way back to their trailer. She hurried out the front door and yelled at Felix. He waved and headed to the porch.

“What is it?”

“I’ve made arrangements to work four days a week in Tulsa and be here on weekends until the crop is harvested. You have the keys to the old truck. Is there anything else you’ll need me to do before I leave this afternoon? I’ll be back every Thursday night and stay until late on Sunday.”

Felix removed his hat and leaned against a porch post. “I’m sorry that you are going but we will take care of this place like it was our own. You will be here on Friday for our payday?”

“Yes, I will, and in time to take it to the bank.”

He nodded slowly. “Our families depend on that.”

“I’ll be here. Would you take care of Rascal?”

“That old tomcat eats at our trailer a lot of the time anyway. He likes Lobo’s tacos as much as he likes his morning eggs. And he wanders across the road to Rye’s place pretty often. Rye took care of him all these months since Miz Verline passed on. You be careful. Does Rye know you are leaving today?”

“I’ll get in touch with him. He knows I’m going this weekend but not this afternoon. If you have a problem I’m sure he’ll help until I can get back down here over the weekend.”

Felix settled his hat back on his head. “We will see you next Thursday then.”

“Thank you,” Austin said.

Had it only been two weeks since she and Pearlita had the simple memorial for her grandmother? That day seemed like a lifetime ago, one that she should leave in the past, and go on to a very different one that involved green John Deere tractors instead of black power suits.

She went back inside and called Rye’s number and got the answering machine. “Rye, this is Austin. I’m going back to Tulsa today. I’ve made arrangements with my boss to take off a day at a time on Fridays so I’ll be back next weekend. I’d like to get home in time to run by my office and get things in order for Monday morning. Tell Maddie I’m sorry I’ll miss the strawberry shortcake. I told Felix that if anything happens to call you. You’ve got my cell phone number so please call me when you get this message.” She paused. Did she tell him that his kisses were still hot on her lips after twelve hours or that she would miss him? “Well, I guess that’s all. Talk to you later. See you next weekend.”

She flipped her phone shut. “Shit! That sounded like a message I’d leave for my mother. And I’m beginning to cuss like Granny. Molly and Greta must be right. There’s something in the water.”

It was on the machine and she couldn’t erase it so she neatly packed her things into the suitcase, adding her jeans and shirts to her black suits and pajamas. She dressed in hip slung jeans, comfortable boots, and a western shirt and pulled her hair up in a ponytail. She tried to call Rye one more time but got his answering machine again.

“Rye, I’m on my way out of here. Wanted to talk to you in person before I left but I guess you are off somewhere this morning.”

Then she tried his cell phone and got nothing but left a message there, too. “Rye, I’ve talked to my boss and would love to tell you the new arrangements. Please call me.”

She drove slowly through Terral but didn’t see his truck in front of the café or at the Mini-Mart. Turning north at the stop sign was almost as hard as watching her grandmother’s ashes float down the Red River. She pulled off the side of the road in front of the big brick Welcome to Terral sign and sat there for several minutes. The Lanier gut said she was making a big mistake, that she shouldn’t leave Terral. She fought with it for a few minutes but she pulled back out on the road and drove north, arguing with herself every single mile she drove away from Terral.

***

Rye was whistling when he came in the house at dusk. He and Kent had walked the fence line until noon, shoring up the sagging barbed wire. They’d had lunch together at the Peach Orchard and then worked all afternoon on the loading chute for the rodeo livestock. On April 23 and 24 he’d have to have them in Mesquite, Texas, for the first rodeo of the season. He’d bring them home after that weekend and then reload them the week of May 21 for the season. After that he’d be in Mesquite two days a week. The bulls looked brawny and were mean as hell. They’d give any rider a run for his money.

Kent had left at five thirty to take the family to Wichita Falls for dinner at Long John Silver’s and a movie. Rye had put the finishing touches on the chute and checked out the farm pond with intentions of taking Austin fishing down at the river that night. He’d already figured out which quilt to take and what picnic basket to fill up with snack food; found a cooler and filled it with beer, ice, and a bottle of watermelon wine; and had a shower when he saw the red blinking light on the answering machine.

He smiled when it rang once, imagining Austin coming down the hall in her overalls and tank top, all sweaty after a long day of packing boxes. His pulse raced and desire flooded his body at the vision. On the second ring he could almost hear her swearing. The third ring he was pulling back his mini-blinds to see if there were lights on in the house. Fourth: it was dark as midnight and her little red car was nowhere to be seen. Fifth: Verline’s voice answered, “If this is a telemarketer, take me off your list. You ain’t got a thing I’m interested in buying or hearing about. Anyone else, you know the drill. When it beeps, you talk. When I get the message, I’ll call back.”

Rye’s smile vanished leaving a frown in its wake. Maybe she’d gone with Gemma down to Ringgold. He dialed his folks’ number and Gemma picked up.

“Hello. If you are calling to fuss at me, don’t. I’m at home and Momma says I can stay here until I find a place. We’ve got an idea in the works that Austin set me to thinkin’ about.”

“Where is Austin?”

“I left her asleep this morning. We talked until way past midnight and when I woke up this morning I was so excited that I drove down here to talk to Momma and Daddy about things. I’m thinkin’ of putting in a beauty shop of my own right here in Ringgold. What do you think about that?”

Rye sighed. Right then he didn’t care if she put one in front of the Pearly Gates and fixed hair for free to the ladies who had an appointment with St. Peter. “Honey, that sounds great. You’d be closer to home and Momma would like that. You could even help with the horses in your spare time.”

Gemma groaned. “What spare time? I’ll have to fix hair from daylight to dark to pay the loan off if I borrow money for my own shop.”

“I’ll loan you the money. I don’t think Austin is going to sell the farm any time soon and that’s the only place up here I’m interested in buying.”

“Ahhhh! You are a good brother. Are you serious?”

“I am. You sure you haven’t heard from her?”

“Not since last night. You two have a fight or something?”

“No, I just thought she might want to go fishing. She might have gone to play poker with Molly and Greta on a last-minute whim. See you at dinner tomorrow,” Rye said. They only had this one last night together so surely she didn’t go to a poker game. Unless she had decided to stay in Terral! His heart raced at that idea. Maybe she had gone to Nocona or Bowie to buy groceries for several weeks.

He hung up and looked at the flashing red light and the number four. He removed a beer from the cooler, popped the tab off the top, and pushed the button. Leaning on the kitchen cabinet, he listened to the first message, which offered him a great deal on a three-day trip to Branson, Missouri. Hotel, two shows a day, and dinner all for one low price.

“Does Austin like music shows?” he asked.

The second message wanted to sell him a time-share condo in Florida.

“What would she look like in a bikini?”

The third was a blank. Nobody talked.

He’d just taken a sip of beer when he heard Austin’s voice telling him she was going back to Tulsa. His throat shut off and he had trouble swallowing. He listened to it all the way through. By the time it finished he was gripping the can so hard that the sides were crushed and beer spewed out the top.

“Damn it all to hell! I thought we had at least one more day before she left.” He threw the beer into the kitchen sink and stomped back to the window. The house across the street not only looked empty, it felt vacated. She’d said she’d be back on Friday but that was almost a week away.

He looked on the dresser where he’d emptied his pockets for his cell phone but it wasn’t there. Then he remembered that the battery was nearly dead and he’d plugged it into the cigarette lighter outlet in the pickup and forgotten about it. He jogged out the back door to his truck and jerked the cords loose.

He listened to her two messages and dialed her cell number the minute they ended. She picked up on the first ring.

“Hi!”

“Where are you?” he asked.

“In traffic on the outskirts of Tulsa. I’ve got that dinner thing with my family tomorrow night but I thought if I got up here early enough I could get my office in order tomorrow and the week would go easier. Did you get my messages?” she asked.

“I did.”

“I’ll be back late Thursday. I made arrangements with my boss to work late whenever I need to and to take three-day weekends all summer so I can be there to do the guys’ payroll and have the weekends in Terral.”

“I see.”

“Are you mad? You sound angry,” she said.

“No, I just wanted to see you before you left. I’m not mad. I’m disappointed. I thought we’d go get a pizza from the Mini-Mart and go fishin’.”

“Well, shit! I’m disappointed too, but I’ll be back Thursday.”

He smiled at her cussing. “You could turn around and come back. You’d be home by midnight and we could forget fishin’ and do something more fun.”

“Ah, man! I’d rather do that anytime as drive in this traffic. Gotta go. It’s too dangerous to talk and drive in this mess. Call you later.”