Lauren hadn’t seen her daughter so animated since she’d won a major track race. Her eyes fairly sparkled. The change in her was startling. She saw similar conversations were transpiring between the other families.
She talked to several of the other families as they finished the meal. They had a lot in common. All were military families who had lost a husband or wife, mom or dad.
Tony’s mother was the most talkative. As soon as her son left the table to talk with another boy, she boasted about her son’s newly acquired skills. “I’m so glad he’s found something he likes,” the woman said. “He’s not one for schoolwork, but he’s real excited about working with horses.”
Reese joined the group then with a young man at his side. “This is Nathan,” he said. “My nephew. He was herding cattle last Sunday but he’s here to stay and help throughout the program now.”
Nathan nodded to her. “You have an equestrian here, Mrs. MacInnes,” he said to Lauren, “and that’s despite the fact she can’t really use her left leg with the horse. They seem to understand each other.”
Julie beamed as he smiled at her. He was a good-looking boy who had the same dark eyes and rangy build as his uncle.
Lauren tried to push a sudden concern aside and move the conversation to new territory. “The food was delicious but there was a lot of it,” she said.
“Between the guests, the kids and the staff, it’ll be gone before you can blink,” Reese said. “There’s more that has gone to the bunkhouse.”
“How do the boys like the bunkhouse?” Lauren asked.
“They love it. Not too many kids can say they stayed in a real Western bunkhouse and trained mustangs.”
“It doesn’t bother your cowhands?”
He shook his head. “Gives them a chance to show off,” he said, “and be big brothers for a month.”
Just as he said the words, thunder roared through the valley and a few raindrops started falling.
“Let’s get everything inside,” Sally said. “Storms up here come fast and strong.” Without being asked, the teens and parents immediately started taking in food and stacking the chairs and taking them to the barn.
Tony’s and Jenny’s parents had driven up together from Denver and decided to leave immediately.
Heath’s uncle asked if he could stay overnight in the bunkhouse since he had a longer drive by himself. Reese readily agreed and turned to Lauren. “I think you should stay, too. That road can be slippery and difficult in a storm. We have several spare bedrooms.”
She hesitated. She didn’t have any clothes with her other than what she was wearing. But when she looked back at the angry sky, she knew she didn’t want to go down that winding road in a driving rain, particularly when it was dark.
That meant, though, spending more time with her daughter, and Reese. Not wise, but she didn’t have much of a choice. “Thanks,” she said. “I’ll take you up on that, but I don’t have anything else with me.”
“I think we can fill in a few items,” Reese said. “We’ve been known to have guests snowed in, and we keep emergency packages for them. Just simple things like toothbrushes, toothpaste, shampoo. Sally has extra jackets you can use. It could get colder tonight. If you want to help, you can keep the kids occupied. All my people will be busy, and it can get scary in the house when the thunder roars.”
She wasn’t sure at all whether that was a good idea. Her only experience with kids was her daughter and she hadn’t been great at that. But she nodded her head. “I can do that. What about you?”
“I’m going to help my crew get the horses inside their stalls. Several of my guys will probably have to go out tonight to calm the cattle if the weather takes a turn for the worse,” Reese said as he pulled on a long yellow raincoat with a split in back.
“I should call the inn. The way news spreads in town, someone might worry if I simply disappear in a rainstorm. Apparently, everyone looks after everyone else, and since the poker game, I’m one of them.”
“I doubt there’s any cell service now. You can use the office computer to send an email. Hopefully, it will be working. We’ve been having some problems with it.”
“About the kids,” she reminded him, “the only game I know is poker.”
“So teach them,” he said. “It’s something every kid needs to know for future reference.”
“Can I keep the proceeds?”
He chuckled. “Depends on what you play for.”
“I have complete freedom?”
“I’ll trust your good judgment.”
“Do you have chips and cards?”
“That’s like asking a pro football player if he has a football.”
“You’re that good?”
“Remember I’ve played in Covenant Falls, too.”
“What about Heath’s uncle?” she asked.
“Sally will look after him.”
“And your nephew?”
“He’ll be working with us. Which reminds me I have to go.”
“Be careful!”
He nodded. It was obvious he was worried.
She went inside and watched from the window as ranch hands brought horses in from several paddocks situated around the ranch as the thunder grew louder and took them into two different stables. The mustangs had already been driven inside their stable earlier in the day because of the visitors.
Lauren went into the kitchen where Sally and Betty were putting food away and making a huge urn of coffee. “These sudden summer storms can be bad,” Sally said.
“Why put all the horses in the stables?”
“We always do when there’s thunder. Some are easily frightened by storms, particularly if there’s lightning. You get one running, and the others might follow and crash through fences.”
She nodded.
“Betty can finish up. Let me show you your room.”
Lauren followed Sally up a flight of stairs.
“Julie and Jenny—the boys are calling them the Two Js—are to the left,” Sally said. “They have adjoining rooms connected by a bathroom. You’ll be to the right. A bathroom is next door and you’ll be the only one using it.”
Sally opened a door and stood aside as Lauren went inside. The room was like much of the ranch. Simple. Homey. The large bed was covered with a thick comforter. A window overlooked the stables. The bathroom next door had both a bathtub with a shower fixture and plenty of fluffy towels.
It looked inviting. She only wished she had come prepared for an overnight stay, but how did you predict a sudden mountain storm? She did have her purse. After Sally left, Lauren washed her face and hands and wished she had something else to wear.
She went back downstairs. The living room was spacious and furnished for comfort rather than fashion. Big cushy chairs and a plush sofa large enough to comfortably seat six people occupied the center of the room. A huge fireplace took up one corner and a bookcase in another. Two game tables with chairs were placed next to large windows that looked out over the barn and meadow in back of the house.
She went to one of the windows. Although it was only a little after five, the room was darkening. Great bulbous clouds churned above, and rain was coming down hard now. She saw figures outside taking horses into the barn. In the distance she saw a streak of lightning.
“Reese said you wanted to contact the inn,” Sally said. She led Lauren out of the living room and two more doors down. “This is the office. The landline is working, so you might try that. The computer can be a little stubborn sometimes.”
Lauren looked around. It was a medium-size room. Lauren noted file cabinets covering one side and a bookcase filled with stimulating titles such as Ranch Management, Today’s Ranching and A Hard Look at Today’s Cowboy. There were also neatly stacked piles of folders on a table next to the computer.
“Thanks,” she said.
“Reese asked if I could help out with the teens.”
“That would be terrific. All the ranch hands are busy, and I’ll be, as well. Oh, and will you need any clothes tonight?”
She could live with what she had for a day or two. She’d certainly done it as a cadet and pilot.
“I’m fine with a new toothbrush,” she said. “But I do need a deck of cards or two if you have them.”
“Cards are in a compartment of the game table,” Sally replied. “As far as clothes go, I’ll put a duster in your room. We can wash your clothes tomorrow. How does that sound?”
“Good.”
After Sally left, Lauren tried the landline and reached the inn. She reported her situation. Then she tried the computer, and it worked. She found her purse, took out several bills along with a quarter, a nickel and a dime. She photographed each with her cell phone, and emailed the images to herself, then played with them on the computer. She made the coins larger. She added color, the coins being bronze and the bills being green. Then she printed copies of them. She cut out the dollar bills and then carefully cut the quarters into squares and the dimes and nickels into smaller squares to represent those coins.
They were paper, of course, but at least they represented the originals.
Sally returned with a cup of coffee. “Since you were busy, I thought I would bring coffee to you.” She glanced at the computer-produced money. “You did that? On the computer?”
“Sure. You want to join us? There’s more than enough money, and I can always make more.”
Sally grinned. “I’m tempted but I think it should just be the four. It should have been their night and I suspect you’ll make a great dealer. I also have a lot of cold, wet people needing coffee and food.”
“You think it’s okay to play poker?” Lauren asked. She’d worried that it might be inappropriate. It was, though, one of the few games she knew.
Sally shrugged. “It’s a game. You don’t keep people from watching football because people gamble on it. It might not hurt if you threw in a few precautionary notes.”
Lauren nodded. Sally left, and Lauren picked up the money and walked into the game room. The teens apparently had been told to meet there, and they looked up at her expectantly, all except her daughter, who looked as if she wanted to hide under the nearest cushion.
It was Tony who spoke first. “I heard you were a fighter pilot. Are there many women fighter pilots?”
“There’s a growing number of us,” she said.
“Why did you decide to be one?” Jenny asked softly.
“I liked to fly,” she said. “A very nice pilot took me up in a small plane one day when I was a bit younger than you, and I decided I belonged there. The best way to do that was through the Air Force Academy.”
“My mom was a helicopter pilot,” Jenny offered.
“You should be very proud of her,” Lauren said. “The chopper pilots have the most dangerous jobs and are incredibly brave,” she added. “They come and rescue us when we go down, no matter how dangerous it is. No one has more respect for chopper pilots than fixed wing pilots.” She looked around the table. “You all should be proud of your parents.” She brought them to a different topic. “Okay, who has the best horse here?”
As she expected they all raised their hands. “Okay, I know about Snowflake. Tony, who did you pick and why?”
“Andy,” he said. “He made little eager snorting noises, and he nuzzled me even before I picked him. It was kinda like ‘I want you.’”
She turned to Heath. “Heath?”
“My horse is Checkers,” he said. “I picked him because he was a black-and-white mustang. He’s a really good horse now. He was one of the wild mustangs the last kids worked with.”
“Jenny?”
“I picked Cindy for Cinderella. She looked...shy.”
“And quite pretty,” Lauren said. “I watched you today. You were really good. All of you were.”
Her daughter raised her eyebrows with that “do you have to do that?” look.
Lauren ignored it. “Well, from what I saw today, you all picked winners. You looked great, a lot better than I looked a few days ago when I took a riding lesson.”
They were beginning to relax. She made her next pitch. “I know this was supposed to be a celebration tonight for all your hard work, but I guess the sky is celebrating for you with its fireworks,” she said.
“With a wet blanket,” quipped Heath.
“Ah, we have a comic,” Lauren said. She tipped her head. “That was really pretty clever.”
Heath beamed.
“Since the celebration is temporarily postponed,” she said, “does anyone have an idea of what game you want to play? Scrabble, maybe?”
As she expected, no one looked excited other than her daughter. She suspected Julie had already outplayed them all. “Or,” she added, “we can play hearts.”
“That’s lame,” Heath contributed. “What about something interesting like poker?”
He meant it as a joke. She’d hoped someone would pop up with it so she wouldn’t have to.
“That’s a possibility,” she said slowly. “I just happen to have some money with me.”
“I like hearts,” Jenny said.
“Poker,” Julie said. “My dad taught me.”
Lauren was stunned. It was said easily. Without tears. And with pride. It was the first time Julie had mentioned Dane without tearing up.
“Tony?” Lauren asked.
Tony glanced at Jenny, and Lauren wondered whether a teen relationship was forming. “I guess I have to say poker,” he finally said.
“That okay with you, Jenny?”
“I don’t know how to play.”
“I’ll help you, then,” Lauren said. “And since I would probably get arrested if you played with real money, I manufactured some on the computer down the hall. Just in case you wanted to play.” She passed out ten dollars in paper money to each of the teens.
“Whoever is the big winner,” she said, “has bragging rights.”
“That’s all?” Heath asked.
“And learn or improve a skill,” she added. “It comes in handy. The idea, though, is it’s a social game. I played Monday night in an all-veteran Covenant Falls poker game. I didn’t know anyone when I went in. I had fifteen friends when I came out. I modestly say I won. Guess how much?”
They went through numbers, ranging from fifty to a hundred.
“About seven dollars, but the real thing I won was three hours of pleasure and new friendships. Okay?”
As rain beat against the windows, and lightning darted across the sky, the four teenagers became absorbed in the game. Lauren played the role of dealer and helped Jenny. Sally brought in some munchies and lemonade, which seemed to be her go-to drink. The game broke up at ten when Reese came in, Leo by his side. The latter went around the table, greeting each one and shaking water all over them. No one seemed to mind.
Reese was soaked when he came into the room. Water dripped from his mussed hair. He’d taken off his boots but his socks were wet as were the legs of his jeans.
Reese looked at the fake money lying on the game table. “What is this?”
“We’re playing poker,” Heath said. “Mrs. MacInnes made the money on the computer.”
“You did this? How?” he asked her as he picked up one of the dollars.
“I used my cell phone to take photos of money in my wallet,” she said, “and played around with them on the computer. I hope that was okay. Sally thought it was a good idea.”
He furrowed his brows, uttered something that might have had a “damn” in it.
“I hope that wasn’t wrong,” she said anxiously.
“No,” he
said. “I’m just surprised. Who’s winning?”
“I am,” Jenny said quietly. The boys looked abashed but, to Lauren’s delight, her daughter just nodded her head and smiled.
Lauren felt a satisfaction she’d not felt in a long time. The teens are turning into a team.
Reese stood there, dripping. “I have bad news,” he said.
They all looked at him.
“We’ll have to cancel meeting the mustangs tomorrow.”
Faces fell.
“The rain is beginning to flood one of our pastures. We have to take cattle to a higher one tonight. It’ll take most of the ranch hands and we’ll be out all night and most of tomorrow. They’re getting ready now.”
He paused, then looked at the boys and added, “You can sleep in the house tonight. You can get your stuff, and Sally will show you the room. The bunkhouse will be pretty busy. Heath, your dad will stay here, as well. He’s helping out in the kitchen.
“I’m not sure how we’ll handle tomorrow,” he continued. “I doubt the instructors will get here. I’m hoping Sally and Burt Ames, one of our best riders, can work with you in the riding barn in back of the house. It appears the rain will last most of tomorrow.”
The teens looked disappointed but nodded.
It was obviously a message to leave. The teens said good-night and filed out. Julie waited until the others left and grinned at her. “Good job, Mom,” she said as she left the room.
Reese lingered as they left. “Well, that poker game was obviously a big hit,” he said, sitting next to her. “It was better than anything I would propose. I would have gone with some kid’s game...and they would have been bored to death and worried about the horses.”
She felt better about her choice. “It’s going to be a rough night for you, isn’t it?”
He nodded. “I’m afraid so,” he said. “It’s going to be a hard rain all night. That damn thunder’s the big problem, though, particularly with the cattle. They’re apt to run and crash through fences and then there’s the flooding. I’m just sorry for the kids. I know how much they’ve been anticipating meeting their mustangs.”
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