by Stephen Bly
The voice was still indistinct. “What do you want to talk about?”
“A silly dream of mine that has already cost me ever’thin’. I’m hopin’ you can put it to rest.”
The door swung open.
A woman in her early thirties, with, black, wavy hair, thick eyebrows, and black jeans stood barefoot in front of him. Her trimmed toenails were polished bright red. She wore a scooped-neck pink T-shirt with burgundy-colored words emblazoned on the front: Ponder Rosa.
Hap gaped. He moved his lips but it took a moment before any words came out. “Rosa? Wha… what are you doin’ here?”
“This is my house. This is where I live when I’m not traipsing around the world.”
“But… where’s that other Juanita?”
“All of those things I told you about her are true, except for one. Her name isn’t Juanita. It’s Rosa. That was all about me, Hap.”
He waved his arms like a drowning man. “But, what about that person who needed your help?”
“It was me, too. I needed to do something for Rosa Rodríguez Tryor.”
“Why the pretense? Why go through all of this?”
Rosa bit her lip. “Because I wanted so bad to be your Juanita. I wanted to be the one you were so crazy to find.”
He stepped forward and circled his arms around her. She leaned on his chest and cried. “I’m sorry, Hap. I’m sorry. I just have a difficult time believing that I’m not the one for you.”
He kissed her neck, her cheek, her forehead. “Somethin’ inside me died last night when you phoned. All day today, I’ve been in agony.”
“What do you think died?”
“This idiot obsession about findin’ a girl I met when I was twelve. I realized it doesn’t matter anymore. Your words in the night purged my heart. I didn’t even want to come up here. All I wanted was you back. Annamarie made me come up here. I reckon you know that I love you.”
She cradled his cheeks and gazed into his eyes. She brushed a kiss across his lips. “Hap, I am not your dream girl. I am not perfect. But I do love you, too. And I know I can learn to love you better. But, listen to me. I will never be able to change the fact that I am not Juanita.”
He kissed her firmly on the lips. When he leaned back, a wide, easy grin filled his leather-tough, tanned face. He handed her the small leather box. “These are for you.”
“Your rock and the little girl’s bracelet? Hap… let me be your Juanita.”
“No, darlin’… I lost that dream last night when you phoned and I never want it back. I don’t need a Juanita. I don’t want that girl I met when I was twelve. I need you. You will now and forever be my Rosa.”
Have you seen my Juanita?
WANTED
NAME: Juanita
AGE: 31
EYES: Dark Brown
RACE: Hispanic
BIRTHMARK: Silhouette of a petite horse's head under right ear
LOCATION: Lives within sight of Rio Grande
LAST SEEN: Central Wyoming, 1988
Hap Bowman and his rodeo partner, Laramie Majors, set out to find Hap’s lost childhood love and are soon chasing down every Juanita from Wyoming to the Mexican border. Every place they go leads to more trouble and excitement—whether it’s herding cattle across the Rio Grande, facing off against a crooked park ranger in the Chisos Mountains, or rounding up wild mustangs on a desert military testing ground. Though their search may or may not lead to Juanita, it will definitely be the adventure of a lifetime for these two modern-day cowboys.
STEPHEN BLY is the author of ninety-five books and hundreds of articles. The mayor of Winchester, Idaho, in his spare time, he pursues the three R’s of ridin’, ropin’, and rodeo… and construction of Broken Arrow Crossing, a false-front western village near his home. You can visit his Web site at www.BlyBooks.com.