by JL Curtis
Francisco laughed. “John, I understand. Even though Jesse is not mine, I worry as if she was. We know she is the light of your life, and all of us will do anything to protect her.”
They drove the cows and heifers into the corral and the old man stepped gingerly down from the saddle, rubbing his thighs he groaned, “Damn. Now it’s the butt and the thighs!”
Toby and Francisco both laughed, and Toby took the horses to cool down and put the tack back in the tack room.
Francisco headed for the barn to start prepping for the calving and the old man reluctantly returned to the house. Taking the computer from the kitchen counter, he retreated to the office and sat gingerly on his donut in the rocker.
Rex whined and wanted to be petted, so the old man took a couple of minutes with him, and realized he felt better for it.
He decided he’d had enough of sitting on his ass; and it was time for the pity party to be over. He called the sheriff, telling him to put the old man back on the schedule and he’d be out and about tomorrow.
He also called Bucky and told him if he needed an instructor, he’d be glad to assist starting the following week.
Looking at the time, he buckled down and got all the tax paperwork ready for Jesse. He found everything except for one damn receipt, so he called the company and spent twenty frustrating minutes trying to get a receipt either emailed or faxed.
When he hung up he still didn’t know if he was going to get one or not. He finally finished everything and started to sit back when Rex took off like a shot, he looked at the clock again and realized it was almost 6 PM.
The slam of a car door told him Jesse was home and he walked into the kitchen as Rex bounded in ahead of Jesse and he almost ended up in a heap. Grumbling at Rex he said, “Traitor, I walk you, feed you and as soon as she shows up it’s like I don’t exist.”
Rex just cocked his head, and took off down the hall after Jesse.
After everyone sat down for supper, the old man said a prayer, then added, “Okay, y’all are right. I’ve been an asshole. I’m going back on patrol tomorrow and the pity party is over. Jesse, everything you need is on the desk except one receipt from Morgans, and I don’t know if we’ll get it or not.”
Jesse got up, came around the table and hugged him, “Thanks, Papa, now get out there and kick some ass!”
Everybody laughed, and he said, “Jesse, that might have to wait a day or so; but I’ll get to it.”
After dinner Juanita brought out the blackberry cobbler, and ice cream to everyone’s enjoyment, and all was right with the world.
Epilog
The old man was hiding in his office as the house filled with what he’d come to think of as the coven, while they plotted the wedding. Francisco and Toby had deserted him, going over to Ellington’s early to help them with some fence repairs, and Juanita had told him he had to stay, “just in case.”
Grumpily, he flipped through the TV channels as he worked on emails and the ranch books; he shouldn’t have taken the day off, dammit. He had the MT1200 police radio on low in its charger, just keeping an ear out for any action in the county.
Finally, in desperation he called Bucky, “Hey Bucky, John Cronin; hate to bother you but I need to you bail me out.”
Bucky said, “What? What the hell have you done now John?”
“Bucky, this damn house is full of women day in and day out planning for this damn wedding, and I swear they’ve turned into a coven of witches. One of ‘em hissed at me a while ago when I went in to get a cup of coffee. You got any training classes coming up you need help with?”
“Matter of fact,” Bucky answered, “I’m doing a Laredo class starting tomorrow afternoon, on Bridge four. I could use your expertise, since Charlie is off this weekend.”
“Oh, bless you, my son! That will get me out of here early tomorrow, and if I milk it right, I won’t have to be back here before Sunday night; two whole days of freedom!”
Bucky laughed. “You want me to officially request you through Jose?”
The old man said, “Yeah, otherwise Jesse will blame me and Juanita will probably call Jose to check. She’s acting more like my wife than Francisco’s wife lately.”
“Well, she did have to step up when Amy died, and she pretty much is Jesse’s surrogate mama,” Bucky said.
“Oh, I know, but damn, it’s like they are chaining me to the house, and giving me all kind of crap to do; like I don’t have anything else to do or worry about or…”
Suddenly the alert tone sounded on the radio, followed by the dispatcher calling Car 4, which was his call. He gratefully snatched the radio. “Dispatch, car four; go with your traffic.”
“Car four, 10-25, 10-43 Car two eleven with a signal seven; first dirt road south of sixty-seven and Old Alpine to the right.”
The old man thought for a couple of seconds. “10-4 ETA thirty minutes.”
The old man said to Bucky, “Bucky, I gotta run, got a dead body down toward the Brewster County line.”
“Okay, lemme know if I need to push somebody that direction.” Bucky said and hung up.
The old man flipped his gun belt off the hat rack, put it on, grabbed his hat and radio and headed for the door. As he was walking out, Jesse called, “Papa, where are you going?”
“Got a signal seven down south of ten. Don’t know when I’ll be back.”
Yep, life was getting back to normal, he thought as he put his cowboy hat on and headed out the door grinning.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
JL Curtis was born in Louisiana in 1951 and was raised in the Ark-La-Tex area. He began his education with guns at age eight with a SAA and a Grandfather that had carried one for ‘work’. He began competitive shooting in the 1970s, an interest he still pursues time permitting. He is a retired Naval Flight Officer, having spent 22 years serving his country, an NRA instructor, and currently works as a engineer in the defense industry. He lives in Northern Virginia, this is his first novel.
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[1] Montegnard is the term for the mountain dwellers in Vietnam, common use was ‘Yard. Language spoken is the Degar dialect.
[2] Special Agent in Charge
[3] Range Officer
[4] Marine Expeditionary Force
[5] Course Of Fire
[6] Disqualified
[7] Range Safety Officer
[8]Minute Of Angle-1.047" at 100 yards
[9] Every Day Carry
[10] Advanced Combat Optical Gunsight
[11] Mobile Operations on Urban Training
[12] Marine Corps Base
[13] Marine Special Operations Command
[14] International Defensive Pistol Association
[15] Department of Public Service, Texas version of a State Trooper
[16] Multi-Role Adaptive Design
[17] Judge Advocate General
[18] Marine Special Operations Battalion
[19] Customs and Border Patrol
[20] Release on Recognizance
[21] Command Duty Officer
[22] Adjutant and Administration
[23] General Counsel
[24] Planning, Evaluation, and Performance
[25] Nana Entertainment Plaza
[26] CONtainer EXpress intermodal freight transport container
[27] Rigid Hull Inflatable Boat
[28] Defense Attache Office