Cowgirl Up

by Ali Spooner

“He’s such a showoff,” Melissa said with a chuckle.

  “Yeah, he is,” she said with a grin. “Thanks for a great dinner.”

  “Thank you, you made a lot of it,” Melissa reminded her. “Oh, wait a second,” she said and walked inside her house. She returned a moment later carrying a plate covered with foil. “A slice of cake for later, if you wake up hungry.”

  “Thanks, boss, see you tomorrow,” she said as she climbed in beside Mary Leah.

  “Let’s get you home and to bed,” Mary Leah said as she pulled out onto the drive.

  †

  Coal barely remembered taking her medicine and climbing into bed. When the alarm sounded the next morning, she sat up and, without thinking, raised her arms above her head to stretch. “Damn,” she said, quickly lowering them.

  “A bit sore this morning,” Mary Leah asked.

  “Yeah, my side is a bit tight.”

  “Lay back and relax and I’ll get our coffee,” she said.

  She fluffed up their pillows and waited for her lover to return.

  “What did you have in mind to cook for lunch?” she asked.

  “I thought I’d make a big pot of chicken and dumplings for the crew. Maybe some corn on the cob and biscuits,” she answered.

  “Why don’t you let me use Melissa’s bread machine to make a loaf of fresh bread?”

  “That does sound good,” she admitted. “Makes me hungry just thinking about it.”

  “Let me treat you to breakfast in town. Then we can run by the hardware store for the broomsticks and the grocery store. Do you need to shower?”

  “No, I think I’m good.”

  “Well, let’s drink our coffee and then dress for town,” Mary Leah said.

  †

  After purchasing the broomsticks, they went to the grocery then drove back to the ranch. She could see the dust trailing the machinery as the crew worked in the fields. She couldn’t be out there with them today, but she could make sure they had a great meal in their stomachs.

  Together they carried the groceries into Melissa’s kitchen, and Melissa took the broomsticks and placed them on the porch. Coal would carry them out to the barn later. She was sure Harley, or more likely Gene, would jump on the task of making the poles for her training. She smiled as she entered the kitchen and went to work preparing the chicken breasts for cooking while the water on the burner came to a boil.

  Mary Leah pulled out Melissa’s bread machine and mixed the ingredients for a loaf of sourdough bread. “Will you preheat the oven for me?” she asked her.

  “Sure, darling,” she said and reached down to turn on the oven. She finished placing the breasts in the water and walked to the table to take the bag of flour from the grocery bag to begin mixing dough for her dumplings. She also took out tubes of chocolate chip dough and placed them on the counter. They had decided on cookies to add a sweet treat for the crew.

  They worked quietly side by side until Coal looked over to see Mary Leah watching her. “What?” she asked.

  “I was just thinking how good you look in the kitchen, up to your wrists in flour and dough,” she said.

  Coal smiled at her lover. “I really enjoy cooking for the guys. They appreciate the effort so much.”

  “It’s nice to have someone to cook for isn’t it?”

  “Yeah, it is. It never seems to matter what is cooked. They always seem to enjoy the food.”

  “You are a good cook, my love,” Mary Leah said and leaned over to kiss her lips. “Do you want me to start brewing some tea?”

  “That would be great. I thought we could make a gallon of lemonade too.”

  Mary Leah put a pot of water on to boil, mixed the lemonade, and put it in the refrigerator to chill. Coal poured some flour on the counter and took out the first dough ball to begin rolling it out to cut the dumplings.

  “Do you want me to shuck the corn?”

  “Yes, that would help me out here,” she answered. “Will you also check to see if Melissa has more black pepper in the pantry?”

  Mary Leah walked over and opened the pantry door with a chuckle. “Would you like the industrial size or regular?”

  “I’ve emptied out her shaker, so refill it with the industrial size, if it’s open.”

  “Yes, ma’am,” Mary Leah said.

  They toiled together in the kitchen until the dumplings were cooking slowly and the corn was on to boil. “Let’s take a break,” Coal said as she washed the flour from her hands.

  “That sounds good to me,” Mary Leah said.

  They walked onto the porch and watched a truck full of hay pull in front of the barn. Gene, Lucas, Roy, and Tom stepped out of the truck Melissa drove and began unloading the hay. She and Mary Leah walked across the yard.

  “Do you need drinks?” she asked Melissa. “We made some lemonade.”

  “Yes, that would be good.”

  “Hang tight and I’ll get it,” Mary Leah said.

  “How’s it going this morning?” she asked.

  Gene and Lucas were placing bales of hay on the lift to raise it to the loft. “It’s going well, but we miss having you out there with us,” Gene said.

  “I’ll be back in the field Monday,” she answered.

  “How’s lunch coming along?” Melissa asked.

  “Very well, we were just taking a break when we saw you pull up. What time do you want to eat?”

  “Right about now,” Gene said with a grin.

  Melissa smiled back at him. “We are going to put in another hour and then call it a day.”

  “Should we set up for lunch in the bunkhouse then?” she asked as Mary Leah returned.

  “That would be great. I think these guys have had enough sun for today.”

  “We will be all ready to go in an hour then,” she promised.

  Mary Leah passed around glasses of lemonade as the crew took a short break.

  †

  Lunch for the crew was a great success and after cleaning up the mess in the kitchen and storing the leftovers for the crew’s dinner, Coal and Mary Leah started for home.

  “I think a nap is in order,” Mary Leah announced as they arrived home.

  “That’s not a bad idea at all. Later would you mind if Shadow and I go for a ride?”

  Mary Leah turned to face her lover. “Of course not, but remember to take it easy so you don’t open up that wound.”

  “Yes, ma’am,” she answered.

  Mary Leah flipped the switch on the bedroom wall to turn on the ceiling fan as she and Coal began to undress. When they climbed into the bed, Coal spooned next to her lover and held her until she drifted off to sleep. Unable to follow her lover in a nap, Coal rolled onto her back and stared up at the ceiling. She closed her eyes willing herself to sleep to no avail.

  The soft whirring sound of the ceiling fan grew louder and reminded her of the distant thrumming of helicopter blades. She felt her heartbeat begin to race as her skin broke out in a cold sweat. She squeezed her eyes tightly together in an effort to exorcise the visions from her memory, but the images remained. The thrumming grew louder as the helicopter approached, dust swirling through the scorching air, coating everything with a rust-colored film. The evacuation chopper had arrived, skids settling on the dirt with a groan as the metal door slung open with a loud bang and the medics rushed from within.

  Coal ripped her eyes from the approaching medics to look down. Tessa’s lifeless face stared up at her, her brilliant blue eyes fading with the pallor of death.

  “Move away, soldier, and let us tend to her,” she remembered a medic saying, but she refused to move.

  Her arms cradled Tessa’s body to her. “It’s too late for her, you’re too late for her,” she remembered saying.

  The medic’s fingertips reached down to Tessa’s neck, searching for signs of a pulse. Finding none, he looked into Coal’s eyes. “I’m sorry,” he said as tears flowed down her cheeks.

  Cries for help from one of his team made him tear his eyes away from
hers as he ran to help some of the wounded soldiers in the unit, leaving her cradling Tessa’s lifeless body in her arms as her body rocked back and forth in complete anguish.

  The co-pilot and another soldier placed Mitch’s torn body into a body bag as the medics prepared the injured for transport, leaving she and Tessa the last to be loaded. When they were ready to depart, the medic returned to Coal.

  “It’s time to take her home,” he gently said. “You have to let her go.” He carefully removed Tessa’s body from her arms and she watched in horror as they placed her in a black body bag, her still beautiful face disappearing from view as the zipper slowly closed.

  The medic helped her to her feet, pain ripping through her side as her wounds became evident. “Come, let’s get you tended to,” he said, offering a hand and her feet moved mechanically as she was led to the chopper.

  Coal bolted up in the bed, gasping for a breath. Mary Leah lay unmoving beside her. She crept from the bed, hoping to leave without disturbing her slumber. She needed air and space, so she left the cabin and walked quickly to the barn to saddle Shadow.

  Mary Leah rolled onto her back, her hand instinctively resting on the spot just vacated by Coal. She had awoken when she felt Coal’s body grow stiff from the tension of her memories. She desperately wanted to talk with her, but she remained frozen with no idea of what she would tell her or ask of her. She silently prayed she would come to her one day to speak of the horrors she had experienced in the desert.

  †

  Shadow stamped his hoof in excitement as she walked into the barn. “It’s time to go, isn’t it, big boy?” Coal opened his stall and walked him over to the tack, slipping a saddle blanket onto his back. She gingerly lifted her saddle, wincing at the pain in her side as she placed it on his strong back. Ignoring the pain, she continued to saddle her steed and after slipping the bridle over his head, she placed her foot in the stirrup to mount Shadow.

  They left the barn and walked deep into the pastures, beyond the haying fields toward the herd grazing in the furthermost section of the ranch.

  †

  From the front porch of her home, Melissa saw Coal and Shadow as they entered the pasture. She sensed Coal’s distress and her heart reached out to her. Gene stepped from the bunkhouse at that moment and she hollered out to him. “Gene, will you saddle a horse for me?”

  “Yes, ma’am,” he answered and rushed to the barn as Melissa entered the house in search of her boots.

  Gene saddled Melissa’s palomino mare and led her to the front porch. When Melissa emerged from the house, she found Gene waiting for her. “Is everything all right, boss?”

  “Yes, I’m just going out for a ride,” she said as she took the mare’s reins and mounted her. “Thank you for bringing her to me.”

  “You’re welcome. Be safe and enjoy your ride,” he said as he watched her ride from the yard. In the distance, he saw the fading view of a black horse and rider, knowing instantly Melissa was following Coal.

  †

  Coal allowed the soft thuds of Shadow’s hooves relax her as they crossed the open expanse. She could see nothing but fields for miles, ringed by thin strips of gnarled trees, scorching in the summer heat. The memory of Tessa lying in her arms weighed heavily on her heart as she slumped in her saddle. She knew she had to find a way to purge the guilt of her death before it drove her mad. Tears flowed down her cheeks, Shadow, sensing her distress, plodded aimlessly, no purpose but to serve his master.

  The cry of a hawk circling above drew her attention to the sky. It had been some time since she had seen the pair flying together and she wondered if it too had lost its mate. Her eyes followed the flight of the bird as he dove and then emerged, carrying a squirming rabbit in his talons. A cry from the distance solved her riddle as the predator’s mate called to him. A slow smile grew on her face as she watched the bird fly swiftly to the tree, dropping to a branch to share the bounty of the kill with its mate.

  Approaching hoofbeats made her turn in the saddle. She shielded her eyes from the sun to see a golden horse and rider approaching through the haze of heat waves. “Melissa,” she spoke softly.

  She pulled Shadow to a halt and waited for Melissa and the mare to catch up. “I saw you out riding. Mind if I join you?”

  “Not at all,” Coal said, managing a smile.

  Melissa saw the tearstains on Coal’s cheeks. “You can tell me to mind my own business if you want,” she said.

  “I would never do that,” she said.

  “You look like you’re having a rough time.”

  Coal sighed deeply. “Mary Leah and I laid down for a nap, but I couldn’t sleep. I closed my eyes and the whirring of the ceiling fan sounded like copter rotors and my head was filled with memories of that last day.”

  “When Tessa…and Mitch died?” Melissa asked.

  She nodded her head.

  “Share them with me,” Melissa said.

  “I was holding Tessa in my arms when the chopper landed. She whispered, ‘I love you’ and then died in my arms. Mitch was lying several feet away, the pooling of their blood running together as the dust kicked up by the chopper filled the air.” She choked back her tears. “They took her away from me and she disappeared behind the zipper of a body bag. I let them die,” she said and broke down in tears.

  “You are not responsible,” Melissa said. “For Tessa’s death or Mitch’s.”

  “My hesitation got them killed.”

  “No, it didn’t. The bomb killed them. Coal, no matter what you think, you couldn’t have stopped that.”

  “But, I could have if I hadn’t been distracted.”

  “His death grip on the detonation device would have triggered the explosion and more would have died if Mitch hadn’t buffered the bomb.”

  A part deep inside her knew that Melissa’s words rang true.

  “How long has it been since you have visited her grave?”

  “Too long,” she admitted. “It’s just so far away.”

  “You can have whatever time you need off, if you want to visit.”

  “There is too much to do, and we have the rodeo coming up,” she said. “Maybe afterward,” she said. But even to her own ears, the words didn’t sound sincere.

  “Have you talked to Mary Leah about what you experienced?”

  “No, besides you and Del, Gene is the only one I have talked to about my time in the desert. I’m not sure how to talk to her about Tessa.”

  “Just open your heart to her and the words will come,” Melissa said.

  They rode in silence until they reached the boundary of the MC2, and Melissa reached for Coal’s hand. She smiled at Melissa’s gesture and they turned to stare at the setting sun.

  “Are you ready to head home?” she asked Melissa.

  “Yes, let’s go home, Coal.”

  †

  Mary Leah watched as she rode back into the barn and unsaddled Shadow. She was washing vegetables in the sink for a fresh salad when the door opened and she walked into the kitchen. Coal strode across the floor and took Mary Leah in her arms for a fiery kiss. “We need to talk,” she said.

  “Over dinner?” she asked.

  “Now. I can’t eat until I get this off my conscious,” she answered.

  “Grab some beer and I’ll meet you on the deck. Maybe we could have a fire in the pit?” Mary Leah said.

  “I will start one,” Coal answered with a smile.

  Mary Leah placed the salad and the rest of the vegetables back into the refrigerator then joined her on the deck.

  Coal had a fire blazing in the pit and handed Mary Leah a beer as she took the seat next to her. “I need to tell you about Tessa and my time in the desert,” she said.

  †

  Mary Leah had broken down in tears, wrapped in Coal’s arms she finally understood the trauma her lover had experienced in the desert and the haunting memories she was struggling to resolve. When she regained control of her emotions, she turned to look in her dark eyes. “T
hank you for sharing that part of your life with me.”

  “It was selfish of me to keep that to myself,” Coal said. “I didn’t want you to think of me as damaged goods.”

  “I love every ounce of you, Coal Bryan,” Mary Leah said and kissed her softly.

  Chapter Fifteen

  The next week passed in a blur. They finished bringing in the hay and Coal survived three sessions with Del. They were painful, but Del assured her the pain was necessary for her to move on and she was beginning to believe Del could fix her.

  “I am very pleased with the progress you are making,” Del said when they ended her Friday night session. “Do you think you are ready for Virtual Iraq?”

  “Next week will be a short week. We leave for the rodeo on Friday morning,” Coal answered.

  “Would you rather wait until the following week to begin then?”

  “It will be pretty intense, won’t it?”

  “Yes, it will. Let’s take next week off then, and you can return Monday after the rodeo. Good luck, by the way.”

  “Thanks,” Coal answered.

  “Have a great weekend and I will see you soon,” Del said as she walked with her back to the reception area.

  “Did you remember to ask her about Thursday?” Mary Leah said when they stepped into the room.

  “No, thanks for reminding me,” she told Mary Leah. “We’re having a cookout Thursday night and we would like you to join us.”

  “Thursday is a short day for me,” Del answered. “What time?”

  “We’ll be having a last practice run for our events starting at three and will eat at six,” Coal said.

  Del grinned. “I’d love to watch y’all practice.”

  “So come out as soon as you close up shop,” Mary Leah said.

  “I will,” Del said. “I’ll see you Thursday then. Have a great weekend.”

  †

  Gene and Lucas rushed to clear the table after Thursday’s lunch. “Are you riding today?” he asked her.