Lucky Cowboy

by Heatherly Bell

  He found her in one of the auto bays, filling out some paperwork. She strode over to him, her mechanic jumpsuit swimming on her, her name tag reading simply, “Daisy – mechanic.”

  “Hey there.” She smiled at him with radiant eyes. “What are you doin’ here? Need help with the tractor again?”

  “Nah,” he said. “Had to drive to San Antonio, so thought I’d stop in and buy you a coffee or somethin’.”

  “Wow, big spender.” She walked to the car bay and climbed out of her jumpsuit. Under it she wore plain jeans and a T-shirt. “Lou, I’m goin’ on that break you owe me.”

  They walked across the street to a coffee shop, making small talk. Or she did, while he remained quiet, flashing back on the little girl that cried for her mother and eventually one day stopped asking about her. She’d become Hank’s shadow after that. Whenever anyone mentioned that Daisy was practically the image of her mother, she left the room. She’d suffered enough being abandoned by her mother to find out that maybe she’d also been abandoned by her “real” father.

  Still, maybe he should let her know there could be a question about her paternity. Maybe he had no right to protect her from this. If Rusty was her biological father, he a medical history she should know.

  Lincoln should have asked Rusty for a medical history! Just in case. But no, this wouldn’t be an issue. Besides, Daisy was healthy, and she’d likely remain that way. And if she liked working on cars, that couldn’t be in the DNA. She’d been nurtured to like cars, spending time around Hank, who’d been ridiculously proud of everything she did.

  “Earth to Lincoln?” Daisy asked.

  She’d apparently just ordered her drink, probably a milkshake with some coffee in it.

  “Just a drip coffee,” he said, and paid for their drinks.

  Daisy led the way to a table. “So. You and Sadie.”

  “What?”

  “Snap out of it.” She snapped her fingers in front of his nose. “Tell me what’s on your mind because I can almost hear you thinkin’.”

  “Nothin’,” he lied.

  “I just asked about you and Sadie and you stared right through me. Don’t tell me y’all broke up already. Eve dumpin’ Jackson was awkward, at least Jackson left town. You and Sadie are goin’ to keep on runnin’ into each other.” She stirred her drink with the straw. “Oh, Lord. Please don’t break up with her. I can’t take any more drama.”

  “I’m not goin’ to break up with her. What makes you think she won’t break up with me?”

  “Um, history?” She made a slurping sound with her drink. “Sadie’s loved you forever.”

  “Change of subject,” he announced, unwilling to discuss Sadie.

  “Have you seen Wade lately? How’s he doin’? How’s his mother?”

  “She went through another cancer treatment and seems to be doin’ much better. He’s been helpin’ over at the new school from time to time.”

  They talked a little more about his best friend, giving Lincoln a much-needed shift from thoughts of Daisy’s paternity. Because no amount of thinking would fix this.

  He’d already made a decision, and now he would stand by it.

  Chapter 19

  After Derek showed up drunk, Jimmy Ray regressed, so Sadie made efforts to quietly praise him for his good behavior. Some days, this was a stretch. She reached for compliments, sometimes thanking him for the behavior she’d expect from any student.

  Thank you for giving Ellie the jump rope when she asked.

  I sure love the way you’ve been turning in your homework every day.

  Look, your shoes are on your feet, exactly where they belong!

  Today, she sat next to him as he struggled with his math sheet, counting on his fingers and biting his tongue as he wrote down the answer.

  “Hey there.”

  He glanced up but went back to his worksheet. “I’m bein’ good.”

  “I know, honey.” She ruffled his hair. “I never got to talk to you after that day you ran off to find your dad. When Lincoln found you?”

  He nodded. “I couldn’t find my dad.”

  “It must be so hard not seeing your dad every day like you’re used to.”

  He wrote an eight with two circles, one on top of the other. The wrong answer.

  “Grown-up stuff can be tough to understand,” Sadie said sincerely.

  She couldn’t understand when, how, and why her mother suddenly become so bitter toward her father. The entire memory of her childhood was tilted on its side as she quietly wondered how long Mom had been unhappy. Or maybe this was just something else she’d failed to notice. Were they simply keeping their problems quiet or did Beau know there were problems? Who else knew?

  Did they even have problems, or was it just a bad night?

  “Both of your parents love you very much,” Sadie said quietly.

  Yes, Sadie. Your parents love you very much.

  “I know.” He tipped his pencil over to erase his incorrect answer.

  Good, Jimmy Ray. Good. Thinking it over, getting it right.

  “Do you know if there’s anything you ever need to talk about, you can come to me?”

  “Yep.”

  She’d been about to get up and check on another student’s work when Jimmy Ray piped up.

  “I saw my dad.”

  That caught Sadie’s attention. A shiver of fear slid down her spine. “You did?”

  “He can’t come home right now. He will later.”

  “Miss Sadie, I need help.” Ellie stood at Sadie’s elbow, holding her worksheet in her chubby little hands.

  Sadie went to help Ellie with her spelling, intent on getting back to that conversation with Jimmy Ray. But by the time Bobby Joe stole Billy’s snack, Ellie and Sue Ellen argued whether you could make the color purple from red and blue or red and green, and Scott needed his shoes tied again, the school day ended.

  As she locked up the portable, Sadie waved to the men on the crew today, who happened to be Beau and one of the Henderson brothers. If she were to judge by outer appearances, the new school would be ready soon. Of course, she wasn’t allowed inside. She hoped they hadn’t found something else wrong with the building because she didn’t want to stay in the small portable for much longer. The kids needed more room and so did she.

  She walked across the parking lot and stood until Beau noticed her. He walked over to her.

  “Hey, sis. I don’t know when we’ll be done but should be soon. Keep in mind some of our volunteer crew has simply ‘dabbled’ in construction.” He held up air quotes. “I’ve had to re-do some of the work to be up to code.”

  “Fine, that’s not why I’m here.”

  He squinted. “Yeah? You ask every time I see you.”

  “When’s the last time you saw Mom and Dad?”

  “Hmm.” He scratched his jaw. “Guess when we were at dinner last?”

  “How did your stripper date go, by the way?”

  He grinned. “What makes you think she’s a stripper?”

  “Puh-leeze!” She crossed her arms and jutted out her hip.

  “What’s with you? A little pissy today?”

  “Look, I just wanted to ask, you know…” She hesitated on saying that Mom and Dad were having “issues.” Beau would think her over-reacting anyway. “Um, there was an argument at dinner the other night.”

  “The doctor thing? Go easy on Mom. She didn’t mean anything by it. I think she’s having a hard time sliding Lincoln into the boyfriend role. She’ll get there. Can’t expect everybody to be as open and non-judgmental as I am.” He opened his arms as if he was the greatest guy in the world.

  She rolled her eyes. “No, that’s not it. There was an argument. Kind of a big one.”

  Beau quirked both brows. “About what?”

  So, it wasn’t just Sadie. Their parents literally never argued. At least not in front of their kids. They’d seemingly had the perfect marriage. She’d always wished for a marriage like theirs.

  “I wo
uld say it was about stupid stuff, like stuff Dad needs to fix that he hasn’t gotten around to, but…they were mean.”

  “Are you sure?”

  “Yes, Beau. I’ve never heard them like that before. Mom being spiteful. Angry. Same with Daddy. You don’t know anything about this?”

  “No!” He tossed his hands up.

  She narrowed her eyes. “Would you…would you tell me if they were having problems?”

  “If I knew, yes. I’d get you to fix it. You think I know how to help them?”

  Sadie sighed. “No, of course not. You’re hopeless.”

  “Listen. Whatever’s goin’ on is their business. I’m sure they’ll fix it if it needs fixin’.”

  “What about Dad? Does he still act normal around you?”

  “If you mean has he come in to work crying, and wanting to talk about his relationship problems, then the answer is no.”

  “Give me a break. I’m trying to figure out how I can help.”

  “You can’t. Maybe they need counselin’, but they sure don’t need you butting into their private business.”

  “How can you say that? These are our parents!”

  She didn’t need to remind Beau that their parents were perfect for each other and always had been. Daddy used to bring Mom flowers every night, not just on special occasions. He always remembered her birthday, their anniversary, all of the important dates. The first time they went on a date, the first time they kissed, their engagement, and marriage. A lot for a man to remember. Mom used to joke that her friend’s husbands couldn’t even remember their wife’s birthdays much less everything else.

  They used to kiss and hold hands while they sat and watched TV every night after dinner. Come to think of it, she couldn’t remember the last time she’d seen them behave that way.

  * * *

  Sadie didn’t see Lincoln for most of the week because he’d gone to a cattle auction with Hank. On Thursday after work, she called her mother and made plans to meet her.

  “Come on in, sugar,” Mom called out when Sadie let herself in her childhood home after a quick knock.

  She found her mother in the kitchen wearing her apron, stirring a huge pot of her jam. “Last of the peaches for the season.”

  Sadie thought of Pamela Ann picking peaches, her mother canning them, the General Store selling them. The circle of fruit. Setting down her backpack on the table, she went to her mother and squeezed her shoulders. Then she immediately made herself useful, joining the assembly line of mason jars.

  “Let me help.”

  Mom stopped to hand Sadie an apron and watched as she tied it on. “It’s gettin’ to where I might actually need to hire help.”

  “That’s great. I’m proud of you!”

  “Just think. A little operation like mine started in my own kitchen. Who knew? If I could afford to hire some help, invest in marketing, maybe I’d do a lot better.” She scoffed. “But your father hates the idea.”

  “What? Why?”

  Mom shrugged. “It might mean taking funds away from his precious vineyard. That’s where most of our disposable income goes. I keep telling him, yours is a hobby. Mine is a business. But the man has no respect for how far I’ve come.”

  “I see.” Oh boy. Sadie sensed the problem. “Are you okay?”

  “Of course. Why wouldn’t I be?”

  “Well, I mean, you and Daddy had such a big fight at dinner.”

  She scoffed. “Big fight?”

  Sadie chose her words carefully. “You were kind of mean to Daddy.”

  Mom stopped stirring and went hand on hip. “I should have known you would take his side.”

  “Side? Mom, there are no sides. What are you talkin’ about?” Terror sliced through her at something unnamed in her mother’s tone. Something cold. Icy.

  “Sugar, there’s just a lot you don’t know. Let’s leave it at that.”

  “But I-I think Daddy’s feelings were hurt.”

  “Because I don’t want my daughter to struggle or work unless she wants to?”

  “What’s goin’ on? Do y’all need money? Are you in trouble?”

  “Not at all, and you can thank me for that.” She added more sugar and stirred viciously.

  “What’s that supposed to mean?”

  “It means that my little jam business has paid plenty of bills for our household. Which helps a great deal since your father has been a sole proprietor for decades. I told him to structure the company into an LLC years ago, but did he listen to me? No, why would he. I’m just a housewife.”

  Sadie felt her throat tighten, dry up, and threaten to close the pathway to precious oxygen. “You’re so angry. You and Daddy never even argued before.”

  She snorted. “That you know of.”

  “I just think you should…I mean,” Sadie said softly. “Have you talked to him about any of this?”

  “Talked? I’ve talked until I ran out of words. Now, I don’t even bother.” Mom glanced at Sadie, a flash of regret in her gaze. “I’m sorry to tell you but you asked. He’s your father, so I don’t think we should talk about this anymore.”

  Tempted to agree, Sadie nevertheless forged on. Her mother didn’t have many girlfriends, similar for many women in Stone Ridge. “It’s okay. You might need someone to talk to. I’m here.”

  “I’m aware you adore your father. That’s as it should be.”

  “You don’t need to give me any of the gritty details, but I deserve to know if something is really wrong.” She sucked in a deep breath. “You know?”

  “I’m not going anywhere, if that’s what you’re worried about.”

  “And…what about him?”

  She snort-laughed. “And leave his precious vineyard? Honestly, I think he loves those grapes more than he loves his own children sometimes.”

  Sadie believed no such thing, but her father worked hard. As did every father and husband, but like so many in Stone Ridge, his work was physical and at times painful. How many times had she seen him soak his wrists in Epsom Salt at the end of a long day? Did her mother not notice these things anymore? Being their sole support for years meant that he carried the financial load on his own. This meant Sadie’s mother could be a stay-at-home mother, all she’d imagined her mother ever wanted to be until now.

  “But I thought everything was great. The cruise must have been very romantic,” Sadie said. “Right?”

  Granted, her mother hadn’t made it sound like a great time, but Sadie thought she’d been censoring for her children. Surely there were some, um, romantic things at night. Her mind didn’t want to go there. Her brain could never accept more than hand holding.

  “The cruise.” Mom nearly spit the words out. “Trapped on a moving hotel in the middle of the Gulf Coast with a bunch of strangers. Sleeping in a room the size of a hovel with no windows. A dirty swimming pool filled with saltwater. Not my idea of a great time. Besides, it was a wine club thing. Your father wanted to go.”

  That sounded like a living nightmare for her mother the clean freak. “Maybe you two can think of something you’d like to do next. And you can plan ahead and enjoy it together.”

  Mom stared at Sadie blankly. “I’ve no idea what you’re talking about.”

  “Isn’t there something you want to do? A trip you want to take?”

  “Sugar, there’s no time for that. I have orders to fill. My business is booming.”

  “Didn’t you ever dream of going someplace exotic?”

  She waved a hand dismissively. “I don’t have time for that.”

  It took everything in Sadie to keep quiet. Her father seemed unhappy, too, and Sadie could tell that much from the other night. Her mother was ignoring the problem. This didn’t bode well.

  Later that night after leaving her parents’ house, Sadie drowned her sorrows in a pint of Cookie Dough ice cream. True, maybe she had nothing to worry about. The only exercise she did these days was jumping to conclusions. Her parents would never split up after all this time. Even now
as an adult it would break her heart if her parents divorced. Her mother might be fine and find someone new eventually, should she want to, but her father might be alone for the rest of his life. If there were few single women in their town, there were even less single middle-aged women.

  “Okay, you’re getting carried away, Sadie Marie!” She threw away her empty pint and phoned Eve, who dropped by within five seconds with another one.

  She held it out. “Is this bad news?”

  “The worst.” Sadie carried the pint of Cherry Garcia into the kitchen and got out two bowls.

  “Oh my God, I’m so sorry, honey,” Eve said kindly. “But you know what they say. Plenty of peaches on a peach tree.”

  Sadie froze and almost laughed. Almost. “No. It’s not bad news about me and Lincoln.”

  “Oh, whew!” Eve made a mock show of wiping her brow and sat at the kitchen table.

  “Why? What have you heard?”

  “Are you kidding me right now? You can’t let doubt creep in every time someone even asks you a question. You’re upset. I took a guess.” She shrugged.

  “You’re sure you haven’t heard anything more about Jolette Marie?”

  Sadie had already filled Eve in on how she’d embarrassed herself at the Shady Grind. And as usual, Eve saw that as being more about Jolette Marie’s problem.

  “Nothing.”

  “And you would tell me?”

  “Tell you what?”

  “If you hear that Lincoln is seeing her behind my back.”

  “Oh my God. Sadie. You can’t keep doing this!”

  Frustration bubbled up. “Eve, you don’t know what this is like. No one ever cheated on you.”

  She crossed her arms. “But I’ve seen cheating, and I know what it looks like. And of course, I would tell you. Immediately. You’re my best friend.”