Cowboy Country (47 page)

Wyatt’s Australian Shepherd caught sight of Jessie and trotted over. Tail wagging, he nudged her hand with his nose. Trying to hide the tears she felt hovering, Jessie knelt down, petting his dark spotted head. He was thin now, his coat had lost its luster, his muzzle was tinged with grey, but he was still Cash.

“You two go on in, Linny, give me a minute here with Cash.”

It wouldn’t do to dissolve into a puddle of tears, right here on the front porch.

The front door opened. “Hey, now, who is this elegant woman? Surely not Miss Texas Royale 2001?” Wyatt joked, stepping onto the porch and grinning big as he wrapped Lalinda in a bear hug.

Caught in his grasp, Lalinda flirted, “Shhhh, Wyatt! We don’t speak of my Texas Queen days! I’m a reality television star, now!”

“I’m just glad you’re finally back for a visit, Linny!” Wyatt said. “It’s only been ten years, so you’re right on time! C’mon through to the back, party’s on the patio.”

Jessie stood to follow and Cash stayed close at her heels.

The rustic great room, still dominated by a floor to ceiling stone fireplace, had classy new dark tufted leather sofas beneath the Judge’s wildlife mounts. Stacia had redecorated, Jessie guessed.

On the crowded patio at the rear of the house, waiters passed trays of champagne.

“My, my, didn’t you go all out?” Lalinda trilled, offering Wyatt a stunning smile, her long platinum blond waves bright against the charcoal of his suit. She snagged two glasses of champagne from the circulating trays, and handed one to Jessie. “The ranch has never looked better!”

Linny was right, Wyatt had spared no expense for Emilia’s party. Small circular tables topped with elegant pink table cloths and white clad chairs were arranged amongst the patio furniture. Caterers swarmed under a big white tent, where a brunch buffet was set up for well over one hundred people.

Jessie recognized people from town, the neighbors who lived on ranches around Mockingbird. Ty McGreer was there with his new wife, Lindsay, a veterinarian. Across the crowded patio, Daisy Antelerone waved; she’d married Hank Gallagher. Rodric McGreer, a crack Austin attorney she often saw in the courthouse, kept Jessie abreast of the Hobble Creek news. Luanne Rodriguez was there too, with a sweet little son and daughter, her handsome husband Julio close by. Her breakout music career was going well; Jessie’d caught her act in Austin more than once.

“I’m glad you two finally came back,” Wyatt was telling Lalinda. “The place isn’t the same without you, y’know.” He caught Jessie’s eyes for one long, hot minute, until she looked away, embarrassed and uncomfortable.

Wyatt had made his own choices, after all.

Well, so had she.

So what if she missed him?

Her high school friends were here today, mostly all married, looking so happy. It would be fun, to be with Wyatt today, as a girlfriend or wife, as one of the successful Hobble Creek couples.

Since all the way back to high school, Jessie had never envied Stacia anything, but she suddenly envied her Wyatt.

They didn’t look right together.

He should be hers, darn it.

But all of that was water under the bridge, now. Stacia clearly had her hooks in Wyatt, and Stacia wasn’t about to let go.

Besides, she’d been dating a criminal defender, in Austin, Mark.

She’d be back in Austin tomorrow, could again put her past with Wyatt behind her.

Maybe.

Above a big white wheeled pram, Mary held little Emilia, chatting with people from town. “Oh, look at her!” Lalinda cooed over baby Emilia, “She’s gorgeous! Your goddaughter’s gorgeous, Jessie! To think little Emilia will grow up here at Mockingbird, with you and Wyatt as her god parents, and Denise and Mary and Lance to take care of her!”

Brown eyes shining, Denise squeezed Lalinda’s arm. “Feels like things are coming full circle. It’s nice to have a baby around, something special to bring you all home again.”

“It sure is,” Wyatt said, his gaze still on Jessie, the look in his eyes hot, unmistakably familiar, possessive, even. Jessie heart was thumping, but then Stacia joined them, wrapping possessive arms around Wyatt’s waist.

Linny raised a speculative eyebrow at Jessie.

Confused as ever, Jessie turned away, trying to hide the hot blush she felt crawling up her neck.

It was all too much.

She hadn’t expected it, had no way of preparing for it.

Breaking the tension, saving her as always, Teja chimed, “Oh, here you are finally, Miz Lalinda. And Franz, so good to see you again! We’ll have to shop Rodeo Drive as soon as we’re back, Linny, I cannot wait to dress Little Miss Precious! Can you clear your schedule for Saturday morning?” 

Jessie forced a smile.

They’d all come a long such a long way.

Wyatt had managed to buy up ranches all across Texas, Teja, Linny and Alexander were actual names in Hollywood, and Jessie was in Austin. Happy, mostly. They were all settled in adult lives, so well dressed, so much more “established” than she’d ever dreamed, but all Jessie wanted was a slice of the way things had been back when they were young, and everything was crazy.

Sunday, May 29, 2016 7:47 PM~Mockingbird Ranch, Hobble Creek, TX

Barely conscious of the Keith Urban tune coming from the tack room’s tinny radio, Wyatt sat on a straw bale watching the sun drop over the ridge behind the ranch house. Cash had hopped up on the golf cart with Jessie, but had returned soon after. Now he nudged Wyatt’s hand with his nose and flopped to the ground.

Wyatt heard Lance’s footfalls coming along the stable.

“Saw the light on in the tack room,” Lance said, taking the bottle Wyatt handed him, noting the three empties at Wyatt’s feet. “Nice party, bud, thanks.” He clapping a hand on Wyatt’s shoulder. “Everyone had a great time. Mary’s certainly pleased.”

“Emilia’s the best thing that’s happened around here in a long while. I’m real happy for you guys, you know that, and I’m proud to be her godfather,” Wyatt said, real quiet.

“Well, you pulled out the stops for her today. Jessie’s stopping by later with Teja and Alexander, to play with the baby. You wanna come by for dinner, stick around? Mary’s got a bunch of fixins’ at the house, for a good ole’ time.”

Wyatt drew on his beer, closing his eyes. “I’d like to, but Stacia made me promise to meet her in a little while,” he said, jaw tight. He opened them and met Lance’s calm grey eyes. “I should be with Jessie. What the hell have I messed up, Lance?”

Toeing the sandy soil, Lance waited a minute, then looked straight at Wyatt.“Like anything, I guess, you’ve got to decide what you want, and figure out how to get it.”

“Tried that, years back,” Wyatt answered, voice tight enough to mask his pain, he hoped. Then, it cracked. “I’d a handed Jessie the moon, if she’d asked, but she didn’t want any part of it.”

“I’d do the same, for Mary. That’s the way it is, I guess, when a man loves a woman. Jessie had her mind on finishing law school, don’t forget. What you mighta wanted, coulda been too much for her, at the time.”

The sun turn to a glowing orange ball and dropped in the west as they finished their beers. Doffing his hat, Wyatt stood; Cash rose at his heels. Running his hands through his hair, he said, “Well, I best hit the shower. See you in the mornin’, early, Lance.”

“Take care, Wyatt. And thanks again for the party,” Lance called after him.

Monday, May 30, 2016 10:34 AM~Circle R Ranch, Hobble Creek, TX

On the wide old fashioned back porch of Circle R Ranch, Jessie, Teja, and Alexander finished a breakfast of quiche, smoked ham, fruit salad, and sticky buns. Pitchers of mimosa, Bloody Mary, and coffee sat on the table. The prior evening at Lance and Mary’s had ended after 11, when Mary put Emilia down for the night.

“Aren’t we gluttons?” Teja murmured. 

“That child is just stunningly adorable,” Teja said.

“I couldn’t be happier for Lance and Mary,” Jessie added.

“It’s reassuring to see a couple like that, together and so in love,” Teja said. “They deserve the best life has to offer. We all do. Nicole, darling, does a sentimental thing like you have a yearbook or photo album around?”

“I have a ton of them! Give me a minute, I’ll go dig them out,” Nicole answered, perfectly put together in an elegant navy silk print dress, her blunt edged hair swinging halfway down her back, glossy and sleek.

When she returned with her arms full of yearbooks, scrapbooks and photo albums, Jessie thought of Teja’s guest. “Ugh, poor Alexander .Will this be hell for you?”

“Hey, I went to high school, too. In Brooklyn,” Alexander volunteered, drily. “I’d love to get a taste for the Wild West.”

Jess choose an album, opened to the front pages, and gasped, “This is the Senior Homecoming Dance.”

“Teja, look at you here with Lalinda, both in hot pink and white. You two were quite the hit,” Nicole said, pointing to a page in the album.

“You should have seen us two years later, when Linny won. We wore purple and black,” Teja offered. Alexander stirred his coffee patiently, looking over Nicole’s shoulder.

“My, my, both O’Rourke girls Homecoming Queen. Who’s to say it isn’t all about personality?” Nicole laughed.

“Oh, my god, here is Ms. Hortense. That woman was a saint,” Jessie said.

“Yeah, when she wasn’t doing the principal,” Teja muttered, and Nicole and Jessie burst into giggles. He turned to Alexander. “The place to offer sacrifice to the fashion gods is the Hobble Creek Goodwill. I got my start there.”

“Mm, maybe you better stick with Rodeo Drive.” Jessie suggested. “Though I’m eternally grateful for the red sequined boots and ostrich shrug you unearthed,” she deadpanned. “Look at this picture!”

“You were hotter than Shania Twain the night of that Homecoming Game, Jessie.” Nicole said, grinning as she looked at the pictures. “And Teja was a bigger hit than Michael Jackson.”

“He was, wasn’t he?”

“Still is,” Alexander offered.

“Oh, who ever thought we’d be doing this?” Jessie mused. “I hated high school, geez louise, even having Teja around hardly made it bearable.”

“And high school was a piece of cake for me, a Hispanic apache gay foster child standing five foot two in heels, living on a goat farm?” Teja asked, patting Jessie’s hand. “We all had our crosses to bear, but we had each other, dear.”

Eyes wide, Nicole tucked her shiny dark long hair behind an ear. “Was it really that bad?”

“Nicole, I had a drunk mom, a whiny little sister who took to shoplifting once daddy died, and a full time job. Maybe it wasn’t that bad, but it felt so at the time. It’s why I’m working with juvenile offenders in Austin’s alternative adjudication program, now. Thank god for Teja and Denise and Mary and Ralph and Lance,” Jessie said, looking down into the little bubbles in her third mimosa. “And Wyatt.”

“And Wyatt.” Nicole agreed, rolling her eyes. “He still looks real good, huh? I’ve seen him downtown after hours, solo, more than I can say. He and Stacia broke up, you know.”

“What?” Jessie’s brow furrowed.

“Jess, Wyatt and Stacia have been on and off a long time,” Nicole said quietly. “I’m pretty sure right now, it’s off.”

“They sure were together at the baptism, yesterday,” Jessie countered, suddenly feeling all of those three mimosas.

“Stacia probably made it look that way, Jessie. She and Wyatt haven’t been together for a long while, and when it was on, it was mostly on the rocks, anyway. Seems to me, she was just a placeholder, because he wasn’t with you. It’s never been right, between them. I’m sure he’d love to be with you again, Jessie.”

“I’ve been seeing someone in Austin,” Jessie said quietly. “A criminal defender. Mark. Since Christmas.”

“And does he make your heart flutter the way Wyatt always has?” Teja questioned, eyebrows raised inquisitively.

Jessie gulped. Teja knew her too well, but then, so did Nicole. There was no sense lying. All she could do was change the subject.

“Hey Nicole, we’re invited back to Mary’s, later.”

3

BEGINNINGS

Saturday. August 21, 2006, 7:36 AM~Ralph’s Okay Corral, Hobble Creek, TX

Jessie O’Rourke pushed a broom across torn linoleum, sweeping between half-filled grocery shelves. Near deafening banging was coming from the garage bays. Ralph “Okay” Bijones owned this patched-together joint, the only filling station for miles, part gas station, part mechanic’s garage, a little bit grocery store and diner.

Through the clamor, Jessie heard a big diesel truck engine shut off out by the fuel pumps. The doorbell jangled and Wyatt Callanbach and Lance Dougherty came in, wiping their feet on the mat.

“Morning, Jess.”

“Hey, guys,” Jess answered, continuing to sweep. “Where ya headin’?”

“Got a load of hogs to take up to Navasota,” Lance answered, nosing along the snack aisle.

“We had a heck of a time loading them, didn’t we, Cash?” Wyatt added for Jessie’s sake, hitting her with one of his smiles. His Australian shepherd sat quietly by the door, watching closely, tail wagging as Wyatt and Lance filled travel mugs with coffee, piled bags of pretzels and chips on the counter, then grabbed cold drinks from the case. Wyatt was in everyday work clothes, his blue chambray long sleeved shirt, frayed at the collar, worn straight legged Levi's, a wide buckled belt, and round-toe ropers.

“Got any chili back there, Jess?” Wyatt asked.

“You guys want it on dogs or in cups with buttered rolls?”

“How ‘bout on a coupla dogs, Jess, wrapped up tight, sounds real good,” Wyatt grinned. “Lance, you want a chili dog?”

“Two, Jess, if you don’t mind,” Lance called, from the candy aisle.

There was a pause in the clanging of metal on metal, followed by tirade of expletives.

Lance stuck his head through the swinging steel door, into the cavernous garage beyond.“Hey, Ralph, what’s got you twisted up back here?”

“Damn axle’s bent!” Okay shouted.“Ya wanna help fix it? You must, stickin’ your head in ta be all neighborly, Lance. How ‘bout you come give me a hand with this thing?”