The Last Cowboy In Texas (25 page)

“Sounds like fun. Where should we go?”

“How about the
Inn
? Their food is good and it’s close.”

“Name the time and we’ll be there.”

“How about five? We can beat the rush.”

Missy laughed. “Yeah, we wouldn’t want to get trampled. See you then. Bye.”

Troy
shut his phone off and smiled as he dropped it into his shirt pocket. Attendance at the
Inn
on week nights was usually pretty sparse. They might have the entire dining hall to themselves at that early time, which was good. He was on a mission and time was of the essence.

* * *

Dinner with Missy and Tom had been uplifting for
Troy
. They were a fun couple and so full of enthusiasm for life, he couldn’t help feeling better about things. Besides, Missy had given another clue as to where Paige might be. She didn’t know, of course, but she mentioned a brochure her friend had shown her months ago, in the spring. Missy said it was a writer retreat sort of place where authors could go to get help writing their novels.

Bingo! Just the kind of place Paige would run off to. That was the good news. The bad news was that Missy had no idea where in the nation the retreat was located.
Troy
would have to do a little detective work. He’d start with Cil. Maybe Paige had shared the information from the brochure with her. Maybe it was still sitting in their home.

He called Cil early the next morning. “Hi. I had a thought and need your help. Missy told me that Paige talked to her about a writing camp where authors could go. Kind of a retreat sort of thing. Do you remember her saying anything about that to you?”

“Well, let me see.” After a short hesitation, Cil said, “You know, I do remember that. She was excited about it, but to my knowledge didn’t follow up on it. She said she was far too busy at the paper and, besides, her writing was nowhere ready to go for something like that.”

“Oh. Did she trash the brochure?”

“I don’t know. Honestly,
Troy
, I never paid that much attention to what she did.”

“Other than her writing you thought she should publish?” He heard Cil’s sharp intake of breath.

“That was not a kind thing to say. But, yes, other than her writing. I’m sorry now that this old busybody couldn’t keep from meddling in her daughter’s affairs. Is that what you want to hear,
Troy
?”

“Sorry, Cil. I didn’t mean it to sound like that. I’m as guilty as you for what happened and that’s why I’m calling now. I plan to take two weeks off starting Saturday. I’ll find my sweetheart and bring her home. Or, I’ll find her and stay wherever she is with her.”

“What about your real estate business? Aren’t you in the middle of a big expansion project? Who will run it while you’re gone?”

“Julie, my secretary, has what it takes to do the day by day stuff. And Dad can come in to close any legal deals that come up. Things have been going really well, in spite of the current economy, but it was his business before he decided to let me take over so he and Ozzie could spend their days drowning those cursed Gamies.”

They shared a chuckle before she said, “Well, I hope you can find her. I’d like her to come back here, but if she’s of a mind to explore some other part of the country, that’s okay, too.”

“Yep. Well, if you’d look for that brochure, I’d been in your debt.”

“I’ll do that. If she threw it away, what then?”

“I’ll just do some digging to see where they have those, what did Missy call it, writer retreats. I think that’s what it was called. It would help if we knew the name of the retreat but Missy couldn’t remember it, though she did see the ad Paige received.”

“I’ll call as soon as I search the house.”

Troy
sat back, thinking about what the name of the camp could be. He’d figure it out somehow. Right? Or was it write? Writer? Just then, the phone rang. “Hello?”

“
Troy
? This is Missy. I just remembered something about that thing Paige got so excited about. It had three letters in large script on the top of the first page. WWR. What do you think that means?”

“I don’t know, Missy. I talked to Cil and she’s as in the dark as we are. Let me think about this for a bit. And thanks. I had a great time with you guys last night. Tell Tom hi for me.”

After hanging up, he sat back again. WWR? WR could be Writers Retreat. So what would the other W be? Maybe a name? Or a direction, like Western Writers Retreat? She was not a western writer so that wouldn’t have attracted her. Wild? Definitely a no on that one. Paige was not into wild writing. He stopped to chuckle. Well, maybe she was.

It had to be a name. But what name? That’s when it hit him. He needed to find some kind of listing for writer retreats nationwide. He could eliminate them until he came to the ones that might use a W. At least that would narrow the field.

That’s when the next mental breakthrough hit. Tom owned a bookstore, and the man was the sharpest word nerd he knew of. He called Missy back on the chance that she was with Tom.

“Hey, Missy.
Troy
again. Are you with Tom by any chance?”

“No,
Troy
. He just left for the bookstore. Why?”

“I want to do some research and I figured he’s in the right business to help me. I’ll call him there.”

“Tell him hi for me.”

“Will do, Missy.”

One glance at his rolodex where he’d stored personal numbers and he found the one for the bookstore. When the clerk answered, he asked for Tom and waited.

“Hello. How may I help you?”

“Tom? This is
Troy
. Hi. I’m looking for some information and I hope you can help me with it. What I’m looking for is a list of writer retreats. Do you know where I could find such a beast?”

“Sure enough. We carry every writing magazine known to man. Let me run through those and I’m sure at least one of them will have something, usually printed in the back pages of the mag. I’ll call you back soon as I find anything.”

“Thanks, Tom. Oh, I enjoyed our meal last night and I just got off the phone with Missy. She said to say hi for her.”

Tom laughed. “I sure love that little gal.”

“That’s clear enough to see. I just hope Paige will be back for your wedding.”

“We do, too.”

Troy
dropped the cordless onto its cradle and leaned back. This could be real progress or just another detour on a fruitless quest. Closing his eyes, he recalled Paige’s message. The words seemed to leap out of his brain.
Cowboy.
Texas
. Last cowboy in
Texas
?
Could it be that simple?

He grabbed the phone and got Tom back on the line. “I just had a brainstorm. Have you found any lists yet?”

“One. I was just looking at it when you called.”

“Concentrate on
Texas
. Any retreats in
Texas
that begin with a W?”

After a wait that seemed hours, Tom said, “Yes. Here’s one. Werner Writer Retreat.”

“WWR. Glory hallelujah! We’ve found it! Where will we find the Werners?”

“Their mailing address is
Tyler
,
Texas
. Do you want to write to them?”

Troy
laughed. “Not on your life. If our wandering girl gets wind I’m on to where she’s been hiding, she’ll pull up stakes and vanish again. Next time, no telling where. No, I think I’d better go down there and sneak up on her.”

This time it was Tom that laughed. “Well, I hope you do find her. If you do, please tell her how much Missy and I miss her.”

“When, Tom, not if. I
will
find our missing princess. And, yes, I’ll tell her how much all of us miss her. Thanks so much, my friend. You’ve been a great help.”

He jumped to his feet and clapped his hands. Julie shot through the door at his shout. “
Troy
? You okay?”

“Yes! Well, no. But I know now where my darling princess is playing sleeping beauty and I have to go kiss her awake.”

Julie laughed. “That’s the most optimistic statement I’ve heard from you in a while.”

“I guess. Hell, I know. Now I’ve got to share my good news with her folks. I just hope they don’t do anything stupid before I can get to Paige.”

“Stupid? What would that be?”

“Oh, I’d say like trying to contact her. I’m not going to tell anybody where I think she is on the chance that Paige could somehow get wind that I’m on my way.”

“Not even me?”

“Not even you, sweetheart. You have no idea what pressure the Turners would bring on you if they thought you knew anything about where I’m going.”

“You’re leaving?”

“Yep. Going to take a couple of weeks off. Dad will be available if you need him for anything at all. You okay with that?”

“I guess.”

“Julie, I have great confidence in your abilities.”

“But not enough to tell me where you’re going?”

“Nope. I’ll call as soon as I get there. As I said, if you need help, call Dad.”

“Okay. Well, good luck with your search.”

“Thanks!” He went to her and gave her a big bear hug. Then he was out the door with his cell in his hand. Paige’s mom didn’t answer but he left a voice message.

“Cil? I may have an idea where Paige is so I’m on my way to find her. I’ll try to let you guys know what’s going on.”

* * *

It was Friday afternoon and Paige had had a marvelous week transferring her book to the laptop. She’d just finished the last of the handwritten text and was ready to get on with drafting the rest of her story. As she stared at the screen, images of what had led up to this moment flashed in her mind and she began punching out the next scene. The process of going through the entire book to this point had sharpened her creative drive to a previously unknown height.

Over the following two hours, she added over three thousand words. What was even better, she’d brought the drama to its high moment of decision. What came next would determine the ultimate climax and end of the book. Thinking about how easy this was in comparison to the laborious task in times past, she relished having a fourth manuscript ready for rewrite.

Hearing a knock at her door, she went down to see Marybeth standing there. “Hi. Come on in.”

“I didn’t wanta disturb you, Paige, but we’re goin’ horseback riding this afternoon before supper. If you’d like to come along, we’d love your company.”

“Thanks for the invitation. I’ve been drumming along on my book, but I need a break. So, yes, I’d love to go with you. Just let me change into my jeans and I’ll be right out.”

“Wonderful. Curly and Burl are bringin’ the horses. Since Will’s too busy fixin’ the meal, you can ride his today. We’ll meet in the outer yard down by the lake in fifteen minutes or thereabouts.”

“See you then.” She raced upstairs, pulling her shorts off and grabbing her jeans. This was a perfect way to end the first week of her newfound freedom. By the time she’d brushed her long ebony locks back into a pony tail and changed into a fresh tank-top, she could see the boys leading the spare horses into the yard.

* * *

After a busy weekend of writing, swimming, and eating more of Will’s fantastic food, Monday rolled around, and with it, Paige’s zeal for completing her book burgeoned. The weekend had proven quite relaxing. A hilarious boat ride with Kasha, Peggy, and Ted had given her a chance to get to know the other writers better. While Ted had some short stories and a couple of poems to his credit, the others were unpublished as of yet.

Kasha was heavily into paranormal, vampires and werewolves, bloody chill-creating novellas that Paige did not care for. The girl was lots of fun to talk to, though, so she kept her opinion of the writing to herself. How paranormal would ever mate with regency, she had no clue, but that was Kasha.