Page 21 of Mail Order Bride

She narrows her eyes and studies me. “Why do I get the sense there’s something you aren’t telling me, cowboy?”

“You tell me.”

She cocked an eyebrow at me. “This trip,” she says slowly, “it’s about a woman, isn’t it?”

“What makes you think that?”

“I know men, Cowboy. They get that look in their eye. And you got it.”

“Do I?”

She nods slowly, and I can see the suspicion in her eyes. “And from what I know about you, Cowboy, you’re a smart businessman. So unless there’s a bounty up that way to be had, you’re not going to be digging any graves.”

Chapter Seventeen

Joel

The gas gauge on my truck dips below empty as I make my way into Fairview. I’m worried that I will run out of fuel, but just then the town appears on the horizon.

The only business open in town is the diner, and I am hungry, so I decide to stop for lunch. There’s nothing else here and nothing for miles.

I leave my truck in front of the diner and go inside. The place is packed, but I manage to find a seat at the counter. I am reading the paper when a man appears at my side and says, “You're not from around here, are you?”

“No,” I say. “I’m from Texas.”

The man looks puzzled and then laughs. “I could tell by the way you talk,” he says.

I’m not in the mood for small talk today, or ever, come to think of it. “Tennessee is not Texas,” I say. “I know just as soon as I set foot in it that I want to get the hell out.”

I'm not just trying to get rid of him, it's the truth. Much as I complain about the townsfolk back in Pine Lake, I can’t imagine living anywhere else.

“Mind if I sit down?”

“It’s a free country.”

“Ah, a comedian.”

“Grave digger.”

“Wow, a real cowboy’s cowboy, I suppose.”

I have no idea what he means by that, but I reckon it’s not a compliment.

“Anyhow,” he says. “I’m meeting this lady up in Franklin. I decided to stop in and see if anyone around here knows anything about her. You know, so I might have the advantage when I show up. But they all look at me with this weird expression on their faces and they don’t say anything, just wish me luck.”

“What, like a blind date?”

His mouth turns against his will, and his lower lip juts out, and he starts to shake his head at me.

“I’m gonna marry her.” He reaches into his pocket and takes out a pack of cigarettes. He holds the pack out to me. I shake my head. “Well, Iwasgoing to marry her. But then I got to talking to this fella…”

We are interrupted by the waitress. She wants my order. I want to hear what this man was about to say.

“You don't know what you're dealing with,” he says. “That's what the guy told me. He said she's an expert at things I don't want to know about.”

The man has my attention. “What kind of things?”

The waitress appears again. “You want a beer?” I say to the man. “On me?”

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