Page 84 of Midnight Ride

“This is our sister, Lucy, Virge. Say hi to her.”

“Hey, Lucy. Didn’t expect you to be so…fuckin gorgeous. I’m Virgil.”

Lucy hugged Virgil and held onto him tight. “Virgil, I’ve been waiting to meet you. You are so cute, just like Harlan.” The expression on his face made me laugh.

Travis stood holding Annie in his arms and he never said a word.

Annie turned to me and said, “Let’s get out of here, kids. We need to stop and get us a couple of beers and some dinner. Your dad hasn’t been eating enough. He looks like paste.”

Kind of surprised me how fast Annie sized Travis up—like she knew everything about him and had an instant read on him.

Me and Virge grabbed the luggage and rolled out the door. When we got to the truck, Annie gave Virgil a hug and kissed him on the cheek. “I’m Annie, Virgil. You can call me Annie or Mom or Mama. Whatever you want.”

Virgil just stared.

“I’ll drive,” said Travis. “Kids in the back.”

We jumped into the back seat. Lucy sat in the middle, her arms around both of us, cuddling us into her while she cried. “We have to find Tammy, boys.”

Ruby Tuesday Restaurant. Conrad.

Travis sat in the corner of the booth and didn’t say a word. He watched Annie and listened to her and seemed like he was in a trance or something.

I wondered if he was in shock.

“What’s everybody having to drink?” asked Annie.

The server came to the table, and Annie ordered Coors for herself, Miller for Dad, and because we were in a public restaurant, she ordered Cokes for the three of us.

“They have a nice salad bar here, Lucy,” said Annie. “You boys order anything you want.”

“You eat here before, Harlan?” asked Virge.

“One time before when we came to the airport.”

“The food is good,” said Lucy. She smiled at my brother, and I felt a little hit of jealousy. I hadn’t seen Lucy for a few months, and she was even prettier than I remembered.

“You look great, Lucy. I missed you.”

“You too, Harlan. You been riding much?”

“Every chance I get.”

“We’ll go for a long one when we get to the ranch,” she said.

Virgil did more staring at both Lucy and Annie.

After two beers, Dad sat up straighter and ate the steak Annie ordered for him. He seemed to come out of the depressed slump he’d been in all day.

“I want to hear the whole story about what went down,” said Annie, “but not here. Y’all can tell me in the truck on the way to the ranch. It’s a long drive and we’ll have plenty of time to go over every detail.”

“You think you can help us find her, Annie?” I asked.

“Don’t know, sugar pop, but I’m going to try real hard. We need to find Tammy and bring her home.”

Dad nodded, but I could see in his eyes he believed Annie could help us.

Wild Stallion Ranch.

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