Page 49 of River Ride

I didn’t mind the barrel racing girl wannabees wanting selfies with Lucy, but I didn’t like all those guys looking at her the way they were looking. Didn’t like it a bit and figured I might have to stand my ground before the day was over.

Virge made fun of me. “I saw your face when those guys ran up to Lucy wanting her to autograph their arms, bro. That really chapped your ass, didn’t it?”

“It bothered me a little.”

“A little?” Virgil hooted.

“Go help Lucy load Buckshot, you asshole. I need a smoke.”

Ruby Tuesdays. Great Falls.

Rowdy ordered a round of drinks as soon as we were seated. He’d been smiling since Lucy posted her winning score and he was still smiling. Rowdy Butler was in a mood to celebrate Lucy’s victory. He was as happy as if he’d won the event himself.

Mick sat next to Annie and didn’t say much. I didn’t know Mick well enough to read him. He was Mom’s bodyguard and he worked for her. That was about all I knew. Kind of a scary guy but I could picture him kicking ass if ass needed to be kicked.

Made me want to find out why Mom needed a bodyguard in the first place, and I figured I’d ask Dad when I got the chance to talk to him in private.

With Rowdy coming on this trip, Dad and Annie hadn’t been talking too much and the tension between them wasn’t hard to miss. Things had shifted in their relationship and Dad wasn’t taking it well.

Grand Junction. Colorado.

Darryl pulled into a truck stop to gas up the Freightliner and get some dinner. “Wake up, Tammy. Time for dinner. I’m starving.”

“Sorry. I fell asleep on you, Darryl. I don’t usually do that. I’ll make it up to you.”

Darryl laughed. “You’ve got nothing to make up for, girl. Nothing at all. You’ve been treating me good ever since I met you. Better than good.” A serious look replaced his smile and he said, “Better than my wife ever treated me.”

Getting ready to get out of the truck, Tammy reached for her gun out of habit, and it wasn’t there. “I feel naked without my gun, Darryl.”

Darryl thought she was kidding and gave a chuckle.

“Eldon stole my gun when he took my taser.”

“There’s a gun in the glove box if you seriously need to carry, Tammy. You shouldn’t need a gun to eat dinner in a restaurant.”

“Never can be sure, Darryl. I was a cop and I’ve seen a lot of unexpected shit go down.”

“Yeah, I guess,” said Darryl.

Tammy reached into the glove box right in front of her and took the Glock out. She checked the mag and shoved the loaded gun into her waistband.

“You good to go now, Tammy? I’ve never had me a bodyguard before.”

“You’ve got one now, Darryl. I’ll watch your back while you eat dinner.” They laughed and Tammy held Darryl’s hand as they walked into the restaurant.

Wild Stallion Ranch. Montana.

Lots to do when we got back to the ranch. We were all dead tired from the long day out in the hot sun, but we had horses to unload and feed, and horses in the barn to feed and bed down for the night.

I helped Lucy with Buckshot and showed her where the carrots were. She was fairly used to our barn and where we kept the feed and all the rest of it.

We were lucky to have a couple of minutes alone together and I whispered, “I love you, Lucy. You were fantastic today. I just wanted to say that.”

Lucky gave me a quick kiss when nobody was looking. “Love you too, Harlan. I can’t help myself.”

“Us being family,” I said, “I’m not sure I’m supposed to feel this way about you, Lucy.”

“Mommy always says you can’t help who you love, and I believe that’s true.”

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