Page 50 of River Ride

“I think so too.”

Holiday Inn. Twin Falls. Idaho.

Bobby drove his new Wrangler south from Walla Walla all the way to Twin Falls, Idaho. With no idea where he was headed, he enjoyed the freedom of the road. He’d loved his life as a long-haul trucker and missed it a lot.

Mostly, he missed his truck and wondered where she was and who was driving her now. They’d been a team for a long time, and he hated selling her, but at the time, he had to let her go. Made all the difference between him getting caught or not.

If I went back to trucking, would they catch me?

As he got his bag out of the hatch to check into the hotel, Bobby noticed Ray’s guitar case lying there. He felt bad for Ray being shot by that crazy loon, Tammy.

Walking into the hotel lobby, Bobby hummed one of Ray’s songs. Bobby had told Ray time and again that his songs were good enough to be played on the radio.

I should’ve killed Tammy for what she did to Ray, to me and to Roger Banks…and who knows how many other people she killed or destroyed.

Bobby’s anger flared as he stood at the front desk waiting to check in. Tammy had ruined his perfect life in Canada and Bobby decided to kill her for it if he ever saw her again.

Chapter Nine

Monday, July 8th.

Wild Stallion Ranch. Montana.

At breakfast all the talk was about the next rodeo the boys were entered in back in Columbia Falls. They would be heading back there for round two.

“That’s the last one we can stay here at the ranch for,” said Annie. “The rest of the venues on the circuit are too far away for us to stay with y’all. We’ll have to hit the road and travel from one to the other.”

Rowdy nodded. “The other rodeos on our list are all over the state and we’ll hit a lot of them on the way back home to Texas.”

I was sad to hear Annie say that because that meant Lucy would be leaving in four days, and I didn’t want her to go.

“Hate to see you go, Annie-girl,” said Travis. “It’s been great having y’all here with us.”

Mick gave Dad the death-ray eyes and I wondered what that was all about. Hard to tell because Mick barely talked at all and when he did, it was only to Annie.

Holiday Inn. Twin Falls. Idaho.

Enjoying his new-found freedom, Bobby showered and dressed in clean clothes and wondered what the day would bring.

Two cups of coffee after the complimentary breakfast and he was ready to go. But go where? Still no destination in mind and no plan for the future.

Ray got on his nerves a lot, but he gave Bobby a reason for getting up in the morning. Now he didn’t have Ray and he didn’t have a job and he floundered.

Loading his suitcase into the back of the Wrangler that he was becoming attached to, he noticed an older guy getting into his pickup with a dog.

“Maybe I need a dog to keep me company on the road. Never should’ve given Banjo away when we left West Virginia.”

Loves. Albuquerque. New Mexico.

Darryl woke up, rolled over in the sleeper and smiled at the beautiful girl sleeping peacefully beside him. Feeling he had really lucked out, he cuddled her close and went back to sleep.

After crazy morning sex that left Darryl gasping for breath and vowing to get more exercise, he and Tammy got dressed and headed into the restaurant for breakfast.

Darryl waved hello to a couple of guys he knew, then picked up the menu and thought about how hungry he was. “I’m starving, Tammy. You burned up every ounce of energy I had, girl.”

“You ever thought of getting into better shape, Darryl?” She laughed and poked his fat belly.

“Believe me, I thought about it this morning.”

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