Page 67 of Final Ride

Abilene. Texas.

Dad towed the big horse trailer into Whataburger, and I followed with the Jeep and the bike trailer. My turn to drive. The best burger place in Texas, according to Dad. It was busy and theparking lot was crowded.

The outdoor patio was jammed with people and their kids, so we ate inside. Corb talked a little more now that he was on the pain pills regular and wasn’t hurting so fuckin’ bad. His face was still a black and blue mashup. It would take some time to heal.

“Were you born in Wyoming, Corb?” asked Virge.

“Guess so. Never thought about it much.”

“You got family who would be looking for you, son?” asked Travis. “You’re only a teen so you must be in the system someplace.”

“Yeah. Guess I’ve always been in the foster system. Got no real parents looking for me, if that’s what you’re asking.”

“Good enough,” said Travis. “I don’t want you getting into trouble if you’re supposed to be somewhere else.”

“Nobody would notice if I was gone to fuckin’ Mars.”

Travis felt bad for the kid.

Coulter-Ross Ranch. La Grange.

We pulled through the gate into Annie’s ranch just as the sun was going down. Another long day of driving and we were finally here. Only twenty or thirty miles from our new permanent home in Texas.

Jacks and Lucy helped us unload the horses and get them into the corral. We fed the horses and tossed them a couple of slabs of hay and gave them carrots to celebrate the end of their long boring trip.

Annie took us into the kitchen and fed us leftovers from dinner. Her leftovers were like a gourmet meal to us. She was a fantastic cook and so was Riley.

After dinner and a slice of Annie’s butterscotch pie, Davey took Corb to the garage to see his dog, Bear.

Lucy and I went for a walk down to the river and we were so happy to see each other, we did a lot of kissing and making out.

Annie found places for all of us to sleep, then she and Dad left us to watch movies while they went to the roadhouse for Annie’s shift.

Boots & Saddles Roadhouse. Giddings.

Annie started her shift behind the bar and Travis sat on the end stool with a pitcher of Miller in front of him.

He began to unwind from the long day of driving just as several members of the Black Breed strutted in the front door of the roadhouse.

Four of them walked past the long cowboy bar and chose a booth where they had a clear view of Travis. Two more sat at the opposite end of the bar and stared at him from there.

Travis tilted his head at the guys in the booth and Annie whispered, “I saw them. You expecting trouble, sugar?”

“Nope. Don’t want any, if I can help it.”

“I’ll check it out,” said Annie. She walked over to the booth to deliver their beer and set her tray down. “Why are you guys so far from Houston?” She set their pitchers of beer on the table along with glasses and coasters, salsa and chips.

“Guess we felt like a nice long ride. That ain’t a crime, is it?”

“Nope. Always a treat to have the Breed drop in for a pitcher. How about some queso?”

“Appreciate it, ma’am. Y’all are pretty neighborly here. I figure we’ll be spending a lot more time in this part of Texas.”

“Happy to have y’all as long as you don’t cause me any trouble.”

He laughed. “We never cause trouble, ma’am. But we don’t back down when people causeusproblems.”

Annie walked back to the bar, pulled her Beretta out of her waistband and laid it on the bar where it was visible for all to see.

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