Page 28 of Cole's Joy
“I’ll remember. Thanks, Duane. I’m going to put the perishables away, then take a much-needed break. Who knew grocery shopping was so tiring.”
“I would imagine it’s not for a normal person, but I understand you shopped for twenty people.”
“There is that,” she laughed and waved as he exited her home.
CHAPTER 11
Lois openedher door at the knock and had to grip the edge when she saw the handsome man standing on her doorstep. “Damn, you clean up good.”
“Thanks?” Cole answered as a question and looked her up and down. “I could say the same thing of you.”
Lois tried to wave it away, but said her thanks in return as she turned to pick up her small purse. She liked that Cole helped her down the steps, and over to his truck. Once they were settled, they headed toward the restaurant. It was a comfortable silence for the first fifteen to twenty minutes, then with one question, Lois opened up the verbal floodgates from him. It amazed her that he could be so vocal with only one question.
“What have you been doing with yourself lately? It seems that every time I come over to check on the garden, you have your head buried in some papers, as well as talking with some new people.” When he didn’t immediately answer, she shook her head. “I’m sorry, it’s none of my business.”
“No, it’s not that, I’m trying to figure out a way to explain it all.”
“What is there to explain?”
“Horses.” He looked at her with a smirk and knew he’d have to start at the beginning when she wrinkled her nose and shook her head at him.
“Okay, I’ll give you that. What about horses?”
“I’ve been around them all my adult life. As soon as I left San Diego after we laid Thomas to rest, the family kicked me out of their home. They didn’t even call my case worker to explain the situation. Once the will was read and they knew they couldn’t get their hands on my inheritance, they literally threw my things out on the grass. I had a backpack and I was able to stuff all my things in that pack. I took off. Because I had the money Thomas left me, I went to the bank and only withdrew a modest amount.”
“If I’m not being intrusive, may I ask how much you think is a modest amount?”
“Five hundred dollars. I had it all in small bills. Well three hundred of it anyway. The other two I kept hidden.” He turned his head to look at her with a grin and a gleam in his eyes. “The first thing I purchased was a pair of cowboy boots, and I had the owner of the store help me make a false bottom in the heel of one. He was a cobbler that worked at the store. That’s where I kept the other two hundred.”
“Got it, what did you do next?”
“Went through my list and was able to get a bus ticket to a town within ten miles of the first ranch Thomas told me about.” He looked at her with another smile. “Thomas taught me how to drive and helped me get my learner’s permit back then. I didn’t have my license, but I did have a permit. Anyway, I was able to hitchhike to the ranch, and when they couldn’t help me, they offered me a job. I lasted there for about a month.”
“Why? Was it too hard?”
“No, it was just that I wanted to be around people that knew Thomas. That was my entire purpose of leaving San Diego to begin with. I saved the wages I was paid, and explained what Iwanted and the manager of the ranch reached out to the next person on my list. He said they knew Thomas, and then he drove me to the bus station.” Cole concentrated on his driving and shook his head. “I don’t know whether I mentioned this or not, but the first person, where I worked for that month, lived in Northern California. The person that knew Thomas, lived in Idaho. I was taken to the bus station, and though I had the money, he insisted on purchasing the ticket for me. I wasn’t going to argue.”
“More money in your pocket.”
“Exactly, and I needed it when I reached Idaho.” Cole shook his head and actually shivered, even though it was still eighty degrees outside. He continued to shake his head as he remembered the past.
“When I arrived in Idaho, there had been a freak snowstorm that morning. Shocked the piss out of me, because I’m grew up in southern California, and when I was in the northern part of the state, all I experienced was rain. I had my jeans, cowboy boots, tee shirts, and only a thin flannel shirt.” He shook his head and chuckled at the memory. “I didn’t know that the manager who put me on the bus had reached out to the ranch in Idaho, and someone was there waiting for me. We’re talking the nineteen seventies here, so there were definitely no cell phones. Anyway, when we hooked up, he immediately took me to the local feed store to get some winter clothes.”
“Why a feed store? Wouldn’t a clothing store have been better?” Lois shook her head in confusion. “I don’t understand what feed for animals has to do with anything about keeping a human warm?”
Cole chuckled as he reached over and took her hand in his. The sign they just passed said they still had a little over twenty-five miles to go, so he settled more into the drive. Taking herhand in his felt natural. He liked that she turned her hand so their fingers were entwined.
“Have you been to the feed store in Fool’s Gold?”
“No.”
“Next time you’re in town, you should stop in. I’m not being condescending, and I’m sorry if it sounds like I am. A feed store caters to the local ranchers and farmers. They have all the feed you could want, in the spring they sell seeds and gardening equipment. Hand tools you’d need in a barn, and they have a section of clothing. Sturdy stuff made to take the wear and tear of working on a ranch and with animals. Something that won’t rip a seam if you mount a horse. Don’t quote me on this, but I believe that it’s all American made as well.”
“Ah, the good stuff.”
“Yes, and though my feet killed me for the first two weeks until I broke those cowboy boots in, I didn’t want to give them up. With the money I earned on the first ranch I was able to purchase several items of warm clothing. Several thicker flannel shirts, more jeans, work boots for the snow, a vest, several pairs of gloves, a hoodie, and a heavy Carhart coat.”
“I have one of those. It doesn’t allow the wind to cut through you.”
