Page 32 of Cole's Joy
“Why would you even mention that?” the first officer asked.
“Because this is a state where you can carry openly. Because I’m on a date with Lois, I left my side arm in the truck.” He pulled out his wallet, and not only retrieved his license, but also his license to carry a gun.
“Why did you hand us Wyoming and Colorado identification?”
“Because I moved to Colorado from Wyoming roughly eight months ago. Other than a quick trip to New York to help Lois move here five months ago, the only states I’ve ever lived in have been California, Idaho, Wyoming, and Colorado.”
“How long were you in those other states?” the female officer asked as she took the license handed to her and looked at him with a grin. “Happy birthday.” She passed it back to the maleofficers, and when they caught the date, they nodded and said the same thing.
“We’re asking these questions now so you don’t have to go down to the station. Because she verbally assaulted you, we’re taking her in for questioning. I see you live over in Fool’s Gold?”
“Sort of,” Cole chuckled and rubbed the back of his neck. “Have you ever heard of Erin Riceman?”
“Can’t say that I have. What does this person have to do with anything?”
“Both Lois and I work for her. It’s sort of complicated.”
“Uncomplicate it,” the second officer said sternly, and Lois took over again. “May I get a pad of paper from my purse?” she asked, and didn’t wait for a response. She quickly got what she needed and turned her back so they could look over her shoulder as she drew a map, and both she and Cole explained how the ranch operated. When they were done, they turned back to the others and saw shock on their expressions.
“Wow, that’s a lot of land, and you’re right, it is complicated. Can you tell us what you do there?”
Lois pointed to the map and looked at Cole, who spoke, “I’m the ranch manager of New Double, while Lois lives at the old Atherton place, she’ll be working the garden in the spring for Erin.” He saw their expressions and laughed. “Like we said, it’s complicated. If I’m not at New Double, I’m either at Lois’ place, Broken, or Erin’s Way. I think I’ve gone into town maybe six times since moving here. Tonight, being my birthday, I asked Lois out on a date, it’s my seventh time off the ranch.” He looked at them and shook his head. “Don’t feel sorry for me, I like my privacy, and I don’t know what you need to prove this, but I’ve never been married, and never had any children. I never asked anyone to marry me.”
“Okay, thank you for your statements. You can go now, but please, may we have a number where we can contact you?” Theymade sure all three officers had their phone numbers, and Lois even went so far as to give him yet another number, as did Cole.
“Whose numbers are these?” the female officer asked.
“The one I gave you,” Lois said, “Is my future son-in-law. Duane Manchester, he’s the security guy for Erin Riceman, and he retired from the FBI after being with them for twenty-five years.”
“Oh, wow, damn, that’s a long time at one job.”
“Yeah.”
“The number I gave is Erin Riceman, the owner of everything.”
“Got it. Thank you for all your information. We think we have everything, so you shouldn’t have to come down to the station.”
“Will you let us know if that woman is released?” Cole asked as he looked over at the woman in the car and shook his head sadly when she started yelling and screaming. She even lay down and started kicking at the window. “I hope it won’t happen, but I don’t need her to come looking for either Lois or me at our work. In case you didn’t guess, we live where we work. That’s why I never go to town unless it is absolutely necessary. I don’t want to look up and see her standing there. I also don’t think I have to tell you that we work with some extremely expensive horseflesh, and I don’t want anything to happen to them.”
“We’ll let you know. We can’t tell you about the investigation, but we can give you a heads up.”
“Call Duane if it’s something legal that we’ll have to do,” Lois said quickly. “I trust him.”
“We’ll let one of you know.” They turned and left, and Cole and Lois heard the woman screaming profanities at them as the two officers opened the front doors. They waited until both police officers pulled away from the curb, and hadn’t realized they’d gathered a crowd around them. Cole turned and shook his head.
“It’s all good, mistaken identity,” he reassured them and they quickly disbanded and got on with their activities. Cole looked at Lois with a raised brow. “Home?”
“Please.” She nodded and as they turned, she reached down and took his hand in hers, sighing in relief when he didn’t let it go until they reached his truck. The ride home was an extremely quiet one until they passed through Fool’s Gold and headed home.
“Why would someone attack a perfect stranger like that?” Cole asked quietly. He looked at her sadly. “Didn’t she understand that time had passed and the man she’s looking for might be older. I’m sorry, but I can’t wrap my head around the fact that someone thought I was their father, there’s a seventeen-year age gap we’re talking about. If this all happened in Virginia, then at the time it happened, I was already in Wyoming. I arrived there just before I turned twenty-one, and left eight months ago, at the age of sixty-eight. We’re talking forty-seven years there.” As he spoke the number out loud, he began to laugh, when he got himself under control, he looked at her with a grin.
“Damn, I’m old.”
“Yes, but in reality, you’re only as old as you feel. I know you didn’t ask, but when I found myself out of work, and feeling sorry for myself, that’s when I would notice all the little aches and pains. Once I moved here and got back into the groove of working or doing something constructive every day, or just keeping busy, it’s now only a twinge every now and then.”
“Me too, I’m not planning on leaving this earth for a very long time.” He looked at her with another grin. “I want to be like Ducky when I grow up.”
That caused them both to laugh, and that’s how they were when they pulled into the driveway to her home. After he parkedand helped her from the truck, as they walked to the door, she looked at him from beneath her lashes.
