Loving Cowboys

Chapter 3: Doing the Cowboy Strut

Chapter 3: Doing the Cowboy Strut“Don’t you two look good,” Elvira said as she stood in Macon and Jace’s living room later in the day and looked both men over.

The men wore tight jeans, cowboy boots, and plaid shirts. They wore neckerchiefs, and belts that bore large buckles, which were prizes from rodeos they’d competed in years earlier.

“It’s not too much, is it?” Jace said.

“Hardly,” Elvira said. “Not nearly enough, in my opinion. Where are your cowboy hats?”

“Don’t worry,” Macon said, “we’ll be wearing them.”

“And ride up on your horses when I get back with everybody.” Elvira said, “The kids will love that—everyone always loves seeing you two on horseback.”

“You sure you can manage the group on your own?” Jace said.

“Have you met my sister?” Macon said. They all laughed. “Did the kids check in at the first stop?”

“Yes, they did and Cody said things were going well and they may actually arrive a little early,” Elvira said. “South Florida’s only several hours from here. If I’d had more notice, I could’ve picked everyone up and brought them back.”

“And the way she drives, it would’ve taken only a couple of hours,” Macon said, then chuckled. “But even you wouldn’t have wanted to drive in South Florida traffic, little sister.”

“It’s not like here in boondocks central, Florida,” Jace said.

“That’s true,” Elvira said. “The traffic would’ve been crazy, too. Oh, you wouldn’t believe who else called—Trina, Shauna’s sister-in-law.”

“Why are you only now mentioning it?” Macon said. “She seemed alright when we met her at the wedding and at family functions. What’d she have to say?”

“First off, she was confused as all get out. She knew about her brother, of course, then got a call from someone at Shauna’s church. They told her that she needed to come see to the house and property because Shauna had died and the kids were coming to stay with us.”

“Good Lord,” Macon said. “They didn’t tell her like that, did they?”

“They did. Trina’s going to look over the house and things, then call me. We’ll have to decide whether to rent the house or sell it and put the money away for the kids’ future, be it for their school or a business or something.”

“Sounds like you and her have things under control,” Jace said.

“I’m glad you think so. I feel like we’re all just winging it.”

“‘Cause we are,” Macon said.

“In situations like these, that is having things under control,” Jace said, then went to a nearby mirror and ran his hands through his shoulder-length, straight, white hair. “I’m not sure white hair suits a cowboy.”

“That’s why I’m glad mine’s still black,” Macon said, while sharing the mirror with Jace. “Momma said Daddy still had black hair at my age.”

“Everyone says he did,” Elvira said. “But, Jace, I think the white hair looks good with your tan skin and you’re still mighty fit, as are you, big brother. You two have worked hard all your lives, maybe Cody can lend a hand around here.”

“We’ll see how that goes,” Jace said, then turned to look at his profile.

“Just look at that strong chin,” Elvira said.

“He was checking to see how his butt looks,” Macon said. “I know Jace, and he’s always checking to make sure his butt hasn’t fallen.” He chuckled, then turned to Jace. “It’s still fine as heck for a white boy, brother. It’ almost as nice and round as mine.”

“You two are as crazy as ever,” Elvira said and they all laughed.

* * * *

Late that afternoon, Elvira left to pick up the kids and Cody. Jace and Macon got their horses saddled. An Irish setter hung by Jace’s leg.

“Rusty there is getting white hair just like his daddy,” Macon said.

“He’s still a good lil boy and loyal as ever,” Jace said, then bent to pet Rusty dog’s head.

“Irish Setters are the best,” Macon said. “Sweet as can be, same as the two of us.” They both chuckled. “But I discovered something when we were looking in the mirror earlier.”

“What?”

“We still look good, but we’ve been sitting around feeling sorry for ourselves—that’s something that sure ain’t pretty.”

“No, it sure ain’t.”

“With the kids and Cody coming, we need to get our act together and try to find a way to make this property work for all of us.”

“Yeah,” Jace said. “Work will help keep the kids’ minds off things…but, are we stupid or what? We’ve been worrying about the kids having lost their parents, but Cody’s in mourning, too. He just lost his pops. Nicky was a good friend of ours—a real good one, but he was Cody’s pops.”

“Oh, heck,” Macon said. “I understood that, but it didn’t hit me fully till you just mentioned it. We’re going to have a bunch of mourners on property, and they’ll need their alone time to cry and stuff, but they also need to be kept busy.”

“If there’s one thing we have around this place is projects aplenty. I think we have time to take the horses for a quick ride around the property, and they’ll enjoy it.”

“Let’s go, then.”

* * * *

“Aunt Elvira!” Gage said when he stepped off the bus at the terminal and saw her waiting.

Elvira hunched down with arms open wide, and Gage ran to her and they hugged. Next down was Cody, carrying Deena.

“Deena hasn’t wanted to leave Cody’s side,” Gage said. “Those bad teenage boys scared her when they grabbed her purse and doll.”

“I’m sure they did,” Elvira said.

“Hello, Miss Elvira,” Cody said. He noticed Elvira looking him over, then smiled. “I take more after my mother than Pops…unfortunately.”

“Your pops was certainly a handsome man, but your mom was a pretty woman. You didn’t turn out so badly. Thank you for looking out for my nephew and niece.”

“It was my pleasure.”

“Cody told us a bunch of cowboy stories about Uncle Macon and Uncle Jace, and even about his daddy, who was a cowboy,” Gage said.

“That was nice of him,” Elvira said, then she turned to Deena, who responded by holding tighter to Cody and pressing her face against his shoulder.

“It’s okay, honey,” Cody said to her. “Miss Elvira is a good woman—you know that—and we talked all about her on the bus. You told me you liked her and she was always nice to you. Besides, I need to put you down so Gage and I can get your luggage.”

“He’s right,” Gage said. “Go with Auntie Elvira, Deena. It hasn’t been that long since we saw her. You can’t still be all shook up.”

Deena lifted her head from Cody’s shoulder and held her hands out toward Elvira, who picked her up and hugged her.

“My poor, baby,” Elvira said. “You look so tired.”

As soon as Cody and Gage got the luggage, they put it in the back of Elvira’s Kia Soul. Cody sat in the front passenger seat and Deena and Gage sat in back. Elvira asked if anyone wanted ice cream, and there was a resounding and unanimous yes, so she turned into a drive-through and they got ice cream cones.

“Just so’s there are no surprises, I need to tell y’all something. The wild west town was already a broken-down mess when we bought it, and unfortunately, we haven’t been able to make a success of it…at least not yet.”

Deena started crying, then spoke between tears. “Are we going to be sleeping on the floor with the roaches and rats? Is the rain gonna come down on our heads from holes in the roof—is there even a roof or are we gonna be sleeping under trees? Oh no! We’re poor and starving now, and nothing’s gonna be left of us but bones. I wanna go home.” She cried again in between eating her ice cream.

“My, my,” Elvira said, “don’t you have an imagination?”

“I think she’s a future writer,” Cody said.

“She’s just plain ole crazy,” Gage said. “Deena, we can’t go back home. Mommy and Daddy are dead, and there’s no one to take care of us there.”

Deena cried louder.

“Listen here,” Elvira said, “I have a sweet four bedroom cottage on the property and I can promise you there are no roaches or holes in the roof. The two of you will even have your own bedrooms.”

“That’s awesome!” Gage said. “Do you have horses on the property?”

“We sure do.”

“Can we learn how to ride them?” Deena said.

“Your uncles will be glad to teach you, I’m sure.”

“That sounds like a lot of fun, huh?” Cody said.

“Cody,” Deena said, “will you be staying with us, too?”

“He’ll be staying with your uncles in their trailer,” Elvira said.

“Yay!” Deena said.

“We’re almost there,” Elvira said. “Now remember what I said, and don’t expect too much of the Wild West town. It really has become a ghost town.”

“Ghosts?” Gage said. “As in monsters? I don’t like monsters—don’t like them at all.”

“There are no monsters,” Cody said. “It’s just what they call an abandoned old west town, that’s all. There are more real things to worry about than monsters, roaches, or leaky roofs.”