Loving Cowboys

Chapter 1: Put on Notice

Chapter 1: Put on Notice“To cowboy Jace Bingham, I don’t know whether or not you remember me—it’s been a while as they say. Cody Larke here—Nicky’s boy. My pops always said if I was in real need of help I could always turn to you. Pops passed last month. The cancer ate away at him so badly that you’d never have recognized him. He didn’t want any visitors…didn’t want anyone seeing what a shell of his former self he’d become.”

“That’s sad.”

“Don’t go interrupting the man, Macon. Lord, you always did pick the wrong time to open your mouth.”

“Macon, you gonna take that from your little sister Elvira?”

“Jace, you’re lucky you’ve got that sweet smile of yours on your face,” Elvira said as she wiped her hands that were wet from washing dishes. “You don’t want to get in the middle of a fight between a brother and sister.”

“On the ‘count of we’re old and know how to push each other’s buttons,” Macon said, then chuckled and put his arm around his sister.

“Don’t go putting your arm around me after calling me old, you ole buzzard,” Elvira said.

“And here I thought I couldn’t say anything because I’m a white boy and you two are black,” Jace said.

Everyone laughed.

“There you go making me laugh, Jace Bingham,” Elvira said.

“Darn, Jace,” Macon said, “we’ve known each other since we were seventeen and little sis here was fourteen and you and me are fifty now—you mean to tell me that you’ve been white this whole entire time.” They laughed again and he continued. “We’re family—heck none of us have too much blood kin left…thank the good Lord.”

There was more laughter, then Elvira spoke.

“You two even have the same birthday…it’s like you were meant to be twins. A black cowboy and a white one working side-by-side and having each other’s backs. We should’ve figured when one of you said you were gay that the other one would be, too…only not for each other.”

“Like you said, lil sister,” Macon said, “we’re family so it’d be too much like doing a brother. And having been around a house full of women, I like having a brother.”

“You know you had it good with that house full of women,” Elvira said. “We kept you fed and you never did without.”

“They spoiled you and me both once they met me, brother,” Jace said to Macon.

“That’s true,” Macon said, “but I always did my share and made sure Momma always had everything she wanted—and I still make sure she doesn’t do without. And all those women were crushing on you something fierce—even Momma, I think.”

“Where is Momma these days?” Jace said.

“Still living it up on a cruise with her church group,” Macon said. “We spoil her, but she deserves it.”

“Yes, she does,” Elvira said, “but we need to get back on topic. Jace, what else was in the e-mail? Hopefully it doesn’t get much sadder or I’ll be needing a tissue.”

“You’d better have a box of tissues handy,” Jace said.

“Darn,” Macon said. “Nicky was a good-looking cowboy back in the day, remember.”

“Heck yeah, he was,” Elvira said.

“Just listen to our churchgoing sister’s mouth,” Jace said.

“She always did like Nicky,” Macon said. “As bad as it sounds like things got for him, I think I’m glad I didn’t see Nicky at his worst. That way I can remember him as the smooth-talking cowboy we all knew and loved like a brother—not that we all didn’t try to love him in other ways.”

“That boy was irredeemably straight,” Jace said, “but cool. He even did the gay rodeo a few times before retiring.”

“The man was definitely cool,” Macon said.

“Okay,” Jace said, “y’all ready for me to keep reading this printout?”

“Go on,” Elvira said, then jokingly put her hand over Macon’s mouth.

“Here we go,” Jace said, then began reading from the paper in his hand again. “It was just me and Pops. Mom left a few years earlier with her no-good man. They even took Pops’ dog Buster just to be mean.”

“That is mean,” Elvira said. “I never did like that woman of Nicky’s.”

“No one ever did,” Jace said. “Heck, just the fact she was a Northerner had most people at the wedding hating her. Where was I? Just to be mean…here we are. I left my job so I could be home with Pops when he needed me. He didn’t want strangers helping him do his business—it was my responsibility to be there for Pops when he needed me most. He died peacefully with me at his side, holding his hand.”

“At least Nicky wasn’t alone,” Macon said. “And he died peacefully.”

“God is good,” Elvira said. “Keep reading, Jace.”

“I sold the house. Had to and it was mortgaged through the roof so I didn’t see a penny. The truck went, too. There was no way I could go back to my old job…it sucked anyway. I’m a thirty-year-old who’s down on his luck and it’s not a pretty picture, Cowboy. I’ve had to do some things I’d rather not talk about now—but nothing illegal.”

“That means stripping or man-whoring,” Macon said. “Especially if he inherited his daddy’s looks.”

“Don’t go jumping to crazy conclusions,” Elvira said. “He just might’ve been forced to work at a fast food place or something.”

“Did Cody say what he did?” Macon said.

“Nope,” Jace said. “I’ll keep reading, there’s not much left.” He looked down at the paper. “I remember you were going to open some sort of old west theme park. If you could help me by giving me a job doing anything I’d appreciate it. I’m willing to sweep floors, clean toilets—you name it. Oh, and a room with a bed where I can lay my head at night would be great. This is asking a lot and you haven’t seen me in so long, Cowboy, but I really need help, sir. I’ve got enough for a bus ticket; all you have to do is say the word…please, Cowboy. Sincerely, Cody Larke. P.S. Pops told me to let you, Cowboy Macon, and sister Elvira know that he loved you all and he had great memories of your times together. In his final days, Pops shared a lot with me about the good times he had with his fellow cowboys and pretty little sister Elvira. No matter what your reply to my e-mail, know that Pops loved all of you—no bull on my part just to get a job. Thanks for the time, Cowboy Jace.”

Jace was teary-eyed but he wasn’t the only one. Both Elvira and Macon were dabbing at their eyes.

“Nicky always was a charmer till the end,” Elvira said. “I used to love hearing him refer to me as his pretty lil sister.”

“It really confused folks who didn’t know us,” Macon said. “Nicky really messed with people’s heads years ago at that church banquet of yours, sis. Crazy boy was telling all those folks you two were brother and sister like you were blood-related and people were all scratching their heads.”

“Momma had a fit,” Elvira said. “She was saying that Nicky was making her look like a wild woman in front of her church.”

“Everyone had a good laugh afterward, though,” Jace said. “Your pastor laughed so hard he was choking and had to spit out his food.”

“Nicky should’ve moved here on the property with us,” Macon said.

“Nah,” Jace said, “he didn’t need to see what a complete failure the whole place turned out to be.”

“I do have a successful food truck parked by the entrance,” Elvira said. “And mark my words, one day I’ll have the diner or a family restaurant up and running. Who knows? Maybe Nicky’s charm would’ve helped us with things.”

“You never know,” Jace said.

“What’d you tell Cody?” Macon said.

“What could I tell him? I told him to come on up and that we’ll all be glad to see him.”

“You didn’t explain the situation here, did you?” Macon said.

“No. The man has enough on his plate. At least we can offer him a roof over his head…if nothing more than that much.”

“From everything Cody wrote, it sounds like he’ll be plenty grateful for a place to lay his head,” Elvira said.

“When’s he getting here?” Macon said.

“The end of the week,” Jace said.

* * * *

It was the end of the week and Cody watched them load his luggage and guitar case in the compartment on the bottom of the bus. He kept his laptop in its case and his backpack on him, then walked to a bench to sit and wait until boarding time. There weren’t many other passengers, but two caught his eye. A skinny, black boy who looked to be about ten waited off to the side with his little sister, who held a large rag doll. A woman had dropped them off earlier and left. They were too young to be alone, though. And there was trouble brewing.